Cachette of Mummies Discovered in Central Egypt

CAIRO, EGYPT—Ahram Online reports that a team from Cairo University discovered an unmarked burial site containing a collection of 17 mummies dating to the Late Period at Tuna Al-Gabal, also known as the necropolis of Khmun, located in central Egypt. Salah El-Kholi, head of the project, said that a radar survey of the area revealed the burial shafts, which also contained limestone and clay sarcophagi. The two clay sarcophagi are anthropoid coffins, one of which is damaged. Two papyri inscribed with Demotic script and a gold, feather-shaped decoration were also found. “This feather could be decoration on the hair dress of one of the deceased,” said El-Kholi. For more on archaeology in Egypt, go to “Messengers to the Gods.”