[analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/www.artnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/saq1.jpg?w=1024″]<\/p>\n
\n\tAn Egyptian archaeological mission working at Saqqara has uncovered the tomb of Sekhentiu-Ptah, a high-ranking official of Egypt\u2019s Old Kingdom (ca. 2700\u2013ca. 2200 BCE). In a separate discovery, the archaeologists also found a network of burial shafts containing human remains and funerary objects from later periods.<\/p>\n
Heritage Daily<\/em> reported the news following an announcement by Egypt\u2019s Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities.<\/p>\n \n\tThe finds were made during the mission\u2019s first excavation season in an area west of the Bubasteion necropolis in Saqqara. Taken together, they point to the ancient cemetery\u2019s use over centuries.<\/p>\n \n\tAccording to the mission, Sekhentiu-Ptah\u2019s tomb contained the remains of a funerary chapel with its false door still in its original position. Alabaster objects arranged in front of it included an offering table, an offering implement, a purification basin, a vessel, and a mat.<\/p>\n \n\tMohamed Abdel Badi, head of the Egyptian Antiquities Sector, described the discovery of these objects as particularly important. Because they were still in their original positions, they provide researchers with a clearer understanding of Old Kingdom burial practices. \u00a0<\/p>\n \n\tIn addition to Sekhentiu-Ptah\u2019s name, hieroglyphic inscriptions on the false door and funerary objects also recorded several of his titles. They included royal chamberlain, supervisor of the king\u2019s works, supervisor of royal documents, keeper of royal secrets, priest of the goddess Maat, and supervisor of the library.<\/p>\n \n\tThe tomb stands alongside a group of later burials containing human remains, painted funerary cartonnage, three sealed sarcophagi, and over 100 faience ushabti figurines. Preliminary explorations indicate these burials were looted in antiquity; passages linking them are thought to have been made by ancient robbers moving between the tombs.<\/p>\n \n\tAmr El-Tayeb, Director-General of the Saqqara Archaeological Area and head of the archaeological mission, said the surviving material will offer researchers insight into funerary practices, particularly those of Egypt\u2019s Late Period (664\u2013332 BCE).<\/p>\n \n\tLocated 20 miles south of Cairo, the Saqqara archaeological site was the main necropolis for the ancient Egyptian city of Memphis, which was founded around 3100 BCE and abandoned in the 7th century CE. The latest discoveries add to growing evidence of its extraordinary longevity as a burial ground.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n [analyse_source url=”https:\/\/www.artnews.com\/art-news\/news\/egyptian-official-tomb-later-burials-discovered-saqqara-1234796349\/”]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" [analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/www.artnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/saq1.jpg?w=1024″] An Egyptian archaeological mission working at Saqqara has uncovered the tomb of Sekhentiu-Ptah, a high-ranking official of Egypt\u2019s Old Kingdom (ca. 2700\u2013ca. 2200 BCE). In a separate discovery, the archaeologists also found a network of burial shafts containing human remains and funerary objects from later periods. Heritage Daily reported the news following […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[61,226],"class_list":["post-2121186","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","tag-artnews-com","tag-crawlmanager"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2121186","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2121186"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2121186\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2121186"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2121186"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2121186"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}