Two 5th Dynasty Tombs Discovered at Saqqara
Two tombs have been discovered at Saqqara dating to the reign of Unas at the end of the 5th dynasty, about 2350 BC.
One of the tombs is about two by three meters in size and belonged to a woman called ‘Thinh’, who was responsible for procuring entertainers for the King. Inside her tomb she is depicted smelling a lotus. On the lintel above the entrance to her tomb her titles are given, one of which is ‘Chief of the Singers’.
The other tomb about half the size belonged to a man called ‘Iya-Maat’. Inscriptions on the walls of his tomb describe him as the overseer of the quarries used in the construction of the Unas pyramid. This included limestone from Tura, granite from Aswan and Mafet (red bricks) from the western desert. One of his titles was ‘Supervisor of the King’s property’.
The discovery of these two tombs reveals a much larger cemetery extending to the south-west of Unas’ pyramid, an area that has remained largely untouched by excavations.
For example, recent discoveries include the pyramid of Menkauhor and the pyramid of Sesheshet, both of which are situated north-east of Djoser’s step pyramid.
Earlier this year in February the discovery of two much larger tombs in the same area by the Saqqara Geophysical Project was reported as being the possible location of the tomb of the Step pyramid’s architect, Imhotep.
“This means the royal cemetery is bigger than we thought” – Saleh Suleiman, the archaeologist responsible for the excavation of the tombs of ‘Thinh’ and ‘Iy-Maat’.
“It shows that the blank areas of the maps of Saqqara aren’t really empty at all. It’s just that archaeologists haven’t got round to digging them” – Aidan Dodson.
“The discovery of the two tombs are the beginning of a big, large cemetery” – Zahi Hawass.
You can view a video of the newly discovered tombs and an explanation of them by Zahi Hawass below:
For more information see:
The website of Dr Zahi Hawass (includes some good photos)
Two 4,300-year-old tombs unveiled near Cairo
Video from BBC: Tombs discovered after 4,000 years
Photo slide show: Yahoo
Related posts:
- Old Kingdom Tombs Discovered at Abydos An ancient tomb complex has just been discovered in the...
- Seven New Tombs at Saqqara Open Today Seven tombs at South Saqqara will be opened to tourists...
- Storeroom of Mummies Discovered at Saqqara Hawass in the newly discovered tomb. Photo AP Breaking in...
- Largest Tomb Ever Discovered at Saqqara Archaeologists have discovered what is thought to be the largest...
- Ancient Tomb Discovered Intact at Saqqara False door from the newly discovered tomb Two tombs dating...
Follow me on Twitter
[...] Two 5th Dynasty Tombs Discovered at Saqqara [...]