Saqqara (Egypt) (AFP)
Egypt unveiled on Saturday dozens of wooden and bronze statuettes and five lion cub mummies in the Saqqara necropolis, south of Cairo.
Mummies of cats, cobras, crocodiles and beetles were also recently exhumed by a team of Egyptian archaeologists on this site, known for its pyramids.
The Ministry of Antiquities announced the discovery at a press conference held in the necropolis, at the foot of the temple of the goddess Bastet, dedicated to the cult of cats in ancient Egypt.
Minister of Antiquities Khaled El-Enany, who spoke of a "real museum", said that these finds date from the 26th dynasty that dates back to the 7th century BC. JC.
The discovery also includes a collection of statuettes of ancient Egyptian deities, including 73 bronze statuettes of Osiris, six wooden statues of Ptah and 11 statues of Sekhmet.
For several years, the Egyptian authorities have regularly announced archaeological discoveries, with the aim, among other things, of boosting tourism, undermined by political instability and the attacks that followed the 2011 revolution that drove Hosni Mubarak out of power.
Many critics mention, however, the state of disrepair of certain archaeological sites and museums.
© 2019 AFP