Hundreds of mummies and a pyramid of an unknown queen found near the tomb of Tutankhamun
Miscellaneous / / April 03, 2023
A find exactly to the 100th anniversary of the excavation of the tomb.
For the past two years, archaeologists from all over the world have been working in Saqqara at the Giza archaeological site, about 32 kilometers south of Cairo. Recently they discovered there are many coffins and mummies that may belong to some of Tutankhamen's closest generals and advisers during his reign (from 1333 to 1333). BC. to 1323 BC.).
The excavations took place just a stone's throw from the tomb of Tutankhamun himself. First, archaeologists found a pyramid of an unknown ancient Egyptian queen there. Her name was Neith, and she had never been mentioned in historical records before.
Further, during excavations, archaeologists turned their attention to the neighboring pyramid, which belonged to Teti, the first king of the Sixth Dynasty of Egypt. It was there that a real treasure awaited them.
Teti was worshiped as a god during the New Kingdom period and therefore people wanted to be buried next to him. However, most of the burials previously known at Saqqara were either from the Old Kingdom or the Late Period. Now we have discovered 22 interconnected mines with a depth of 9 to 18 meters. In these mines, archaeologists found a huge limestone sarcophagus along with 300 beautiful coffins from the New Kingdom period.
Zahi Hawass
an Egyptologist who works on excavations and previously served as Egyptian Minister of Antiquities
Hawass added that all the sarcophagi have individual faces, each unique, distinguishing between men and women, and that they are all decorated with scenes from "Books of the Dead».
If the discovery of the coffins themselves wasn't surprising enough, when the researchers lifted their lids they were surprised to find the mummies in very good condition, even after so many centuries. This shows that mummification reached its peak in the New Kingdom, the scientist added.
Some sarcophagi have two lids, and the most amazing one has a woman's mask made entirely of pure gold. Inside you can find various artifacts, including figurines and figurines of the god Ptah-Sokar. One of the soldiers had a metal ax in the coffin.
Some of the coffins and antiques found at the site will be on display at the Grand Egyptian Museum at Giza, scheduled to open next year.
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