Oasis of the Dead

Past
WHO buried them: Ancient Egyptians.
WHAT is it: Mummies.
WHEN were they entombed: About 2,000 years ago.
WHERE: El Bawiti, Egypt.
WHY were they made: To prepare the dead bodies for the afterlife, and to show respect for the dead.
HOW were they made: Using a complicated process that preserved the bodies.

Present
WHO is the archaeologist in charge: Zahi Hawass.
WHAT was discovered: About 10,000 golden mummies.
WHEN was it discovered: May 1996.
WHERE was it discovered: In a hole under the ground.
WHY is it important: The mummies give clues about ancient Egyptian life.
HOW was it discovered: By accident, when a donkey stepped into a hole.

In May 1996, a man was riding a donkey in Egypt when it slipped into a hole. The man saw stacks of golden mummies when he looked into the hole. Egyptian government officials told the famous archaeologist Zahi Hawass about the discovery. When he went to look at it he said, "I went in and looked at the mummies in the rays of the sun. All I could see was gold." Hawass and the Egyptian government kept the discovery secret for a long time because they were afraid that thieves and grave robbers would loot the tombs.

The Oasis of the Dead is like a cemetary. It has many tombs containing thousands of mummies. So far, Zahi Hawass has uncovered four chambers that contained 105 mummies. These tombs have held the remains of middle-class people. Hawass thinks that there may be over 10,000 mummies in all. These tombs have not been robbed so they are rich in artifacts. Zahi Hawass thinks that these mummies will give us more clues about what life was like 2,000 years ago in Egypt.