UPDATED Breaking News? 30 mummies found in Egypt

Associated Press

Egyptian archaeologists say they have discovered 30 mummies inside a 4,600-year-old tomb, in the latest round of excavations at the vast necropolis of Saqqara 12 miles (20 kilometers) south of Cairo.

Egypt's chief archeologist, Zahi Hawas, says the new tomb was found Sunday at the bottom of a 36 foot (11-meter) deep well. Eight of the mummies were in sarcophagi and the rest had been placed in niches in the wall.

Hawas has described the new site as a "storeroom for mummies."

His assistant Abdel Hakim Karar said Monday the use of such niches was rare during that period of time.

Excavations have been ongoing at Saqqara for 150 years, uncovering a vast cemetery dating mostly from the Old Kingdom, but including sites as recent as the Roman era.

NU.nl

Thanks very much to Huib Bennekom for sending me the above link. My Dutch is horribly rusty but here's a rough precis (feel free to correct me!). The original Dutch is shown below for those of you who would rather see the untampered narrative :-). There's a photograph on the above site of one mummy coffin.

Egyptian archaeologists have found thirty mummies and an unopened sarcophagus in a 4300 year old burial vault, the government announced on Monday. The burial chamber was found in the desert on the west side of an ancient pyramid in the Saqqara region. One mummy which dates 640 BC was found in a sarcophagus which is is probably much older and is thought to have been made during the Fifth Dynasty. Further analysis will take place later in the week. It is rare for archaeologists working in the Saqqara area to find mummies and tombs in tact, due to the work of grave robbers.

Egyptische archeologen hebben dertig mummies en een ongeopende sarcofaag gevonden in een 4300 jaar oude grafkelder. Dat heeft de overheid maandag bekendgemaakt.

De grafkamer is gevonden in de woestijn aan de westzijde van een eeuwenoude piramide in de Saqqara-regio. Een van de mummies dateert van 640 voor Christus, de sarcofaag is vermoedelijk veel ouder. Volgens de archeologen is de stenen doodskist ongeveer 2400 jaar voor Christus gemaakt ten tijde van de Vijfde Dynastie.

De wetenschappers maken de kist later deze week open. Ook de mummies, die in nissen in de grafkelder stonden, worden nader bekeken. De archeologen hopen amuletten te vinden die hen meer over de identiteit van de mummies kan vertellen.

Het komt niet vaak voor dat archeologen in de Saqqara-regio ongeschonden mummies en graven vinden. Grafrovers lieten de graven, vaak volgestouwd met kostbaarheden, veelal geplunderd en beschadigd achter.