 | |  |  | | | | | | | | | | | | |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 |
|
| |
| Author |
Message |
rob61872
B.V. Info-a-holic
Joined: Oct 10, 2001
Posts: 13684
Location: With JRZGRL
|
 Posted: Sun Jul 21, 2002 7:11 pm Post subject: Tomb Found In Egypt May Be Oldest Ever Found Intact |
 |
|
| |
http://dsc.discovery.com/news/briefs/20020617/tomb.html#
[img]http://dsc.discovery.com/news/briefs/20020617/gallery/tomb_zoom.jpg[/img]
World\'s Oldest Intact Tomb Found
By Jennifer Viegas, Discovery News
June 21 — A 4,600 year-old Egyptian tomb, glued shut and with its original owner still inside, has been discovered by archaeologists working near the Giza Pyramids.
Zahi Hawass, Secretary General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities in Egypt, told reporters last week that the tomb \"may be the oldest intact sarcophagus ever found.\"
According to news reports, hieroglyphics reveal that the sarcophagus\' occupant was named Ny-Nsw-Wsert, which means \"overseer of the administrative district.\" He may have been involved in the construction of the Great Pyramids.
\"This title tells us that not only was this man very important, but he was an overseer of overseers- he was ultimately responsible for the workmen showing up for the King\'s projects,\" said Lisa Schwappach, curator of California\'s Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum.
Just prior to this discovery, Hawass and his team found a statue belonging to Myrt-Nswt, or Overseer of the Craftsmen. The two finds add to the growing body of evidence that Egyptian workforces constructed the pyramids, and not slaves or lost civilizations, as has been theorized in the past.
In fact, Wsert\'s tomb resembles the interior structure of the Giza Pyramids, including the famous Cheops.
The overseer was laid to rest in a limestone chamber with two openings chiseled into the stone. In keeping with Egyptian beliefs concerning the afterlife, the holes probably existed to permit the soul of the departed easy access to and from the tomb, according to a statement issued last week by Hawass\' office.
A stone rubble corridor links burial shafts within the tomb, which houses four other family members of the main occupant. Pottery found inside the sarcophagus has been dated to 2613-2494 B.C.
\"At this time in Egyptian history, the king was assured of an afterlife,\" Schwappach told Discovery News. \"To have the same design elements in a tomb, you would have to be very important. I would not be surprised if this person was a member of the royal family, although perhaps a distant one.\"
Adding to the tomb\'s importance is the fact that it is extremely rare to find such burial chambers untouched by robbers. Schwappach even said that most of the time tomb looting took place within 20 years of the individual\'s death.
This was because the workmen who built the tombs, and knew all of their secret openings and rooms, often would come back later to steal treasures they had once helped to bury.
\"An intact tomb of this antiquity is very exciting,\" said Schwappach. \"Not only will we learn more about the origins and technological development of mummification, but the tomb itself might tell us a great deal about the culture of the Age of the Pyramids.\"
[Edited on 7/21/2002 by rob61872] |
|
_________________
"You can't trust freedom when it's not in your hands, and everybody's fighting for their promised land" |
|
| Back to top |
|
 |
|
|
|
 |
|
 |
|
| | | | | | | |
| |
blocks-left.jpg
blocks-left.jpg
blocks-left.jpg
|  |
Online Stats: 
