(AP) Archaeologists from the University of Pennsylvania announced this month they unearthed the tomb of a previously unknown Egyptian pharaoh. ADVERTISING (AP) Archaeologists from the University of Pennsylvania announced this month they unearthed the tomb of a previously unknown Egyptian
(AP) Archaeologists from the University of Pennsylvania announced this month they unearthed the tomb of a previously unknown Egyptian pharaoh.
The Penn team, which has been excavating a site called Abydos in cooperation with Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities since 1967, made a string of discoveries in the last months of 2013.
One was a 60-ton sarcophagus that was carved from red quartzite to house the tomb of the pharaoh Sobekhotep near Cairo; despite its immense size, it was extracted and moved hundreds of miles to Abydos, where it was reused by later ancient kings whose identities are still unknown.
The most surprising find was the tomb of a pharaoh named Woseribre-Senebkay, who lived about 1650 B.C. Senebkay’s tomb was plundered centuries ago by thieves, who not only stripped it of gilt surfaces and other valuable objects but also ripped apart the pharaoh’s mummy. Nevertheless, the archaeologists were able to recover the king’s bones and put together an almost complete skeleton. Preliminary studies indicate Senebkay was about 5-foot-10 and probably died when he was in his mid or late 40s.
