EGYPTIAN PRIESTESS’ COFFIN IS FOUND INSIDE A 4000-YEAR-OLD COFFIN

Sat 04 January 2025:

The archaeologists have made a stunning discovery of a 4000-year-old ‘extraordinary’ burial chamber of an Egyptian priestess which is interestingly a coffin within another coffin.

The burial has been found in the city of Asyut, which is 200 miles south of Cairo and is believed to belong to the Idy, daughter of a wealthy governor Djefai-Hapi I who lived around 1800 BC.

In a Facebook post, the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities said that he was “one of the most important rulers of the territories in ancient Egypt.”

“Djefai-Hapi I was deified in ancient times and his tomb was an integral part of the cultural memory of ancient Egypt for more than 2000 years,” said Professor Jochem Kahl, who is an archaeologist at Freie Universität Berlin who led the discovery, while speaking to the Daily Mail.

“Idy was a priestess of the goddess Hathor and was called ‘mistress of the house,’ which identifies her as a woman from a wealthy family,” said Kahl.

According to the archaeologists, these are “some of the most amazing coffins ever found” and were covered with illustrations and texts “describing the journey of the deceased in the afterlife”.

After her death, the internal organs of Idy – spleen, liver, intestines and lungs – were removed from the body and kept in jars.

The body of Idy was then mummified – which is a process through which the body is preserved after death by deliberately embalming or drying the flesh.

In the preliminary study of the bones, it was found that the princess died before the age of 40 after she had a congenital foot defect.

The archaeologists also found her with grave goods which included a dagger and wooden figurines, which were likely kept with the intention that she may use them in her afterlife.

Archaeologist at Freie Universitat Berlin Professor Jochem Kahl, who headed the discovery, called it “both aesthetically and scientifically extraordinary”.

According to Kahl, the study will allow “new and far-reaching statements to be made about the position of women and the transfer of knowledge in ancient Egypt.”

Kahl added that there is a need to further study the discovery which will throw light on the lives of Idy and her father.

“After an initial conservational consolidation of the wooden objects in the burial chamber and the subsequent laborious recovery from the narrow, 14-meter deep shaft, the finds will be handed over to the Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities and Tourism,” he added.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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