Khaled el-Enany

Egypt announced that the restoration of the gilded gold-plated coffin of the famous Pharaoh Tutankhamun had begun for the first time. This is happening ahead of the expected opening of a new museum next year, the BTA quoted the Associated Press as saying.

Egyptian archaeologists have discovered eight mummies in a 3,500-year-old tomb near the southern city of Luxor.

The tomb, discovered in the Draa Abul Nagaa necropolis near the famed Valley of the Kings, also contained colourful wooden coffins and more than 1,000 funerary statues.

With a shaky economy following years of unrest and a huge drop in tourists, Egypt is struggling to preserve its fabled archaeological heritage. 

From Alexandria on the Mediterranean to the Great Pyramid of Giza, the last of the Seven Wonders of the World, and Aswan to the south, the North African country is home to impressive ancient monuments.