Archaeology & History

Burial chamber of Egyptian princess found

By T.K. Randall
May 14, 2017

Image: The Mortuary Complex of Menkaure, Egypt
Credit: Noureddin Abdulbari / CC BY-SA 4.0 (adapted) A wooden box found inside the chamber bears the name 'Hatshepset' and is thought to have belonged to an Egyptian princess who was the daughter of the pharaoh Ameny Qemau.

The discovery was made within one of two pyramids built for Qemau and it is thought that his daughter's untimely death may account for why more than one had been constructed.

The box, which had been looted long ago, once contained canopic jars - special containers used to store individual internal organs removed from the deceased during the mummification process."The pyramid is not of a type appropriate to a princess," said Aidan Dodson of the University of Bristol. "It must therefore have been built for a king, but then usurped for her burial."

"There is no reason why he should have built two pyramids of his own."

A poorly preserved sarcophagus is also believed to be among the finds within the chamber.

Source: Live Science

Tags: Egypt, Mummy, Pyramid