Valley of the Golden Mummies

The oasis of Bahariya has become famous in recent years for the astonishing discovery of a Roman Period necropolis now known to the world as the Valley of the Golden Mummies. Although the news was only released to the press in 1999, the discovery took place early in 1996 when antiquities inspector Ashry Shaker announced to Dr Zahi Hawass “We have found beautiful mummies . . .” and perhaps these words will be immortalized in the history books in the same way that other famous accidental discoveries of Egyptology have been. The 2000-year-old cemetery was found when the donkey of an antiquities guard stumbled into a hole at the side of the road about 6km south of Bawiti in Baharia Oasis, near the ruined Temple of Alexander. Further investigations revealed what could be the most spectacular discovery since Howard Carter opened the tomb of Tutankhamun

The first season of excavations in Bahariya started in 1999, by an Egyptian team under the direction of General Director of the Antiquities at Giza area at that time when a total of 108 mummies were found in four tombs in the first part of the necropolis to be investigated. they stated that, “When the first tomb was opened, the brilliance of gold shone in the sunlight among the piles of sand”. The cemetery, which is thought to cover an area around 6km square, has been estimated by the inspectors to contain more than 10,000 mummies. The Roman population of Bahariya were laid in rows in multi-chambered family tombs, left undisturbed by robbers, their burials still intact. Some of the mummies were encased in gilded or painted coffins, some wore golden masks and jewellery and were surrounded by their burial goods of wine jars, coins, pottery and amulets for use in the afterlife.

The second season’s excavations (in 2000) revealed another seven tombs and 103 mummies. As well as the beautifully decorated masks and coffins, wooden panels or stelae were found, some in the shape of a temple and decorated with depictions of Osiris, Anubis and Horus, traditional funerary deities. In the 2001 season a further three tombs were uncovered, containing 22 mummies, bringing the total to 233 burials. The richest burial so far was discovered in Tomb 54, in which the mummy wore a golden mask with a uraeus, the spitting cobra, a symbol of royalty, which Dr Hawass suggests, probably indicates the desire of the deceased to have a kingly transfiguration in the afterlife.

There are generally four different styles of mummies found in the necropolis. The first, for which the Valley of the Golden Mummies was named, are those with a gilded face mask and a gilded chest-covering decorated with deities. The second type of burial are those in cartonnage coffins brightly painted with Egyptian funerary scenes, while in the third type, the bodies were placed inside an undecorated anthropoid pottery coffin. The fourth style of mummies are unique in that they were entirely covered in simple linen wrappings, more reminiscent of New Kingdom burials. One of the most interesting discoveries from Bahariya is that reeds or sticks were placed along either side of the bodies during this period, before wrapping in linen, making the finished mummy very strong and explaining their well-preserved condition.

Now you visit the Bawati Museum - also know as the Antiquities Inspectorate Museum - to see the famous Graeco-Roman mummies and their gold painted sarcophagi, the mummies are a part of a vast necropolis believed to contain more than 10,000 mummies. The mummies are decorated with ornate masks and jewellery. Note the life-like curly hair and eyelashes of some of the mummies.