Egypt on Monday unveiled painted sarcophagi containing well-preserved mummies and bronze statues of ancient deities, artifacts that were recently discovered in the famous Saqqara necropolis near Cairo, some of which are over 2,500 years old.
The artifacts were on display at a temporary exhibition at the foot of the Step Pyramid of Djoser in Saqqara, 24 kilometers southwest of the Egyptian capital.
The find includes 250 painted sarcophagi with well-preserved mummies inside, as well as 150 bronze statues of ancient deities, explained Mostafa Waziri, head of the High Council of Antiquities.
Also on display were bronze vases used in the rituals of Isis, the goddess of fertility according to Egyptian mythology, all dating from the late period, around 500 BC.
Also on display was a headless bronze statue of Imhotep, chief architect of Pharaoh Djoser, who ruled Ancient Egypt between 2630 B.C. and 2611 BC
The artworks will be moved to permanent display at the new Grand Egyptian Museum, a mega project still under construction next to the famous pyramids of Giza on the outskirts of Cairo.
Saqqara is part of a vast necropolis in the ancient capital of Egypt, Memphis, which includes the pyramids of Giza and the smaller pyramids of Abu Sir, Dahshur and Abu Ruwaish.
The ruins of Memphis were listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in the 1970s.
Egypt has been actively promoting recent archaeological finds in hopes of attracting more tourists to the country.
The tourism sector, a major source of foreign exchange, has suffered years of political unrest and violence since the 2011 uprising that ousted autocrat Hosni Mubarak.
While recovering from the Covid-19 pandemic, the sector has suffered yet again, this time due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Along with Russia, Ukraine is the main source of tourists visiting Egypt.
