Mysterious sarcophagus opened in Alexandria
Tehran (KNA) - Egyptian archaeologists have unsealed and opened a mysterious granite sarcophagus discovered on a construction site in Alexandria -- only to find the remains of three mummies in a pool of leaked sewage water.
Photos released Thursday evening by Egypt's Ministry of Antiquities show a team of archaeologists climbing down the 16-foot-deep (5 meter) pit and wedging the black sarcophagus open with a wooden plank. The experts had to wear masks over their mouths and noses to block the reportedly foul smell.
An archaeologist at the site, Shabaan Abdul, said that the remains most likely belonged to three military officers, according to a post on the ministry's Facebook page.
A ministry official, Aiman Ashmawy Ali, told CNN that the sarcophagus had been found in a previously unexcavated section of one of Alexandria's largest ancient cemeteries."
One of the mummies had a trace of an arrow in the head," he said in a phone interview. "It proves he died in a conflict. Maybe that explains three mummies in one big sarcophagus."
Source: CNN