Egypt: 30 mummies discovered in Valley of the Kings

W/S Deir el-Bahari mortuary temples
W/S Coffins on display
M/S Press and coffins
C/U Coffins
M/S Coffins on display
M/S Coffins on display
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M/S Coffins on display
SOT, Mostafa Waziri, Secretary-General of Supreme Council of Antiquities: "It's one of the most important caches for myself. Why is that? Because it was discovered by Egyptian hands. Look at the coffins, we are talking about 30 wooden coffins in perfect condition of preservation. The question is, some have hands like this and some open. The open ones are women, the closed ones are men. We are back to the dynasty number 22, which means 940 BC."
M/S Coffins on display
C/U Coffin detail
C/U Coffin detail
M/S Coffins on display
M/S Coffins on display
M/S Coffins on display
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M/S Coffins on display
C/U Coffin
SOT, Mostafa Waziri, Secretary-General of Supreme Council of Antiquities: "And we found the mummies in perfect condition of reservation. We were expecting that from the beginning. Why is that?
Because if we are going to look very carefully, they are sealed, they are sealed and we can see the [inaudible] everywhere. And we didn't see and didn't find any kind of remains of termites or humans. What does that mean? It means it was completely dry, no termites, so the mummies will be perfect"
C/U Coffin
M/S Experts around coffin
M/S Coffin being opened
C/U Mummy inside coffin
M/S Coffin being closed
C/U Coffin being sealed
C/U Coffin being sealed
SOT, Zahi Hawass, Egyptian archaeologist and former antiquities minister: "For the first time, as an Egyptian to be proud that this discovery made by Egyptians, because the other caches found by foreigners because most of the major discovers in the Valley of the Kings was made by foreigners."
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SCRIPT
Egyptian archaeologists revealed the discovery of 30 ancient wooden coffins containing mummies near Luxor on Saturday.
The discovery was unveiled in front of Hatshepsut Temple in the Valley of the Kings.
The cache was the first to be dug up by an Egyptian mission, after years of foreign-led archaeological digs. A point that the Secretary-General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities Mostafa Waziri and former antiquities minister Zahi Hawass were proud to emphasise.
The mummies were wrapped in cloth and placed inside sealed sarcophagi. Coffins with carved hands open were female, while if the hands were balled into firsts, they held males, according to Waziri.
The scenes carved on the side of the wooden caskets represented different aspects of the afterlife.
The burial site dates from the 22nd dynasty, around 1,000 BC.