The Permanent Committee of Egyptian Antiquities decided today to stop all excavation works being carried out by the Egyptian mission at Lahoun archaeological site in Fayoum due to negligence of the excavators.

Archeologists have unearthed 57 ancient Egyptian tombs, most of which hold an ornately painted wooden sarcophagus with a mummy inside, Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities said Sunday. The oldest tombs date back to around 2750 B.C. during the period of Egypt's first and second dynasties, the council said in a statement. Twelve of the tombs belong the 18th dynasty which ruled Egypt during the second millennium B.C.

A necropolis consisting of 53 rock-cut tombs dating to the Middle and New Kingdoms and the 22nd Dynasty has been discovered by the Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA) in the southeastern part of the pyramid field of Illahun.