Cairo The Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities has revealed details of the latest discoveries from the Saqqara necropolis, south of Cairo. The large cemeteries sit in what was once Memphis, the capital of ancient Egypt. The UNESCO World Heritage Site is home to more than a dozen pyramids, including the oldest in Egypt, the Pyramid of Djoser.
The site yielded thousands of artifacts during decades of excavation, but one of the greatest benefits for Egyptologists in this last round of discovery was the identity of a queen who died about 4,200 years ago.
Her tomb was discovered at a site adjacent to the pyramid of King Teti, the first pharaoh of the sixth dynasty of Egypt’s ancient kingdom, the era between about 2680 and 2180 BC, known as the era of the pyramids.
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“The excavation began in 2010 when we discovered a pyramid of a queen next to the pyramid of King Teti, but we did not find a name in the pyramid to tell us to whom the pyramid belongs,” said Egyptologist and former minister of antiquities, dr. Zahi Hawass told CBS News.
About a month ago, they discovered a funeral stamp, and now researchers finally have a name for the old female king: Queen Neit, the wife of King Teti. Her name was eventually found, carved on a wall in the temple and also written on a fallen obelisk in the entrance of her tomb.
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“I have never heard of this queen. That is why we are adding an important piece to Egyptian history about this queen,” said Hawass, who heads the archaeological mission. He said the recent discoveries would help “rewrite” the history of ancient Egypt.
His team also discovered 52 tombs, each about 30 to 40 feet deep, of which they found more than 50 wooden coffins dating from the New Kingdom, some 3,000 years ago.
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“Actually, we found another shaft this morning,” Hawass told CBS News on Monday. “Inside the ash we found a large limestone sarcophagus. This is the first time we have discovered a limestone sarcophagus in the shafts. We have found another one that we are going to open in a week.”
The team also found a papyrus that was about 13 feet long and three feet wide, on which Chapter 17 of the Book of the Dead was written in hieroglyphs, with the name of the owner on it. The book of the dead is an ancient manuscript that explains how to navigate through the afterlife to reach the field of the Aaru paradise, to ancient Egyptians.
Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities
Hawass said this is the first time such a large papyrus has been discovered inside a burial pit.
Other finds from the site include numerous wooden burial masks, a shrine dedicated to the god Anubis (guardian of the cemetery), statues of Anubis and games buried with the dead to keep them busy in the afterlife. One of these was a game called ‘Twenty’, which was found with the owner’s name still visible on it.
Another game called ‘Senet’ (cross) was found in the shafts. It’s similar to chess, but if the deceased player wins, they will safely enter the afterlife.