Public Prays that Petrified Ptolemaic People at Pyramids Will Propel Profits

Over 100 ancient tombs, perfectly preserved mummies, statues and other antique artifacts were revealed over the weekend in Saqqara, located south of Cairo, marking the latest archeological finding to be announced by Egyptian authorities. Local officials displayed the coffins and colorful sarcophagi, some nearly 3,000 years old, in a makeshift exhibit at the famed necropolis at Egypt’s ancient capital of Memphis, a UNESCO World Heritage site which holds the Giza Pyramids among other well-known ruins. “Saqqara has yet to reveal all of its contents. It is a treasure,” Tourism and Antiquities Minister Khaled El-Anany said. “Excavations are still under way. Whenever we empty a burial shaft of sarcophagi, we find an entrance to another.” The Cairo government is hoping that the recent well-publicized discoveries will help rejuvenate its struggling tourism industry and a stagnating Egyptian economy, hit hard by ongoing political strife and the crippling health crisis.