CAIRO – Reported on December 15, 2018, Egyptian archaeologists discovered a "very well-preserved" tomb belonging to the royal priests of the Fifteenth Dynasty.
The tomb was found in the sacred animal cemetery in Saqqara.
The Minister of Antiquities, Khalid Anani, announced in announcing the new discoveries held on Saturday that the found tomb was a royal purification priest ruled by King Sakkara, named "Wahtye".
Annani explained that the newly discovered tomb is very well preserved, with exquisite frescoes on the interior and the walls decorated with colorful frescoes; the frescoes depict scenes of the royal priest "Vashi" and his mother, wife and family, as well as a considerable number of temples and a large number of statues of priests and his family depicted in color.
"This is the most exquisite tomb ever discovered this year," Annani said.
Secretary General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities and Head of excavation tasks Mostafa. Wazri said the mission discovered the façade of the tomb during the second excavation season in November, but could not be accessed at the time because the door was sealed.
"We tried to remove the ruins that stood in the way of the tomb façade, and above the tomb door was revealed a beam with three hieroglyphic lines carved: the name of the tomb owner, the title, who was the royal purification priest, named Vashi, the superintendent of King Sakkara and the overseer of the holy ship," Vazri said.
Vazri added that the tomb walls are made up of an immense number of polychrome painted sculptures, which show the wife of a royal purification priest called "Whitty. Perth", and many scenes feature Reverend Vahi and his mother as well as his family, whose last name is "Mehrett. Meehan". In addition, scenes depict the manufacture of pottery and wine, religious events, musical performances, sailing ships, the manufacture of funerary furniture and hunting.
The excavation team found 18 niches inside the tombs, displaying 24 large polychrome statues carved into the rocks, showing the royal priest and his family.
The part at the foot of the tomb of The Reverend Vashi has 26 small niches with 31 statues, or standing, one of which is sitting there. This man has not yet been identified.
Figure 2: Mostafa. Vazri explains in the tomb
Mostafa. Vazri thought the man might be the priest himself or a member of his family. The director of the archaeological site of Sakkara, Saperi. Farage said the excavated tomb is about 10 meters long from north to south, 3 meters wide from east to west, about 3 meters high, and has a rectangular hall with a basement at the bottom.
Vazri said the tomb contains five burial areas and two false doors, one belonging to Vashi and the other to his mother.
A group of prominent foreign and Arab ambassadors, as well as members of the Egyptian Parliament, attended the event announcing the new discovery.
It is worth mentioning that the Minister of Antiquities Aswan, during the excavations announced by the Swedish archaeological team on Thursday, December 14 (local time), unearthed a cemetery dating back to the 18th century dynasty (1550 BC - 1292 BC).
Vazri said the unmodified tomb is located at a depth of 5 meters and consists of a burial chamber and two stone blocks.
He mentioned that the cemetery suffered from many attempts by grave robbers to enter the tomb, which was full of sand and silt; As a result, excavation missions are currently unable to assess the site and the extent of the damage that took place during the tomb robbery.
He added that the groundwater that filled the cemetery caused some damage to the interior space and artifacts.