Only 30% of the monuments of ancient periods of history have been discovered in Egypt today, another 70% of such monuments are still underground and waiting in the wings, according to the famous archaeologist and former Minister of Antiquities of Egypt Zahi Hawas.
"Only a small part has been discovered - 30% of Egyptian monuments, another 70% of treasures still lie in the ground … Modern Egypt, one might say, stands on the monuments of ancient Egypt," he said on the air of the MBC Masr TV channel.
Zahi Havas recalled that all archaeological finds in Alexandria in recent years were made by chance. “Everything that was discovered in Alexandria was discovered by accident. Many scholars, for example, agree that the tomb of Alexander the Great is located somewhere in the region of Alexandria. It is likely that it will be discovered during the construction of a house or in some kind of collapse, just as the black sarcophagus that recently made so much noise was discovered,”he said.
According to the scientist, the discovery of values, inter alia, is hindered by imperfect legislation. “Nowadays, when a citizen, for example, discovers an archaeological site during the construction of a house, he prefers not to report it, destroy or bury it, because he fears that his land will be taken away from him … The law on the protection of cultural heritage should be improved and ensure that a person, who discovers an artifact or any archaeological object will receive a payment in the amount of the value of the find. This will be a good way to prevent, among other things, the illegal sale of valuables abroad,”the scientist is sure.
In early July, during construction work in one of the regions of Egyptian Alexandria, at a depth of five meters, a giant sarcophagus of black granite weighing 25-30 tons and more than two thousand years old was discovered untouched by marauders. The find gave rise to a lot of versions about its origin, one of the most discussed - that this is still not discovered the grave of Alexander the Great.
The Egyptian authorities opened the sarcophagus and found three water-damaged mummies in it, which probably belonged to soldiers who died in battle, presumably from the 4th-3rd centuries BC.