Mummy count continues to grow at ancient Egypt burial site

By Owen Jarus – Live Science Contributor 

More than 100 found in shafts so far.

A close-up showing one of the mummy filled coffins. The colors are remarkably well preserved despite the passage of over 2,000 years of time.(Image: © Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities)

The number of mummy-filled coffins found in a series of burial shafts at Saqqara in Egypt keeps growing, archaeologists with the Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities reported. 

At the start of September, the team had found 13 coffins with mummies inside. By the beginning of October, that number had risen to 59, and now the number is over 100, archaeologists reported in a statement issued Saturday (Nov. 14). 

People are “asking how many coffins did we find. The answer is I don’t know yet,” said Mustafa Waziri, the secretary general of Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities, in a video released by the ministry and the Smithsonian Channel, which is filming the excavations. 

Related: Image gallery: Mummy evisceration techniques

Inside the burial shafts, the team also found 40 statues depicting the deity “Ptah-Soker,” the ministry said. This deity is an amalgamation of “Ptah,” who was the god of Memphis, and “Soker,” who was the god of Saqqara. Archaeologists also found 20 wooden boxes showing depictions of Horus — an Egyptian sky god with a falcon head. Additionally, two wooden statues are inscribed with the name “Phnomus,” though the researchers are still trying to figure out who that person was in antiquity.

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Numerous shabti figurines were also found. Ancient Egyptians believed that shabtis acted as servants for the deceased in the afterlife. …...more here

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