Egypt discovers dozens of well-preserved mummies in 4,000-year-old necropolis in Fayoum

By Cher Thornhill

Egyptian archaeologists have discovered an ancient necropolis containing dozens of beautifully preserved mummies dating back as far as 4,000 years.

Excavations sponsored by Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities revealed 53 tombs cut into rock south east of the Illahun pyramids in the oasis of Fayoum.

Antiquities chief Zahi Hawass described four of the mummies, dating to the 22nd Dynasty (931-725 BC), as among the most beautiful ever discovered.

Remarkable: The decoration and inscriptions on the mummy trappings are unusually well preserved

Sitting in wooden coffins, the mummies are wrapped in linen and painted in the traditional Egyptian colours of gold, turquoise and terracotta.

The decoration and inscriptions on the mummy trappings are remarkably well preserved.

The mission, led by Supervisor of Antiquities for Middle Egypt Dr. Abdel-Rahman El-Ayedi, also recovered charred remains from a number of other coffins, which are thought to have burned during the Coptic period.

Ancient beauty: A wooden coffin containing a linen-wrapped mummy covered in cartonnage found by the Egyptian archaeological mission

Among the remains, the team unearthed 15 painted masks, clay pots and protection charms known as amulets.

The archeologists also found a Middle Kingdom funerary chapel with offering table.

Preliminary study suggests the chapel was reused in subsequent periods, perhaps as late as the Roman era (30 BC to 337 AD).

Minister of Culture Farouk Hosni, who announced the discovery, said the tombs vary in design. While some are reached through a single burial shaft, others have another shaft leading to a second, lower chamber.

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The mummies were painted in traditional ancient Egyptian colours of gold, turquoise and terracotta

The latest discovery follows another exciting find just two months ago when Zahi Hawass announced the uncovering of thirty mummies inside a sealed tomb in the world's oldest standing step pyramid at Saqqara.

It is unusual to find intact burials in well-known necropolises such as Saqqara, which served the nearby city of Memphis, because thieves have ransacked the area over the years.

Of the roughly 30 mummies found inside the burial chamber alongside the limestone sarcophagus and its mummy, Hawass said some would have been poor and some wealthy. They may have been relatives of the original owner.

The Fayoum already holds a special place in Egyptian and in world history.

Greek mummy portraits found there, examples of which are kept in its museums, are believed to be the first real-life portraits in the world.