Group of Czech archaeologists have discovered a tomb of an unknown queen believed to have been the wife of Pharaoh Neferefre who ruled 4,500 years ago, officials in Egypt have said.
The tomb was discovered in Abu Sir, an Old Kingdom necropolis southwest of Cairo where there are several pyramids dedicated to pharaohs of the Fifth Dynasty, including Neferefre.
Egypt Antiquities minister Mamdouh al-Damaty said in a statement that the name of the wife was unknown to them until her tomb was recently discovered by the Czech archaeologists.
He then identified her as Khentakawess, saying that for the “first time we have discovered the name of this queen who had been unknown before the discovery of her tomb”. That would make her Khentakawess III, as two previous queens with the same name have already been identified.
“This makes us believe that the queen was his wife,” Barta said, according to the statement.
An official at the antiquities ministry said the tomb dated from the middle of the Fifth Dynasty (2994-2345 BC). Archaeologists also found around 30 utensils, 24 made of limestone and four of copper, the statement added.
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