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17 Mummies Discovered in Central Egypt | ASHARQ AL-AWSAT English Archive 2005 -2017
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A young boy looks at a three-dimensional image of a CT scan of an Egyptian mummy (AFP)


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.