The oldest intact sarcophagus discovered to date has been found by archaeologists working near the pyramids of Giza in Egypt. It is expected to contain a 4,500 year-old mummy.
The limestone sarcophagus was discovered two kilometres south-east of the Sphinx in a region of the plateau used as a cemetery for the pyramids鈥� workers. The find dates from the 4th Dynasty (2613 BC 鈥� 2494 BC), to the reign of Khufu, the builder of the Great Pyramid.
Hieroglyphs on the tomb state that it belonged to Ny-Nsw-Wesert, an 鈥渙verseer of the administrative district鈥�, who was in charge of the workforce at the pyramids, tombs and temples around Giza.
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Zahi Hawass, secretary-general of Egypt鈥檚 Supreme Council of Antiquities and head of the excavation team says the lid of the sarcophagus is glued down. He thinks this 鈥減roves that no-one opened it since 4,600 years ago.鈥�
Jeffrey Spencer, deputy keeper at the department of ancient Egypt and Sudan at the British Museum, says: 鈥淭his is an interesting find because intact tombs are extremely rare 鈥� 99 per cent of them have been disturbed by robbers through antiquity.鈥�
Ritual power
But it is unlikely that any highly valuable objects will be found inside, he says. 鈥淗e had a responsible job but not access to great wealth 鈥� so it might contain figurines or amulets, which had ritual power to protect the wearer,鈥� he told New 杏吧原创.
The body itself could be quite decomposed, Spencer says: 鈥淭he mummy will be wrapped in linen, but the techniques at this period were still in development and had not yet reached the levels of sophistication that existed during Tutankamun鈥檚 lifetime.鈥�
The burial chamber was cut into a rock and includes five burial shafts 鈥� the other four are believed to belong to the family of the overseer. It has two openings, possibly to allow the soul of the deceased to leave and enter the chamber.
The sarcophagus will be opened in September.