AN EXQUISITE mummy dating from the Late Period was unearthed early this week at the Saqqara necropolis, 25km south of Giza, reports Nevine El-Aref. Compared with similar mummies now on display in any museum, the newly discovered mummy is the most beautiful in existence, archeologists say. An Egyptian team headed by Zahi Hawass, secretary-general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA), stumbled upon the mummy together with two false doors within the vicinity of the Pyramid of the Sixth Dynasty king Teti. Culture Minister Farouk Hosni described the discovery as unique, while Hawass said the mummy was one of the most beautiful Late Period mummies ever found. The well-preserved mummy, which dates from the XXXth Dynasty, wears a gilded funerary mask showing the idealised facial features of the deceased. The vibrant colours preserved on the mummy's covering cartonnage feature rows of ancient Egyptian deities. Paintings on the cartonnage are divided into several registers. The uppermost shows the sun god Khepri with the sun disk, and, beneath it, a broad collar and the goddess Maat stretching her wings. The second row shows the god Anubis mummifying the deceased, along with gods Osiris, Horus, and the Apis bull. At the end are two registers containing rows of minor deities. The underside of the mummy is decorated with geometric patterns, while the feet are carefully painted onto the cartonnage. Hawass said the mummy was found while work was being carried out to clear the area around Teti's Pyramid. The mummy was in the upper level, and on digging further workmen uncovered several blue faience amulets featuring the god of joy, Bes, along with two limestone false doors from the Old Kingdom. The first door belonged to Iu-Ib, an official in Pepi II's Pyramid Temple, and the second to an overseer of scribes, Khentika.
