Egypt uncovers major find at famed necropolis
Egyptian archaeologists announced a major find yesterday, including a funerary temple, more than 50 wooden sarcophagi and a five-metre scroll of papyrus depicting a chapter of the ancient Book of the Dead.
Archaeologist Zahi Hawass announced the finds at Saqqara, the vast necropolis of the ancient Egyptian capital of Memphis, a Unesco World Heritage Site.
“Every day, the sands of Saqqara reveal more information that helps us write the history of Egypt,” Mr Hawass told The National.
He said the temple belonged to Queen Naert, wife of King Teti, the first pharaoh of the sixth dynasty that ruled during the New Kingdom period (16th century-11th century BC).
The queen was identified on Saturday, when her name was found by archaeologists engraved on a temple wall.
The discoveries were made by a joint expedition between Bibliotheque Alexandria’s Zahi Hawass Institute and the Ministry of Antiquities.
A French family paid for the expedition, said Essam Shehab, a senior archaeologist who has worked at the dig since excavations began in September.
“The most important discovery, actually, in my opinion is the temple,” said Mr Hawass, who has for decades been the global face of Egyptology with his storytelling about discoveries there.
“Beside this temple we found the storage area, where tools that they used for the rituals inside the temple were kept.”
He said 22 burial shafts were discovered.
Fifty-two wooden coffins dating back to the New Kingdom were found in those shafts. “They are decorated with many scenes depicting gods worshipped during that time,” he said.
The team also discovered statues, toys, wooden boats and funerary masks.
The papyrus found depicted a chapter of the Book of the Dead, a collection of mortuary texts of spells that ancient Egyptians believed would guide the soul of the deceased in the afterlife.
The latest trove to be found in Saqqara, home to the Stepped Pyramid and other notable finds, was discovered two months after Egyptian archaeologists announced the discovery of more than 100 sealed wooden sarcophagi dating back about 2,500 years in the same area.
Egypt hopes archaeological discoveries and the media attention around them will spur tourism, a sector devastated first by the years of turmoil that followed the 2011 uprising in the country and now the coronavirus pandemic.