CAIRO: The existence of three particular Islamic prophets is not mentioned in books from Egyptian antiquity, the country’s most renowned archaeologist, Dr. Zahi Hawass, has said.
He made the comments during a lecture organized by MP Ayat Elhaddad on recent archaeological discoveries.
Three prophets — Joseph, Moses and Abraham — came to Egypt, Hawass said, adding that there is a scene of a cemetery dating back to middle Egypt 3,500 years ago.
It contains a scene of 37 Asians and their president named “Absha,” which may be Abraham, Hawass said.
He added that Joseph might have been mentioned in a story in the Roman era, which details receding waters in the Nile.
Hawass said: “We do not know if it (the story) was transmitted from an ancient text or not, but the name of our master Joseph was mentioned.”
He added that recent archaeological discoveries in Saqqara dated back to the fifth and sixth dynasties of the Old Kingdom, which ran from about 2500-2100 B.C.
Tombs dating back to the Old Kingdom were found and indicate the presence of a huge cemetery with many important graves, he said.
The first of these tombs is that of “Khnumdjedef,” who was working as an inspector of employees, a supervisor of nobles, and a priest of the hierarchical group of King Unas — the last king of the Fifth Dynasty.
A well about 15 meters deep was also found. At the bottom of the well, a room was found containing the limestone sarcophagus of its owner, who was called “Haka Shabis.”
Many stone vessels were found around the sarcophagus.
“It became clear that this coffin had not been touched for about 4,300 years. When we opened the lid we found a mummy of a man covered in gold foil. This is considered the most complete and oldest non-royal mummy found so far,” said Hawass.
The archaeologist also talked about the curse of the pharaohs, the construction of the pyramid of King Khufu, the uncovering of pyramid worker tombs and the discovery of the lost golden city in Luxor.
