Ancient Egyptian mummy discovered 'in very good condition'
Spanish archaeologists have discovered an ancient Egyptian mummy in “very good condition” near Luxor, according to Egypt’s antiquities ministry.
The remains were found in a tomb probably dating from between 1075BC and 664BC on the west bank of the Nile, 435 miles (700km) south of Cairo, a statement said.
The sarcophagus. Photograph: AFP/Getty Images
The mummy, bound with linen stuck together with plaster, was in a brightly coloured wooden sarcophagus buried near a temple from the era of the warrior king Thutmose III.
The tomb was likely to have belonged to a nobleman, Amenrenef, who would have been a servant of the royal household, the ministry said.
The archaeological team’s head, Myriam Seco Alvarez, said the mummy was adorned with many colourful decorations recalling religious symbols from ancient Egypt, such as the goddesses Isis and Nephtys displaying their wings, and the four sons of Horus.
Evidence suggests that the practice of wrapping bodies to preserve them after death in Egypt dates back as far as 4500BC.
Luxor, a city of about 500,000 people, has many temples and tombs built by pharaohs. It is a key site for Egypt’s tourist industry, which has been battered by political instability and jihadi violence since the 2011 revolution that toppled the longtime dictator Hosni Mubarak.