Hawass Discusses Latest Discoveries in Saqqara

Renowned Egyptian archaeologist Zahi Hawass discussed the latest archaeological discoveries in Egypt during a lecture to a US senior delegation in Saqqara. His lecture was mainly about the discoveries in Saqqara.

Hawass said that a number of important archaeological discoveries date to the fifth and sixth dynasties of the Old Kingdom.

Dr. Hawass also stated that the expedition had found a group of Old Kingdom tombs, indicating that the site comprised a large cemetery.

The most important tomb belonged to Khnumdjedef, an inspector of the officials, a supervisor of the nobles, and a priest in the pyramid complex of Unas, the last kind of the fifth dynasty. The tomb is decorated with scenes of daily life.

The second largest tomb belonged to Meri, who held many important titles, such as keeper of the secrets and assistant to the great leader of the palace.

Also, a tomb for a priest and a group consisting of nine beautiful statues were found: one represents a man and his wife; several are servant statues; and others represent individuals.

Unfortunately, the expedition did not find any inscriptions that might identify the owners of these statues. However, several months after the original discovery, the mission found a false door near the site where the statues were discovered.

The owner of the false door was named Messi; therefore, Messi might be the owner of the nine statues.

The expedition found another beautiful statue of a standing man, with his wife holding his right leg and his daughter on the other side holding a goose.

Dr. Hawass announced that the most important was the discovery of a shaft 15m deep. A large rectangular limestone sarcophagus was found at the bottom of this shaft.

Thanks to the inscriptions on the top of the sarcophagus, we know the owner’s name is HqA-Sps (Hekashepes). Many stone vessels were found around the sarcophagus.

When the sarcophagus was examined, it was found to be completely sealed with mortar, just as the ancient Egyptians had left it 4300 years ago. When the lid was raised, we found the mummy of a man covered with gold leaf. This mummy may be the oldest and most complete mummy found in Egypt to date.