Egyptian antiquities authorities uncovered a large cache of mummified animals and what they say is the world's largest scarab beetle at the ancient Saqarra necropolis, south of Cairo on Saturday.
The discovery, made last year by an Egyptian archaeological mission uncovered a cache housing ancient artefacts including masks, statues and mummified cats, crocodiles, cobras and birds.
Secretary-general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, Mostafa Waziri who led the mission, said they also uncovered a tomb belonging to a fifth dynasty royal priest 'Wahtye'.
Waziri also said that CT scans done on five of the biggest mummified cats revealed that there is a strong likelihood they are lion cubs, according to the size and shape of the bones.
"This is not a tomb, but, it's a cache. It's a cache of the sacred birds, animals mummified, and the statues. How many have we found? Hundreds. Is that all? No. We still have a lot in our store magazine. The most lovely discovery out of those hundreds: that scarab. It is the biggest and hugest scarab all over the world."
Minister of Antiquities Khaled al-Anany also said that French Egyptologist Alain Zivie had previously discovered a skeleton of a lion in the area.
"Today we are discovering, maybe, another mummies for this small line. It will take some time to announce surely the identity of these five animals. We found hundreds of amulets, bronze, faience, masks, statues of falcons, crocodiles."
The discovery included around 75 wooden and bronze statues of cats.
Saqqara served as the necropolis for Memphis, the capital of ancient Egypt for more than two millennia.
Ancient Egyptians mummified humans to preserve their bodies for the afterlife, while animal mummies were used as religious offerings.
Reuters
