Huge Tomb' in Egypt Yields Major Discovery

A large collection of mummies has been discovered in the Valley of the Kings in the Egyptian town of Luxor, Egypt’s antiquities minister announced on Monday.

The mummies are believed to be the remains of royal family members, including newborn babies, from the 18th Pharaonic dynasty, Reuters reported, and were all found in a “huge tomb.”

The massive cemetery which housed royal mummies including princes, princesses and babies was uncovered by Egypt’s antiquities ministry and a Swiss archaeological team. (Photo: Egyptian Supreme Council of Antiquities)

Along with the mummies, the remains of wooden coffins and death masks modeled on the facial features of the deceased were found in the cache, Antiquities Minister Mohamed Ibrahim said.

The Egyptian ministry worked on the dig alongside Switzerland’s Basel University archaeologists.

The official Egyptian news agency MENA reported that Ibrahim said the remains dated to Pharaonic dynasties between about 1567 and 1085 BC.

Swiss Egyptologist Helena Ballin told the Al Ahram news site that the mummies, which included princes and princesses, were well-preserved and that based on the findings, the royal tomb had been raided several times over thousands of years.