A 2,500 year old Egyptian sarcophagus was opened during a live TV show and that's what they found

A 2,500-year-old sarcophagus opened Sunday with a live television show during a two-hour special show of the American channel Discovery.

The program "Unknown Shipping: Egypt Live" (Unknown shipping: Egypt live) aired from the suburbs of Minya, on the banks of the Nile and south of Cairo.

archaeologists They recently discovered on the site a network of galleries leading to several funerary chambers containing 40 Egyptian noble mummies.

After exploring other graves – where they found statues, amulets, pots used to store organs and other mummies – the experts were finally able to access the camera containing this sarcophagus, very detailed carved.

Several people were needed to open it and the efforts were not in vain: inside was an immaculate mummy, wrapped in linen and surrounded by treasures, which included gold

"I can not believe it, it's amazing"he said Zahi Hawbad, famous Egyptian archaeologist and former Minister of Antiquities, responsible for the expedition with the American explorer Josh Gates, who directed the transmission.

A spokesperson for Discovery had previously confirmed the AFP that the project was designed in coordination with the Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities.

Gates said that the mummy came from a high priest of Thot, ancient Egyptian god of wisdom and magic, which corresponds to the 26th dynasty of Ancient Egypt -the last indigenous dynasty to rule until 525 a. C.

"Towards the end of ancient Egypt, power really came down to the high priests and can be seen here … it's almost a royal burial", said Gates.

Cairo tried to promote archaeological discoveries in the country in its attempt to revive tourism, hit by political instability after the 2011 revolution against Hosni Mubarak

Discovery He would not comment on whether he was paying Egypt for permission to film the opening of the sarcophagus.

"It's a show at the end of the day, but it can generate in people the love of antiques and it's a good opportunity to promote tourism"He said at AFP an archaeologist who asked for anonymity.

The tourism sector has improved, with thelegacy of some 8.3 million visitors in 2017, according to official figures. However, figures are still far from the 14.7 million arrived in 2010.

The transmission of Discovery also coincides with current world interest in Egyptian archeology, generated by an exhibition on pharaoh Tutankhamun, who made his debut in Paris last month and will tour the world.

(With information from AFP)