At least 34 mummies found in hidden Egyptian tomb

Archaeologists from Egypt and Italy have discovered at least 34 mummies in the southern Egyptian city of Aswan. The remains date back to the late Pharaonic and Greco-Roman period, between the 6th century B.C. and the 4th century A.D, CNN reports.

Alongside the mummies, the archaeologists found artifacts including pottery, painted funerary masks and wooden statuettes. Vases of bitumen, used in mummification, as well as a stretcher likely used to carry the bodies into the tomb were also discovered.

An intact hieroglyphic text indicated that the tomb, hidden under sand, was owned by a trade leader named Tjt.

he archaeologists found approximately 30 mummified bodies in the primary chamber -- the bodies of men, women and children -- and an estimated further four in a side chamber.

Some of the vases still contained food, while two statuettes depicted Ba, the Egyptian bird god who represented an aspect of the soul.

"We know that Aswan was important in the late Pharaonic and Greco-Roman periods, but we didn't know where the people were buried," Piacentini said. "Now we know where they are."

"From the tombs, you can understand what they ate, how they died, at what age they died," she said.