Egypt — Egyptian archaeologists have unearthed several mummies, colourful wooden sarcophagi and more than 1,000 funerary statues in a 3,500-year-old tomb near the city of Luxor, hailing an "important discovery". The 18th dynasty tomb containing at least eight mummies was discovered in the Draa Abul Nagaa necropolis near the famed Valley of the Kings, the antiquities ministry said in a statement on Tuesday. It belonged to a nobleman named Userhat who worked as the city judge. It was opened to add more mummies during the 21st dynasty, about 3,000 years ago, to protect them during a period when tomb-robbing was common, Mostafa Waziri, the head of the archaeological mission, said at the site. "It was a surprise how much was displayed inside," Egypt’s antiquities minister, Khaled el-Enany, told reporters outside the tomb. "We found a large number of ushabti [small carved figurines], more than 1,000 of them. This is an important discovery." Ushabti figurines were often placed with the dec...
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