4000-Year-Old 'Extraordinary' Tomb of High-Ranking Egyptian Lady Unearthed Near Cairo

Researchers have located the tomb of an elite from Egypt's Middle Kingdom in one of their recent excavations. On October 2, the discovery was announced by the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, PEOPLE reported. They shared that the woman inside the tomb was the daughter of the ancient governor of the Assiut Region named Idi.

The grand tomb was placed in the ancient city of Asyut, Smithsonian Magazine reported. The excavation was conducted by researchers from the University of Sohag in Egypt and the Free University of Berlin. The social status of Idi and her father, Djefaihapi could be judged by the fact that the patriarch's burial was the largest non-royal tomb built during the Middle Kingdom. He ruled Asyut during the reign of Senusret I, the second pharaoh of the 12th Dynasty of Egypt.

The woman was buried inside two coffins, one stacked inside the other, Smithsonian Magazine reported. Both the coffins featured intricate designs. The larger coffin was 8.5 feet long in size, while the smaller one was estimated to be around 7.5 feet.

"Finding two intact Middle Kingdom coffins is extraordinary," Kathlyn Cooney, an Egyptologist and archaeologist at UCLA who wasn’t involved in the discovery shared, Smithsonian Magazine reported. She further stated that the coffin had been found in good condition, and the figurines on the coffins could have been drawn to ensure safe passage to the other realm.

The tomb was discovered alongside her father's resting place, Smithsonian Magazine reported. Idi's burial chamber was nearly 50 feet below ground and appeared to have been robbed by ancient grave robbers. Despite this, the woman's coffins and the figurines on them remain more or less intact. The team was also able to unearth items like a canopic jar—the container for a mummy’s internal organs—and two painted wooden statuettes from the grave. One of the statuettes could be resembling Idi, according to experts.

The patterns on the coffins feature hieroglyphic texts that refer to the buried woman as the “lady of the house,”  Wolfram Grajetzki, an Egyptologist at University College London who wasn’t involved in the research stated, Smithsonian Magazine reported. 

Researchers analyzed the woman's remains and concluded that her age at the time of death was 40, Smithsonian Magazine reported. Examination further revealed that the woman had a congenital defect in one of her feet.

Researchers are happy with the discovery as it allows them to know more about the Middle Kingdom era, Smithsonian Magazine reported. Joann Fletcher, an archaeologist at the University of York who was not involved in the excavation claims that the Middle Kingdom era is oftentimes "overshadowed by the earlier Old Kingdom ‘Pyramid Age’ and the late New Kingdom, with its big-name pharaohs such as Tutankhamun and [Ramses II].” She hopes the discovery will change that.