Egypt: Discoveries Made at Major Dig Site

Archaeologists working at the Saqqara necropolis south of Cairo, Egypt, announced that they have uncovered a huge trove of artifacts.

The tourism and antiquities ministry released a statement detailing the recent discovery on Sunday, 17 January, which comes after the same team found over 100 wooden coffins in November last year.

The ancient necropolis is dated to be over 2 500-years-old, and belonged to prominent officials of the New Kingdom period between 16th century and 11th century BC.

On Saturday, 16 January, Egyptologist Zahi Hawass and his team dug up a temple and found 52 sarcophagi in burial shafts, along with various other items such as masks, wooden boats, and a parchment of papyrus containing a passage referencing the “book of the dead.”

Hawass claims that the funerary temple belongs to Queen Naert, the wife of King Teti – the first pharaoh of the sixth dynasty during the New Kingdom period.

The famed archaeologist hopes the discovery will provide more clarity on Saqqara and help rewrite its history.