Egyptian archaeologists have uncovered a Pharaonic tomb near the capital, Cairo, containing what may be the oldest and “most complete” mummy yet to be discovered in the country.
Zahi Hawass, the team’s director, told reporters on Thursday that the 4,300-year-old mummy was discovered at the bottom of a 15-meter (49-foot) shaft in a freshly discovered complex of tombs from the Fifth and Sixth Dynasties of the Old Kingdom close to the Step Pyramid at Saqqara.
The mummy, of a man named Hekashepes, featured a “gold-leaf covering” and was in a limestone sarcophagus that had been sealed in mortar.
“I put my head inside to see what was inside the sarcophagus: a beautiful mummy of a man completely covered in layers of gold,” Hawass said. “This mummy may be the oldest and most complete mummy found in Egypt to date.”
One of the tombs discovered belonged to Khnumdjedef, who worked as a minister, overseer of nobles, and inspector of officials during the reign of Unas, the final pharaoh of the fifth dynasty. It was decorated with scenes of daily life.
Another tomb belonged to Meri – “keeper of the secrets and assistant to the great leader of the palace”.
The priestly title of “secret keeper” was held by a senior palace official bestowing the power and authority to perform special religious rituals.
In the pyramid complex of Pharaoh Pepi I, a third tomb belonged to a priest, and a fourth to a judge and author named Fetek, according to Hawass.
According to Mostafa Waziri, the head of Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities, Fetek’s tomb had a collection of “the largest statues” ever discovered in the region.
Several statues, including one showing a man and his wife as well as several servants, were discovered amid the tombs.
More than a dozen pyramids, animal burials, and ancient Coptic Christian monasteries can be found in the huge burial site at Memphis, the ancient Egyptian capital and a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Separate information concerning a teenage male who was mummified about 300 BC was revealed earlier this week by a team of scientists from Cairo University.
By using CT scans, the team of scientists sheds new light on the boy’s high social status by affirming the intricate details of the amulets inserted within his mummified body and the type of burial he received.
