Unique Roman-style mummy found in Egyptian desert oasis

Roman-era mummy found in Egyptian oasis

CAIRO — Egypt has discovered the mummy of a woman dating back to the Roman era in a newly uncovered complex of tombs in a desert oasis.

Archaeologist Mahmoud Afifi, who headed the dig, says the mummy is of a 3 feet (1 meter) tall woman. Her body was covered in intricately molded plaster that shows her wearing a tunic, headscarf, necklace, bracelet and shoes.

Afifi says they have not dated the mummy yet, but the burial style indicates she belonged to Egypt’s long period of Roman rule, from 31 B.C. until the Arab invasions of the 7th century.

He said Monday it was the first Roman-style mummy found in Bahariya Oasis some 186 miles (300 km) southwest of Cairo.

The find was part of a cemetery dating back to the Greco-Roman period containing 14 tombs.