Egyptian mission unearths 20 golden Mummies

Egypt's Culture Minister Farouq Hosni announced yesterday that the Egyptian archaeological mission operating in Bahreya Oases in Giza governorate unearthed 20 golden mummies similar to those discovered before in the golden mummies valley in the area.

This brings to 234 the number of discovered mummies so far, the minister said in press statements.

Hosni said that the mission, headed by Supreme Council of Antiquities,(SCA) Secretary General Zahi Hawas, also found with the mummies 50 bronze coins the deceased had kept to pay for his crossing to the other world via special boats for that purpose.

Hawas said another mission working in Sheikh Sobi area, located inside Al-Baweiti city in Bahreya Oases, unearthed a new tomb belonging to a member of the family of High Priest Badi Isis.

He added that inside the tomb there was a five-meter-deep burial well which houses a limestone sarcophagus and a set of potteries.

Hawas said that initial examination of the sarcophagus indicates it has been opened before, expecting to find no mummy inside.