A team of archaeologists unearthed what could be the “oldest” and “most complete” mummy ever discovered in Egypt, the leader of the excavation announced on Thursday.
Thought to be the remains of a man named Hekashepes, archaeologists found the 4,300-year-old mummy in an ancient tomb near Cairo from the country’s fifth and sixth dynasty — which spanned from the years 2500 BC to 2100 BC, Zahi Hawass, Egypt’s former minister of antiquities, said in a statement.
“I put my head inside to see what was inside the sarcophagus: A beautiful mummy of a man completely covered in layers of gold,” Hawass told reporters at the site of the excavation.
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The centuries-old mummy was found at the bottom of a 15-meter shaft near the Step Pyramid at the Necropolis of Saqqara, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Saqqara, a “great masterpiece of architectural design,” is located in Memphis, the first capital of ancient Egypt.
Read more: yahoo
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