Archaeologists Egypt have discovered a huge cemetery hidden the sands south Cairo. The 2,000-year-old necropolis was found south Egypt's capital in the Nile Valley city of Minya. The word necropolis is ancient Greek and means "city of the dead". The necropolis contains thousands artifacts, including coffins and statues. Archaeologists started excavation work the site late last year. They found tombs belonging to priests of Thoth. He was the ancient god the moon and wisdom. Thoth was also believed to be the inventor of writing. Egypt's Antiquities Minister, Khaled al-Anani, said: "We will need least five years to work the necropolis. This is only the beginning of a new discovery."
Mostafa Waziri, the head the archaeological dig, said he was very excited the contents of the site. He said he and his colleagues have uncovered eight tombs so far. He expects many more to be found soon. The tombs contain a wealth historic treasures. One tomb includes more than 1,000 statues and four pottery jars that contain the remains the internal organs important ancient Egyptians. Mr Waziri also said there were 40 sarcophagi. A sarcophagus is a stone coffin which dead bodies were placed. Waziri hopes the new site will help to attract more tourists to Egypt. There has been a downturn tourism since the revolution that took place there 2011.
