Scientists have discovered the 'largest mummy workshop' ever

Archeologists in Egypt have discovered what they have called "the largest and most complete" mummification workshop ever at a site near Cairo.

As reported by The Telegraph, the site dates back to the 4th century and the 30th Dynasty in the early Ptolemaic era and is near the oldest stone pyramid in Egypt, Djoser's Step.

Mostafa Waziri, the secretary general of Egypt’s supreme council of Antiquities is quoted as saying: "Two stone beds for human embalming were found in a number of rooms. The beds were approximately two metres long and one metre wide. They were made of stone blocks and covered with a layer of mortar that sloped down to a gutter.

"The mummification beds were used to prepare the body by extracting the human organs, which were placed in canopic jars that were discovered."

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The mud brick site, which was only used for humans, reportedly contains two embalming beds, body organ tools, linen rolls and canopic jars. In a separate workshop, which was dedicated to mummifying just animals, bronze tools were found as well as five limestone beds.

EPA

Other artifacts that were found were intact wooden and stone statues, funerary objects as well as inscriptions on the tomb walls about various activities including hunting.

Perhaps the most interesting element of the find were two tombs believed to belong to high-ranking officials and priests that had been carved into stone. Experts at the site predict that the two tombs are 4,400 and 3,400-year-old respectively.

This comes after scientists in Germany found the remains of a lost city dubbed 'the Atlantis of the North Sea' which was swept away by waves more than 600 years ago.

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