The 4,300-year-old mummy was a wealthy, essential 35-year-old man known as Djed Sepsh, archaeologist Zahi Hawass, Egypt’s former antiquities minister, advised CNN Friday.
“It’s the oldest mummy, full and lined in gold, ever present in Egypt,” he stated, including that it was “probably the most wonderful discovery.”
Hawass stated he and a workforce of 10 assistants found the mummified man 20 meters (66 ft) underground on the Gisr el-Mudir enclosure, within the shadow of the traditional Step Pyramid of Djoser within the village of Saqqara.
Archeologist Zahi Hawass and 10 assistants discovered the 4,300-year-old mummy. Credit score: Omar Zoheiry/image alliance/Getty Photographs
The mother was in a 25-tonne stone coffin — with the lid alone weighing 5 tonnes — in one of many shafts the workforce entered, in keeping with Hawass.
He stated when the workforce opened the lid, they discovered the “oldest, most lovely mummy lined in layers of gold, with a band on the top and a bracelet on the chest, which signifies this was a wealthy man.”
An array of Outdated Kingdom artifacts have been found on the website. Credit score: Amr Nabil/AP
Among the many many different Outdated Kingdom artifacts found have been two tombs, Hawass stated, one in every of which dated again to the reign of King Unas throughout the Fifth Dynasty, between 2494 and 2487 BC.
Three statues representing one individual have been additionally present in a shaft, and 9 different statues have been discovered behind a false door.
The statues are essential as a result of they offer us “data for the primary time about artwork within the Outdated Kingdom. It consists of double statues, single statues, servant statues, all sort of various statues,” the archeologist stated.
9 statues have been discovered behind a false door final week. Credit score: Fadel Dawod/Getty Photographs
One other stone coffin just like the one with the mummified rich man was additionally unearthed and can be opened subsequent week.
Hawass stated the invention means the cemetery was for essential individuals, “second after the King”.
The Step Pyramid was the primary pyramid that the traditional Egyptians ever constructed, between 2667 and 2648 BC throughout the early Third Dynasty, and is the oldest recognized historic Egyptian stone construction, in keeping with the nation’s Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities.