The 4,300-year-old mummy was found covered with layers of gold near the Step Pyramid at Saqqara.
Egyptian archaeologists have discovered a pharaoh’s tomb near Cairo, containing possibly the oldest and “most complete” mummy yet discovered in the country.
The 4,300-year-old mummy was found at the bottom of a 15-meter (49-foot) tunnel in a group of recently discovered tombs dating from the fifth and sixth dynasties of the Old Kingdom near the Kingdom. Islamic. Pyramid Steps at SaqqaraZahi Hawass, the group’s director, told reporters on Thursday.
The mummy of a man named Hekashepes, had a “cover of gold leaf” and was in a limestone sarcophagus that had been sealed with mortar.
Hawass said: “I poked my head inside to see what was inside the coffin: a beautiful mummy of a man completely covered in gold. “This mummy is possibly the oldest and most complete mummy found in Egypt to date.”
Among the other graves found was one that belonged to Khnumdjedef, an inspector of officials who oversaw nobles and priests during the reign of Unas, the last pharaoh of the Fifth Dynasty. It is decorated with scenes of everyday life.
Another tomb belongs to Meri – “secret keeper and assistant to the great leader of the palace”.
The title of priest “keeper of secrecy” was held by a high-ranking official in the palace who bestowed power and authority to perform special religious ceremonies.
Hawass added that the third tomb belonged to a priest in the pyramid complex of Pharaoh Pepi I and the fourth tomb belonged to a judge and writer named Fetek.
Mostafa Waziri, head of Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities, said Fetek’s tomb included a collection of “the largest statues” ever found in the area.
Many statues were found in the tombs, including one representing a man and his wife and some servants.
The vast burial ground in the ancient Egyptian capital of Memphis, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is home to more than a dozen pyramids, animal graves and a former Coptic Christian monastery.
In a separate announcement earlier this week, a team of scientists from Cairo University revealed previously unknown details about the mummy of a teenage boy dating back to around 300 BC.
Using CT scanners, the team of scientists unraveled the boy’s high social status by confirming the intricate details of the amulets inserted into the boy’s mummy and how. burial in which he was buried.
