Mummies found in 4,300 year-old pharaonic tomb at Gisr al-Moudir, south of Cairo.
Egyptian archaeologists have discovered dozens of mummies and several stone and wood sarcophagi south of Cairo in a pharaonic tomb estimated to be 4,300 years old, the ministry of culture said on Monday.
The find was made at Gisr al-Moudir, west of Egypt's first ever pyramid at Saqqara, the step pyramid of Djoser built by architect Imhotep in around 2,700 BC, the ministry said in a statement.
"The tomb dates from the era of the VIth dynasty of the Old Kingdom, about 4,300 years ago," Egypt's antiquities supremo Zahi Hawass said.
"Thirty mummies and skeletons were discovered, including a wooden sarcophagus that has been sealed since the pharaonic era in the burial chamber at a depth of 11 metres (36 feet)."
Four other stone sarcophagi and another wooden one were also found in the tomb. Twenty of the mummies were stored in niches.
The mud-brick tomb commemorates a priest who was also a choir leader, Hawass said.
Another 11-metre shaft leading to the burial chamber, but built much later in around 640 BC, was also discovered.
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