Queen Sofia's Visit

During her visit to Cairo with H.M. King Juan Carlos of Spain, H.M. Queen Sofia made a tour of Saqqara accompanied by Dr. Zahi Hawass, Secretary General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA). She visited the Imhotep Museum, named for the architect who constructed the Step Pyramid and the funerary complex of King Djoser of the Third Dynasty. Dr. Hawass took Queen Sofia on a tour inside the Step Pyramid complex where they had photos taken together.

They also visited the tomb of Nefer, “Inspector of singers” during the reign of King Niuserre of the Fifth Dynasty (c. 2474-2444 BC), where the earliest non-royal mummy was discovered.

Queen Sofia also visited the excavation area of the “Headless Pyramid,” in which an Egyptian mission supervised by Dr. Hawass is working. A group of galleries and crypts, a sarcophagus which is believed to belong to the Middle Kingdom, and a burial chamber were discovered in this area.

She also promised Dr. Hawass that she would visit the Valley of the Kings soon to see the recent, important discoveries made there by the SCA mission led by Dr. Hawass, especially the area adjacent to King Merenptah’s tomb. This mission is a purely Egyptian expedition working in the Valley of the Kings.
 

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