3500-year-old tombs discoved by Egyptian archaeologists

Luxor, April 19: The Egyptian archaeologists have unearthed several mummies, colorful wooden sarcophagi and more than 1000 funerary statues in a 3500-year-old tomb near the city of Luxor hailed as an "important discovery".

Antiquities officials had initially said six mummies along with partial remains were discovered near the southern city, but said they had later identified two more mummies.

"There are 10 coffins and eight mummies. The excavation is ongoing," Mostafa Waziri, the head of the archaeological mission, told media.

The 18th Dynasty tomb was discovered in the Draa Abul Nagaa necropolis near the famed Valley of the Kings, belonged to a nobleman named Userhat who worked as the city judge, the ministry said in a Tuesday statement.



It was opened to add more mummies during the 21st Dynasty, about 3000 years ago, to protect them during a period when tomb-robbing was common, said Waziri, the head of the archaeological mission, at the site.

"It was a surprise how much was being displayed inside" the tomb, Antiquities Minister Khaled el-Enany told reporters outside the tomb.

"We found a large number of Ushabti (small carved figurines), more than 1000 of them," Enany said.