Up to 40 mummies of ‘middle-class family from ancient Egypt’ are found in 2,000-year-old desert tombs packed with pottery and paper near Cairo
- Some 40 mummies were found in stone burial chamber in Minya, south of Cairo
- The mummies are thought to be of a middle-class family and include 10 children
- Officials also unearthed pottery, papyri and colorful mummy cases at the site
Archeologists have discovered a number of ancient burial chambers containing some 40 mummies in the desert province of Minya, south of Cairo.
The chambers, which were cut out of rock, are thought to have belonged to a middle-class family.
Officials said the family probably lived during the Ptolemaic, early Roman or Byzantine period.
An archeologist works next to a coffin inside a tomb discovered in the desert province of Minya, south of Cairo, Egypt, today
The mummies were wrapped in linen and thought to have belonged to a middle-class family
A partially-uncovered skull wrapped in linen was also found in the burial chamber
The mummies are in good condition and at least 10 are of children.
Some were decorated with ‘demotic handwriting’ – a form of ancient Egyptian script used by ordinary people.
Archeologists also unearthed pottery, papyri and colorful mummy cases.
Egypt has made a series of archaeological finds recently, and it has been heavily promoting them to revive its tourism industry.
Tourism is a staple of its economy that was decimated by the chaos that followed its 2011 uprising.
At least 10 of the mummies discovered today are thought to be children
It is thought the family probably lived during the Ptolemaic, early Roman or Byzantine period
Another archeologist inspects a recently discovered burial chamber at the new site today