Massive ancient ‘City of the Dead’ with 1,400 mummies in hidden tombs from 2,500 years ago uncovered in Egypt
Astonishingly preserved mummies have been recovered in Egypt, unveiling years of rich history - but scientists say they'll rebury them
THE tombs of over a thousand mummies have been miraculously recovered in Egypt, with scientists revealing their causes of death.
The massive burial site in Egypt’s Aswan uncovered 36 tombs that were shockingly reused across centuries – containing around three dozen mummies in each.
Situated on the Nile River’s east bank, the city of Aswan was an important trade, quarry and military zone in its time.
It was first established more than 4,500 years ago – but the people have stood a mystery for experts.
Now the astonishing burial site has uncovered 36 new tombs that are thought to date between 600BC and 200 or 300AD.
Many contain families who are thought to have tragically died from infectious diseases.
The first tomb at the site, discovered in 2019, contained four mummies – two of whom were thought to be mother and child.
But scientists were shocked to discover this was not the case.
Archaeologist Patrizia Piacentini told the : “At the beginning, we thought they were mother and child, but new CT scans showed they are two children.
“But we recently found a woman near them who was likely their mother and the remains of a man, likely the father.”
The incredible discovery also revealed how people were buried according to their class.
Experts found so-called ‘elites’ at the top of the hill, while the middle class sat below.
But in a scientific breakthrough, initial studies on the remains show how some mummies died of ancient illness.
Ms Piacentini told the : “some suffered from infectious diseases, while others had bone disorders.
“The children suffered from anemia, malnutrition and in some cases infectious diseases.
“Some of the bones we found had clear signs of tuberculosis.
“Another case of amputation was also found in a woman who had her leg removed but survived.”
The incredible discovery could rewrite the books on ancient illness or even help modern cures.
The archaeology team plans to conduct studies on all the mummies but store the most preserved ones in a museum-owned warehouse.
Ms Piacentini said the experts will clean the tomb, lay the mummies back to rest and then reseal the tomb.
She said: “This is their resting place,
“We uncover their story and then we put them back and close the tomb.
“For me, it was important from the beginning.”
A brief history of Ancient Egypt
Here's everything you need to know...
- The Ancient Egyptians were an advanced civilisation who at one point ruled over a huge portion of the globe
- The civilisation was founded about 5,000 years ago when ancient people set up villages along the River Nile
- It lasted for about 3,000 years and saw the building of complex cities centuries ahead of their time – as well as the famous Great Pyramids
- The Ancient Egyptians were experts at farming and construction
- They invented a solar calendar, and one of the world’s earliest writing systems: The hieroglyph
- The Egyptians were ruled by kings and queens called pharaohs
- Religion and the afterlife were a huge part of Ancient Egyptian culture. They had over 2,000 gods
- Pharaohs built huge elaborate tombs to be buried in, some of which were pyramids – at the time among the largest structures in the world
- The Egyptians believed in life after death, and important people’s corpses were mummified to preserve their bodies for the afterlife
- The Ancient Egyptian empire fell in 30BC due to a mix of factors, including wars with other empires and a 100-year period of drought and starvation
