Jakarta –
On the occasion of the centenary of the excavation of Tutankhamun’s tomb, archaeologists have discovered hundreds of tombs and there was buried in Giza. Also found a pyramid An unidentified ancient Egyptian queen.
Quoted from Live sciencethese excavations also unearthed piles of coffins, mummies and artifacts, as well as a series of interconnected tunnels.
For the past two years, archaeologists have been working at Saqqara, an archaeological site in Giza, about 32 kilometers south of Cairo.
Recently, they found a coffin and there was, which probably belonged to some of Tutankhamun’s closest generals and advisers during his reign (1333 BC until his death in 1323 BC). Archaeologists are also focusing their attention on a nearby pyramid, belonging to Tethys, the first king of Egypt’s Sixth Dynasty.
“Thetis was worshiped as a deity during the New Kingdom, so people wanted to be buried near him,” said Zahi Hawass, the Egyptologist working on the excavations and who had previously served as Egypt’s antiquities minister.
“However, most of the previously known burials at Saqqara date from the Old Kingdom or Late Period. We have now found 22 interconnected pits, ranging from 9 to 18 meters deep. They are all New Kingdom burials dating from the 6th century BC the 11th century BC,” he explained.
Inside this pit, archaeologists discovered a large limestone sarcophagus along with 300 decorated coffins from the New Kingdom period.
“New Kingdom burials were not previously known in the area, so these findings are completely unique to the site,” Hawass said.
|
Egyptologist Zahi Hawass and one of the mummies were found in Saqqara, an excavation site outside Cairo. Photo: Zahi Hawass
|
He explained that the coffins had individual faces, and each one was unique because it distinguished between men and women and was decorated with stories from the Book of the Dead (ours contains ancient Egyptian burials). Each coffin also has the name of the person who died.
What was even more surprising was that when the researchers lifted the lid of the coffin, they found the mummy in good condition, even after so many centuries.
“This shows that mummification reached its peak in the New Kingdom. Some of the coffins had two lids, and by far the most striking coffin was decorated with a woman’s mask that was made entirely of solid gold,” Hawass said.
Furthermore, the researchers found a pyramid commemorates a queen whose identity was previously unknown.
“We found out that her name is Neith and that she was never known before from historical records. It’s amazing that we can rewrite what we know about history by adding a new queen to our records,” concluded Hawass.
The coffins and various antiquities found at the excavation site will be exhibited at the Grand Egyptian Museum in Giza, which is scheduled to open next year.
Watch a video “World’s first pregnant mummy face unveiled“
[Gambas:Video 20detik]
(rns/fyk)
