Egypt announced the discovery of a new treasure in the Saqqara necropolis south of Cairo, including an old funerary temple.
The ministry of tourism and antiquities said the “great discoveries” made by a team of archaeologists led by Egyptologist Zahi Hawass also included more than 50 sarcophagi.
The wooden sarcophagi, dating from the New Empire period – between the 16th and 11th centuries BC – were found in 52 tombs at depths of 10 to 12 meters (40 feet).
Hawass said that the funeral temple of Queen Naert, wife of King Teti, as well as three brick deposits were also found at the site.
Saqqara, home to more than a dozen pyramids, ancient monasteries and animal graveyards, was a vast necropolis of the ancient Egyptian capital of Memphis that has become a UNESCO world heritage site.
In November, Egypt announced the discovery of more than 100 intact sarcophagi, the biggest discovery of the year.
The sealed wooden coffins, discovered alongside statues of ancient deities, dated back more than 2,500 years and belonged to senior officials from the late and early Ptolemaic period of ancient Egypt. At the time, the minister of tourism and antiques, Khaled al-Anani, predicted that “Saqqara has not yet revealed all of its content”.
Hawass said the latest findings could shed new light on Saqqara’s history during the New Empire. The discovery was made near the pyramid where King Teti, the first pharaoh of the sixth dynasty of the Ancient Kingdom, is buried.
Egypt hopes that the archaeological discoveries will stimulate tourism, a sector that has suffered several shocks, from the 2011 uprisings to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
At the end of this year, and after several delays, the authorities hope to open a new museum – the Great Egyptian Museum – on the Giza plateau.
In recent years, there has been a flood of excavations in Saqqara, home to the step pyramid of Djoser, one of the first built in ancient Egypt.