Tomb Find Reveals Existence of New Egyptian Queen

The new royal figure was named “Khentakawess III” and in reliefs on the inner walls of the tomb she is identified as both “the wife of the king” and “the mother of the king.”

Antiquities Minister Mamdouh al-Damaty said in a communique that in the tomb were found statuettes and 24 limestone utensils, along with four copper utensils, which were part of the funerary objects.

The tomb was found by a Czech archaeological mission, in collaboration with the Egyptian ministry, in the Abusir area southwest of Cairo.

The head of the Czech mission, Miroslav Barta, said that the discovery of the tomb had revealed aspects of a relatively unknown period of the 5th Dynasty, and he confirmed the importance of Khentakawess III, who could have been the wife of Pharoah Neferefre and the mother of Pharoah Menkahur, in the court.

On March 24, 2014, the Czech archaeologists also discovered at Abusir the sarcophagus and mummy of an important 5th Dynasty priest named Nefer.

Abusir, which is near the famous pyramids at Giza, was part of the huge necropolis of the ancient Egyptian city of Memphis.