January
27
/ 2023
A Pharaonic tomb containing a mummy wrapped in a gold-covered leaf may be the oldest and most complete mummy found in Egypt to date. It has been uncovered in Saqqara, near the Step Pyramid. Estimated to be 4,300 years old, the man called Hekashepes was found inside a 50-foot-deep (15 m) shaft alongside a trove of beautiful statues carved to resemble servants, men, women and families, all in some way related or dated to the Fifth and Sixth Dynasties of Egyptian rule. “I put my head inside to see what was inside the sarcophagus: a beautiful mummy of a man completely covered in layers of gold,” announced the Egyptian archaeologist Zahi Hawass when discussing this exciting mummy find. “Unfortunately, the
