Tombs of court of Rameses II unearthed

Press, 8 March 1984, Page 26

Tombs of court of Rameses II unearthed

NZPA-AP Cairo Egyptian archaeologists have unearthed five tombs near Cairo from the reign of Rameses n, believed by

some to have been Pharaoh when the Israelites fled Mahmoud Abdel Razik, the general manager of the Egyptian Antiquities Department, said the expedition had found the superstructures of five tombs at Sakkara, about 15km south of Cairo, and skm from the site of the ancient Egyptian capital, Memphis. The Cairo newspaper, “Al-Akhbar," quoted the expedition leader, Dr Sayyed Tawfik, as saying the discovery was important historically because it had been thought that members of Rameses’ court had all been buried about 720 km to the south near Thebes, which served as the capital during the pharaoh’s reign. Dr Tawfik told the newspaper that the. tombs included those of Rameses’ Prime Minister, Neferembit, hi£' Army commander, Treasury Minister, and

Royal Scribe as well as one so far unidentified noble. He said the team was still excavating the site and had not found any mummies. Dr Razik said that mummies were normally buried in subterranean chambers reached by shafts about 15m to 20m from the main portion of the tombs. Dr Tawfik, chairman of the archaeology department at Cairo University, said the team had found “elegant” wall paintings of everyday Egyptian life in the upper chambers. He said the wall paintings “still bear their original colours after 3000 years” and were of superior quality to those usually found in tombs from that era.