De vallei van de gouden mummies in de oase van Bahariya

The valley of the Golden Mummies: In 1996, the famous Egyptian archaeologist and the head of the supreme council of antiquities, Mr Zahi Hawas and his team, discovered a magnificent huge necropolis that dates to the Roman era and it is located 6 kilometres to the Southwest of Bawiti , the largest city of the Bahareya Oasis. The digging work started in 1999 and it showed that this necropolis was the most important burial site of the Romans in all the land of Egypt. This necropolis, in fact, contains hundreds of tombs over a surface area of about 36 square kilometres. This astonishing discovery which news was spread all over the world in TV channels, newspapers, magazines, and over the internet, made Al Bahareya Oasis famous worldwide and gave the oasis a new touristic dimension. Tens of mummies were discovered in perfect preservation state in the valley of the golden mummies. Most of these mummies were mummified using the old method which is called cartonnage. This method consisted of covering the face of the mummy with a mask made out of linen and plaster. This mask was then decorated with many colourful reliefs. The mouse and the eyes of the dead person were then painted on the mask to give a clearer image of his face. The mummies of the Bahariya Oasis had the common Roman decoration of the Roman period that combined the traditional ancient Egyptian Pharaonic shapes and colours with those of the Roman mythology. The valley of the golden mummies in the Bahariya Oasis is one of the most unique necropolises all around Egypt