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Egypt's newly discovered tombs hold mummies, animal statues


A top Egyptian antiquities official says local archaeologists have discovered seven Pharaonic Age tombs near the capital Cairo containing dozens of cat mummies along with wooden statues depicting other animals and birds.

Mostafa Waziri told reporters on Saturday that the discovery at Saqqara also includes mummies of scarabs, the first ever to be found in the area.

Of the statues found, those depicting cats were the majority, reflecting the reverence ancient Egyptians showed the felines, whose God Bastet was worshipped.

Artifacts on display in their glass case in front of newly discovered tombs, at an ancient necropolis near Egypt’s famed pyramids in Saqqara on Saturday. Source: AP Photo via AAP
Artifacts on display in their glass case in front of newly discovered tombs, at an ancient necropolis near Egypt’s famed pyramids in Saqqara on Saturday. Source: AP Photo via AAP
Mummified cats inside a tomb, at an ancient necropolis near Egypt’s famed pyramids in Saqqara, Giza, Egypt, on Saturday, November10. Source: AP Photo via AAP
Mummified cats inside a tomb, at an ancient necropolis near Egypt’s famed pyramids in Saqqara, Giza, Egypt, on Saturday, November10. Source: AP Photo via AAP

Other statues depicted a lion, a cow and a falcon.

Egypt has been whipping up publicity for its new historical discoveries in the hopes of reviving a devastated tourism sector still recovering from the turmoil following a 2011 uprising that toppled longtime autocrat Hosni Mubarak.

An archeologist and workers from Upper Egypt carry artifacts found in newly discovered tomb, at an ancient necropolis near Egypt’s famed pyramids in Saqqara, Giza, Egypt, on Saturday, Nov. 10. Source: AP via AAP
An archeologist and workers from Upper Egypt carry artifacts found in newly discovered tomb, at an ancient necropolis near Egypt’s famed pyramids in Saqqara, Giza, Egypt, on Saturday, Nov. 10. Source: AP via AAP