Discovering Pyramids - The Tomb of Queen Sesheshet

Originally published February 3, 2010 | Smithsonian Magazine | by Stephan Glain | An excerpt:

When you make your living unearthing the royal riches of ancient Egypt, the beginning is a very distant place indeed – more than four millennia away, during the time of the 6th dynasty. We are standing on the rim of the necropolis of King Teti at Saqqara, where Karar and his team of archaeologists are excavating the tomb of Queen Sesheshet, Teti's mother. The tomb, and the once five-story-high pyramid that accommodates it, was until recently a dump for the sand and detritus of surrounding digs. But the intuitive power of Karar and his inimitable boss, Zahi Hawass, secretary general of Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities, rescued it from oblivion last November. It was a once-in-a-lifetime strike – how often does one "discover" a pyramid? – and it may shed light on a particularly notorious episode in a pharaonic tradition of court intrigue and murder most foul.

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Hawass, who began working at the Saqqara necropolis in 1988, says Sesheshet's pyramid "might be the most complete subsidiary pyramid ever found" in the area. It is certainly one of the largest. The remains of its 72-square-foot base suggests a pitch of 51 degrees, a common feature of 5th and 6th century pyramidal design, and a height of 46 feet. Large, smoothly carved blocks of limestone around the southern end of its foundation is all that's left of the casing that gave Egyptian pyramids of the time their clean, elegant lines. The entire structure would have been built with bronze tools.

Karar and his team waited several weeks before opening the tomb's burial chamber so as not to disrupt the remains while the surface excavation was going on. In January, when they finally entered the chamber, they found a mummy inside wrapped in linen and conclusive evidence to suggest it is Sesheshet, Hawas told the Cairo-based Al Ahram Weekly.

Dig Days: The Search for Queen Mutnodjmet

Originally published for week of August 13 - 19, 2009 | Al-Ahram Weekly Online | by Dr. Zahi Hawass

Below is an excerpt from Dr. Hawass' article at Al-Ahram Weekly Online, where he discusses the life and times of the lesser known Queen Mutnodjmet, wife to Horemheb, and his current scholastic endeavors regarding the noblewoman's mummy. Good luck, Dr. Hawass! I appreciate your efforts.

Queen Mutnodjmet is not one of the famous queens, like Nefertiti or Nefertari, but she married a high official named Horemheb who later became Pharaoh. Horemheb was the leader of the army in the reigns of Akhenaten, Tutankhamun and Ay. After Ay's death, Horemheb rose to the throne. Prior to his ascension he had constructed for himself a nobleman's tomb at Saqqara. After his ascension, however, this tomb was no longer suitable, so he had a second one carved out in the Valley of the Kings that was more befitting of his rank. His first tomb at Saqqara has, since then, suffered much damage, and some of its blocks have illegally been taken out of the country. Archaeologist Geoffrey Martin has been in charge of re- excavating and restoring the tomb, and has carried out some very impressive work.

I am currently trying to locate the bones of Horemheb's queen, Mutnodjmet, in order to include her remains within our DNA research on the family of King Tutankhamun. Her bones could be an extra piece of the puzzle in helping us to identify more individuals who were related to the Golden Boy.

President Castro of Cuba Visits Giza

Originally published July 20, 2009 | Zahi Hawass' Blog | by Zahi Hawass

I would be completely speechless if Dr. Hawass presented me with a stunning replica of Tutankhamun's golden statuette of the goddess Selket. She would make an excellent addition to my teetering bookcase.

I really enjoyed meeting President Castro at Giza. When I first met him I discovered that he had heard of me, and that he was very interested in pharaonic history. When I took him over to the front of the Great Pyramid I learned that he knew a lot about it, and he told me that he had been to Egypt forty-nine years ago as a young man.