Egypt unveiled dozens of new archaeological finds on Thursday. There is also a mummy of 4,300 years old. The excavations were done in a necropolis for pharaohs just outside the capital Cairo.
Egypt’s foremost archaeologist and director of the excavation, Zahi Hawass, personally unveiled the new discoveries. The find was made in a recently uncovered group of tombs near the Step Pyramid at Sakkara, near Cairo.
According to Hawass, it may be the oldest and most complete mummy ever discovered in the country. The 4,300-year-old mummy, of a man named Hekashepes, was found at the bottom of a shaft 15 meters deep.
Hawass: “I poked my head in to see what was inside the sarcophagus: a beautiful mummy of a man completely covered in layers of gold.”
Besides the tomb of Hekashepes, other tombs have also been found. One that belonged to Khnumdjedef, an inspector of officials and one of a priest from the time of the last pharaoh of the fifth dynasty.
The tombs found belong to the fifth and sixth dynasty of antiquity. Numerous statues and amulets have also been found among the graves. The archaeological finds were made after a year-long excavation.
