Archaeologists in Egypt have discovered a 'huge cache' of vividly painted wooden coffins near the ancient city of Luxor which 'may have belonged to high priests’.
At least 20 well-preserved coffins have been found 'just as the ancient Egyptians left them', in the ancient town of West Thebes.
Experts claimed that the coffins may date back to the third intermediate period which began with the death of Pharaoh Ramesses XI in 1070 BC, which would make the coffins around 3,000 years old.
The Egyptian government made the announcement but has not yet revealed details of the discovery, instead releasing a series of photos which show the Egyptian Minister of Antiquities, Khaled el-Anan inspecting the findings.

Senior lecturer in Egyptology at the University of Liverpool, Dr Roland Enmarch, said that the coffins were more common place during that time period, due to the fact that many Egyptians had given up on the more traditional burial tombs.
‘In the past similar coffins have been found in the area and date from around the third intermediate period which in B.C terms is 1070 B.C to 650 B.C. We can tell this from the type of décor on the coffins.

Archaeologist have stumbled upon what is deemed the 'biggest and most important' discovery in years near the Egyptian city of Luxor. At least 20 well-preserved, vividly painted wooden coffins have been unearth in the ancient town of West Thebes
The treasure trove includes tombs dating back to the Middle, New Kingdom and the Late Periods, experts have claimed they could be nearly 3,000 years old
The locator map above shows where the discovery was made in relation to the Valley of the Kings and to Luxor city
The coffins are pictured above all lined up as the Secretary General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities inspects them
The coffins are pictured above all lined up as the Secretary General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities inspects them

‘At the time priests were in charge and priests would rule the southern part of Egypt, there was still a Pharaoh in the north, but this area would have been ruled by priests.

‘People in the tombs would likely have been priests, junior priests and their wives.’

He said during this period many had abandoned building individual tombs and instead built communal tombs.
He added: ‘The decoration of the coffins says a lot, as if you didn’t have a tomb your coffin would be well decorated, in earlier periods you would have obviously had a tomb.’
Pictures released by the Egyptian government show the coffins were dusty but well preserved and Dr Enmarch said this was partly due to the favourable climate in Egypt.
‘If something stays dry then as long as the chemicals are stable – it can stay like this for thousands of years. They would sometimes use wax as varnish or tree resin, this is why on some coffins they can glisten. They have suffered a lot and there was a lot of dust on them.
‘During that time people lived in east and west of the Nile in modern day Luxor lived and worked nearby – most worked on east side of the river – west is land of the dead so many wanted to be buried there.’