More rich pickings
More Late Period treasures have been discovered at Saqqara. Nevine El-Aref brushes off the sand
"Egypt floats on a sea of antiquities," it is often said. Without fail, excavation missions in every part of the country come up with a discovery. The latest finds, a wealth of treasures which includes a gold mask, intact limestone sarcophagi, sealed wooden coffins, mummies, a box belonging to a prince and an unusual sixth-dynasty tomb, have been found by French and Polish missions in their recent archaeological seasons at Saqqara. The seasons of both teams lasted from October to December.
North of the causeway of the Pyramid of Unas in the Saqqara necropolis, which lies near the ruins of Memphis almost 30km south of Giza, the French mission from the Louvre Museum stumbled upon three intact burial shafts stuffed with a large number of inscribed and painted funerary items dating back to various periods.
"Preliminary studies of these objects suggest that they could be dated to the Third Intermediate Period or the Ptolemaic era," Culture Minister Farouk Hosni says.
The archaeologists entered two of the three burial shafts. The first shaft was in the north-eastern area, and in it the mission succeeded in locating two entrances at a depth of 5.28 metres. The northern one led to a chamber with a closed limestone sarcophagus, a mummy and the remains of a wooden coffin bearing the name of a person named Tchainou. Next to it were several small, intact chambers which have not yet been explored.
The western entrance led to a vast hall with false doors, two intact wooden coffins -- one of them inscribed with the name of a person named Pennou -- and 12 well-preserved mummies. "Due to the structure and design of this chamber it seems originally to have been an Old Kingdom burial, but was reused during the Late Ancient Egyptian Period," Zahi Hawass, secretary-general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA), says.
Another intact Late Period burial was also located on the western side of this shaft, along with a wooden coffin and a painted box bearing the name of Iahmes, son of the Pharaoh Psammetik.
The second burial shaft, according to the French mission's director Christiane Ziegler, had a main central hall with five intact side rooms. A rougher chamber which did not belong to the original plan of the shaft, as well as a plundered tomb that was full of sand and haphazardly placed mummies, were also found.
Inside the side rooms two stone sarcophagi were still visible, as well as a beautiful wooden coffin belonging to a man named Imhotep which was found laying on its side. On the ground were five mummies, together with pieces of reed and rush furniture. A gilded mummy mask, fragments of usekh collars, pieces of papyrus, fragments of funerary implements and pieces of shroud inscribed with chapters of the Book of the Dead were also discovered.
The objects will remain in situ until the next excavation season, when the French mission can accurately determine the exact date of each piece and their probable link to the nearby Akhethotep funerary complex.
"The original arrangement is extremely significant for the knowledge of burial customs of the Late Period. More photos, drawings, study of the inscriptions, restoration and documentation are very necessary for further clearance," Ziegler says. "Although this is a very significant discovery the next excavation season will be more promising."
Ziegler adds that the objects will be a subject of extensive study and it is hoped they will help complete Egyptologists' information about Akhethotep's complex.
Meanwhile members of a Polish-Egyptian team cleaning the cliff ledge, 120m from Djoser's Pyramid on the Saqqara necropolis, uncovered a typical sixth-dynasty rock-hewn tomb, but one with very unusual scenes and drawings.
Hosni says the tomb, which belonged to one Ny-Ankh- Nefertem, overseer of linen and servant to the gods in the pyramids of both Unas and Teti, was found by chance under a dense agglomeration of remains which included Late Period, Ptolemaic and Graeco-Roman mummies, skeletons and wooden sarcophagi. It is a rectangular-shaped tomb six metres wide and 2.25 metres high, with two rooms, a doorway and a burial chamber. Above the door is a rectangular lintel with a four-line inscription giving part of the deceased's ideal biography.
"This inscription is similar to the one in the tomb of the vizier Meref-nebef, which was found last year by the same expedition five metres to the north," Hawass commented.
Most of the reliefs still bear their original polychrome colours, but what is even more outstanding is that some of the scenes are highly unusual. One of the walls inside the burial chamber is decorated with eight large scenes showing the deceased walking in the company of his son, perhaps illustrating a close personal relationship not normally seen elsewhere. Other walls have three large, rock-hewn false doors inscribed with the deceased's nickname, 'Temi'. There are also unfinished scenes showing the deceased's daily life.
Mission Director Karol Mysliviec said the tomb's northern end bore some traces of reuse, but the floor under the debris and the decoration on the northern wall were badly damaged. A long list of offerings depicted on this wall was unfortunately destroyed at the centre where an irregular hole had been carved in the rock.
Mysliviec said the tomb would now be restored and consolidated to ensure its integrity and stability.
