Mummy Discovery

As an excited crowd watched in October, researchers slowly opened an ancient coffin. Inside was a mummy wrapped in colorful cloth. Experts say it was the body of an Egyptian man who died about 2,600 years ago!

The coffin, or sarcophagus [sahr-KAHFuh- guhs], was one of dozens recently discovered near Cairo, Egypt’s capital. The coffins were underground in the Saqqara Necropolis [nuh-KRAH-poh-lihs]. The ancient cemetery is also the site of pyramids and other ruins.

In ancient Egypt, people often carefully wrapped up the bodies of those who died to prevent them from rotting away. They believed that a person needed his or her body in the afterlife.

Researchers say paintings on the coffins show that the people buried in them were priests and government officials. Other treasures were found at the site, including statues and jewels.

Archaeologists expect to discover even more mummies nearby. Who knows what else they will dig up!

“I consider this the beginning of a big discovery,” says Khaled El-Anany, an Egyptian official.