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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Science
Dalya Alberge

Archaeologists hail ‘dream discovery’ as sarcophagus is unearthed near Cairo

Archaeologist Ola El Aguizy discovers the sarcophagus of Ptah-M-Wia during excavations of a tomb at Saqqara, south of Cairo
Archaeologist Ola El Aguizy inspects the sarcophagus of Ptah-em-wia, discovered during excavations at Saqqara, south of Cairo, Egypt. Photograph: Rebecca Naunheimer/Windfall Films

It has lain within a burial chamber, undisturbed, for thousands of years. Now a remarkable Egyptian sarcophagus has emerged from deep beneath the sands near Cairo, to the excitement of archaeologists, who describe it as a hugely significant “dream discovery”.

The giant granite sarcophagus is covered in inscriptions dedicated to Ptah-em-wia, who headed the treasury of King Ramses II, Egypt’s mightiest pharaoh.

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