It was found in the pyramid complex of Unas, the last king of the fifth dynasty, who reigned some 4,300 years ago.Īnother tomb belonged to Meri, who according to Hawass served as the pharaoh's appointed 'secret keeper', a priestly title held by a senior palace official bestowing the power and authority to perform special religious rituals.Ī third tomb belonged to a priest in pharaoh Pepi I's pyramid complex, and the fourth to a judge and writer named Fetek, Hawass added. The largest tomb, 'decorated with scenes of daily life,' belonged to a priest, inspector and supervisor of nobles named Khnumdjedef, said Hawass. © 2023 NYP Holdings, Inc.The vast burial site at the ancient Egyptian capital Memphis, a UNESCO World Heritage site, is home to more than a dozen pyramids, animal graves and old Coptic Christian monasteries.Īrchaeologist Zahi Hawass, Egypt's former antiquities minister, announced the latest discovery, dating from the fifth and sixth dynasties - around the 25th to the 22nd centuries BC - to reporters at the dig site. The “most important” tomb archeologists found belonged to Khnum-djed-ef, who was a priest, an inspector of officials and a supervisor of nobles in the pyramid complex of Unas, a pharaoh who ruled in the mid-24th century B.C. 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. “I put my head inside to see what was inside the sarcophagus: A beautiful mummy of a man completely covered in layers of gold,” said Hawass, a former Minister of Antiquities for Egypt, noting that the mummy could be the “oldest” and “most complete found in Egypt to date. Hekashepes’ large rectangular limestone sarcophagus was still sealed with the mortar ancient Egyptians had covered the tomb with over 40 centuries ago.

The mummy called “Hekashepes” was located at the bottom of a 49-foot shaft near the Step Pyramid at Saqqara, where the team was working to uncover a cemetery of fifth and sixth-dynasty tombs dating back to the 25th century B.C, Zahi Hawass, director of the team, said in a statement. Iconic Pennsylvania mummy ‘Stoneman Willie’ to be buried and publicly identified after 128 years on displayĮight mummies and pre-Inca objects - including opium pipes -uncovered by gas workers in PeruĪrcheologists in Egypt discovered a 4,300 year-old mummy - possibly the oldest one ever found in the country - during an extraordinary dig near Cairo, officials announced Thursday. Mummified Pennsylvania man ‘Stoneman Willie’ ID’d, buried after 128 years on display Top archaeologist reveals real reason behind ‘curse of the pharaohs’

Egyptian mummies gold