New Pharaonic Queen's Tomb Unearthed

In Cairo, Czech archaeologists have discovered the tomb of an unknown Pharaonic queen Khentakawess. She was the wife of Pharaoh Neferefre, a ruler reigning 4,500 years ago, according to officials in Egypt.

The location was Abu Sir, an Old Kingdom necropolis. It lies in the southwest of Cairo, and has many pyramids dedicated to Pharaohs of the Fifth Dynasty, including Neferefre. Queen Khentakawess, his wife, was not well-known before the discovery, according to the Antiquities Minister Mamdouh al-Damaty.

Abu-Sir was used as an Old Kingdom cemetery for the ancient Egyptian capital of Memphis, according to bbc.com.

For the "first time we have discovered the name of this queen who had been unknown before the discovery of her tomb", he said, according to news.yahoo.com.

Before her, there were two other queens with the same name. Hence, she is called Khentakawess III. The queen's name and rank was etched in the inner walls of the tomb by the builders. "This discovery will help us shed light on certain unknown aspects of the Fifth Dynasty, which along with the Fourth Dynasty, witnessed the construction of the first pyramids," he added.

Miroslav Barta, team lead of the Czech Institute of Egyptology mission, who made the discovery, explained that the tomb had been discovered in Neferefre's funeral complex. "This makes us believe that the queen was his wife," Barta added.

At the antiquities ministry, an official added that the tomb went back to the middle of the Fifth Dynasty (2994-2345 BC). Archaeologists have found 30 utensils, 24 made of limestone and four of copper, according to the statement.

The Fifth Dynasty pharaohs ruled for 150 years between 2494 BC and 2345 BC. Many of their pyramids as well as the shrines erected for the sun god Ra have been discovered at around or near Abu Sir. This was a cemetery used during the Old Kingdom of Egypt. It was put up during the Fifth Dynasty and endured between 2686 BC to 2181 BC, according to ibtimes.com.