Coffins, funeral masks and a burial temple were discovered during an archeological mission in Saqqara, a vast necropolis, about 32 kilometers south of Cairo, which experts say will “rewrite” the history of the region.
Three mud-brick warehouses – built to store supplies, offerings, and tools in the queen’s tomb – are also attached to the temple.
A mummy will be displayed during the official announcement of the mission discovery in Saqqara necropolis south of Cairo on January 17.
Khaled Desouki / AFP / Getty Images
Undead decorated wooden sarcophagi during the official announcement of the discovery of a new treasure chest in the Saqqara necropolis in Egypt on 17 January.
Khaled Desouki / AFP / Getty Images
About 52 tombs, which were between 10-12 meters deep and contained hundreds of wooden coffins dating from the New Kingdom period, were also discovered. The discovery is the first time 3,000-year-old coffins have been found in the Saqqara region, al-Ahram said.
Scenes of gods worshiped during the period and excerpts from the Book of the Dead, believed to help the dead move to the other world, were painted on the surface of the coffins, and experts noted that this latest find at the ancient site confirms that Saqqara was used as a cemetery during the New Kingdom period – between the 16th and 11th centuries BC – and not just during the late period.
A casket of 50 anthropoid coffins, in good condition, was also discovered by archaeologists, along with wooden burial masks, a shrine dedicated to the god Anubis, bird-shaped artifacts and a bronze ax.
The latest discoveries will rewrite the history of Saqqara during the New Kingdom and assert the importance of the worship of King Teti during the 19th Dynasty of the New Kingdom, Zahi Hawass, the head of the Egyptian archaeological mission, said according to the news website.
The new find “will rewrite the history of this region, especially during the 18th and 19th dynasties of the New Kingdom, during which King Teti was worshiped and the citizens were buried around his pyramid at that time,” the statement said.