Cairo - Egyptian archaeologists have discovered roughly 30 mummies in a previously unknown tomb in an ancient, sprawling cemetery south of Cairo, the government announced in a statement Monday.

Archaeologists discovered the tomb near the 4,650-year-old step pyramid at Saqqara, approximately 30 kilometres south of Cairo.

Scientists believe the tomb may have been used over the course of more than 1,700 years.

Eight sarcophagi were found in the 11-meter-deep tomb, including one unopened sarcophagus that may date from the Fifth Dynasty of the Old Kingdom, archaeologist Abdel Halim Karar said. If so, it would be roughly 4,400 years old.

The rest of the mummies, one of the more "recent" of which apparently dated to 640 BC, were placed in niches in the wall, Zahi Hawas, the head of Egypt's Antiquities Authority, said.

Hawas described the site as "a storeroom for mummies." (dpa)