A 26th Dynasty Mummy was Found in Bahariya Oasis

A 2500 year old sarcophagus containing an intact mummy was discovered early this week in Bahariya Oasis. The sarcophagus was found in a tomb, 12 meters deep under Al-Bawiti’s residential area.

Dr Zahi Hawass, Secretary General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA), said “The sarcophagus must have stayed closed from the moment it was buried until our mission discovered it.” He explained that as the archaeologists came upon the discovery they found that the ancient Egyptians had locked the sarcophagus

with a plaster sealing that was still intact. The sarcophagus is made of limestone. Dr. Hawass explained that the use of limestone means that the sarcophagus may have belonged to a high ranking official because limestone is not locally available in the Oasis and was brought from the Torra Quarry in Cairo. Farouk Hosni, the Minister of Culture, said that the mummy found inside the sarcophagus was totally intact. It was wrapped in its original linen according to the mummification techniques used during the Late Period. Dr. Hawass added that the X-rays executed on the mummy revealed that within the linen there are a number of amulets including the religious heart shaped ones.”

The preliminary study of the site shows that the newly discovered tomb most probably belonged to a member of the Badi-Isis family, one of the Oasis’s governors that ruled duding the 26^th Dynasty. The tomb of Badi-Isis was discovered last year and a well preserved anthropoid sarcophagus of the deceased was also found inside it.

Bahariya Oasis is a rich archaeological area that houses the Valley of the Golden Mummies as well as a number of 26^th Dynasty tombs.This excavation season, the Egyptian mission didn’t excavate in the Valley of the Golden Mummies because until now the site is overwhelmed with the discovery of 234 mummies.