Ancient tomb of unknown Egyptian pharaoh ‘Senebkay’ found in Abydos

[Judi Lynn]

Ancient tomb of unknown Egyptian pharaoh ‘Senebkay’ found in Abydos
By Agence France-Presse
Wednesday, January 15, 2014 13:04 EST



US archaeologists have uncovered the tomb in southern Egypt of a previously unknown pharaoh who ruled 3,700 years ago, antiquities officials said on Wednesday.

The discovery by a team from the University of Pennsylvania provides new evidence that at least part of Egypt may have escaped the rule of the Hyksos, invaders from what is now Syria who dominated the Nile Delta between the 18th and 15th centuries BC, the officials said.

A royal cartouche bearing the full name of pharaoh Senebkay was found on the sarcophagus and on a wall of the tomb unearthed in the ancient city of Abydos, the head of the antiquities ministry’s pharaonic department, Ali El-Asfar, said.

The team also recovered the skeleton of the pharaoh, which suggested he stood 185 centimetres (just over six foot) tall.

More:
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/01/15/ancient-tomb-of-unknown-egyptian-pharaoh-senebkay-found-in-abydos/

[dipsydoodle]

1. More here

Archaeologists find remains of previously unknown pharaoh in Egypt.

The 3,600-year-old remains of a forgotten pharaoh unearthed this month in southern Egypt may be the first of several significant discoveries in a previously ignored burial ground that rivals the Valley of the Kings, the find's lead archaeologist told the Guardian on Wednesday.

The discovery of King Senebkay is the first firm evidence of a pharaonic dynasty whose existence archaeologists had suspected but never proven. About 20 previously undiscovered pharaohs may lie near Senebkay's tomb, explained Josef Wegner, the dig's head archaeologist. "It's emerging as something like a Valley of the Kings," he added, referring to the famous ancient site in Luxor, southern Egypt, where Tutankhamun is buried.

"We had just thought there would be a handful of king's tombs," added Wegner, who has researched in the area of Abydos – an ancient city that stood 300 miles south of modern-day Cairo – for over two decades. "Now we're looking at probably 20 pharaohs. There's probably a whole dynasty of kings buried there."

http://www.theguardian.com/science/2014/jan/22/archaeologists-remains-unknown-pharaoh-egypt