A team of archeologists has discovered an ancient cemetery in the Egyptian desert containing more than one million mummies buried some 1,500 years ago.

The team said it's certain the cemetery has more than a million burials and described it as large and dense.

The team of archaeologists from Brigham Young University excavated the cemetery in Selia, now called Fag el-Gamous, after 30 years of work. They remain puzzled as to how the million mummies came to be in the same place and where they came from.

Like Us on Facebook

They were hesitant to believe such a huge number of mummies could fit in one cemetery when the nearby village was too small and other villages near the site had their own burial sites. Also, there was a pyramid near the site, but the researchers said it was built two centuries before the cemetery was used for burials.

They believed the mummies were from the first to the seventh century when Egypt was ruled by the Roman and Byzantine Empires. Researchers said the necropolis is a graveyard for the mass burial of poor people. But they are all confused where all they dead came from.

Researchers added the cemetery could be for commoners and they did find some artifacts such as linen and glass.

Among the mummies they found was that of a little girl wrapped in a tunic. The youngster wore a necklace and two bracelets on each arm. Researchers also found a very tall mummy that wasn't able to fit into his grave. They believed this man was over seven feet tall.

Researchers set-up a database of all the burials, including the latest cemetery they unearthed. They believe the database will be useful in further examining burial patterns in the area.

TagsAncient cemetery, Egyptian cemetery, mummies, Mummy, Egyptian burial, ancient civilization