Egyptologists have found a gold leaf-covered mummy sealed inside a Pharaonic tomb near the capital Cairo. The 4,300-year-old mummy is believed to be the ‘oldest and most complete’ mummy ever discovered in Egypt.
The mummy was found at the bottom of a 15m (50ft) shaft at a burial site near the Step Pyramid at Saqqara, where three other tombs were found. The oldest mummy is the remains of a man named Hekashepes, preserved in a mortar-sealed limestone sarcophagus.
Saqqara was an active burial ground for more than 3,000 years that sits at Egypt’s ancient capital of Memphis. It is home to the famed Giza Pyramids and more than a dozen other pyramids, including the Step Pyramid, near where this mummy was found. The ruins of Memphis are a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
With these findings, Egypt hopes to revive its faltering tourism sector
Egypt has unveiled many major archaeological discoveries in recent years. These ancient discoveries will help attract more tourists, a significant source of foreign currency for this cash-strapped country.
Egypt’s tourist industry was hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic and is also badly impacted by the war in Ukraine. Russia and Ukraine are among Egypt’s most important tourism markets.
The excavation team also found many beautiful wooden statues, amulets, stone vessels, tools for daily life, and several other items, including pottery among the tombs.
