Cairo: Archaeologists have made a remarkable find in Egypt: a 4,300-year-old mummy sealed inside a gold-leafed sarcophagus.
The mummy, Hekashepes, is one of the oldest and most complete non-royal corpses ever discovered.
It was found in a 15m (50ft) shaft at a burial site south of Cairo, Saqqara, with three other tombs containing a priest, inspector, and supervisor of nobles; a senior palace official known as a “secret keeper”; and a judge and writer.
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Among the tombs were also statues thought to be the largest ever found in the area, along with pottery. The discovery is dated to the 25th to 22nd centuries BC and is seen as connecting the ancient Egyptian rulers to the people living around them.
It follows the finding of a complete residential city from the Roman era in the southern city of Luxor.
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In an effort to revive its tourism industry, Egypt has unveiled many major archaeological discoveries in recent years, including the Grand Egyptian Museum which is due to open this year.
However, some have accused the government of prioritising media-grabbing findings over hard academic research.