Egypt discovers 100 coffins dating back 2,500 years1 min read
Reading Time: 2 minutesIt was a great day for modern archeology when Egypt unearthed more than 100 sarcophagi and some gilded statues dating back 2,500 years. Some of them also contained mummies.
These coffins were found in a pharaonic necropolis south of Cairo, called Saqqara, which served the city of Memphis, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. This was at the same burial ground where 59 coffins were discovered in October. The coffins were exhumed from three shafts that are 12 metres deep. They were well preserved because researchers think, they were of a higher quality and their residents were from a higher class in society.
More to come
The tourism and antiquities minister, Khaled el-Anany, said that the discoveries will be moved to several museums in Egypt and that this would not be the last. He said acheologists will be continue to excavate the grounds and perhaps more will be revealed.
Some of the coffins, coloured and sealed, included mummies of priests and other officials belonging to the Ptolemaic periods, which date back 2,500 years. Funerary masks and statues of goddess Ptah Soker were also found in the shafts.
Think with Owliver:
- Why did the ancient Egyptians embalm and preserve the dead?
- What factors decided the place and kind of burial?
- Who was Goddess Ptah Soker and what was her significance?
- When was the Ptolemic period?
