This Saturday morning near the temple of Hatshapsout, a press conference was held to present the thirty painted wooden sarcophagi, discovered a few days ago in Assasif in the Valley of Kings near Lurxor, in southern Egypt.
It was the first time since the 19th century that a discovery of such importance took place. Indeed, the previous major discoveries of sarcophagous hiding places had taken place in 1881, 1891 and 1898.
These thirty sarcophagi are in excellent condition and contain all their mummies. They were discovered stacked on each other in two rows, one meter underground, and had never been affected since they had been hidden, probably by priests.
These sarcophagi (five of women, three children and the twenty two other men) date from the XXIIth dynasty, founded more than 3,000 years ago, in the 10th century BC and belonged to a family of priests.
On a yellow background, we distinguish red or green touches, as well as black lines. Hieroglyphs, various Egyptian deities, birds, snakes or lotus flowers, are also represented.
“” We just made some basic necessities on these coffins in very good condition. They are considered in good condition because there was no human implantation on the site“,” Said Salah Abdel-Galial, a local restaurateur of the Ministry of Antiquities, showing one of the rooms.
These sarcophagi will make the trip to Cairo, where a room will be devoted to them in the future Large Museum of Egypt, which is at the foot of the Pyramids of Giza and whose opening is scheduled for 2020.
Neila Driss
