The remains of Egypt’s rich history continue to show up in unexpected ways in the ancient nation. Take, for instance, researcher’s most recent finding: mummies casually floating down a dirty sewage canal.
The Ministry of Antiquities have announced the finding of two new mummies found floating in sewage in a small village near Minya in upper Egypt. The discoveries, complete with sarcophagi, go back to the Greco-Roman era, as indicated by how their remains were buried.
Though both sarcophaguses did not feature any hieroglyphics, their lids boasted colorful images of women with clear outlines that illustrated their faces’ contours. However, the the ministry revealed that the encasings were badly disintegrated due to the waste-filled sewage waters.
Thick layers of linen covered the mummies, with very few human remains left inside the wrappings, the Cairo Scene reported.
In a press release published by the ministry’s media office, the ministry believes that the tombs were most likely unearthed through illegal digging by citizens residing in the area. And due to the severe restrictions surrounding illegal digging operations in the area, the residents simply got rid of the mummies in the sewage – unaware of their cultural value.
Head of the antiquities sector at the ministry, Youssef Khalifa, said, “The robbers may have resorted to dumping these sarcophagi in the irrigation canal when they felt that authorities were closing in on them, or perhaps when they were approaching a security checkpoint.”
Due to their poor conditions, attempts to fully restore the mummies and each sarcophagi have so far been mildly successful. According to Khalifa, once the restoration is as complete as it can possibly be the mummies and sarcophaguses will be displayed in Minya’s Hermopolis Museum.
This isn’t the first time that new mummies and remnants from Egypt’s glorious past have been unexpectedly discovered in the country. And there’s no telling as to whether or not it’ll be the last.
