- Title: Egypt unveils biggest ancient coffin find in over a century
- Date: 19th October 2019
- Summary: LUXOR, EGYPT (OCTOBER 19, 2019) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF PAINTED COFFINS ON DISPLAY PEOPLE TAKING PHOTOGRAPHS, SEEN FROM IN BETWEEN PAINTED COFFINS MORE OF PAINTED COFFINS ON DISPLAY (SOUNDBITE)(Arabic) SECRETARY-GENERAL OF EGYPTIAN SUPREME COUNCIL OF ANTIQUITIES, MOSTAFA WAZIRI, SAYING: "The question is: What is the story of the cache? A cache means something hidden, something that the ancient Egyptians intentionally decided to hide. But from whom? Most probably, during the 21st dynasty, tomb robberies were on the rise, which pushed a leading priest to collect the coffins. These were kept in what we call 'stone doors'. At the time, the living conditions of priests were below average, so they did not have the means to build large tombs." ARCHAEOLOGISTS LIFTING LID OFF PAINTED COFFIN TO REVEAL MUMMY / ARCHAEOLOGISTS APPLAUDING PEOPLE TAKING PHOTOGRAPHS OF PRESERVED MUMMY AND PAINTED INTERIOR IN COFFINS VARIOUS OF PEOPLE EXAMINING OPEN COFFIN PRESERVED MUMMY IN COFFIN (SOUNDBITE)(English) EGYPTIAN MINISTER OF ANTIQUITIES, KHALED EL-ENANY, SAYING: "Now we have at al-Asisf a cache with 30 coffins, exceptionally well-preserved, exceptionally well-coloured - sealed, all of them. They will be moved to the Grand Egyptian Museum which will be opening in the end of 2020, as a new surprise for our visitors to visit the Grand Egyptian Museum." PAINTED COFFINS ON DISPLAY VARIOUS OF DETAIL ON PAINTED COFFINS (SOUNDBITE)(English) EGYPTIAN ARCHAEOLOGIST, ZAHI HAWASS, SAYING: "This will enrich our knowledge as Egyptologists about the belief of the afterlife, about the workshops that made all these beautiful scenes, the colour, the religious scenes, how the Book of the Dead is for everyone, for common people, for a king or for a priest and this is why I believe this discovery is very important." VARIOUS OF ENTRANCE TO AL-ASASIF NECROPOLIS WHERE COFFINS WERE FOUND SIGN READING (English): "THE NOBLES' TOMBS AL-ASASIF" AL-ASASIF NECROPOLIS SEEN FROM INSIDE MOVING VEHICLE VARIOUS OF AL-ASASIF NECROPOLIS VARIOUS OF EXCAVATORS WORKING AT AL-ASASIF NECROPOLIS TEMPLE OF HATSHEPSUT SEEN FROM BEHIND ROCKS
- Embargoed: 2nd November 2019 12:57
- Keywords: Egypt painted coffins painted coffins unveiled Luxor history al-Asasif necropolis
- Location: LUXOR, EGYPT
- City: LUXOR, EGYPT
- Country: Egypt
- Topics: Society/Social Issues,Editors' Choice
- Reuters ID: LVA001B1RGSP3
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Egypt on Saturday (October 19) unveiled the details of 30 ancient wooden coffins with mummies inside discovered in the southern city of Luxor in the biggest find of its kind in more than a century.
A team of Egyptian archaeologists discovered a "distinctive group of 30 coloured wooden coffins for men, women and children" in a cache at Al-Asasif cemetery on Luxor's west bank, an Egyptian antiquities official said at a press conference.
The intricately carved and painted three-thousand-year-old coffins were closed with mummies inside and were in "a good condition of preservation, colour and complete inscriptions," the officials said.
They were for male and female priests and children, said Mostafa Waziri, the excavation team leader, dating back to the 10th century BC under the rule of the 22nd Pharaonic dynasty.
The coffins will undergo restoration before being moved to a showroom at the Grand Egyptian Museum, due to open next year next to the Giza pyramids, the ministry said.
The discovery is the latest in a series of major finds of ancient relics that Egypt hopes will revive its tourism sector, which has been badly hit by political instability since the 2011 uprising that toppled Hosni Mubarak.
(Production: Ahmed Fahmy, Mai Shams El-Din, Louisa Naks) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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