Cairo: Egypt on Saturday displayed recently discovered, well-decorated ancient tombs at a pharaonic cemetery just outside the capital Cairo.
According to the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, the five tombs, discovered earlier this month, belong to the Old Kingdom (1570 BC and 1069 BC) and the First Intermediate Period, spanning more than a century after the fall of the Old Kingdom.
Mustafa Vaziri, secretary general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, said Egyptian archaeologists began excavating the site in September. He said the tombs were for regional rulers in ancient Egypt and senior officials, including palace overseers.
“All those five tombs are well painted, well decorated. The digging didn’t stop. We plan to continue our digging. We believe we can find more graves in this area.”
The tombs were found near the Step Pyramid of Djoser, in the Saqqara Cemetery, 24 kilometers (15 mi) southwest of Cairo.
Footage shared on the ministry’s social media pages showed graves being taken to the graves. The walls were decorated with hieroglyphic inscriptions and images of sacred animals and after-life objects used by the ancient Egyptians.
The Saqqara site is part of a larger necropolis in Egypt’s ancient capital, Memphis, which includes the famous Giza Pyramid as well as smaller pyramids at Abu Sar, Dahshur and Abu Ruwesh. The ruins of Memphis were designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in the 1970s.
In recent years, Egypt has promoted new archaeological discoveries to international media and diplomats in the hope of attracting more tourists to the country.
The vital tourism sector, a major source of foreign exchange for Egypt, faced political turmoil and violence following the 2011 uprising that toppled autocratic Hosni Mubarak.
The region recently began to recover from the coronavirus pandemic, but has been hit again by the effects of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Along with Russia, Ukraine is a major source of tourists visiting the Middle Eastern nation.
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