Egypt denies discovery of cemetery of more than one million mummies

An official in Egypt's Ministry of Antiquities said claims of discovering a cemetery containing more than one million mummies were inaccurate.

The mummified remains of a child, about 18 months old, wrapped in a garment. It may have been buried and mummified 1,500 years ago. Photo: Kerry Muhlestein

"That's not correct. The cemetery has many mummies, but not a million," Yousef Khalifa, head of Egypt's antiquities and research authority, said on December 22.

Previously, Kerry Muhlestein, project director of the Brigham Young University archaeological team, USA, announced the discovery of a cemetery in Egypt containing more than one million mummies of unknown origin. Many mummies here date back to the period when the Roman or Eastern Roman Empire dominated Egypt, around the 1st to 7th centuries.

According to UPI, in the introduction of the research, Mr. Muhlestein admitted that not one million bodies have been exhumed. But the size and burial density of the cemetery suggests that there are about one million skeletons here.

"This mission violates the rules and regulations in the agreement with the Ministry of Antiquities, regarding making statements to the media. That is why the ministry decided to stop granting permission for activities at the archaeological site, after 28 years and the last research in March," Khalifa said.

Meanwhile, Muhlestein hopes the decision will be overturned and his team can resume research.

According to VnExpress