The Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities said on Friday that a joint mission between the University of Barcelona and the Egyptian Supreme Council of Antiquities discovered a group of tombs dating back to the Roman, Persian, and Byzantine eras, in the Al-Bahnasa area located in the Minya governorate.

In a statement, the ministry said that the discovered graves -- three limestone tombs dating back to the Roman era, three other individual tombs dating back to the Persian era, and 16 tombs from the Byzantine and Coptic eras -- were found during excavations in the Upper Cemetery area.

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The statement quoted the head of the Central Department of Antiquities of Central Egypt, Adel Okasha, as saying that the tombs discovered from the Roman era are built of limestone and were mostly vaulted. The majority was found to be demolished down to their foundations and were not inscribed.

Al-Bahnasa contains antiquities from different eras of Egyptian history. The village includes Pharaonic, Roman, and Islamic monuments, and historians say it contained many churches and palaces.

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Restoration works have been executed, mural paintings of the basilica at the site were reinforced, and Coptic and Greek texts written on the walls or on the panels were studied, Hassan Amer, Professor at the Department of Egyptian antiquities, in the Cairo University's Faculty of Archaeology, said.

The works in the area led to "numerous and unprecedented archaeological findings,” the head of the Supreme Council of Antiquities Mostafa Waziri said, adding that all the recovered material will advance the study of this important area.