Feb 10, 2006, 17:41 GMT
Cairo - The five mummies recently discovered in the upper Egyptian city of Luxor have not yet been identified, leaving all options open in determining to whom the ages-old bodies belong, an Egyptian antiquities official said Friday.
A painted anthropoid sarcophagi lies among four other sarcophagi and funerary objects Friday 10 February 2006 in the first tomb to be discovered in the Valley of the Kings in Luxor since Tutankhamun's discovery in 1922. A team of American archaeologists led by Otto Shaden from the University of Memphis made the discovery a few days ago and have yet to enter the tomb and open the sarcophagi. The tomb which is only five meters from King Tut's contains what is believed to be 18th Dynasty (1500 BC) era mummies of royal or high priest stature. EPA/MIKE NELSON
Speaking at a press conference in Luxor, the secretary-general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA), Zahi Hawass, said the mummies could be of kings, queens or princes from the 18th Dynasty (circa 1539-1292 BC), or of nobles or people close to the royal family.
Hawass also raised the possibility that the mummies may have been relocated from other tombs to keep them out of the reach of thieves.
The mummies would undergo extensive studies to determine their identity, said Sabry Abdel Aziz, head of the Pharaonic departnemt at the SCA.
The figures would be treated, restored and reinforced before being considered for display either inside the tomb where they were found or in a museum.
On Wednesday, the antiquities council announced that an American archaeological mission discovered the tomb in Luxor's Valley of the Kings, next to the burial place of King Tut. Five mummies and dozens of clay pots were found inside.
An excavation team from the University of Memphis made the find Tuesday five metres from Tutankhamun's tomb while undertaking routine excavation work.
Located some three metres below ground, the tomb contained five human mummies with coloured funerary masks enclosed in sarcophagi and several large storage jars.
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