Dozens of mummies found in ancient burial ground in Egypt

Dozens of Mummified bodies have been unearthed and photographed by Egyptian archaeologist Abdul Rahman El-Aidy in a cache of 52 rock tombs in Lahun, around 120 km (75miles) south of Cairo, The discovery was made in April, 2009 and has specimens from various periods of the ancient Egyptian world.

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This wooden coffin is believed to be 2,500 years old and is decorated with 6 different gods including an incarnation of the king of the gods Amun-Ra, depicted here as part ram, part hawk and with the sun on his head.

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This coffin shows Osiris, god of the dead depicted in the form of large hawks.  The person inside is probably a woman from the 22nd dynasty according to Abdul Rahman El-Aidy.

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The mummy on the left of this picture was believed to be the more significant of the two.  The soot that can be seen is possibly left over from the mummifying process while the face has been deliberately painted black as a symbol of fertility and birth.  The coffin on the right has decoration along its middle, a depiction of four gods that served to protect the entrails, removed during the mummification process.

Religion was an important part of the burial process in the ancient world and every part of the body was protected by gods.  It was believed from early on in Egyptian civilisation that the depiction of gods on the caskets of the dead would provide protection for them both for the physical body and the life force, know as Ka, in the afterlife.