The largest archaeological treasure in Egypt in a century

The Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities announced in an official statement the extraction of thirty wooden coffins preserved in good condition in the area of ​​the cemetery of Assasif, which is located on the west bank of the Nile in the governorate of Luxor.

According to the Egyptian Scout Mission, the coffins were a collection of Luxor priests, priests and children who served the gods Amun and Khonsu three thousand years ago.These sarcophagi were preserved from the moment they were left completely closed and the mummies in two levels included the first 12 coffins and the second 18 coffins.

The first in a century
According to a statement issued by the Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities issued on Sunday, October 20, 2019, this is the first large human coffin cache to be fully uncovered since the nineteenth century, and the most famous previous discoveries of this kind is the cache of Deir el-Bahari announced in 1881, The tomb of King Amenhotep II was proclaimed in 1898 and the cache of Bab al-Jisis in 1891.

The most distinctive in this collection of coffins is the retention of a full state of inscriptions and colors, which enabled the Scouting Mission to identify a number of topics on which it was inscribed, which contained parts of the Book of the Dead and texts representing songs of some deities with scenes showing the offering of offerings to King Amenhotep I.

According to the Egyptian declaration, this collection is also characterized by the fact that it provides evidence of the different stages of the process of making coffins in that period, some of which are full of decoration and colors, while others are in the early stages of manufacturing.

This is important for the study of this period of Egypt's history, which witnessed a state of instability where the theft of tombs spread and thus less construction and the Egyptians took care of wooden coffins as safe alternatives, especially with finding good places to hide from the eyes of thieves.

The Great Egyptian Museum
The Director General of Archaeological Affairs of the Grand Egyptian Museum, Tayeb Abbas, according to the ministry statement, announced that the entire collection will be moved to a special exhibition venue in the Grand Egyptian Museum, scheduled to open in 2020.

In the past few years, Egypt has worked to revitalize research work to explore ancient monuments in order to attract tourists.According to the Central Bank of Egypt data, tourism in Egypt has witnessed a huge leap, with revenues reaching $ 12.6 billion last year, representing More than double tourism revenues in 2016.