Egypt says finds are oldest evidence of mummification
SAKKARA, Egypt (Reuters) -- Egyptian archaeologists on Sunday opened a 5,000-year-old wooden coffin in the desert near Cairo to find a pile of bones which they said showed the oldest evidence yet found of human mummification in Egypt.
The bones were covered with a resin used in the mummification process and remnants of skin.
"This is ... the oldest evidence of mummification in Egypt," Egyptian antiquities chief Zahi Hawass told Reuters television.
The coffin was found in one of more than 20 mud-brick tombs, which Hawass said belonged to officials who had lived between 3100-2890 BC under Egypt's 1st Dynasty.
"We are continuing our excavations to reveal more about the tombs of the officials who ruled Egypt under the kings of dynasty one," Hawass said.
Egyptian mummification techniques developed over the centuries. Ancient Egyptians are known to have embalmed bodies by between 2613-2494 BC.
Methods used between 1567-1200 BC were the most effective at preserving dead and the remains of King Ramses II, who ruled during that period, have been displayed at the Egyptian Museum.
Techniques used between 1085-945 BC were the most elaborate, when the dried, washed and wrapped body was strapped with cloth for protection and covered with jewelry to ward off evil.
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