Ancient coffins, burial sites and a funerary temple were discovered in the Saqqara cemetery

Coffins, funerary masks and a funerary temple were discovered during an archaeological mission at Saqqara, a vast cemetery 32 kilometers (20 miles) south of Cairo that experts claim will rewrite the history of the region.

Three mud-brick warehouses – built to store supplies, offerings, and tools used in the Queen’s tomb – were also discovered attached to the temple.

A mummy is displayed during the official announcement of the discovery of the mission in the Egyptian cemetery of Saqqara, south of Cairo, on January 17th.

Khaled Desouky / AFP / Getty Images

Ornate wooden coffins were discovered on display during the official announcement of the discovery of a new collection of treasures in the Egyptian cemetery of Saqqara, south of Cairo, on January 17th.

Khaled Desouky / AFP / Getty Images

About 52 burial columns have been discovered, ranging from 10 to 12 meters deep and containing hundreds of wooden sarcophagi dating back to the New Kingdom period. Al-Ahram said that this discovery marks the first time that coffins dating back three thousand years have been found in the Saqqara region.

Scenes of the deities idolized during that period and excerpts from the Book of the Dead, believed to help the dead to cross into the other world, were found on the surface of coffins, and experts indicated that this recent discovery at the ancient site confirms that Saqqara was used as a tomb during the New Kingdom period – between 16th and 11th centuries BC – and not just during the late period.

Archaeologists also discovered a cache of 50 well-preserved wooden human-shaped coffins, along with wooden funerary masks, a shrine dedicated to the god Anubis, and artifacts in the shape of a bird and an ax in bronze.

The head of the Egyptian archaeological mission Zahi Hawass said that the recent discoveries will rewrite the history of Saqqara in the era of the modern state and confirm the importance of the cult of King Tete in the era of the nineteenth dynasty in the modern kingdom.

The statement added that the new discoveries “will rewrite the history of this region, especially during the 18th and 19th dynasties of the New Kingdom, where King Tete was worshiped, and citizens at that time were buried around his pyramid.”