Egyptian archeologists found the mummies in 53 tombs cut into rock in the oasis of Fayoum, about 80 kilometres southwest of Cairo, said Zahi Hawass, secretary general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities of Egypt, in a statement.
Four of the mummies date to the 22nd Dynasty (931 to 725 BC) "and are considered some of the most beautiful mummies found," he said.
Adornments are still bright in the traditional ancient Egyptian colours of turquoise, terra cotta and gold. Also found in the necropolis were painted masks, amulets and clay pots, according to reports.
Russian archeologists recently announced a similar discovery in Fayoum and it was unclear yesterday if they are separate discoveries or if a fight over rival claims is brewing.
National Geographic
Three photos from the Lahun discovery, accompanied by captions providing more details:
A wooden casket decorated with six different gods was among those recently found in a cache of 52 rock tombs in Lahun, a site about 75 miles (120 kilometers) south of Cairo, Egyptian archaeologists announced.
Ancient Egyptians depicted gods on their coffins to protect them in the afterlife. The person in this coffin, who was likely buried 2,500 years ago during the 26th dynasty, worshiped an incarnation of the king of the gods, Amun-Ra, shown as a combination of a ram and a hawk with the sun on its head.
"We are in a funerary site, a cemetery, so it's very much connected to religious beliefs," said Abdul Rahman El-Aidy, who discovered and photographed the nearly 30 mummies at the site for Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA).
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