CAIRO, June 29 (UPI) -- Archaeologists who discovered another tomb in Egypt's Valley of the Kings had expected to find a mummy -- not a 3,000-year-old garland of flowers.
The tomb was discovered by chance and during its excavation archaeologists found seven coffins that they hoped would contain the mummies of ancient Egyptian royalty -- or even Tutankhamen's mother, the BBC reported.
Researchers and reporters were invited into the burial chamber Wednesday near Tutankhamen's tomb to watch the opening of the last coffin.
Nadia Lokma, chief curator of Cairo's Egyptian Museum, said the surprise find was "even better" than discovering a mummy. "It's very rare -- there's nothing like it in any museum. We've seen things like it in drawings, but we've never seen this before in real life -- it's magnificent."
Experts told the BBC ancient Egyptian royals often wore garlands entwined with gold strips around their shoulders in both life and death.
The burial chamber was the first to be discovered in the Valley of the Kings since Tutankhamen's tomb more than 80 years ago.
