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New Discoveries Touted at Egyptian Site at Saqqara

Day after day the Saqqara necropolis yields more treasure, reports the Egyptian State Information Service. To round off the season, an Egyptian mission working south of Queen Khewit's Pyramid has unearthed two New Kingdom tombs. The first belongs to Ibi, the overseer of honey production in "the house of (the god) Amun", and the second to Nefer-Renbet, a controller of the "morning house".

Most of the former tomb is constructed of mud brick. A limestone chapel, partly deteriorated, is decorated with scenes featuring the deceased, Ibi, and his wife Sekhmet pursuing various activities. In one they are portrayed before a table laden with offerings. A remarkable representation on the chapel's western wall shows the deceased wearing a pleated robe and a long wig; he is seated beside his wife, who wears a transparent robe and a wig topped with a perfumed cone. Her left hand is on her husband's shoulder, while her right holds a lotus blossom to her nose. "It is a most beautiful scene expressing the love between the married couple," Minister of Culture Farouk Hosni said.

The scene is duplicated on each of the side walls along with nine lines in hieroglyphics detailing Ibi's names and titles, one of which is "overseer of honey production in the house of Amun". Sekhmet is "lady of the house".

Nefer-Renbet's tomb, which is also of mud brick, has a two-metre-deep burial shaft at the bottom of which were scattered a large number of limestone blocks. The name of Nefer-Renbet is engraved on some of these, while others bear other titles, perhaps also those of the deceased. Among them is "ruler of the morning house" and "supervisor of the area". Five of the blocks are decorated with scenes which are partly worn, one showing the hand of an unidentified person holding a long stick in front of an offering table loaded with food and flowers. Head of excavations Sabri Farag said that while clearing the burial chamber the archaeologists found a large ushabti figure of the deceased, 18cms high and 6cms wide.

Secretary General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities Zahi Hawass called a faience pendant found in the second tomb "the peach of the discovery".

"It is a wonderful scene featuring Anubis as the guardian of the deceased seated on a shrine of similar shape to the pendant," he said, describing the pylon-shaped piece. "The deceased stands in front of him with his two hands raised in prayer, and above him is a unique depiction of the sacred Eye of Horus with two protective wings."

The back of the pendant is decorated with a scene showing two goddesses: Isis holding the ankh and Nephthys.