4,500-Year-Old Cemetery and Sarcophagi Discovered                  by Giza Pyramids

Archaeologists working southeast of the Giza Pyramids have discovered part of a cemetery that dates back about 4,500 years.
Credit: Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities

A 4,500-year-old cemetery has been discovered southeast of the famous Giza Pyramids, the Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities announced this morning (May 4).

Several tombs and burials were discovered in the cemetery, with one of the oldest tombs holding the remains of two individuals — one named "Behnui-Ka" and another named "Nwi." Their sarcophagi were found intact and their remains are likely inside; however, no information on them has been released. Analysis of the tomb's artifacts and hieroglyphic inscriptions revealed that the two men lived almost 4,500 years ago, during what historians often call the Fifth Dynasty, a time after the Giza Pyramids had been built.

According to those inscriptions, Behnui-Ka was a priest and judge who held a number of titles, including a lengthy one that calls him "the purifier of kings: Khafre, Userkaf and Niuserre." Khafre was a pharaoh who ordered the construction of one of the Giza Pyramids, while Userkaf and Niuserre were pharaohs who ruled Egypt during the Fifth Dynasty. [See Photos of the Ancient Egypt Cemetery & Burials]