Pyramid-Shaped Tomb Unearthed in Egypt’s Dakhleh Oasis

CAIRO, EGYPT—Ahram Online reports that a pyramid-shaped tomb dated to the late third or early fourth century A.D. has been unearthed at the site of Bir Al-Shaghala in the Dakhleh Oasis by archaeologists from Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities. Bir Al-Shaghala was part of the necropolis of Mothis, the oasis' capital during the Ptolemaic and Roman periods. Underneath the pyramid superstructure, the researchers uncovered a mudbrick hall with a vaulted ceiling. Two mudbrick burial chambers were set to the right of the hall. The staircase and the sandstone entrance to the tomb were built in the Egyptian style, with hieroglyphic inscriptions of funerary spells and protections. A cornice decorated with a winged sun disk and two cobras, and a funerary scene from the Egyptian Books of the Netherworld on the lintel, also reflect Egyptian style. A sandstone offering table, a sandstone purification basin, pottery, and a bronze coin bearing an image of the emperor Constantine were also found. Greek influence is shown in the 19 lines of Greek text inscribed on a stone funerary stele. The text is dedicated to a man named Pisechtes, who is thought to have been a judge. The archaeologists suggest that the tomb may have been reused, with a mudbrick chapel and a shrine with four square mudbrick columns added to the main entrance at that time. To read about Ptolemaic-era mining in Egypt's Eastern Desert, go to "Miners' Misfortune."