Dynasty, but did not include any specifics on the item and promised an official statement would be made within days. Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities announced on 23 May 2010 that 57 ancient Egyptian tombs were discovered in an area close to Lahun. Most of the graves contained an ornamental painted wooden sarcophagus with a mummy inside. Some of the tombs date to the Egyptian First and Second dynasties, as far back as 2750 BC. Several of the sites were decorated with hieroglyphics that the ancients believed would help the deceased travel through the afterlife. Twelve of the tombs were found to belong to the 18th Dynasty, which ruled Egypt during the second millennium BC. Egyptologist Zahi Hawass said the mummies that date to the 18th Dynasty are covered in linen decorated with religious texts from the Book of the Dead and scenes of ancient Egyptian deities. The discovery might help experts have a better understanding of the ancient Egyptian religions. Some of the tombs are decorated with religious texts that ancient Egyptians believed would help the deceased cross over to the underworld, said Abdel Rahman El-Aydi, chief archaeologist of project. El-Aydi said one of the oldest tombs is almost completely intact, with all of its funerary equipment and a wooden sarcophagus containing a mummy wrapped in linen. In 31 of the tombs, dating back to around 2030–1840 B.C., during the Middle Kingdom era, archaeologists found scenes of different ancient Egyptian deities such as Horus, Amun, Hathor, and Khnum decorated on the tombs. See also List of ancient Egyptian sites, including sites of temples Bibliography G. Brunton: Lahun I: The Treasure (BSAE 27 en ERA 20 (1914)), London 1920. A.R. David: The Pyramid Builders of Ancient Egypt: A Modern Investigation of Pharaoh’s Workforce, London, Boston en Henley 1986. B. Gunn: The Name of the Pyramid-Town of Sesostris II, in JEA 31 (1945), p. 106-107. B. J. Kemp: Ancient Egypt: Anatomy of a Civilization, London 1989. W.M.F. Petrie, G. Brunton, M. A. Murray: Lahun II (BSAE 33 en ERA 26 (1920)), London 1923. W.M.F. Petrie, F. Ll. Griffith, P.E. Newberry: Kahun, Gurob, and Hawara, London 1890. W.M.F. Petrie: Illahun, Kahun, and Gurob, London 1891. S. Quirke: (ed.), Lahun Studies, New Malden 1998. S. Quirke: Lahun: A Town in Egypt 1800 BC, and the History of Its Landscape, London 2005. A. Scharff: Illahun und die mit Königsnamen des Mittleren Reiches gebildeten Ortsnamen,