Ancient Tomb, Mummies Found By Egyptian Archaeologists

Archaeologists have found a nearly 4,500-year-old Pharaonic tomb containing the mummies of a regional governor and his family, Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities said Saturday.

The mummies were intact and the tomb had not been plundered, said Mohammed al-Saghir, the head of the southern Egypt sector of the council.

These are the first mummies to be discovered in the Sohag area, 250 miles south of Cairo, and they belong to the Old Kingdom whose Pharaohs ruled from about 2613 B.C. to 2181 B.C., al-Saghir said.

Egyptian archaeologists found the tomb Wednesday when they were cleaning an …

Archaeologists have found a nearly 4,500-year-old Pharaonic tomb containing the mummies of a regional governor and his family, Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities said Saturday.

The mummies were intact and the tomb had not been plundered, said Mohammed al-Saghir, the head of the southern Egypt sector of the council.

These are the first mummies to be discovered in the Sohag area, 250 miles south of Cairo, and they belong to the Old Kingdom whose Pharaohs ruled from about 2613 B.C. to 2181 B.C., al-Saghir said.

Egyptian archaeologists found the tomb Wednesday when they were cleaning an ancient graveyard.

Al-Saghir said the tomb, which belonged to a governor called Ithy and his family, was hewn into a mountain four miles west of Sohag.

“The coffins were found just as they were left,” he said.

“The father’s coffin had hieroglyphic writings in black, green and blue ink,” that gave his name and titles, he said. Archaeologists also found the mummies of Ithy’s wife, Ne-ankh, and three men believed to be his sons.

Al-Saghir said the tomb would not be opened to tourists because its interior was not decorated, but some of its contents may be displayed in a museum.