Cairo – Egyptian archaeologists have discovered 17 mummies in catacombs in central Egypt, antiquities ministry announced on Saturday.
“We found catacombs containing a number of mummies,” said Salah al-Kholi, who headed the mission that made the discovery in the Touna el-Gabal district of the province in central Egypt.
The funerary site was found in a desert area in Minya province, south of Cairo.
Kholi told a news conference held near the archaeological site in the desert that the discovery was “the first human necropolis found in central Egypt with so many mummies.”
“There will be a large necropolis behind the shafts,” he added.
A team from Cairo University followed up with the mission of the new discovery.
Al-Kholi pointed out that the necropolis was a subject, at one point, for scavenging by antiquities thieves.
Chairman of Cairo University, Gaber Nassar, said “we will continue to fund the antiquities discoveries in Touna el-Gabal district, and turn it into an important center at the tourist map of Egypt.”
The first discovery in Touna el-Gabal was announced in 1931.