ANCIENT ARTIFACTS

Egypt Unveils 4,400-Year-Old Tomb Near Cairo

The tomb is adorned with well-preserved wall paintings showing the life of an ancient priestess.

Egyptian authorities on Saturday unveiled a 4,400-year-old tomb recently discovered near Cairo. The country’s Antiquities Ministry said the tomb is thought to have belonged to a priestess known as Hetpet in the 5th Dynasty. “We know of course that she was a high official and that she had a strong link with the royal palace,” Egyptian Antiquities Minister Khaled al-Anani told reporters. The tomb, found near the Great Pyramid of Giza, is made of mud brick and adorned with wall paintings that show Hetpet in various scenes. Other scenes depict a monkey, an animal that was commonly kept as a domestic pet in pharaonic times. Mostafa al-Waziri, who led the excavation mission, said he expects more discoveries will be made in the “promising area” in the near future. “What we see above the earth’s surface in Egypt doesn’t exceed 40 percent of what the core holds,” he said.