Thirty-three family burials containing mummy remains and providing more knowledge about diseases from the late and Greco-Roman periods were discovered west of Aswan by an Egyptian-Italian mission, authorities announced on Monday .
The archaeological mission was working near the Aga Khan mausoleum in southeastern Egypt and discovered “33 tombs” dating back to the late (712 to 332 BC) and Greco-Roman (from 332 BC to 4th century AD), the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities said in a statement.
Archaeologists found “funeral tools and remains of mummies allowing us to learn more about the diseases” which were rampant at the time, according to the same source.
“Some mummies show signs of anemia, malnutrition, lung diseases, tuberculosis and osteoporosis,” said Patricia Piacentini, the head of the Italian counterpart of the mission and professor of Egyptology at the University of Milan.
Since 2018, the Egyptian-Italian mission has been excavating the area around the Aga Khan mausoleum, on the west bank of the Nile, opposite the city center of Aswan where Sir Sultan Mohammad Shah, considered in his time as the richest man in the world.
Egypt regularly announces archaeological discoveries, described by some experts as announcement effects having more political and economic than scientific significance.
Because the country of 106 million inhabitants, in serious economic crisis, is counting on the tourism sector (two million jobs and more than 10% of GDP) to restore its finances. His government is counting on 30 million tourists per year by 2028, compared to 13 million before Covid-19.
