The god Anubis was supposed to watch the entire process. The preparation of the mummies began in a workshop called the “Wabt”. This method made the mummy very stable and can last longer than the mummies of the Pharaonic period”. Hawass states that the “important point about mummification is that they started to put sticks made of reeds on the right and left side of the mummy to cover the mummy with linen. The production of wine from dates and grapes was the main industry in Bahariya, contributing to the wealth of its people. Hawass believed that approximately 30,000 people inhabited Baharyia. The population in Egypt during the Roman period was about 7 million. Zahi Hawass notes 'it would seem that workshops were everywhere and artisans were one of the main professions in Baharyia' during this time. Each mummy is different with the various styles and artifacts representing each individual. The mummies found in the tombs in the Bahariya Oasis during the Roman period show that people during this period were wealthy because they were able to afford gilding and cartonnage depicting beautiful scenes. Some examples include jewelry bracelets, pottery of food trays, wine jars, and Ptolemaic coins. Īrtifacts had been buried with each mummy. The third style was not decorated with gold or cartonnage, but rather was placed inside an anthropoid, a pottery coffin. The second style is covered with cartonnage, depicting scenes of gods such as Anubis, the god of mummification, and his four children. The first style, which was found on approximately sixty mummies, has a gilded mask covering the face and a gilded waistcoat depicting different scenes of gods and goddesses across the chest. There were four general styles of the mummies at Bahariya. Many of the mummies were still in good condition when they were discovered by Hawass and his team. Overview Mummy found in the Valley of the Golden Mummies, now in el-Bawiti museum, el-Bahriya, Libyan desert, Egypt. Eventually, the excavator further estimated a total of more than ten thousand mummies. Discovered in 1996 by Zahi Hawass and his Egyptian team, approximately two hundred fifty mummies approximately two thousand years old were recovered over the period of several seasons. The Valley of the Golden Mummies is a huge burial site at Bahariya Oasis in the Western Desert of Egypt, dating to the Greco-Roman period. 54, Valley of the Golden Mummies, el-Bahriya, Libyan desert, Egypt.

Archaeological site in the Western Desert of Egypt Rear and side wall of the tomb Nr.

Mummies with a gold sarcophagus