Egypt on Monday exhibited a well-preserved sarcophagus painted with bronze statues of ancient deities and artifacts recently discovered in the famous Sakara Negropolis near Cairo, some 2,500 years old.
The artwork was on display at a makeshift exhibition at the base of the pyramid, according to Dijoser, in Saqqara, 24 kilometers southwest of the Egyptian capital.
Mostafa Waziri, chairman of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, explained that the discovery contained 250 well-preserved mummies and 150 bronze statues of ancient deities inside the painted sarcophagus.
Also on display were bronze vases used in the rites of Isis, the god of fertility, according to Egyptian mythology, dating to the late 500s BC.
Also on display is a headless bronze statue of Imhotep, the chief architect of Pharaoh Djoser, who ruled ancient Egypt from 2630 BC to 2611 BC.
The pieces will be moved to a permanent exhibition at the new Grand Egyptian Museum, which is still under construction near the famous Giza pyramids on the outskirts of Cairo.
The Saqqara site is part of an extensive necropolis in Memphis, the ancient capital of Egypt, which includes the Pyramids of Giza and the smaller pyramids of Abu Sir, Tahsur and Abu Ruwesh.
The ruins of Memphis were declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in the 1970s.
Recent archaeological discoveries have greatly encouraged Egypt in the hope of attracting more tourists.
The tourism sector, a major source of foreign currency, has experienced years of political turmoil and violence following the 2011 uprising that overthrew dictator Hosni Mubarak.
As the Kovit-19 epidemic was recovering, the sector was again affected by the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Along with Russia, Ukraine is a major source of tourists to Egypt.
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