Saqqara: Czech team reopens two Old Kingdom tombs and finds a wife's chapel
A Czech archaeological mission at Saqqara has fully re-excavated the tombs of the official Sabu and his son Ptahshepses, and found the offering chapel of Sabu's wife, Ikhetnefert, for the first time.
Saqqara, the vast burial ground south of Giza, has given up a little more of one of its Old Kingdom families. A mission of the Czech Institute of Egyptology has re-excavated the tombs of Sabu, an official of the period, and his son Ptahshepses, and has found the offering chapel of Sabu's wife, Ikhetnefert, which had not been known before, Egypt Independent and Ahram Online reported this week.
The two tombs are not new to science. They were first found in 1858 to 1860 and only partly uncovered, and Ptahshepses' tomb was later lost under the sand. The Czech team relocated it using satellite images and field surveys, and has now cleared both.
Sabu's tomb has outer walls carved to look like the facade of a royal palace, and its offering room shows Sabu and Ptahshepses watching processions of people bringing offerings. Ptahshepses' tomb has its own offering room and an entrance decorated with processions of offering bearers and scenes of animals being prepared for sacrifice. In its burial chamber the team found a limestone sarcophagus with his remains. According to the mission's deputy head, Mohamed Megahed, the tomb was robbed in antiquity and its jewellery is gone, but the mummy survived and has been studied by Egyptian anthropologists.
The new chapel adds the family to the story. A false door shows Ikhetnefert with her husband and their sons, Ptahshepses and Ranefer. Ptahshepses is described as having served under four kings of the Fifth Dynasty and dying at over 60, old for the time. He is also thought to have been the first official from outside the royal family to marry a king's daughter, Khamerernebty, daughter of King Userkaf.
The finds were inspected by antiquities officials this week, with the mission's head, Miroslav Barta, presenting the work. There is no word yet on whether the two tombs will open to visitors. Saqqara itself is open every day, with the Step Pyramid of Djoser and a number of decorated tombs on the visitor route, and tickets are sold at the site's gate. If the new tombs are added to the route, it will be announced before they open.