An international team of archaeologists have uncovered a 3,200-year-old tomb in Egypt, approximately 20 miles south of Cairo, ABC News reported.
Resembling a free-standing structure, the tomb consists of an inner courtyard with columned porticoes, underground burial chambers and three chapels. Hieroglyphs found within the burial complex indicate the tomb belonged to a temple guard of the Egyptian god Amun named Panehsy, according to the Miami Herald.
A 3,200-year-old tomb belonging to the guard of the temple of Egyptian deity Amun has been uncovered in Saqqara necropolis, south of Egyptian capital Cairo, the tourism ministry says. https://t.co/fsEIF93XLN
— ABC News (@ABC) April 12, 2023
Within the tomb itself, Dutch and Italian archaeologists discovered a stone relief depicting Panehsy and his wife Baia, a singer of Amun, according to ABC News.
“He had a very nice tomb with wonderful reliefs which show large traces of color,” Lara Weiss, curator of the Egyptian and Nubian collection at the National Museum of Antiquities, stated, according to the Miami Herald.
One particular relief depicts a bald priest named Piay dressed in a leopard-skinned pelt honoring Panehsy and his wife. Weiss believes Piay was most likely Panehsy’s assistant and would have probably been in charge of funeral duties, as it seems Panehsy and Baia “had no children,” Weiss revealed, according to the outlet.
The newly discovered tomb was found at Sakkara, an over 3,000 year-old burial ground dating back to the time of Ramses II near the old Egyptian capital of Memphis, the outlet stated. (RELATED: Archaeologists Discover Sphinx-Like Statue That Could Be Connected To Roman Emperor Claudius)
“The new find sheds light on the development of Saqqara necropolis during the Ramesside era, and lifts the curtain on new individuals not yet known in historical sources,” Mostafa Waziri, Secretary General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, stated, according to ABC News.