Egypt archaeologist discovers 4,300-year-old gilded mummy

Cairo: In the Saqqara necropolis, close to the Pyramids of Giza, Egypt's renowned archaeologist Zahi Hawass announced the discovery of "important tombs hosting a 4300-year-old mummy."

Hawass was quoted as saying during a press conference on Thursday, according to the Xinhua news agency. "The mummy is the oldest and most complete unroyal mummy found in Egypt to date."

The gold-leafed mummy of a man named Hekashepes was discovered inside a large, rectangular limestone sarcophagus in a room beneath a 15-meter-deep shaft, according to the



archaeologist.

He went on to say that the sarcophagus, which the mission found to be completely sealed, was surrounded by numerous stone vessels.

Hawass, the director of the Egyptian excavation team working with the Supreme Council of Antiquities in the Gisr el-Mudir area of Saqqara, stated, "The oldest mummy is part of the important discovery of a group of tombs that date back to the fifth and sixth dynasties of the Old Kingdom." The tombs are located in the Gisr el-Mudir area of Saqqara.

He explained that recent discoveries suggested the existence of a substantial cemetery at the location.