Archaeologist Zahi Hawass, Egypt’s former antiquities minister, told CNN on Friday that the 4,300-year-old mummy was a wealthy, prominent 35-year-old man named Djed Sepsh.
“This is the oldest mummy ever found in Egypt, complete and covered in gold,” he said, adding that it was “the most amazing discovery”.
Hawass said he and a team of 10 assistants discovered the mummified man 20 meters (66 feet) underground in the shadow of the ancient Pyramid of Djoser in the village of Saqqara, in the garden of Gisr al-Mudir.
Archaeologist Zahi Hawass and 10 assistants found the 4300-year-old mummy. Credit: Omar Zoheiry/image alliance/Getty Images
According to Hawass, the mummy was inside a 25-ton stone coffin — the lid alone weighed five tons — in one of the shafts the team entered.
According to him, when the team opened the lid, “they found the oldest, most beautiful mummy, covered with layers of gold, with a ribbon on his head and a bracelet on his chest, which indicates that he was a rich man.”
A number of artifacts from the Old Kingdom have been discovered in the area. Credit: Amr Nabil/AP
Among the many other Old Kingdom artifacts discovered were two tombs, Hawass said, one of which dates to the reign of King Unas during the Fifth Dynasty between 2494 and 2487 BC.
Three statues representing a man were also found in a shaft, and nine other statues were found behind a false door.
The statues are important because they “tell us for the first time about art in the Old Kingdom. It includes double statues, single statues, servant statues, all kinds of statues,” the archaeologist said.
Last week, 9 statues were found behind the false door. Credit: Fadel Dawod/Getty Images
Another stone coffin, similar to that of the mummified rich man, was also unearthed and will be opened next week.
Hawass suggests the discovery that the cemetery was for very important people “second only to the King”.
According to the country’s Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, the step pyramid was the first pyramid built by the ancient Egyptians at the beginning of the Third Dynasty between 2667 and 2648 BC and is the oldest known ancient Egyptian stone structure.
