Colorful wooden coffins adorned with paintings and inscriptions that were recently discovered by a team of Egyptian archaeologists were opened on Saturday to reveal perfectly preserved mummies, NBC News reports.
The 30 sealed coffins were found by accident under a mound behind the Asasif Necropolis on the west bank of the Nile river, Mostafa Waziri, secretary-general for Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities, told NBC News.
"I'm very happy we found this discovery with Egyptian hands," Waziri said.
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The archaeologists were conducting an unrelated dig when someone noticed what appeared to be the face of a coffin, Waziri explained. They continued digging to discover a cachette of coffins stacked in two layers only a few feet under the sand.
