At least 34 mummies found in hidden Egyptian tomb | CNN

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Mummy discovery: In April, archaeologists from Egypt and Italy revealed the discovery of at least 34 mummies in a tomb in the southern Egyptian city of Aswan.

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Hidden chambers: Steps led down from the surface to the tomb, which comprised two burial chambers and was sealed off by a wall.

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Extensive exploration: The archaeologists from Italy and Egypt mapped approximately 300 tombs in the Aswan region.

Courtesy Ministry of Antiquities, Egypt

Another recent find: Egypt has revealed a number of ancient finds recently by different teams of archaeologists. The discovery of the main port used to transport stone along the Nile River to build ancient temples was revealed in March.

Courtesy Ministry of Antiquities, Egypt

Stone quarries: The port was used to transport stone along the Nile River from the quarries of Gebel el-Silsila.

MOHAMED EL-SHAHED/AFP/AFP/Getty Images

More mummies: In February, more than 40 mummies were uncovered that are believed to date from the Ptolemaic era, which lasted from 323 BC to 30 BC.

KHALED DESOUKI/AFP/AFP/Getty Images

Cat mummies: In November 2018, an excavation revealed a mass cat cemetery and rare mummified scarab beetles in Saqqara, Egypt.

KHALED DESOUKI/AFP/AFP/Getty Images

Ancient sarcophagus: Also in November last year, a sarcophagus containing a 3,000-year-old mummified woman was opened in southeastern Egypt.

CNN —

Archaeologists from Egypt and Italy have discovered at least 34 mummies in the southern Egyptian city of Aswan. The remains date back to the late Pharaonic and Greco-Roman period, between the 6th century B.C. and the 4th century A.D.

Alongside the mummies, the archaeologists found artifacts including pottery, painted funerary masks and wooden statuettes. Vases of bitumen, used in mummification, as well as a stretcher likely used to carry the bodies into the tomb were also discovered.

An intact hieroglyphic text indicated that the tomb, hidden under sand, was owned by a trade leader named Tjt.

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Steps led from the underground tomb to the surface.

Khaled El-Enany, Egypt’s minister of antiquities, invited Patrizia Piacentini, a professor of Egyptology at the University of Milan, to conduct the excavation in Aswan.

Piacentini directed the excavations alongside Abdelmanaem Said of the ministry of antiquities, while engineer Gabriele Bitelli located the tomb and subsequently created 3D reconstructions of the items found within.

Steps led down from the surface to the tomb, which comprised two burial chambers and was sealed off by a wall.

The archaeologists found approximately 30 mummified bodies in the primary chamber – the bodies of men, women and children – and an estimated further four in a side chamber. Two mummies, found overlapping, were believed to be the bodies of a mother and her child.

Further studies are required to determine the precise number of bodies found, Piacentini told CNN.

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The archaeologists mapped approximately 300 tombs in the Aswan region.

Some of the vases still contained food, while two statuettes depicted Ba, the Egyptian bird god who represented an aspect of the soul.

“We know that Aswan was important in the late Pharaonic and Greco-Roman periods, but we didn’t know where the people were buried,” Piacentini said. “Now we know where they are.”

“From the tombs, you can understand what they ate, how they died, at what age they died,” she said.

The tomb was discovered as part of a broader excavation mission, during which archaeologists mapped approximately 300 tombs in the region. A second mission will be carried out in November, Piacentini said, adding: “Much more surprises are waiting for us.”