Archaeologists confronted by a false door at an excavation site were stunned to find that it led to the tomb of Egyptian royalty.
The Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities announced the discovery in a recent Facebook post in April.
The tomb was found at the Saqqara archaeological site in the Giza Governorate of Egypt.
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The tomb belonged to a prince named “Userefre” or “Waser Ef Ra,” the son of King Userkaf.
Userkaf was the founder of the Fifth Dynasty, which lasted from the early 25th century B.C. until the mid-24th century B.C.
The tomb was concealed by a “massive false door,” according to Egyptian officials, and was made of pink granite.
The door measures roughly 14 feet high and roughly 3.7 feet wide.
The discovery marks the first time a door of this type was found, officials said.
The tomb was concealed by a “massive false door.”
The door was “adorned with hieroglyphic inscriptions detailing the prince’s name and titles,” according to the Facebook post.
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It described him as a “hereditary prince, regional governor of Buto and Nekheb, royal scribe, minister, judge, and chanting priest.”
Archaeologists also found statues of King Djoser, his wife and his 10 daughters in the tomb, plus a red granite table with a list of funerary offerings.
A large black granite statue was also found, along with another tomb entrance which was also made of pink granite.
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“To the north of the lintel, a discovery considered the first of its kind in the Saqqara area was made, where a group of 13 pink granite statues seated on a high-backed bench was found,” said the Facebook post, which was translated from Arabic to English.
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“There are also statue heads at a higher level than the rest of the statues, representing the wives of the tomb owner seated in the middle, with two headless statues to the left, in front of which another black granite statue was found, overturned, measuring approximately 1.35 meters in height.”
Egyptian Minister of Tourism and Antiquities Sherif Fathy expressed happiness over the discovery, and said that it helps “unveil new secrets of this significant historical period in the history of ancient Egyptian civilization.”
The latest discovery is one of many ancient Egyptian finds uncovered this year.
In March, archaeologists announced that they’d uncovered a 3,000-year-old mining complex, complete with remnants of ancient homes, workshops and baths.
In an even more significant achievement, an archaeologist from the University of Pennsylvania found the long-lost tomb of an unknown Egyptian pharaoh.
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