Ancient Egyptian official's tomb found

Polish and Egyptian archaeologists have unearthed a necropolis containing the 4,000-year-old stone tomb of a royal official, Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities said yesterday.

Farouk Hosni, the Culture Minister, said the necropolis near the pyramids of Saqqara, about 25km (15 miles) south of Cairo, contained the tomb of Ny-Ankh-Nefetem, identified in hieroglyphic writing as the priest of the pyramids of kings Unas and Teti, who ruled successively from 2375 to 2291BC.

The rectangular-shaped tomb had false doors, a chapel and a burial chamber decorated with scenes showing part of the deceased's daily life and his titles - including keeper of the king's property and the head steward of the Great House, the minister said in a statement.

Most of the reliefs were very well preserved, the most impressive being one showing the deceased walking with his son, Mr Hosni's statement said.

Zahi Hawass, chief of antiquities, said the tomb was found below a dense cluster of mummy remains, wooden coffins and skeletons that dated back to the late ancient Egyptian period, Ptolemaic and Greco-Roman periods.