SAQQARA, EGYPT—According to an Ahram Online report, an intact Old Kingdom (ca. 2649–2150 B.C.) tomb belonging to a high-ranking official and a series of interconnected shafts containing burials have been uncovered in Saqqara’s Bubasteion Necropolis. The tomb of Sekhentio-Ptah is made up of a funerary chapel and a false door inscribed with his titles, such as Royal Chamberlain, Overseer of All the Works of the King, and Keeper of the Secrets of Royal Decrees. The tomb contained a complete collection of alabaster ritual objects, including an offering table, an offering slab, and a purification basin. Finding these objects in their original locations will help scholars understand Old Kingdom rituals and practices, explained Hisham El-Leithy of Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities. Human remains, three sealed stone sarcophagi, a wooden statue of a falcon, pottery, painted funerary cartonnage, and more than 100 faience ushabti figurines have been recovered from the burial shafts. Some of these shafts are thought to have been looted in antiquity, El-Leithy concluded. To read about the burial of another high-ranking Egyptian dignitary found in Saqqara, go to "Old Kingdom Tomb," one of ARCHAEOLOGY's Top 10 Discoveries of 2019.
