Saqqara Necropolis: Biggest Archaeological Discovery In 2020 – Photos Revealed

Conny Waters - AncientPages.com - A collection of at least 100 intact 26th Dynasty coffins were unearthed in Egypt's Saqqara Necropolis, in addition to golden funerary masks and a collection of about 40 wooden statues of Saqqara goddess Ptah Soker, some of which are gilded.

Sarcophaguses that are around 2500 years old, from the newly discovered burial site near Egypt's Saqqara necropolis, are seen during a presentation in Giza, Egypt November 14, 2020. REUTERS

Saqqara, Egypt's vast Pharaonic necropolis is located in the south of Cairo. It is a place of the discovery of three 12- meter deep shafts, closed for more than 2,500 years, containing 100 intact, sealed, and painted anthropoid coffins.

During the announcement, a CT- scan was conducted on a mummy in one of the coffins. It was revealed that the deceased died in his 40s, was 175 cm tall, healthy, and did not suffer any fatal diseases, writes Ahram Online.

Bassem Gehad, who conducted the scan, said the deceased was perfectly mummified with his arms crossed on his chest, in a position known in ancient Egypt as the Osiris shape.

An archaeologist works on an artifact, around 2,500 years old, from the newly discovered burial site near Egypt's Saqqara necropolis, during a presentation in Giza, Egypt November 14, 2020. REUTERS

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Huge Number Of Intact, Painted Coffins In Shafts Of Egypt’s Saqqara Necropolis

Khaled El-Enany, the minister of tourism and antiquities said that it is a great discovery in 2020, but it is not the last one.

"We have discovered only one percent of the antiquities buried in the Saqqara Necropolis," he added, pointing out that many other discoveries will follow, he said.

"The discovered items date back to the Ptolemaic dynasty that ruled Egypt for some 300 years—from around 320 BC to about 30 BC, and the Late Period (664-332 BC)", cited by AP.

People look at ancient sarcophagi discovered in a vast necropolis in Saqqara, Giza, Egypt, Saturday, Nov. 14, 2020. Egyptian antiquities officials on Saturday announced the discovery of at least 100 ancient coffins, some with mummies inside, and around 40 gilded statues south of Cairo. (AP Photo/Nariman El-Mofty)

Khaled El-Enany said the artifacts would be moved to at least three Cairo museums including the Grand Egyptian Museum that Egypt is building near the famed Giza Pyramids.

Another discovery at the Saqqara necropolis will be announced later this year.

An ancient sarcophagus that buried more than 2500 years ago, is on display in Saqqara, Giza, Egypt, Saturday, Nov. 14, 2020. Egyptian antiquities officials on Saturday announced the discovery of at least 100 ancient coffins, some with mummies inside, and around 40 gilded statues south of Cairo. (AP Photo/Nariman El-Mofty)

A short film released by the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities to coincide with the discovery described the Saqqara Necropolis as a “sacred place where the rich and powerful wanted to be buried."

The video showed many statues of animals, figurines, as well as intact and sealed coffins.

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“That is what we were expecting; the coffins were well-sealed, no chemical reaction, no air inside, nothing, that is why it is all in perfect condition of preservation,” the secretary-general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, Mostafa Waziry, explained in the film.

Written by Conny Waters - AncientPages.com Staff Writer