Archaeologists in Egypt have discovered a “huge cache” of some 20 perfectly preserved sarcophagi in the city of Luxor in a major discovery which will be used to boost the region’s ailing tourism industry.

Egypt's Ministry of Antiquities claimed the coffins were “as the ancient Egyptians left them,” with well preserved and largely intact engravings and surviving coloration thanks to Egypt’s relatively dry climate.

The coffins were discovered in a two-story tomb at Al-Assasif, an ancient necropolis on the west bank of the River Nile near the site of the ancient city of Thebes.

Officials have yet to announce which period the coffins date from but the location has provided a plethora of archaeological finds dating from Egypt's 18th dynasty (circa 1539 BC).

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One expert estimates the coffins may date back to Egypt’s third intermediate period which began with the death of Pharaoh Ramesses XI in 1070 BC, which would make the coffins roughly 3,000 years old, though all will be revealed at an official press conference in Luxor on Saturday.

“The decoration of the coffins says a lot, as if you didn’t have a tomb your coffin would be well decorated, in earlier periods you would have obviously had a tomb,” senior lecturer in Egyptology at the University of Liverpool, Dr Roland Enmarch said.

Antiquities minister Khaled El-Anany inspected the coffins on Tuesday and described the find as “one of the largest and most important discoveries to have been announced in the past few years.”

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