Mideast in Pictures: Egypt discovers 4,000-year-old tomb near Cairo

CAIRO, Jan. 6 (Xinhua) -- A joint French-Swiss archaeological mission has discovered an over 4,000-year-old mastaba at the Saqqara archaeological site, south of the capital Cairo, the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities said in a statement on Monday.

Mastaba, the standard type of tomb in pre-dynastic and early dynastic Egypt, has a rectangular base, a flat roof, and sloping side walls made of stone or mud bricks.

The newly-found mastaba was for a royal doctor who lived during the reign of Pepy II (c.2278-2184 BC), the last king of the Sixth Dynasty in Egypt's Old Kingdom.

Mohamed Ismail Khaled, secretary-general of Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA), said the discovery is an important addition to the history of the archaeological area, as the texts and drawings on the tomb's walls unveil new aspects of the daily life of the Old Kingdom, according to the statement.

It added that preliminary studies indicate that the mastaba was probably looted in early times, but the walls bearing carved and painted inscriptions are well-preserved.

The mission also found a sarcophagus (stone coffin). Inscriptions on the tomb's ceiling and inside the sarcophagus revealed the name and title of the tomb's owner, according to the statement.

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