More on Tomb of Egyptian Princess Discovered at Abusir

This article fills in missing details from the prior article I posted, along with a very nice photograph that gives a good overview of the excavation, the four pillars marking the entrance to the Princess' tomb and the tombs of the high officials dug into a side "wall."  There is a mystery:  Why was Sheretnebty buried in this spot, and not with the rest of the royal family? From Live Science

Tomb of Ancient Egyptian Princess Discovered in Unusual Spot

Jeanna Bryner, LiveScience Managing Editor
Date: 07 November 2012 Time: 10:55 AM ET

The tomb of an ancient Egyptian princess has been discovered south of Cairo hidden in bedrock and surrounded by a court of tombs belonging to four high officials.

Dating to 2500 B.C., the structure was built in the second half of the Fifth Dynasty, though archaeologists are puzzled as to why this princess was buried in Abusir South among tombs of non-royal officials. Most members of the Fifth Dynasty's royal family were buried 1.2 miles (2 kilometers) to the north, in the central part of Abusir or farther south in Saqqara. (Saqqara holds a vast burial ground for the ancient capital Memphis and is home to the famous Step Pyramid of Djoser.)

The researchers aren't sure whether the remains of the princess are inside tomb, as the investigation is still in progress, Miroslav Bárta, director of the mission, told LiveScience. Even so, they also found several fragments of a false-door bearing the titles and the name of Sheretnebty, the king's daughter.

"By this unique discovery we open a completely new chapter in the history of Abusir and Saqqara necropolis," said Bárta, who heads the Czech mission to Egypt from the Czech Institute of Egyptology of the Charles University in Prague.

Bárta and colleagues think the ancient builders used a naturally existing step in the bedrock to create the princess' court, which extends down 13 feet (4 meters) and is surrounded by mastaba tombs above it. A mastaba is a type of ancient Egyptian tomb that forms a flat-roofed rectangular structure. A limestone staircase descends from north to south along the burial court; four limestone pillars that once supported roofing blocks hold carved hieroglyphic inscriptions reading: "King's daughter of his body, his beloved, revered in front of the Great God, Sheretnebty."

The four surrounding tombs were cut into the rock of the south wall of the court and of a corridor that runs east from the southeast corner of the court. The two tombs in the south wall, dating to the time of Djedkare Isesi, the seventh ruler of the Fifth Dynasty, belong to Shepespuptah, the chief of justice of the Great House, and Duaptah, an inspector of the palace attendants. The other pair is situated along the corridor, with one belonging to an official named Ity.

"We are very fortunate to have this new window through which we can go back in time and to follow and document step by step life and death of several historically important individuals of the great pyramid age era," Bárta said in a statement.

5th Dynasty Tomb of Egyptian Princess Discovered

Exciting news!  Wonder how long it will be before the Islamists now in power in Egypt sell the REAL artifacts on the illegal antiquities market?  The original article has several photographs of impressive sculptures and statues, unfortunately mostly photographed out of context and not always specifically identified with a particular tomb.  Better save them now, I expect they may soon disappear, just like the antiquities depicted in them. 

Pharaonic princess's tomb found near Cairo, Egypt
(Update) November 2, 2012 by Maggie Fick    

Czech archaeologists have unearthed the 4,500-year-old tomb of a Pharaonic princess south of Cairo, in a finding that suggests other undiscovered tombs may be in the area, an official from Egypt's antiquities ministry said Saturday.

This Oct. 11, 2012 photo released Friday, Nov. 2, 2012 by Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities, shows details of hieroglyphic inscriptions on one of four limestone columns in the recently discovered antechamber to the tomb of a pharaonic princess, in the Abusir region, south of Cairo, Egypt. Egyptian Minister of Antiquities, Mohammed Ibrahim said Czech archaeologists have unearthed the tomb of Shert Nebti's, a pharaonic princess, daughter of King Men Salbo, dating from the fifth dynasty (around 2500 BC) along with four other tombs of "high ranking officials."
(AP Photo/Egypt's Supreme Council Of Antiquities)

Mohammed El-Bialy, who heads the Egyptian and Greco-Roman Antiquities department at the Antiquities Ministry, said that Princess Shert Nebti's burial site is surrounded by the tombs of four high officials from the Fifth Dynasty dating to around 2,500 BC in the Abu Sir complex near the famed step pyramid of Saqqara. "Discoveries are ongoing" at Abu Sir, El-Bialy said, adding that the excavation was in a "very early stage" and that the site was closed to the public. Inscriptions on the four limestone pillars of the Princess' tomb indicate that she is the daughter of King Men Salbo. [Who?  Don't see him on the King List...]

"She is the daughter of the king, but only her tomb is there [does this mean her remains aren't there?], surrounded by the four officials, so the question is, are we going to discover other tombs around hers in the near future? We don't know anything about her father, the king, or her mother, but hope that future discoveries will answer these questions," El-Bialy said.

On Friday, Antiquities Minister Mohammed Ibrahim said that the antechamber to the princess' tomb includes four limestone columns and hieroglyphic inscriptions. The current excavation has also unearthed an antechamber containing the sarcophagi of the four officials and statues of men, women, and a child, he said in a statement.

 The Czech team's discovery marks the "start of a new chapter" in the history of the burial sites of Abu Sir and Saqqara, Ibrahim added. The archaeologists working at the site are from the Czech Institute of Egyptology, which is funded by the Charles University of Prague. Their excavation began this month.

 The discovery comes weeks after the Egyptian government reopened a pyramid and a complex of tombs that had been closed for restoration work for a decade. Egypt's vital tourism industry has suffered from the country's internal unrest in the wake of the 2011 uprising that toppled autocratic leader Hosni Mubarak. A delegation from the International Monetary Fund is currently in Egypt for negotiations over a $4.8 billion loan aimed at bolstering the country's ailing economy.

[Well, the economy wouldn't be ailing if the Islamists weren't in power.  American tourists especially aren't going to be returning to Egypt in droves any time soon - not when unemployed government supported "protesters" are out daily being videotaped and broadcast on the nightly news and the internet screaming DEATH TO AMERICA!  Yeah, blame Americans for everything, and then expect them to be tourists in your country spending billions of dollars? LOL!]                                            

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.