In Egypt, workers dig and remove sand to create a new opening at a busy archaeological site outside of Cairo. They are at the bottom of the Step Pyramid of Djoser, probably the world’s oldest pyramid. This new dig has found many additional artifacts. As the world slowly recovers from the coronavirus pandemic, Egypt has been trying for months to persuade visitors to come to its archaeological locations and museums. Officials are hoping the new discovery will bring in the visitors and their money. But like countries elsewhere, Egypt continues to battle the coronavirus. It is struggling to get its people vaccinated. In early May, the government announced that 1 million people had been vaccinated, though that number is believed to be higher now. Meanwhile, officials have continued to tell the world about their new discoveries. In November, archaeologists announced the discovery of at least 100 coffins dating back to the Pharaonic Late Period and Greco-Ptolemaic era. They also found 40 gold-covered statues thought to have been buried 2,500 years ago. A month earlier, they discovered 57 additional coffins at the same place, the necropolis of Saqqara that includes the Step Pyramid. “Saqqara is a treasure,” Tourism and Antiquities Minister Khaled el-Anany told The Associated Press. He estimated that only 1 percent of the treasures hidden there have been found. In April, Zahi Hawass, Egypt’s best-known archaeologist, announced the discovery of a 3,000-year-old lost city in southern Luxor. It has the remains of houses, tools and other artifacts that date to Amenhotep III of the 18th dynasty. He ruled from 1390-1353 BC. This was Egypt’s golden age. That discovery was followed by a televised parade celebrating the moving of 22 royal mummies to their new home: the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization It is a large, new building just south of the capital.
