Free Republic

The tomb of an ancient Egyptian princess has been discovered south of Cairo hidden in bedrock and surrounded by a court of tombs belonging to four high officials. Dating to 2500 B.C., the structure was built in the second half of the Fifth Dynasty, though archaeologists are puzzled as to why this princess was buried in Abusir South among tombs of non-royal officials. Most members of the Fifth Dynasty's royal family were buried 1.2 miles (2 kilometers) to the north, in the central part of Abusir or farther south in Saqqara. (Saqqara holds a vast burial ground for the ancient...

A 4,500-year-old tomb of an Egyptian princess has been discovered near Cairo, Egypt -- A princess's tomb dating from the fifth dynasty (around 2500 BC) has been discovered in the Abu Sir region near Cairo. Mohamed Ibrahim, Egypt's antiquities minister, announced the discovery on Friday. "We have discovered the antechamber to Princess Shert Nebti's tomb which contains four limestone pillars," he said. He described the pillars as having "hieroglyphic inscriptions giving the princess's name and her titles, which include 'the daughter of the king Men Salbo and his lover venerated before God the all-powerful'." The Czech Institute of Egyptology's...