Egypt announces discovery of 30 ancient coffins with mummies in Luxor
dpa
CAIRO (dpa)– Egypt on Saturday announced the discovery of 30 well-preserved coloured wooden coffins containing mummies dating back to 3,000 years ago in the southern city of Luxor.
The coffins with inscriptions were found at al-Asasif necropolis in two levels, one on the top of the other, with 18 coffins in the first level and 12 in the upper level, Antiquities Minister Khaled al-Anani told a press conference.
"It is the first big intact cache of human coffins to have been discovered since the end of the 19th century," he said.
The coffins are the latest in a series of caches found in Luxor. Two caches of royal mummies were discovered in the city: one in Deir al-Bahari in 1881, and the other inside the tomb of King Amenhotep II in 1898. A cache containing scores of mummies for priests was found in 1891.
Mostafa Waziri, head of the Supreme Council for Egyptian Antiquities, said at the conference that the 30 coffins are for male and female priests and children from the 22nd dynasty from the 10th century BC, which was 3,000 years ago.
He added that the excavation works at the site of discovery started two months ago and resulted in the unearthing of several tombs and the al-Asasif cache.
Egypt has in recent months announced a series of ancient discoveries in the hopes of reviving its battered tourism industry, a main source of national income.
The industry has been hard hit by widespread unrest since the 2011 uprising against Egypt's long-time dictator Hosny Mubarak.
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