4,300 years ago, Egypt unearthed "the oldest non-royal mummy".
Archaeologists say a "gold-leaf-covered mummy" was found inside a 4,300-year-old never-open sarcophagus.
The mummy, named Hekashepes, is believed to be "one of the oldest and most complete non-royal mummies ever found in Egypt" at the bottom of a 15-metre-deep shaft in a cemetery south of Saqqara, a well-known Egyptian cemetery, and three other graves found at the same site, the BBC reported. It is reported that one of the graves belonged to a "secret guardian".
The largest mummy unearthed is said to be Khnumdjedef, a priest, overseer and overseer of nobility, and the other is a high-ranking court official named Meri, who was given the title of "Secret Guardian" to enable him to perform special religious ceremonies. The last grave belonged to a judge and writer named Fetek, in addition to the discovery of a series of statues believed to be the largest ever recorded in the area.
Archaeologist Zahi Hawas, Egypt's former minister of antiquities, noted that "all the finds date back to around the 25th and 22nd centuries BC." Saqara is more than 3,000 years old, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and home to more than 10 pyramids.
Egypt has made many major archaeological discoveries in recent years as part of a revitalized tourism campaign, and the government hopes its Grand Egyptian Museum, which was scheduled to open this year, will attract 30 million visitors a year, but critics accuse the government of prioritizing media-appealing discoveries over academic research in order to attract more tourists.
