Archaeologists in Egypt have found a mummy 4.3 thousand years old: in all likelihood, this is the oldest such find ever made in this country and preserved in such good condition.
The mummy was found near the oldest Egyptian pyramid of Djoser (the village of Saqqara, 25 km south of Egypt) at the bottom of a 15-meter deep mine. The head of the archaeological team, former Egyptian antiquities minister Zahi Hawass, told reporters that burials dating back to the V (ca. 2504 to 2347 B.C.) and VI (ca. 2347 to 2216 B.C.) dynasties of ancient Egypt were found here.
“This mummy may be the oldest and most preserved found in Egypt to this day,” he stressed.
The mummy of a man named Hecashepes was placed in a limestone sarcophagus and sealed the lid with mortar.
Another tomb belonged to Khnumdjedef (Khnumdjedef in English), a priest, an “inspector” who supervised officials and aristocrats, and who served under the last pharaoh of the fifth dynasty, Unis (c. 2367 – 2347 BC). His tomb was decorated with scenes of daily life of those long ago times. Another tomb was the resting place of Meri, “keeper of secrets and assistant to the great lord of the palace. Numerous statuettes were also found in the underground crypt.
