Egypt · Old Kingdom, c. 2700–2200 BC · Saqqara, Giza Governorate, Egypt
Remains of Old Kingdom high priest's son found in limestone sarcophagus at Saqqara
Czech archaeologists also found a previously unknown offering chapel belonging to his mother, the wife of the high priest Sabu, in the Egyptian cemetery.
Saqqara, Egypt Czech archaeologists at Saqqara in Egypt have found the remains of an Old Kingdom man named Ptahshepses inside a limestone sarcophagus. According to Ahram Online, he was the son of a high priest called Sabu. The same excavations revealed an offering chapel belonging to Sabu's wife. That chapel had not been known before.
Ahram Online describes the work as a rediscovery of Old Kingdom tombs of high priests and officials. The word suggests that at least some of these tombs had been recorded in the past and are now being excavated again. The report available does not say who first found them or when.
A cemetery for Memphis
Saqqara was the main cemetery of Memphis, Egypt's capital during the Old Kingdom. It lies on the desert edge west of the Nile, south of modern Cairo. The step pyramid of King Djoser, built in the 27th century BC, stands there.
The Old Kingdom lasted from roughly 2700 to 2200 BC. In this period high officials and priests built stone tombs in the cemeteries around the royal pyramids. Many of these tombs carry inscriptions with the owners' names and titles.
Czech Egyptologists have worked in this part of Egypt for decades. Their best-known excavations are at Abusir, a few kilometres north of Saqqara, where they have studied pyramids and tombs of the 5th Dynasty. The report does not name the team members who made the new finds.
Father, mother and son
The new finds connect three members of one family: the high priest Sabu, his wife and their son Ptahshepses. The report available does not give the wife's name. It also does not say which god or temple Sabu served as high priest.
An offering chapel was the part of an Old Kingdom tomb open to the living. Relatives and priests came there to leave food and drink for the dead. The burial itself usually lay at the bottom of a shaft, sealed off below the chapel.
The report calls the chapel of Sabu's wife previously unknown. It does not describe the chapel's decoration or any inscriptions.
Ptahshepses was buried in a sarcophagus carved from limestone. The report says it contains his remains. It does not say whether the burial was found intact or had been robbed in antiquity.
Several basic details are still missing from the public account. These include the exact location of the tombs within Saqqara and the dynasty in which the family lived. The titles Ptahshepses held and whether his remains will be studied scientifically are also not given.
Sources
- Czech archaeologists rediscover Old Kingdom tombs of high priests, officials at Saqqara (english.ahram.org.eg)
- Czech archaeologists rediscover Old Kingdom tombs of high priests, officials at Saqqara (english.ahram.org.eg)
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