17 mummies discovered in central Egypt

TOUNA EL-GABAL, Egypte: Egyptian archaeologists have discovered 17 mummies in desert catacombs in Minya province, an "unprecedented" find for the area south of Cairo, the antiquities ministry announced on Saturday.

Archaeologists found the non-royal mummies in a series of corridors after following the trail of burial shafts in the Touna-Gabal district of the central Egyptian province, the ministry said in a statement.

Along with the mummies, they found a golden sheet and two papyri in Demotic -- an ancient Egyptian script -- as well as a number of sarcophogi made of limestone and clay.

There were also animal and bird coffins, the ministry said.

But the mummies have not yet been dated.

The ministry said they belonged to the Late Period, which spanned almost 300 years up to Alexander the Great’s conquest of Egypt in 332 BC.

But a spokeswoman told AFP they could also date from the Ptolemaic Dynasty, founded by Alexander the Great’s general Ptolemy.

The discovery of the non-royal mummies is considered unprecedented because it is the first such find in the area, officials said at the site.

Egyptologist Salah al-Kholi told a news conference held near the desert site that the discovery was "the first human necropolis found in central Egypt with so many mummies".

It could herald even more discoveries in the area, he said.

The discovery was "important, unprecedented", Mohamed Hamza, director of excavations for Cairo University said.

The site is close to an ancient animal cemetery.  "The discovery is still at its beginning," Antiquities Minister Khaled al-Enany told reporters.