Anany: Assasif discovery the most important in modern era, coffins to be placed at GEM

CAIRO – 19 October 2019: The Egyptian minister of Antiquities Khaled Anany announced that the Assasif discovery is the most important in the modern era.

The Egyptian mission discovered in the cachette 30 coffins that date back to the 22nd dynasty.




Anany added that an integrated hall is currently being prepared in the Grand Egyptian Museum to house all the coffins discovered at Assasif archaeological area.

The coffins were buried about one meter from the ground, where the first row contained 18 coffins, and the second 12 coffins for men and women, including 3 for young children.




The discovered coffins were placed by high priests to be stored in a store with a stone gate to prevent any robbery attempts.

Head of the supreme council of antiquities Mostafa Waziri elaborated in the press conference that the archaeologists working in the Egyptian missions have reached the highest levels of success, excellence and archaeological maturity, as they achieved a number of great successes and discoveries over the past years.

He added that the ministry of Antiquities for the first time in its history has about 40 purely Egyptian missions working in the different archaeological sites in Egypt to introduce the ancient Egyptian civilization to the whole world.

These Egyptian missions include distinguished team of technicians, archaeologists and restorers.

Director of archaeological excavations in Luxor Salah El Masekh said that Assasif necropolis houses the tombs of dynasties 18,25 and 26.

This discovery is considered one of the largest and most important discoveries that have been announced during the past few years.

Numerous breathtaking artifacts appeared to excavators of the Egyptian archaeological mission led by Waziri, where coffins are being extracted while many are still buried deep in the ground.





The colored sarcophaguses discovered in the cemetery of Assasif, west of Luxor belong to senior statesmen and middle class individuals in the 18th, 25th and 26th ancient Egyptian dynasties.

Among the discovered artifacts are two small colored sarcophaguses likely belonging to two children buried in the ancient cemetery.

On Tuesday Oct. 15, officials at the Ministry of Antiquities conducted a full inspection of the coffins and the cache found arranged and stockpiled on top of each other in a very distinctive state of preservation.

Professional restorers and archaeologists began to open the coffins one by one to find out their contents which turned out to be human remains belonging to a number of individuals of the ancient Pharaonic dynasties.

Those coffins were prepared for burial in the tombs of the middle class families in the cemetery of Assasif.

It is likely that the coffins were exhumed and buried again to re-use the tombs at Mount Kurna, in successive eras from the ancient Egyptian state.

The Ministry of Antiquities and the Supreme Council of Antiquities held an international press conference in Luxor on Oct. 19 to reveal all the findings in the area and explain to the world the endless magic of the ancient Egyptian civilization.

The press conference was attended by international and local media outlets, in addition to officials of the ministries of antiquities and tourism, and leaders of various foreign countries to celebrate this historic event and contribute to the promotion of tourism in Egypt.