A joint Egyptian-German archaeological mission from Sohag and Berlin Universities has unearthed the burial chamber dating back up to 4,000 years. The burial chamber belonged to Edi, the daughter of Jifai-Hapi, a prominent governor of Assiut in Upper Egypt during the reign of King Senusret I of the 12th Dynasty (1991–1778 BC). The discovery was made while the mission was conducting excavation work on Jifai-Hapi’s tomb in the Western Assuit Mountain, which is considered the largest non-royal burial site from that period. Edi’s burial chamber was located approximately 15 meters deep within her father’s expansive tomb. The chamber contained two intricately decorated wooden coffins, one nestled inside the other, both adorned with texts illustrating the journey to the afterlife. These coffins measured 2.30 meters and 2.62 meters in length. Alongside the coffins, the team also found canopic jars, traditionally used to store vital organs during mummification, and wooden statues. However, the burial chamber had suffered significant damage from looting in antiquity. Dr. Mohamed Ismail Khaled, Secretary General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA), said that the mummy had been dismembered, and the canopic jars had been smashed. Preliminary studies…
4,000-Year-Old Chamber of Ancient Egyptian Governor’s Daughter Unearthed in Assiut
October 3, 2024
