The Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities is reporting two interesting artifacts uncovered in two recent and unrelated excavations.
The first is a carved wooden head found in the Saqqara necropolis in Giza. According to the Ministry, the carving likely depicts Queen Ankhnespepy II, a sixth dynasty queen who ruled as regent until roughly 2332 BCE when her son, Pepy II, was old enough to assume the throne. The carving was found by archaeologists from Geneva University during excavations east of the queen’s pyramid. The Ministry says excavations are ongoing with a goal of finding the queen’s entire burial complex and satellite pyramid. So far archaeologists have also uncovered part of a large granite obelisk they say is likely part of the queen’s funerary temple.
The Ministry is also reporting that archaeologists working in Luxor have uncovered a Coptic tombstone. The Ministry says the tombstone measures a little over three feet by one foot, is made of limestone, and is covered with a cross and Coptic inscriptions. They say the stone is in relatively good condition and that efforts to identify who it belonged to and its age are underway.
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