Egypt unveils ancient mummy, part of new discovery
An Egyptian worker holds a torch by one of eight revealed sarcophagi found inside a 26th Dynasty limestone sarcophagus along with other mummies at the ancient necropolis of Saqqara, south of Cairo. Egypt's antiquities chief Zahi Hawass has unveiled a completely preserved mummy inside a limestone sarcophagus sealed 2,600 years ago during pharaonic times. (AP Photo/Nasser Nasser)
Illuminated only by torches and camera lights, Egyptian laborers used crowbars and picks Wednesday to lift the lid off a 2,600-year-old limestone sarcophagus, exposing - for the first time since it was sealed in antiquity - a perfectly preserved mummy.
The mummy, wrapped in dark-stained canvas, is part of Egypt's latest archaeological discovery of a burial chamber 36 feet (11 meters) below ground at the ancient necropolis of Saqqara. The find, made three weeks ago, was publicly announced Monday and shown to reporters for the first time Wednesday.
Egypt's archaeology chief Zahi Hawass has dubbed it a "storeroom for mummies," because it houses eight wooden and limestone sarcophagi as well as at least two dozen mummies.
Hawass led a group of international media Wednesday into the burial chamber, supervising as one person at a time was lowered into the shaft, holding on to a rope-pulled winch turned by workers above ground.
"It's moments like these, seeing something for the first time, that hold all the passion of archaeology," Hawass said after the mummy was unveiled.
The find dates back to 640 B.C., or the 26th Dynasty - Egypt's last independent kingdom before a succession of foreign conquerors.
Hawass said the discovery was important because it shows much of the sprawling site at Saqqara, about 12 miles (20 kilometers) south of Cairo, has yet to be unearthed. Rulers of ancient Memphis, the capital of Egypt's Old Kingdom, were buried at Saqqara.
Inside the chamber, 22 mummies lay covered only by sand in four niches dug into the chamber's walls. Most were badly decomposed, showing only skulls and parts of skeletons, with decayed mummy wrappings. The sarcophagi were placed throughout the room.
A dog's mummy - possibly of a pet - was also found along with mummies of children, prompting speculation the chamber holds the remains of a large family, with the richer, more prominent members, buried in the sarcophagi.
"Only the rich could afford to have sarcophagi made of limestone from Thebes," said Hawass. Thebes is an ancient city on the west bank of the Nile, hundreds of miles to the south in what is today's Luxor. "The owner of the dog could have asked that his faithful companion be mummified and accompany him into the afterlife." Hawass said he believes the mummy in the limestone sarcophagus belonged to a nobleman, but so far the mummies' identities remain a mystery.
Illuminated only by torches and camera lights, Egyptian laborers used crowbars and picks Wednesday to lift the lid off a 2,600-year-old limestone sarcophagus, exposing - for the first time since it was sealed in antiquity - a perfectly preserved mummy.
The mummy, wrapped in dark-stained canvas, is part of Egypt's latest archaeological discovery of a burial chamber 36 feet (11 meters) below ground at the ancient necropolis of Saqqara. The find, made three weeks ago, was publicly announced Monday and shown to reporters for the first time Wednesday.
Egypt's archaeology chief Zahi Hawass has dubbed it a "storeroom for mummies," because it houses eight wooden and limestone sarcophagi as well as at least two dozen mummies.
Hawass led a group of international media Wednesday into the burial chamber, supervising as one person at a time was lowered into the shaft, holding on to a rope-pulled winch turned by workers above ground.
"It's moments like these, seeing something for the first time, that hold all the passion of archaeology," Hawass said after the mummy was unveiled.
The find dates back to 640 B.C., or the 26th Dynasty - Egypt's last independent kingdom before a succession of foreign conquerors.
Hawass said the discovery was important because it shows much of the sprawling site at Saqqara, about 12 miles (20 kilometers) south of Cairo, has yet to be unearthed. Rulers of ancient Memphis, the capital of Egypt's Old Kingdom, were buried at Saqqara.
Inside the chamber, 22 mummies lay covered only by sand in four niches dug into the chamber's walls. Most were badly decomposed, showing only skulls and parts of skeletons, with decayed mummy wrappings. The sarcophagi were placed throughout the room.
A dog's mummy - possibly of a pet - was also found along with mummies of children, prompting speculation the chamber holds the remains of a large family, with the richer, more prominent members, buried in the sarcophagi.
"Only the rich could afford to have sarcophagi made of limestone from Thebes," said Hawass. Thebes is an ancient city on the west bank of the Nile, hundreds of miles to the south in what is today's Luxor. "The owner of the dog could have asked that his faithful companion be mummified and accompany him into the afterlife." Hawass said he believes the mummy in the limestone sarcophagus belonged to a nobleman, but so far the mummies' identities remain a mystery.