15 JUL 2019: Egypt is opening two of its earliest pyramids to visitors for the first time since 1965.  Egyptian archaeologists have uncovered a collection of stone, clay and wooden sarcophagi, some of them with mummies, in the Dahshur royal necropolis.

Antiquities Minister Khaled el-Anany told reporters that archaeologists also found wooden funerary masks along with instruments used in cutting stones, dating to the Late Period (664-332 B.C.).

Located about 40 km (25 miles) south of the capital Cairo, the Dahshur necropolis area is home to what is considered to be some of the earliest pyramids, including Sneferu’s Bent Pyramid and the Red Pyramid.

Egypt hopes such discoveries will spur tourism, which is partially driven by antiquities sightseeing, hit hard by political turmoil following the 2011 uprising.