The coffins are from the New Kingdom, the oldest found in the necropolis to date.
Egypt discovered a funerary temple and the oldest coffins ever found in Saqqara, unlocking more secrets in the ancient cemetery and marking another important discovery in the vast necropolis south of Cairo.
The country said a mission led by prominent Egyptologist Zahi Hawass, the former state minister for antiques, had unearthed the funeral temple of Queen Nearit, the wife of King Teti, the first pharaoh of the sixth. dynasty of Egypt.
The mission also unearthed 52 funerary axes with more than 50 wooden coffins found inside. They date back to 3,000 years ago, the oldest sarcophagi found in Saqqara.
“These sarcophagi are made of wood and anthropoids … many of the gods revered during this period were depicted on the surface of the sarcophagi, as well as various fragments of the Book of the Dead that help the deceased cross the journey to the other world.” said the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities in a statement.
In recent months, Egypt has unearthed hundreds of coffins of high officials and priests in Saqqara, dating back to more recent late and Ptolemaic periods.
The new discovery is distinguished because older sarcophagi from the New Kingdom were found, according to the ministry. The New Kingdom period lasted from the 16th century BC to the 11th century BC, spanning the 18th, 19th and 20th Egyptian dynasties.
“The discovery confirmed that the Saqqara area was not only used for burials during the late period, but also during the New Kingdom,” the statement said.
Another “luxurious mud brick sanctuary” was also discovered at a depth of 24 meters below ground level, the deepest axis found to date. Hawass said excavation work will continue until the burial chamber is discovered.
“Within the axes, the mission discovered a large number of archaeological artifacts and a large number of statues representing deities such as the god Osiris and Ptah-Soker-Osiris,” the ministry of antiquities added.
Egypt has carried out extensive excavations in Saqqara in recent years, which led to a number of discoveries, including the unearthing of a tomb of 4,400-year-old royal priest Wahtye in 2018 and discovery of hundreds of animals and mummified statues a year later.
Tourism and Antiquities Minister Khaled El-Enany said in November that Egypt “can find graves and funerary trees everywhere in this area,” referring to Saqqara, which also houses 13 pyramids.
Egypt hopes the findings could help revive the vital tourism industry, which received a new blow due to the COVID-19 pandemic just as it began to recover from the aftermath of riots and civil unrest in 2011 and 2013. .
Hawass said the latest discoveries in the ancient necropolis “will make Saqqara an important tourist and cultural destination.”
“It will also rewrite the history of Saqqara during the New Kingdom,” he added.