Discover an open mummy in Egypt

Egyptian archaeologists have found a mummy of a woman who lived about 2,300 years ago.

The mummy is about 2,300 years old.Photo: AFP .

Reuters said the archaeological team found 14 tombs in the Bahariya oasis of the Libyan desert. This oasis is about 300 km southwest of the Egyptian capital Cairo. Mummies were found under one of 14 graves. The Egyptian Ministry of Culture thinks they can be part of a larger graveyard.

According to AFP, the mummy is in a cup of plaster with a length of 1 m. The coffin is sculpted quite sophisticatedly and shaped like a woman dressed in Roman fashion with long robes, headscarves, bracelets, necklaces and shoes. The mummy lived during the Greek-Roman period, about 2,300 years ago. Two gems in the corner of his eyes make the viewer feel that the mummy is still alive. This is the first Roman-style mummy discovered in Bahariya oasis.

"We think the mummy is a woman. Maybe this person is small or young," Zahi Hawass, secretary general of the Egyptian Supreme Council of Antiquities, told AFP.

Mahmoud Affifi, archaeological team leader, said the mausoleum contains a unique design with stairs and corridors. It was built around 300 BC.

The piece of gold has a picture of 4 sons of Horus god.Photo: Reuters.

CNN quoted the Egyptian Ministry of Culture as saying that archaeologists also found many coins, glass and ceramic jars, masks and a piece of gold depicting the four sons of Horus - a deity important in the beliefs of ancient Egyptians. The Egyptians believed four Horus sons protected the stomach, liver, lungs and intestines of mummies.

Bahariya oasis is where archaeologists found many mummies. In 1996 it was discovered 17 tombs with 254 mummies here.

The Greek period began with the conquest of Alexander the Great in 332 BC. Although Alexander was the king of Macedonia, the years of his occupation of Egypt could be considered a Greek rule for two reasons. First, basically Macedonian people of Greek ethnicity. 90% of the vocabulary in their language is Greek. Secondly, most of the officials who ruled Egypt were Greeks and Egyptians who were also influenced by Greek culture under King Alexander.

After Alexander's death in 323 BC, his empire quickly collapsed. The territory of Egypt returned to the people of this country.