Eight mummies were discovered during excavations near a pyramid in Dahshur, Egypt, the country’s Ministry of Antiquities announced today. Dating from the Late Period (664-332 B.C.), the mummified remains were each covered in painted cartonnage (a sort of paper-maché made from plaster and papyrus or linen) and buried in a limestone sarcophagus.

Only three of the mummies were in good condition, according to Mostafa Waziri, secretary-general of Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities.

The discovery was made during excavations near the White Pyramid of Amenemhat II, a 12^th Dynasty pharaoh who died in the early 19^th century B.C. The pyramid, one of several built at the necropolis at Dahshur, has been mined for its white limestone blocks and heavily looted, and little