The tomb of a temple guard has been unearthed at one of the most important burial sites in ancient Egypt, and archeologists believe it is more than 3,000 years old, Egypt’s Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities announced Wednesday.
A team of Dutch and Italian archeologists made the discovery in Saqqara, roughly 20 miles south of the Egyptian capital of Cairo. Researchers believe the tomb, shaped like a temple, belonged to Panehsy, the guard of the tomb of Amun – an Egyptian deity known as the god of air. The tomb is believed to be from Egypt’s 19th Dynasty, which lasted from 1292-1189 BC.
“The new find sheds light on the development of Saqqara necropolis during the Ramesside era, and lifts the curtain on new individuals not yet known in historical sources,” Mostafa Waziri, the secretary general of Egypt’s Supreme Council on Antiquities told ABC News.
Panehsy’s tomb has a colonnaded courtyard, three chapels, and a shaft that leads to an underground burial chamber, according to the Dutch National Museum of Antiquities, one of the groups that worked on the excavation. The museum says the mudbrick walls of the temple have “beautiful, colorful reliefs” that depict Panehsy and his wife Baia, who is known as “the singer of Amun.”
نجحت البعثة الأثرية الهولندية الإيطالية من متحف ليدن بهولندا والمتحف المصري بتورينو، والعاملة بمنطقة آثار سقارة تحت إشراف المجلس الأعلى للآثار، في الكشف عن مقبرة لشخص يدعي بانحسي وعدد من المقاصير من عصر الرعامسة. pic.twitter.com/i5oiqdERMd
— Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities (@TourismandAntiq) April 12, 2023
One of the reliefs shows Paneshy and his wife at an offering table with a priest named Piay wrapped in leopard skin. Hieroglyphs in the tomb also point to it belonging to Paneshy, saying, “steward of the temple of Amun,” which was his title, and “Paneshy of Memphis,” the capital of ancient Egypt.
“He had a very nice tomb with wonderful reliefs which show large traces of color,” Lara Weiss, curator for the Egyptian and Nubian collection at the National Museum of Antiquities, told McLatchey News.
Additional finds by the archeological team include four small chapels located in separate tombs on the east side of Panehsy’s, dating to the same time period. One of the chapels was able to be traced to the owner.
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That temple belonged to a man named YoeYoe and was excavated over a century ago but later covered up by sand, according to the Dutch museum. YoeYoe was known as the “gold foil maker of Pharaoh’s treasury,” and his tomb has reliefs depicting his funeral procession and the afterlife.
These finds come as part of a string of impressive discoveries in Egypt this year, specifically in Saqqara. In January, archeologists discovered the tomb of a “secret keeper” that is 4,300 years old. A “secret keeper” was a prestigious title for a senior official that could perform religious rituals, according to France 24.