Egypt's Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities said a joint French-Swiss archaeological mission has discovered a mastaba more than 4,000 years old at the Saqqara archaeological site, south of the capital Cairo.
The mastaba - the standard tomb type in pre- and early dynastic Egypt - had a rectangular base, flat roof, and sloping side walls made of stone or mudbrick.
A newly discovered mastaba tomb in Egypt belongs to a royal physician who lived during the reign of Pepy II (c. 2278–2184 BC), the last king of the Sixth Dynasty of the Old Kingdom of Egypt.
Mohamed Ismail Khaled, Secretary General of Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA), said the discovery is an important addition to the history of the Saqqara archaeological site. The texts and wall paintings on the tombs reveal new aspects of daily life of Egyptians during the Old Kingdom.
The Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities added that preliminary studies indicate that the mastaba may have been looted in early times, but the wall carvings are still well preserved.
The joint French-Swiss archaeological mission also found a stone sarcophagus. Inscriptions on the ceiling of the tomb and inside the sarcophagus revealed the name and title of the tomb's owner.
