4,000-year-old tomb unearthed in Sakkara
Egypt, History, 10/1/2001

Egyptian Minister of Culture Farouk Hosni said the Egyptian mission working west of King Onas Pyramid in Sakkara unearthed a new tomb that belongs to Qar, chief of the royal court, adding that the 4,000 year-old tomb dates back to the 6th dynasty, the old kingdom.

Gaballah Ali Gaballah, Secretary-General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA), said the new tomb has the shape that characterized the 6th Dynasty era.

The mission discovered remains of coloured clay-formed drawings depicting day-to-day life and offerings.

At the entrance of the tomb, they also found relief inscriptions written in hieroglyphics, and several titles of the deceased, including "senior physician of the royal court," "the palace jester" and 'the confidant".

Director of Giza Antiquities Department, Zahi Hawas said the mission discovered a treasure trove of 22 bronze statues, which were taken as votive offerings for several gods.

'The Statues are of goddess Isis breast-feeding infant Horus, god ptah, Osiris, Anubis and Horus, in different shapes and sizes,' said Hawas.

"The mission also discovered a 20-metre-deep burial well where a big rectangular sarcophagus of limestone with the name of the tomb owner, Qar, inscribed on it in hieroglyphics," he pointed out.

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