Khaled El-Anany, Minister of Tourism and Antiquities, inspected this morning, Thursday, the excavations of the Egyptian archaeological mission working in the area northwest of the pyramid of King “Marinara” in Saqqara, which resulted in the discovery of 5 inscribed tombs from the eras of the Old Kingdom and the first intermediate period, including many burials. He was accompanied by Dr. Mustafa Waziri, Secretary-General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities and head of the mission. Dr. Khaled Al-Anani was keen to go down to one of these tombs, which were discovered with Dr. Mustafa Waziri, to inspect the inscriptions and archaeological finds found inside to encourage the work of the mission of the Supreme Council of Antiquities.
Dr. Mustafa Waziri explained: the first cemetery of the tombs discovered for a person named “Eri” of a senior statesman consists of a well that leads to a burial room whose walls are carved with pictures of many funerary scenes, including scenes of offering tables, the facade of the palace, and the seven oil pots.
It has a vast sarcophagus made of limestone, in addition to carved pieces belonging to the owner of the tomb, and the mission is now working on assembling them.
The second tomb probably belongs to the wife of a person called “Yart” because of its proximity to his tomb, and it consists of a rectangular well. The third cemetery belongs to a person called “Bi Neferhafaye,” who held several positions, including the sole Samir, the supervisor of the great house, the chanting priest, and the house cleanser. The fourth tomb is a rectangular well located at a depth of about 6 meters below the ground’s surface for a woman called “Betty,” who bore the titles decorated by the only king and priestess of the goddess Hathor. The fifth cemetery is for a person called “Hannu” and consists of a rectangular well located about 7 meters. Among his titles is the supervisor of the royal palace, the sole emir, the hereditary prince and mayor, the supervisor of the Great House, the bearer of the seals of Lower Egypt, and the supervisor of the orchard. The mission continues to excavate the site to discover more of its secrets, as the mission is currently working on cleaning these tombs, and archaeological documentation is underway. It is worth noting that the Egyptian archaeological mission had announced during the past years several important archaeological discoveries in the Saqqara, including the discovery of hundreds of colorful human coffins containing mummies in a good state of preservation for senior politicians and priests from the 26th dynasty, which was chosen among the top 10 discoveries. Archaeological sites in the world for the year 2020 and the discovery of two tombs from the era of the Fifth Dynasty of the purified priest “Wahi” and the supervisor of the royal palace “Khoei” and many cat tombs.
