2,500-year-old mummies have been found in Egypt. Can they be damned?

Thousands of years ago, there existed on our planeta huge number of civilizations. Ancient Egypt was considered one of the largest, whose representatives lived in northeast Africa, along the longest river Nile. The capital of Egypt thousands of years ago was Memphis, the exact number of inhabitants of which is still unknown. But scientists have long found out that people who died in this city were buried in a complex of burials. Saqqara... It is located 30 kilometers from Cairo, whichis the current capital of Egypt. Excavations in this place are carried out regularly, so discoveries are also made very often. Recently, archaeologists descended to great depths of the earth and found 27 sarcophagi, which were buried about 2500 years ago. But why is this find considered very important and could it be that they are cursed?

One of the perfectly preserved sarcophagi

Archaeological finds in Egypt

An important find of archaeologists was told inscientific publication Science Alert. In particular, they managed to unearth sarcophagi, which are coffins that were used in Ancient Egypt. As a rule, they were made of expensive wood and decorated with various patterns. Only very important people could be buried inside the sarcophagus. On the surface of the coffins, the name of the deceased person was usually written, as well as spells protecting him from evil spirits. In addition to the Egyptians, sarcophagi were actively used by the Romans and representatives of other civilizations.

Egyptian sarcophagi slightly repeated the shape of the human body

The sarcophagi were found at a depth of 11 meters,which is pretty deep for this kind of research. In early September, they found 14 ancient coffins and then, after a while, discovered 13 more graves. According to researchers' calculations, the sarcophagi were created about 2500 years ago. And all this time they remained intact - this is considered their main feature,which adds value to the discovery. Indeed, by the time of discovery by scientists, many sarcophagi are already opened by treasure hunters. This is not such a rare phenomenon that existed hundreds of years ago and continues to exist even now.

The discovered sarcophagi are very colorfully decorated

Unfortunately, scientists have not yet sharedthe results of opening the sarcophagi. We don't even know if they will open them. They only shared pictures showing that the ancient coffins are perfectly preserved. They are covered with many drawings, having studied which scientists will be able to tell who exactly was the person buried inside the sarcophagus. I talked about how the appearance of the sarcophagus can tell about the life of a buried person in the material about the mummy of an Egyptian woman named Takerheb. Her coffin was made of expensive materials, and the image of the goddess of death Amentet was painted on the outside and inside of its lid. It is believed that such drawings helped people calmly go into the world of the dead.

Read also: 10 topical inventions of Ancient Egypt today

Curses of Egypt

The discovered sarcophagi for more than two thousand years have notwere touched by people. The question arises - can they be damned? Indeed, after the discovery of the tomb of Tutankhamun in 1922, the archaeologists involved in the study took turns starting to die... Before that, the head of the researchHoward Carter saw a bird in his house being eaten by a snake. But in Egyptian mythology, it is believed that snakes attack the enemies of the pharaohs. I talked about this incident in more detail in the article about the secrets of the construction of ancient pyramids. Take the time to read this material and find out why the curses of the pharaohs are myths.

Howard Carter at the opening of Tutankhamun's tomb

But archaeologists should still be carefulbecause there is still a danger when opening sarcophagi. These coffins have lain underground for thousands of years and no one knows what bacteria and fungi could multiply inside them all this time. It may also be that poisonous substances could be embedded in the sarcophagi. There is a high degree of probability that the aforementioned discoverers of the tomb of Tutankhamun were also poisoned by volatile mushroom spores or ancient poisons. So it is important for archaeologists to wear protective suits and monitor their health.

If you are interested in the news of science and technology, subscribe to our channel in Yandex. Dzen. There you will find materials that have not been published on the site!

Researchers hope that new sarcophagiwill attract the attention of tourists. Indeed, due to the coronavirus pandemic, tourism has suffered a lot and it is important for this segment to get out of a difficult situation. In July, the Egyptian authorities resumed tours of the Giza pyramids and even slightly reduced prices. But some people do not really want to visit the ancient sights of Egypt, because they consider it a waste of money. And that's why.