See mummy revealed as Egyptian coffin is opened for first time in 2,500 years
We don't need Brendan Fraser. Everything is fine.
Egypt has many more ancient secrets to reveal.
Saqarra, an extensive necropolis located near the ancient Egyptian city of Memphis, is the site of an extraordinary new discovery of well-preserved wood coffins, statuary and burial artifacts.
Egypt's Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities hosted a gathering on Saturday to unveil the extent of the Saqqara find. Greg Lewis, New Zealand's ambassador to Egypt, shared a video of experts opening one of the coffins for the first time since it was sealed around 2,500 years ago.
Honoured to be invited by the Minister of Tourism and Antiquities HE Khaled El Anany to Saqqara for the announcement that a new tomb of mummies has been discovered. I saw one being opened for the first time in 2600 years! Truly amazing! @TourismandAntiq @MFATNZ 🇪🇬🇳🇿 pic.twitter.com/5oLfAM7zAV
— Greg Lewis 🇳🇿🇪🇬 (@NZinEgypt) October 3, 2020
The ministry first revealed the find in early September with the initial discovery of 13 coffins. The count is now up to 59 and there will be more. The wood coffins are in good condition with their original painted colors showing. Preliminary analysis points to the bodies belonging to priests and senior men.
These sarcophagi are part of an extensive 2,500-year-old discovery inside burial wells in Saqqara in Egypt.
The sarcophagi were found stacked over each other in several burial wells, according to a statement release by the ministry on Facebook.
"The reveal is not finished yet; we have found layers of coffins which will be announced later," the ministry said. A video posted on Saturday gives an inside peek at the underground structure.
The coffins will be transferred to the new Grand Egyptian Museum in Giza for display. The museum is expected to open in 2021.
The find triggered some buzz on Twitter, causing Brendan Fraser's name to trend. The actor is known for starring in The Mummy, a 1999 action film involving a curse and a mummy.
It seems people get weird whenever Egyptian sarcophagi enter the picture, as we saw in 2018 when a mysterious granite coffin triggered an internet movement calling for a taste-test of the liquid found inside. At least the new discoveries have been kept dry so we can avoid a repeat of that madness.