Archeologists may just have discovered the oldest mummy in Egypt. Read to know more about the ancient relic.
All about the oldest mummy ever
Zahi Hawass on Friday told CNN about the discovery of a 4,300-year-old mummy of Djed Sepsh, a 35-year-old rich and important man. Hawass is an archeologist and the former antiquities minister of Egypt. “It is the oldest mummy, complete and covered in gold, ever found in Egypt. The most amazing discovery,” he added. As per the former minister, the team credited with the discovery had ten assistants.
They discovered the mummified man about 20 meters below the earth at the Gisr el-Mundir enclosure located in the shadow of the Step Pyramid of Djoser in the village of Saqqara. The mummy was in a stone coffin weight about 25 tonnes. As per Hawass, the lid weighed about five tonnes. When they entered through one of the shafts, the team stated they found the “oldest, most beautiful mummy covered in layers of gold, with a band on the head and a bracelet on the chest, which indicates this was a rich man”.
More on the discovery
Moreover, Hawass revealed the team was successful in discovering several old artifacts. Among them, one dated back to King Unas’ reign during the fifth Dynasty, making the artifact between 2494 and 2487 BC. The shaft also held three statues representing a person. Additionally, nine statues were discovered behind a false door. According to the team, these statues are extremely important. This is because, they are providing us with “knowledge for the first time about art in the Old Kingdom. It includes double statues, single statues, servant statues, all types of different statues”.
A second stone coffin belonging to the “second after the King” and similar to the oldest mummy was discovered. Archeologissta re foing to open it nect week.