Archaeologists found 4,500-year-old mummy in Egypt

Archaeologists in Egypt discovered a 4,300-year-old mummy — possibly the oldest one ever found in the country — during an extraordinary dig near Cairo, officials announced on January 26.

The mummy called “Hekashepes” was located at the bottom of a 49-foot shaft near the Step Pyramid at Saqqara, where the team was working to uncover a cemetery of fifth and sixth-dynasty tombs dating back to the 25th century B.C, Zahi Hawass, director of the team, said in a statement, according to New York Post.

Hekashepes’ large rectangular limestone sarcophagus was still sealed with the mortar ancient Egyptians had covered the tomb with over 40 centuries ago.

“I put my head inside to see what was inside the sarcophagus: A beautiful mummy of a man completely covered in layers of gold,” said Hawass, a former Minister of Antiquities for Egypt, noting that the mummy could be the “oldest” and “most complete found in Egypt to date.

The discovery of Hekashepes was hardly the most exciting find during the year-long excavation at Gisr al-Mudir, one of the oldest known stone structures in Egypt.

The “most important” tomb archaeologists found belonged to Khnum-djed-ef, who was a priest, an inspector of officials and a supervisor of nobles in the pyramid complex of Unas, a pharaoh who ruled in the mid-24th century B.C.