Fifty mummies uncovered in Egypt's first archaeological discovery of 2019

Egyptian archaeologists have discovered a Pharonic tomb containing the mummies of people thought to have been important figures.

MENA

1 min read

The New Arab & agencies

03 February, 2019

The mummies were discovered at the Tuna El-Gebel archaeological site [AFP]

Archaeologists in Egypt have uncovered a Pharaonic tomb containing 50 mummies dating back to the Ptolemaic era, the ministry of antiquities said on Saturday.

The mummies, 12 of which were of children, were discovered inside four, nine-metre deep burial chambers in the Tuna El-Gebel archaeological site in Minya.

The identities of the mummies are still unknown.

"We have not found names written in hieroglyphics," said Mostafa Waziri, secretary-general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities.

Waziri added that the method of mummification indicated that the individuals were important figures within their society.

Some of the mummies were encased in wooden sarcophagi, while others were wrapped in linen.

The find mark's Egypt's first archaeological discovery of 2019, following a number of significant finds in the previous year.

Authorities in Egypt hope new archaeological finds will help revive the country's struggling tourism industry, which has suffered due to the turmoil that followed the toppling of former dictator Hosni Mubarak in 2011.

According to official data, Egypt received 8.3 million visitors in 2017, a figure dwarfed by the 2010 pre-revolution figure of 14.7 million.