An archeological mission from the Cairo University has unearthed the tomb of “Ptah-M-Wia”, the chief treasurer during the reign of King Ramses II in Ancient Egypt, in Saqqara area, south of Cairo.
According to Mostafa Waziri, Secretary-General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, the discovery included tombs of senior officials of the 19th Dynasty and complemented other tombs of the 18th Dynasty, the most important of which was the tomb of the military commander Hor Moheb.
Waziri stressed the importance of this discovery as Ptah-M-Wia held several positions at the time, including chief treasurer and chief supervisor of livestock and divine offerings at the Temple of Ramses II in Thebes.
Ola Al-Ajezi, Head of the archaeological mission, said that the style of the newly discovered cemetery is no different than other cemeteries in this area, which is called the tomb-temple, as it consists of an entrance in the form of an edifice, followed by one or more courtyards.
“What has now been discovered from the tomb is its entrance which was built of stone carved with the scenes of the owner of the tomb. This entrance leads to a first hall with painted and coloured plaster walls. She noted that among the most important of these scenes are those depicting the procession of carrying offerings, which ends with a scene of slaughtering a calf,” she said.
Al-Ajezi added that many engraved stone blocks were also found, as well as many Osirian columns.
She noted that the mission had completed restoration work of the tomb of the Supreme Commander of the Army during the reign of King Seti I and his son, King Ramses II. The calf’s cabin, which was discovered during the excavations by Professor Sayed Tawfiq, was also restored.
Ahmed Ragab, Dean of the Faculty of Archaeology at Cairo University, said that the faculty started its archaeological excavations in the 1970s, when it searched for Coptic monasteries. Later, Prof. Sayed Tawfik launched excavations in several sites south of the ascending road to the pyramid of King Unas in 1983-1986, which resulted in the discovery of many tombs, including the tomb of the royal vizier Nefer-Ranpet.
Mohamed El-Khosht, President of Cairo University, said that this important archaeological discovery joins the group of discoveries made by the excavation mission of Cairo University, including the tomb of Mayor of Memphis Ptah-Mas; the royal ambassador to foreign countries, Basir; and the supreme commander of the army, Eurkhi, in the Saqqara region.
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