Luxor: Egypt presents sensational sarcophagus find

Egypt has presented the largest sarcophagus find in the Valley of the Kings in Luxor for more than a century. The 30 wooden coffins lay stacked in two rows only one meter underground in the necropolis of Asasif on the west bank of the Nile. Archaeologists had discovered them there.

"It is the largest find of coffins for humans since the end of the 19th century," said Egypt's Minister of Ancient Affairs Khaled El-Enany.

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The intricately decorated coffins are about 3000 years old and come from the 22nd Dynasty. Despite their age, the ornamentation with snakes, birds and lotus flowers in black, green, red and yellow color are still clearly visible. Inside, the mummies of women, children and men still rest.

The coffins were probably in such good condition because there were hardly any settlements nearby, Saleh Abdel-Gelil said. In densely populated areas such finds are often destroyed by construction or plowing fields.

The archaeologists assume that the sarcophagi are the families of high priests. The coffins are now to be conserved and exhibited in the Great Egyptian Museum, which will be opened next year near the Pyramids of Giza.