Mud tomb found near oldest Egyptian pyramid, contained unique double statue
CAIRO -- A mud brick tomb dating back more than 4,000 years has been discovered near Egypt's most ancient pyramid in the Saqqara complex south of Cairo, antiquities official announced Monday. The tomb, which was found by an Egyptian-Australian mission, belonged to Ka-Hay, who kept divine records, and his wife, said Zahi Hawass, Egypt's antiquities chief.
Excavators found five wooden statues depicting the tomb's owner and his wife in a niche at the tomb's forefront. Among the wooden figures was a unique double statue of a seated Ka-Hay and his wife, Hawass said.
The tomb, which also features two offering tables and a wooden false door, was found near the famous Step Pyramid of King Djoser -- believed to be Egypt's oldest pyramid -- in the necropolis of King Teti, a funerary area containing scores of burial chambers, false doors that ancient Egyptians said the souls of the dead would use to leave their tombs, and temples.
[Update: According to a Reuters report Tuesday,"A third discovery, announced by the Supreme Antiquities Council on Monday, was of a cache of wooden statues dating back to about 2200 BC, the heyday of the Sakkara necropolis. The council said in a statement that the cache contained five statues, including a rare double wooden statue of the scribe Ka-Hay and his wife. But Hawass said there were only three wooden statues, two of the scribe and a separate one of his wife."http://www.reuters.com/article/scienceNews/idUSL2012923420070220]
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Excavators found five wooden statues depicting the tomb's owner and his wife in a niche at the tomb's forefront. Among the wooden figures was a unique double statue of a seated Ka-Hay and his wife, Hawass said.
The tomb, which also features two offering tables and a wooden false door, was found near the famous Step Pyramid of King Djoser -- believed to be Egypt's oldest pyramid -- in the necropolis of King Teti, a funerary area containing scores of burial chambers, false doors that ancient Egyptians said the souls of the dead would use to leave their tombs, and temples.
[Update: According to a Reuters report Tuesday,"A third discovery, announced by the Supreme Antiquities Council on Monday, was of a cache of wooden statues dating back to about 2200 BC, the heyday of the Sakkara necropolis. The council said in a statement that the cache contained five statues, including a rare double wooden statue of the scribe Ka-Hay and his wife. But Hawass said there were only three wooden statues, two of the scribe and a separate one of his wife."http://www.reuters.com/article/scienceNews/idUSL2012923420070220]