Remains of Queen Sesheshet's mummy in the Saqqara necropolis, a logistic settlement at Ain Sokhna and a series of pavements in Beni Sweif are the most recent discoveries in Egypt, Nevine El-Aref reports The serenity and divinity at the necropolis of the Sixth- Dynasty King Teti at Saqqara was disturbed last week by a dozen Egyptian workmen and archaeologists led by Zahi Hawass, secretary-general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA), who assembled at the site to continue excavation work at the newly-found subsidiary pyramid of Queen Sesheshet, the mother of King Teti. Armed with brushes, buckets, ropes and shovels, the workmen crowded around the pyramid's main entrance, which was blocked with huge granite blocks erected by ancient Egyptians to prevent tomb raiders from crossing the threshold. All efforts to remove the barrier blocks failed, but in the end the mission succeeded in entering the burial chamber through a hole they found on top of the pyramid. This hole was in fact made by thieves in antiquity. In the burial chamber, which measure 16 square metres, a huge granite sarcophagus was found along with clay fragments dating back to the Old Kingdom and Late Period. After five hours of hard work, workers succeeded in removing the sarcophagus lid, which weighed almost six tonnes, by using a special wooden machine with ropes which they call "the devil" because it "can do anything and all things like the devil". Inside the sarcophagus they found the remains of Queen Sesheshet's mummified body, wrapped in linen. This consisted of the skull, legs and pelvis. Inside the sarcophagus the team also came across a gold hand cover, pieces of another, smaller sarcophagus and fragments of hieroglyphic signs. "Although the name of Queen Sesheshet was not found on the sarcophagus, all the archaeological evidence indicated that the pyramid was not a subsidiary pyramid for Queen Sesheshet but was a burial for a queen who most probably was Queen Sesheshet, mother of King Teti I, the founder of the Sixth Dynasty," Hawass told Al-Ahram Weekly. Sesheshet's pyramid was discovered early in November by an Egyptian archaeological team led by Hawass. The pyramid was seven metres beneath the sands of the Saqqara necropolis, and is five metres in height, although originally it reached about 14 metres. The base is square and the sides of the pyramid slope at an angle of 51 degrees. The entire monument was originally cased in fine white limestone from Tura, of which some remnants were also unearthed. Ushabti (model servant) figurines dating from the Third Intermediate Period were also found in the area, along with a New Kingdom chapel decorated with a scene of offerings being made to Osiris. Also found were a group of Late Period coffins, a wooden statue of the god Anubis, amulets, and a symbolic vessel in the shape of a cartouche containing the remains of a green substance. AIN SOKHNA: At the Ain Sokhna archaeological site, which is roughly 120 kilometres north east of Cairo, another important discovery was carried out by an Egyptian-French team that has worked there since 1999. During their first archaeological season in 1999 they stumbled upon a large number of hieroglyphic inscriptions engraved on the face of the rock, which led them to the discovery of a Pharaonic settlement. These inscriptions bear the names of Middle Kingdom rulers and indicate that the site was occupied during the second millennium. In 2001, excavations led them to a better understanding of the site and its function in antiquity as an important multifunctional and logistical centre. According to George Castel, head of the French team, the location of the site is exceptional as it lies at the end of the shortest distance that linked Memphis to the Red Sea. Exploited at an early age for minor copper deposits, the site seems to have been occupied regularly by expeditions on their way to more distant sites, namely the Sinai Peninsula, where copper and turquoise were mined by Egyptians. The oasis permitted the establishment of a relay station, by land or by sea, on the way to Sinai, exploited by Egyptians as early as the Third Dynasty. Recent excavation work carried out at the foot of the mountain has revealed the presence of nine galleries excavated in a layer of soft schist. "These galleries served from their inception as important warehouses," says Mahmoud Abdel-Razek, head of the Egyptian team. He says three narrow passageways surrounded by a rectangular building outline a single room with a roof supported by beams. "One relatively narrow entrance opening on the east side gave access to that structure," Abdel-Razek explains. A number of pottery vessels and jars bearing names of Fourth- and Fifth-Dynasty kings were also found, indicating how old this installation was and its use as a warehouse stocked with large jars. Peter Tallet, the French field director, said that two other galleries served as warehouses for boats used to cross the Gulf of Suez over to Sinai, where turquoise and copper mines were well used in ancient times. There was also evidence of a large ship that had been disassembled and carefully stored. "It consists mostly of large cedar planks a few metres long that still show traces of assembly that are characteristic of naval constructions," Tallet said, adding that the system was well known in ancient times, especially from the example of Khufu's solar boat at Giza. Other important installations linked to the expeditions were also found on the site, including a natural promontory by the sea below the site. Remnants of successive occupations, with the most important dating to the Old Kingdom, were also found. A square building seems to be a centre of the original complex, to which a dozen corridors and halls were progressively added. The entire structure in its final stage must have been terraced, adapting itself to the terrain and covering an area of approximately 600 square metres. Castel said that Ain Sokhna was densely occupied by a spectacular complex of metallurgic workshops. These workshops sprang up over almost the entire site at the foot of the mountain cliffs facing the wind as well as on the lower part closer to the coast. More than 30 low furnaces have been studied to date. The workshops consisted of four furnaces where the oxydo-reduction of the ore-malachite was transformed to copper. A series of additional complex operations of sorting and re-melting of the metal produced small cooper ingots. BENI SWEIF: The site of Ehnasya Al-Medina, which is perched on a hill, incorporates a number of cemeteries and temples spanning the late First Intermediate Period and early Middle Kingdom through to the Roman period. From this town came the rulers of the Ninth and Tenth dynasties, and here too was the cult centre of the ram-headed local god of fertility, Herishef, for whom the Middle Kingdom rulers built a temple in the centre of the city which was enlarged during the reign of Pharaoh Ramses II of the New Kingdom. The temple was first excavated in 1891 by Edouard Naville and Count Riamo d'Hulst, who found only Ramesside remains, but in 1904 it was re-excavated by Flinders Petrie who found a superb gold statue of Herishef. Excavations at Ehnasya Al-Medina were conducted during the 1960s and 1970s by several Spanish missions, but in 1984 a mission from the Archaeological National Museum of Madrid concentrated its work on the necropolis dated to the First Intermediate Period (2195-2066 BC), where a series of tombs with vaulted ceilings were uncovered. One revealed an example of one of the earliest-known versions of the Coffin Texts incorporating revised extracts from the earlier Pyramid Texts. These tombs were built of limestone and mud brick and lined up in "streets of the dead". Some of them were very jumbled but still contained inscribed false doors, stelae, offering tables, and ceramic and clay vessels. The most important discovery in the necropolis was made in 2000, when the tomb of a high official named Wadjt-Hetep was found, its painted walls featuring the funerary feast. Various objects have been found over successive years, and last year Spanish archaeologists from the Madrid National Museum stumbled upon several funerary objects that helped Egyptologists to better understand the site. They suggested that some parts of the necropolis were deliberately set on fire at some point in its history. This year excavation extended inside the courtyard of Herishef's temple, where archaeologists found a series of pavements from the earlier phases of the temple, an inscribed column drum and a relief with different titles of the 19th-Dynasty Pharaoh Ramses II. At the Hypostyle Hall, Hawass said that this year excavators were able to locate Ramesside inscriptions which were previously unreachable owing to the high level of underground water. A project to reduce the water level was carried out by the Spanish mission in an attempt to improve the excavation of this enigmatic site. The mission head, Carmen Die, said the necropolis was also the subject of excavation. Two mud-brick vaulted tombs were found on the western side the necropolis, both of which had been intentionally set on fire, inside which were several fragments of burnt false doors, a complete door, and parts of a limestone offering table. There were also some burnt skeletons in a very bad condition, as well as two pottery deposits and some Meidum bowls. The bowls have relatively tall and distinctly concave sides made of fine marl fabric, and were known as early as the First Dynasty. Early examples had the maximum diameter at the shoulder of the bowl; in the Fourth Dynasty the maximum diameter was situated at the rim; while during the Sixth Dynasty the rim diameter was greater than the shoulder diameter
