A group of Egyptian archaeologists have discovered 17 non-royal mummies in the country’s Minya province, the antiquities ministry announced on Saturday, according to AFP. The group, headed by Salah al-Kholi, a professor of Egyptology at Cairo University, were excavating at a site in the Touna el-Gabal district, around 250 kms from Cairo, when they discovered a set of burial shafts.
Further digging led them to a “number of corridors” and hidden chambers containing the mummies, which are largely intact. Kholi said this was an unprecedented discovery as it was “the first human necropolis found in central Egypt with so many mummies”. The site has been dated back to between the third century BC and the third century AD.
Egypt’s Antiquities Minister Khaled Al-Anani said the year had been a historic one for archaeological discoveries in the country. “It is as if it is a message from our ancestors who are lending us a hand to help bring tourists back.”
In March, the ministry said a team of Egyptian and German archaeologists had discovered a 26-feet-tall statue that is believed to be a likeness of Pharaoh Ramses II in a slum in the eastern part of Cairo. The site of discovery was near the ruins of Ramses II’s temple in the ancient city of Heliopolis.
Egypt’s tourism sector, previously a major source of revenue for the North African nation, has been devastated by a series of militant attack in the country over the past few years. A volatile political climate following the revolution of 2011 as part of the Arab Spring has made matters worse.
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