CAIRO, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) -- Rock-hewn tombs and remains of a residential area from the Coptic era were discovered in Upper Egypt's Minya Province, Egyptian antiquities ministry said Friday.

In a statement, the ministry said one of its missions discovered the tombs in the archaeological area beside Al-Nassara necropolis of Minya.

The tombs date back to the fifth century A.D. and house a collection of burial chambers of 50 meters wide and 70 meters long, according to the statement.

It added that the residential area, which is of 100 meters wide and 130 meters long, has remains of houses, including a mud-brick house of a monk.

Excavations in the area started in 2008 when the mission discovered remains of a fifth-century church built of mud brick as well as a shrine, the statement read.

Regretfully, these remains were destroyed for lack of security in the aftermath of the revolution in January 2011, it said.

As one of the most ancient civilizations, Egypt has been hard at work to preserve its archaeological heritages.

In an attempt to revive the country's ailing tourism, which has suffered from an acute recession in the past few years due to political turmoil and security issues, Egypt is keen to uncover the Pharaohs' archaeological secrets as well as other ancient civilizations throughout the history of this country.