Egyptian tomb reveals its secrets after 4,400 years in ‘find of the decades’
Egyptian tomb reveals its secrets after 4,400 years in ‘find of the decades’/node/1421481/middle-east
Egyptian tomb reveals its secrets after 4,400 years in ‘find of the decades’
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Guests enter a newly discovered tomb, belonging to the high priest ‘Wahtye,’ who served during the 5th dynasty reign of King Neferirkare (2500-2300 BC), at the Saqqara necropolis, 30 km from Cairo, on Saturday. (AFP)
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The well-preserved tomb is decorated with scenes showing the royal priest alongside his mother, wife and other members of his family (AFP)
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Relief statues are seen at the recently uncovered tomb of the Priest royal Purification during the reign of King Nefer Ir-Ka-Re, named "Wahtye", at the site of the step pyramid of Saqqara, in Giza, Egypt. (AP)
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Egyptian archaeologists announced the discovery of the tomb of high priest "Wahtye" who served during the fifth dynasty reign of King Neferirkare (between 2500-2300 BC). (AFP)
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The well-preserved tomb is decorated with scenes showing the royal priest alongside his mother, wife and other members of his family (AFP)
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The entrance of a newly-discovered tomb belonging to the high priest "Wahtye" who served during the fifth dynasty reign of King Neferirkare (between 2500-2300 BC), at the Saqqara necropolis, 30 kilometres south of the Egyptian capital Cairo. (AFP)
Egyptian tomb reveals its secrets after 4,400 years in ‘find of the decades’
They expect to make more discoveries when they excavate those on Sunday
The priest’s tomb “is exceptionally well preserved, colored, with sculpture inside”
Updated 16 December 2018
Arab News
CAIRO: Egyptian archaeologists have discovered the tomb of a priest dating back more than 4,400 years in the pyramid complex of Saqqara south of Cairo.
The tomb belongs to Wahtye, a high priest who served during the fifth-dynasty reign of King Neferirkare. It is decorated with scenes showing the royal priest alongside his mother, wife and other members of his family.
It also contains more than a dozen niches and 24 statues of the priest and members of his family.
The priest’s tomb “is exceptionally well preserved, colored, with sculpture inside. It belongs to a high official priest,” Antiquities Minister Khaled El-Enany said.
The tomb was found in a buried ridge at the ancient necropolis of Saqqara. It was untouched and unlooted, said Mostafa Waziri, secretary-general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities. He described the find as “one of a kind in the last decades.”
Archaeologists removed a last layer of debris from the tomb on Thursday and found five shafts inside, Waziri said.
They expect to make more discoveries when they excavate those on Sunday.
“I can imagine that all of the objects can be found in this area,” he said, pointing at one of the shafts. “This should lead to a coffin or a sarcophagus of the owner of the tomb.”
The fifth dynasty ruled Egypt from about 2,500 to 2,350 BC, not long after the great pyramid of Giza was built. Saqqara was the necropolis for Memphis, the capital of ancient Egypt for more than two millennia.
Gaza hospital says receives fuel but only for about two days
Updated 2 sec ago
KHAN YUNIS: A major Gaza hospital that had suspended several services due to diesel shortages said it resumed some operations on Friday after receiving fuel but warned the supplies would only last about two days. Ravaged by more than two years of war, the Al-Awda Hospital in central Gaza’s Nuseirat district cares for around 60 in-patients and receives nearly 1,000 people seeking medical treatment each day. Earlier Friday, a senior official involved in managing the hospital, Ahmed Mehanna, said “most services have been temporarily stopped due to a shortage of the fuel needed for the generators.” “Only essential departments remain operational: the emergency unit, maternity ward and paediatrics,” he had told AFP, adding that the hospital rented a small generator to keep those services running. He had warned that a prolonged fuel shortage “would pose a direct threat to the hospital’s ability to deliver basic services.” Under normal conditions, Al-Awda Hospital consumes between 1,000 and 1,200 liters of diesel per day, but it only had some 800 liters available. Later Friday, Mehanna said that “this evening, 2,500 liters of fuel arrived from the World Health Organization, and we immediately resumed operations.” “This quantity of fuel will last only two and a half days, but we have been promised an additional delivery next Sunday.” Mohammed Salha, the hospital’s acting director, accused Israeli authorities of deliberately restricting fuel supplies to hospitals in Gaza. “We are knocking on every door to continue providing services, but while the occupation allows fuel for international institutions, it restricts it for local health facilities such as Al-Awda,” Salha told AFP. Health hard hit Despite a fragile truce observed since October 10, the Gaza Strip remains engulfed in a severe humanitarian crisis. While the ceasefire agreement stipulated the entry of 600 aid trucks per day, only 100 to 300 carrying humanitarian assistance can currently enter, according to the United Nations and non-governmental organizations. The remaining convoys largely transport commercial goods that remain inaccessible to most of Gaza’s 2.2 million people. Earlier Friday, Khitam Ayada, 30, who has taken refuge in Nuseirat, said she had gone to Al-Awda hospital after days of kidney pain. But “they told me they didn’t have electricity to perform an X-ray... and that they couldn’t treat me,” the displaced woman said. “We lack everything in our lives, even the most basic medical services,” she told AFP. Gaza’s health sector has been among the hardest hit by the war. During the fighting, the Israeli miliary repeatedly struck hospitals across Gaza, accusing Hamas of operating command centers there, an allegation the group denied. International medical charity Doctors Without Borders now manages roughly one-third of Gaza’s 2,300 hospital beds, while all five stabilization centers for children suffering from severe malnutrition are supported by international NGOs. The war in Gaza was sparked by an unprecedented Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023 that resulted in the deaths of 1,221 people, most of them civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures. In Israel’s ensuing military campaign in Gaza, at least 70,942 people — also mostly civilians — have been killed, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory. These figures are considered reliable by the United Nations.
