In another amazing archaeological discovery, Egyptologists that have been working near the Step Pyramid of Djoser on ancient cemetery and they uncovered what they are referring to as “the oldest and most complete mummy found in Egypt to date.”
According to the world’s most celebrated archeologist, Dr. Zahi Hawass, he shared that discovery was made at the bottom of a 45-foot (or 15 meter) shaft. It had a limestone sarcophagus that had the remains of what they considered a very rich man named Heka-shepas as explained by hieroglyphics. He was also found covered in gold leaf, with many other jewelry pieces all over his body. Dr. Hawass’s team believe that so far, he is the oldest mummy to be found who wasn’t considered a blue blood.
So how do they know how old Heka-shepas? To make it easier to understand, they explain that while the 100th anniversary of “Boy King” Tutenkhamon’s tomb was celebrated just last year, Heka-shepas had already been sleeping for over a thousand years during the Boy King’s reign.
Moreover, the shaft where Heka-shepas was found was near the modern day village of Saqqara in Egypt, which was said to be near the capital city during the Old Kingdom from the years 2,700 to 2,200 BCE.
There were also other shafts close to Heka-shepas’ tomb, where the archaeologists uncovered other important wooden statues, with some behind a false wall as well.
As shared by Dr. Hawass on his Instagram page, “The mission discovered three stone statues representing a person named Fetek. Beside these statues was an offering table and a stone sarcophagus that contained his mummy.”
He also explained that amongst the other exciting discoveries were two other mummies, priests named Khnum-djed-ef, who was found in the pyramid complex of Unas, and Messi, found in the complex of King Pepi I.
While the Step Pyramid of Djoser is believed to be the oldest monumental stone building within in Egypt, while the Saqqara cemetery close by has proved to hold a number of amazing national treasures and monuments from the past. Some were Queen Nearit, the wife of the first king of the sixth dynasty of the Old Kingdom, King Teti who was discovered in 2021. While another one was the royal treasurer of Pharaoh Ramses II.
You can see more about this incredible discovery in the video below:
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