Time.news – New archaeological find in Egypt in the necropolis of Saqqara, 30 km south of Cairo. The archaeologists of Egyptian Museum of Turin, of the Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities and the National Museum of Antiquities of Leiden in the Netherlands, under the direction of the director of the Egyptian, Christian Greco and the curator of the Egyptian and Nubian Collection of the Museum of Leiden, Lara Weiss, have found the remains of the tomb of Panehsy, which dates to the early Ramesside period (1250 BC).
Panehsy was in charge of the temple dedicated to the gave Amon. The archaeological expedition has also brought to light some funerary chapels. The discovery sheds new light on the development of the Saqqara necropolis in the Ramesside period. Saqqara is the necropolis of the ancient Egyptian capital Memphis, which according to Egyptian tradition was founded in 3000 BC by King Menes, the first pharaoh of united Egypt.
Panehsy’s tomb has the shape of a temple, with a monumental entrance and a courtyard with a colonnaded portico in the center of which there is a well which gives access to the underground burial chambers. On the west side, the courtyard is enclosed by three chapels. The rectangular funerary complex, measuring 13.4 meters by 8.2 metres, borders to the south with the famous tomb of Maya, a high official responsible for the treasure of Pharaoh Tutankhamun.
The adobe walls of the upper structure of Paneshy’s tomb still stand and reach a height of one and a half meters and are decorated by orthostati, limestone facing slabs, showing colored reliefs in which the owner of the tomb Panehsy and his wife Baia, singer of Amun, and several priests and bearers of offerings are distinguished.
Panehsy’s name means the Nubian, but this is not necessarily an indication of his origins. By adding “from Memphis”, Panehsy wants to underline his link with this city, an important administrative and religious center at the time Panehsy lived, who therefore could have been born there.