Monday, April 12, 2010

New Tombs found at Bahariya Oasis Egypt

Egyptian archaeologists carrying out excavations at the site of a planned youth center have found 14 tombs dating back to the third century BC. One of the tombs had a female mummy adorned with incredible jewelry. The female mummy, found in the stair-lined interior of one of the rock-hewn tombs, was cast in colored plaster inlaid with jewelry and eyes.

Archaeologists, who dug at the site ahead of the planned construction of a youth center, found the tombs contained other treasures as well. The area has now been turned over to Egypt's antiquities authority.

The Greco-Roman tombs, in Bahariya Oasis (190 miles southwest of Cairo), were discovered during probes that indicated they may be part of a much larger necropolis, Egypt's Culture Ministry said in a statement Monday.

"Early investigations uncovered four anthropoid masks made of plaster, a gold fragment decorated with engravings of the four sons of Horus, and a collection of coins, and clay and glass vessels," the ministry's statement quoted Egypt's chief archaeologist Zahi Hawass as saying.

Bahariya Oasis is home to Egypt's famed Valley of the Golden Mummies, where a collection of 17 tombs with about 254 mummies was discovered in 1996.