Experts Make Massive Discovery Under the Sand of the Egyptian Desert — and It's Left Them Puzzled

A team of archeologists say they have unearthed an ancient cemetery in the Egyptian desert containing more than one million mummies buried approximately 1,500 years ago.

"We are fairly certain we have over a million burials within this cemetery. It's large, and it's dense," project director Kerry Muhlestein said while presenting his findings in Toronto last month, according to Live Science.

Image source: Facebook / BYU in Egypt

The discovery, however, has left the experts from Utah's Brigham Young University a bit baffled.

According to Live Science, the archeologists have yet to determine where the million mummies came from.

Image source: Facebook / BYU in Egypt

A nearby village appears too small, the researchers said, and another ancient town close by had a burial site of its own. A small pyramid is located nearby, Live Science reported, but the researchers dismissed it as an explanation since it was built two centuries before the cemetery was used.

"It's hard to know where all these people were coming from," Muhlestein said, according to Live Science.

Image source: Facebook / BYU in Egypt

The burial grounds, which have been excavated for the past 30 years, are referred to as Fag el-famous, which means "Way of the Water Buffalo," Live Science reported. The name seemingly comes from a nearby road.

According to researchers, royalty was not buried at this particular cemetery, Live Science reported. However, despite the buried dead's lack of wealth, archeologists have recovered artifacts such as linen and glass.

"A lot of their wealth, as little as they had, was poured into these burials," Muhlestein said.

Image source: Facebook / BYU in Egypt

Image source: Facebook / BYU in Egypt

In one case, experts unearthed a mummy who was so tall, he didn't fit into his grave.

"We once found a male who was over 7 feet tall who was far too tall to fit into the shaft, so they bent him in half and tossed him in," Muhlestein said. 

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