Ancient funerary temple discovered in Egypt

Archaeologists discovered an ancient funerary temple in a sprawling necropolis in Egypt.

Former Minister of Antiquities and renowned archaeologist Zahi Hawass revealed details of the find south of Cairo on Sunday.

Hawass told the press in the Saqqara necropolis that archaeologists excavated the temple of Queen Neit, the wife of King Teti, the first king of the Sixth Dynasty to rule Egypt from 2323 BC. Until 2150 BC.

Archaeologists also found a 1-meter-long papyrus with texts from the Book of the Dead, a collection of spells aimed at guiding the dead through the underworld in ancient Egypt.added.

Hawass said archaeologists have also excavated burial pits, coffins, and mummies dating back to the New Kingdom that ruled Egypt between about 1570 BC and 1069 BC.

They discovered at least 22 burial holes up to 12 meters deep, containing more than 50 wooden coffins from the New Kingdom, said Hawass, who is Egypt’s most famous archaeologist.

Known for wearing Indiana Jones-style hats and for television specials at ancient sites in Egypt, Hawass noted that work has been going on near the pyramid of Teti for over 10 years.

The find was the result of collaboration between the Ministry of Antiquities and the Zahi Hawass Center at Alexandrina Library.

The Saqqara site is part of the necropolis in Egypt’s ancient capital Memphis that includes the popular Pyramids of Giza, as well as the smaller Pyramids of Abu Sir, Dahshur, and Abu Ruwaysh. The ruins of Memphis were a World Heritage Site in the 1970s.