Egyptian archaeologists have unearthed a 4,300-year-old mummy during an extraordinary excavation near Cairo, possibly the oldest ever found in the country, officials announced Thursday.
The mummy, called Hekashepes, was located at the bottom of a 49-foot shaft near the Step Pyramid of Saqqara, where the team was working to uncover a cemetery of Fifth and Sixth Dynasty tombs dating to the 25th century BC, Zahi Hawass. , team principal, said in a statement.
Hekashep’s large rectangular limestone sarcophagus was still sealed with the mortar the ancient Egyptians used to cover the tomb more than 40 centuries ago.
“I stuck my head inside to see what was inside the sarcophagus: a beautiful human mummy completely covered in layers of gold,” said Hawass, Egypt’s former antiquities minister, noting that the mummy may be the “oldest” and “most complete yet found in Egypt.”
The discovery of Hekashepes was hardly the most exciting find during the year-long excavation at Gisr al-Mudir, one of the oldest known stone structures in Egypt.
The most “important” tombs found by archaeologists belonged to Khnum-djed-ef, who was a priest, inspector of officials and overseer of nobles at the pyramid complex of Un, a pharaoh who ruled in the mid-14th century BC.
Egyptian antiquities workers found a 4,300-year-old mummy.
The team was working to uncover a cemetery of fifth and sixth dynasty tombs dating back to the 25th century BC near the Step Pyramid of Saqqara.
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Zahi Hawass said the mummy was discovered with gold.
Egyptian antiquities workers observe recently discovered artifacts at the site of the Step Pyramid.
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There, researchers also discovered the tomb of royal court official Meri, “keeper of secrets and assistant to the grand chief of the court,” who had the second largest tomb in the cemetery.
At the turn of the 24th and 23rd centuries BC, archaeologists found the tomb of a priest who may have been named Messi, based on a false door that contained nine statues in order, in the pyramid complex of the pharaoh King Pepi I. ancient egyptian people.
The last mummy was found in a stone sarcophagus next to an offering table and a group of stone statues depicting a person named Fetek, Hawass said.
“In addition, the expedition yielded many amulets, stone vessels, tools for daily life, and statues of deities and pottery,” Hawass said.
The monumental discovery comes just days after authorities said they had found the ruins of an ancient Roman city near the southern city of Luxor, where they also discovered dozens of New Kingdom-era burial sites dating back to the 1800s. Ave. Cr. until 1600 Ave. Cr.
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