Egypt's Antiquities Minister Khaled El Enani announced, from Giza, the discovery of an Old Kingdom necropolis, approximately 4,500 years old. According to Mustafa Waziri, secretary general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities and director of the team of the Egyptian Archaeological Mission that made the discovery, many tombs were found.
The oldest belongs to a family that lived during the Fifth Dynasty (about 2,500 BC). Some inscriptions and drawings have been preserved in good condition. Various objects were also found inside, the most important of which is considered to be the limestone statue of one of the owners of the tomb, his wife and their son.
The tomb belonged to two officials, Benui-Ka, who bore seven titles (including those of priest and judge) and Nui, the overseer of the new settlements and "purifier" of the pharaoh Chephren.
Ashraf Mohi, the director general of the Giza Plateau, explained that the necropolis was reused during the Late Period (after the 8th century BC). For this reason, many wooden, painted and decorated sarcophagi of that time have been found, some of which bear inscriptions in hieroglyphic script.
Former Minister of Antiquities Zahi Hawass was also present at the press conference, who did not hide his enthusiasm for the discovery, pointing out that this necropolis is adjacent to the one where the builders of the great pyramids of Giza were buried, a location that he considers very important.
"The discovery of the necropolis of the builders of the pyramids shows the whole world that the pyramids were not built by slaves, but that their builders also built their own tombs, next to those of the kings", he emphasized.
SOURCE:APE-ME