Spectacular 4,300-Year-Old Gold-Laced Mummy With Ancient King's 'Secret Keeper' Discovered, Leaves Archaeologists Stunned

In recent years, archaeologists from Egypt unearthed a tomb near the capital city, Cairo, revealing what might be the oldest and "most complete" mummy discovered to date. The 4,300-year-old mummy was found at the bottom of a 49-foot shaft amongst a group of tombs uncovered in 2023, according to Fox 10 Pheonix. Dr. Zahi Hawass led the expedition and was the director of the team of archaeologists who made the fascinating discovery.

Hawass shared further details about the excavation project through his Instagram post, revealing that his team consisting of Egyptian archaeologists worked in unison with the Supreme Council of Antiquities at Gisr-el-Mudir, Saqqara, making several archaeological discoveries from Dynasty 5 and 6 of the old Egyptian kingdom.

"The most important tomb belonged to Khnum-Djed-ef, who was a priest in the pyramid complex of Unas. The second largest tomb belonged to Meri, who was an official in the royal palace," Hawass detailed, adding how Meri's role was that of a possible secret keeper at the palace. "We also found a tomb for a priest in the pyramid complex of King Pepi I which contained nine beautiful statues. The owner of this tomb might be a name called Messi, based on a false door that was found near the statues."

The most spectacular discovery of the team was that of a 15-meter shaft that held a large rectangular sarcophagus made out of limestone. The mummy belonged to a man named Hekashepes and it was found sealed with mortar. "I put my head inside to see what was inside the sarcophagus: a beautiful mummy of a man completely covered in layers of gold," Hawass told the outlet. "This mummy may be the oldest and most complete mummy found in Egypt to date." In the same excavation mission, Hawass and his team found another shaft lying 10 meters deep where it contained a group of beautiful wooden statues.

They also found three stone statues representing a person named Fetek and there was a stone sarcophagus with an offering table by it. The sarcophagus contained the mummy of Fatek.  "Additionally, the expedition yielded many amulets, stone vessels, tools for daily life, and statues of deities, along with pottery," Hawass revealed on his Instagram post. "Fetek’s tomb included a collection of 'the largest statues' ever found in the area," Mostafa Waziri, the head of Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities, shared with the news outlet. "Numerous statues were found among the tombs, including one representing a man and his wife and several servants."

That particular burial site was found at the ancient Egyptian capital of Memphis which also became a UNESCO World Heritage Site. There are more than dozens of pyramids, animal graves, and Coptic Christian monasteries in the area. Egypt regularly announces its ancient discoveries to attract more tourists and increase the flow of foreign currencies into the country. The tourism industry was greatly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and also suffered from the war between Ukraine and Russia since tourists from both countries visited Egypt in large numbers.