Intact 4,500-year-old tomb found at Abusir

Earth Times

Czech archeologists found an intact 4,500-year-old tomb chamber of an Egyptian dignitary in the Abusir Pyramids area, the Mlada Fronta Dnes daily reported Saturday. The Egyptologists discovered the bricked-up entrance to the four- by-two-metre chamber at the bottom of a 10-metre-deep shaft, the report said.

"And then you are standing at the door of a tomb (that was) not burglarized. One experiences feelings of Indiana Jones," the newspaper cited Egyptologist Miroslav Barta as saying.

The tomb chamber belonged to sacrificer Neferinpu who had lived and worked in the area's pyramids in the 24th Century BC, or during the Egyptian Old Kingdom era of pyramid-building, the archeologist said.

The Czech scientists, who have been working in the region since the 1970s, first discovered the tomb complex of Neferinpu's family in 2006.

They located and examined the sacrificer's burial chamber which contains his sarcophagus and scores of burial objects in November but did not make their find public until they had completed recording every detail.

There's a photograph on the iDNES.cz website. The accompanying article is in Czech, but has been translated by "PragueBob" on the Topix website:

The burial chamber, which belonged to the priest Neferinpu, was hidden at the bottom of a ten meter deep shaft and the entrance to it was walled-up. When the entrance to it was found, scientists slowly dismantled the wall and lowered themselves in. . . .

"A chamber of size roughly four by two meters was jammed with ancient artifacts. You musn't rub against anything, in order not to damage any discovery. Everything must be photographed, mapped, sketched and numbered."

It took three days, until November 12, at which point the scientists were able to open the lid of the sarcophagus. In it were lying the remains of the priest Neferínpu with decorations and jewelry. Afterwards they examined the remains and other objects, and only just now have made public the details of their unique discovery.

See the above pages for more.

The excavation is being conducted by the Czech Institute of Archaeology. I have featured their website in the Weekly Websites slot before now, which is a useful resource. Full details of their Research Plan for Abusir are available on the site, together with details of work carried out in different parts of Egypt. The site has not been updated with the latest find, but hopefully more details, with photographs, will emerge soon!