New Discovery in Saqqara
June 2007

A mud brick tomb dates back to the late fifth dynasty and early sixth dynasty has been found at Teti necropolis located to the northern side of Teti pyramid in Saqqara. The tomb was found by an Egyptian-Australian mission heading by Dr. Naguib Qanawati during a routine excavation work Culture minister Farouk Hosni announced today.

Dr. Zahi; Hawass secretary general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA) said that the tomb, which belongs to the scribe of Devine records Ka-Hay and his wife Spri-Ankh, has a very beautiful wooden false door bearing different titles o f the tomb's owner along with two offering tables. At the tomb's forefront excavators stumbled upon a niche where five wooden statues featuring the tomb's owner and his wife have been unearthed. Most of the statues are very well preserved, asserted Dr. Hawass, and among them is a very fine double statue featuring Ka-Hay and his wife seated. , "It is a unique statue," said Hawass adding that in general double seated statues are made of lime stone and-are rarely carved in wood.

Sabri Abdel Aziz, head of the ancient Egyptian department of the SCA, said that the tomb is a mud brick mastaba with a rectangular chapel and a niche where a wooden offering list was found embellished at its end with a scene featuring the tomb's owner looking to his wife.

Ossama El-Shimi said that these statues are now in the storage in order to be cleaned, restored and studied. Naguib Qanawaty's mission is working in Saqqara necropolis since early' 1970's to unearth Old Kingdom's tombs from the fifth and sixth dynasties.

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