• Some 250 painted sarcophagi holding well-preserved mummies are among finds dating back 2,500 years discovered at the Saqqara necropolis near Cairo.

The haul displayed under canvas also included 150 bronze statues of deities and bronze vessels that were used in rituals honouring the fertility goddess Isis.

One headless sculpture is thought to have depicted Imhotep, chief architect of Pharaoh Djoser, who ruled ancient Egypt between 2630BC and 2611BC.

The collection unveiled beside the Step Pyramid of Djoser in Saqqara will eventually be put on permanent display at the Grand Egyptian Museum — still being built near the Giza Pyramids.

The Saqqara site is part of a sprawling necropolis at Egypt’s ancient capital of Memphis that includes the Giza Pyramids and the smaller pyramids at Abu Sir, Dahshur and Abu Ruwaysh.

The ruins of Memphis were designated a Unesco World Heritage site in the 1970s.

The sector has recently started to recover from the coronavirus pandemic, only to be hit again by the effects of Russia’s war on Ukraine.

Along with Russia, Ukraine is a major source of tourists visiting Egypt.