Egypt Opens 4,000-Year-Old Tomb to Public in a Bid to Promote Tourism (See Pictures)

In a bid to promote to tourism, Egypt on Saturday opened a 4000-year-old tomb in the Saqqara necropolis near Gaza city. The tomb was discovered by Egyptologist Zaki Saad in 1940. It belongs to ancient Egypt high-ranking official named Mehu who was related to the first king of the 6th dynasty. The tomb includes two chambers both with wall inscriptions of the owner of the tomb hunting. It also includes drawings showing important aspects of Ancient Egyptian lives like hunting and acrobatic dancing.

African News quoted Egyptian Minister of Antiquities, Khaled El Anany as saying, "It is a beautiful tomb, and it was discovered in 1940. We are making sure to constantly present cultural content for tourists. This is why we open tombs for visitors and in the past two or three years, we opened a large number of museums such as Sohag’s museum after 30 years of works. Today we opened this previously discovered tomb to invite ambassadors and show the media that Egypt is safe." 2000-Year-Old Black Sarcophagus Tomb Discovered by Archaeologists in Egypt, See Pics

Here are the pictures:

Mostafa Al-Waziri, the head of the Supreme Council of Antiquities said, "It is a 4500-year old tomb from the 6th dynasty. It is during the King Pepi rule. It is a family tomb of a father, son and grandson. We are seeing Mehu, his son Meren Ra and his grandson Heteb Kha. The tombs owner had 48 titles."

Mehu lived during the reign of King Pepi and held 48 titles which were found inscribed on the walls of his chamber. Egypt is hoping these will highlight their image and revive interest among travellers. Since the political uprising in 2011, temples and pyramids often received tourists who visited their pharaonic temples and pyramids.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Sep 10, 2018 08:23 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).