Colorful 4,000-Year-Old Tomb Discovered By Archaeologists In Saqqara Of Egypt

The architectural and artistic feats of the ancient Egyptians never cease to amaze!

Recently the country’s Ministry of Antiquities, Khaled al-Enani, revealed a “new” well-preserved tomb decorated with inscriptions and colorful reliefs. The archeological discover dates back more than 4,000 years – yet the vibrant paint of the reliefs look almost as fresh as the day they were painted.

The intricate tomb is said to belong to an official named Khuwy, a nobleman from the Fifth Dynasty, a period that spanned the 25th to the 24th century BCE. At the unveiling Minister al-Enani brought along 52 foreign ambassadors, cultural attachés, and well-known Egyptian actress Yosra, to inspect the vivid depictions.

Image credits: AFP

As CNN reports, the 4000-year-old tomb of a royal vizier has opened to the public for the first time since its discovery.

Mehu was a high-ranking advisor to King Titi of the sixth dynasty sometime around 2300 BCE. He was buried in Egypt’s Old Kingdom not far from modern-day Giza, home to the Great Pyramids and the Great Sphinx.

The walls of the tomb are decorated with well-preserved, brightly-colored paintings, which include everyday scenes like fishing and metalworking, as well as more fantastical images such as a crocodile marrying a turtle. Mehu’s son Meren Ra and his grandson Heteb Kha are also buried there.

Image credits: AFP

The site was discovered by Egyptologist Zaki Saad in 1940. By inviting members of public to explore the chambers, Egypt hopes to draw even more tourists to the region.

“He mentions the name of his mother almost everywhere here,” said Mostafa Waziri, secretary general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, pointing to the dozens of hieroglyphics, statues and drawings.

Photos and videos of the tomb, which is more than 4,000 years old, show its exceptional condition. Waziri said the find was “one of a kind in the last decades,” according to Reuters.

Image credits: AFP

The priest’s name is Wahtye, who served during Egypt’s Fifth Dynasty under King Neferirkare, according to Waziri. His tomb is about 33 feet long, 10 feet wide and 10 feet high, and was uncovered in the Saqqara region, which is south of Cairo. It contains two levels filled with dozens of statues and colorful drawings of the priest and his family.

Various drawings depict “the manufacturing of pottery and wine, making religious offering, musical performances, boats sailing, the manufacturing of the funerary furniture, and hunting,” according to Egypt Today. NPR reports the Saqqara site is part of a larger complex where archaeologists have discovered art and architecture that provide insight into the daily life in ancient Egypt.

Image credits: AFP

Many other ancient artifacts probably remain hidden in the tomb’s lower depths, Waziri said. He pointed toward a shaft that he believes contains a sarcophagus of the tomb’s owner, in addition to many other objects.

“We’re gonna start, the day after tomorrow, digging to reveal what kind of secrets this shaft is hiding,” he said. Further excavation is expected to begin Sunday.

Waziri said the tomb’s discovery was special because of its near-perfect condition. Its drawings were almost completely preserved, and the tomb itself had not been looted, he said, according to Reuters.

“The color is almost intact even though the tomb is almost 4,400 years old,” he said, according to Reuters. Egypt’s Fifth Dynasty ruled from about 2,500 B.C. to 2,350 B.C.

Image credits: AFP

You can take a look inside the tomb by watching the video below.

More photos of the tomb are below:

A view of the tomb’s wall. (Mohamed Abd El Ghany/Reuters)
An archaeological worker stands inside the tomb. (Mohamed Abd El Ghany/Reuters)
Statues inside the tomb of Wahtye. (Mohamed Abd El Ghany/Reuters)
Statues inside the tomb of Wahtye. (Khaled Elfiqi/EPA-EFE/REX)
The tomb of Wahtye dates to the reign of King Neferirkare. (Mohamed Abd El Ghany/Reuters)
Statues inside the tomb of Wahtye. (Mohamed Abd El Ghany/Reuters)
A statue inside the tomb of Wahtye. (Mohamed Abd El Ghany/Reuters)
A view of the tomb’s entrance. (Khaled Desouki/AFP/Getty Images)
Archaeologists will continue to excavate Wahtye’s tomb and expect to make more discoveries soon, Waziri said.

20 Historians Share The Biggest ‘Go To Hell Moments’ In History, And It’s Way More Interesting Than What We Learned In School

The culture and lifestyle of the people in the past were probably very different from ours, but badassery has always been there in every culture. Yes, historical people were pretty savage too!

This Reddit thread shares some of the biggest ‘go to hell’ moments in history that are quite interesting to know. Scroll below to read them and enjoy learning history!

More info: Reddit

#1

Image source: ComBlockWither, Samuel Sianipar

Symphony No. 7 (Shostakovich) was played in besieged Leningrad. And it was broadcasted on the radio, so nazi soldiers could hear it.

Imagine hearing “F**K YOU” from a city that you thought was already dead.

#2

Image source: akiba305, Jason Leung

In the late 1980s Nintendo and Sony developed a CD add-on for the Super Nintendo. Nintendo then pulled out of the partnership and opted to work with Phillips instead and released the CD-i.
This move was highly frowned upon because Nintendo had decided to ditch a fellow Japanese company over a foreign one. So Sony picked up the pieces of the project and tried to partner with Sega. The board of directors turned the idea down saying “that’s a stupid idea, Sony doesn’t know how to make hardware. They don’t know how to make software either. Why would we want to do this?”
At the end Sony released a game system by the name of Playstation in 1994 to compete with the Nintendo 64 and outsold their former partners nearly 3:1 plus it marked the first time that Nintendo wasn’t top dog since they released the NES.

#3

Image source: CircusMasterKlaus, wikipedia

The story of Khutulun, who was Genghis Khan’s great-great-granddaughter. She said she would marry whomever could beat her in a wrestling contest. If she won though, they had to give her 100 horses.

She died unmarried, with 10,000 horses.

#4

Image source: ShivasKratom3, Chris Curry

British prisoner of war in Nazi germany stitches a quilt. The Nazis put it out for show. Hidden in Morse code stitched in were the words “f**k hitler” and “god save the Queen”

#5

Image source: -Solarsoul-, Nastya Dulhiier

The first cell phone. The first call ever made from a cell phone was to a competitor’s landline. Big d**k energy

#6

Image source: JitteryBug, wikipedia

This is more petty, but when Taft bragged to his friends via telegram about scaling a mountain on horseback, that it was a few thousand feet, clear weather, all in all not too difficult, his friend replied, “HOW IS HORSE?”

#7

Image source: Amenra7, wikipedia

How about the moment slaves in Haiti realized they outnumbered their captors almost 10 to 1, revolted, and ultimately won their independence.

#8

Image source: NuggetBiscuits69

In the 1970s the small town of Vulcan, West Virginia asked for state funding to replace a bridge into town. The state legislature refused to grant Vulcan the funding they needed. Instead the town appealed to the Soviet Union for aid. After hearing about the request, the state legislature immediately granted over $1 million for the town to build a new bridge.

If a small town in WV asking for soviet funding in the middle of the Cold War isn’t a big middle finger to the state government, then I don’t know what is.

#9

Image source: -Inaros

Galvarino: Chilean warrior who had both his hands cut off by the conquistadors for raising arms against the Spanish. Instead of letting himself serve as a message of helplessness in the face of the invaders the crazy bastard strapped swords to his stumps and went on the warpath.

#10

“Stop sending people to kill me! We’ve already captured five of them, one of them with a bomb and another with a rifle… If you don’t stop sending killers, I’ll send a very fast working one to Moscow and I certainly won’t have to send another.”

Tito to Joseph Stalin

Image source: nb150207

#11

Image source: Mr_Henslee, wikimedia

So when France exiles Napoleon Bonaparte (the first time), they didn’t think to change out military personnel. So he basically rolls up to the first French outpost he gets to, says “‘sup” and begins reassembling an army. By the time he gets to Paris, he’s got enough forces that France is like “well. Welcome back.”

#12

Image source: Corteran, wikipedia

When Robert E. Lee decided to side with the South in the Civil War, to spite him the North used his property as a graveyard.

It is now Arlington National Cemetary.

#13

Image source: BridlingMage117, wikipedia

Sparta to Phillip II

Phillip wrote to Sparta that if he marches into Sparta he will raise the land, burn the crops, rape the women, and just destroy the city. Sparta replies back with a single word.

“If”

#14

Image source: TeAforempires, Nikolay Bruni

Olga of Kiev. When her husband died, the country that killed him assumed they’d just take over and force her into marriage.

She straight up killed the dignitaries that were sent to tell her she had to marry – multiple times, in the most intense way possible.

She then travelled to where her husband had been killed and basically burnt the place to the ground – again, in the most hardcore, amazing way.

They made her a freaking saint. Worth the read on Wikipedia!

#15

Image source: Billyjeter, wikipedia

Ferruccio Lamborghini was a rich man owning his company that built tractors, he talked to Ferrari about the imperfections of his car and how to improve them and they basically laughed at a young tractor mechanic trying to tell them about sport cars, so he decided to start making luxury sport cars to compete with Ferrari and thus, the rivalry was born. So i’d say the middle finger of this guy to Ferrari was pretty noticeable.

#16

A pirate known as jean lefitte had a bounty of $500 put on him by a governor. So he put a $5000 bounty on the governor

Image source: The-big-ouch

#17

Image source: JazzPhobic, wikipedia

The Achaemenid Empire had trouble conquering Egypt in the early part of their War so they decided to use the very embodiment of their holy figure against them. They literally had soldiers carry cats with them and painted cat heads on their shields so the Egyptians couldn’t fight back due to their beliefs and surrendered.

They literally pulled a “your god is our frontline”.

This is known as the Battle of Pelusium.

#18

Image source: BrittleBandit, wikimedia

When Otto von Bismarck was about 50, he was walking down a street when a man ran up to him and shot him five times. Otto then turned around and began to beat the absolute s**t out of him until some armed guards come to help him. When they inspected Otto for wounds, they found that all 5 hit, but they all either just grazed him or bounced off his ribs. Literally the iron chancellor.

#19

“I’d rather go to hell, with my noble ancestors, than to go to heaven and join the likes of you…”

Norse King tried to be converted to Christianity on threat of burning in hell for paganism

Image source: ShivasKratom3

#20

Image source: a_saddler, wikipedia

Caesar in his youth, before he became famous, was captured by pirates off the coast of Italy and held hostage.

He promptly befriended the pirates, getting drunk and shared stories while they waited for the ransom to be paid.

Later, after he was released, he went back to find and capture the same pirates, and ordered their deaths because they requested an insultingly low ransom for a man of his stature.




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