Ancient Egypt has always been fascinating in the field of immense interest. Ancient Egyptian civilization is such a type of ancient civilization that gave us the most long-lasting preservation technique to preserve a dead body that is known as mummification. Also, a number of excavations in Egyptian territory yielded a huge number of burials or tombs across everywhere in the country.

These points make sense that the practice of disposal of dead was believed to be a great and noble practice in ancient Egypt. The other thing is that these type of practices were based on a strong point of view towards the presence of an honourable life-span with gods and goddesses even after death.

On the other hand, the depiction of several artistic features on the walls and ceilings of various tombs bear great value in the means of understanding the social, religious, philosophical, economic and political condition of ancient Egypt.

Tomb of a Priestess

The year 2018 became one of the most remarkable years in the Egyptian archaeology because of its first significant discovery of a private Tomb. This particular tomb which was discovered near Great Pyramid of Giza during archaeological excavations, led by Mustafa-Al-Waziri, Secretary-General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities. It is believed to belong to a priestess that dates back 4,400 years.

 

Hetpet: A Royal priestess

During a German expedition in 1909, some antiquities were found along with the mane of a lady Hetpet. The collection of these antiquities were moved to Berlin  Museum. On the basis of archaeological evidence, it came to be known that the tomb belongs to the same lady, the priestess, Hetpet.

According to Khaled-Al-Anani, Antiquity Minister of Egypt, the evidence show that Hetpet was probably a high official and had a strong link with the royal palace. Hetpet is well known in Egyptian antiquity but till now her mummy has not been discovered.

Antiquity of the Tomb

The antiquity of this tomb goes back to 4,400 years B.P. that means 2400 B.C.E. The site of this tomb, located in Giza’s Western Cemetery. Excavations in this area since 1842, has already yielded burials of officials who belonged to the Fifth Dynasty of the Old Kingdom (2465-2323 B.C.E).

Scenes Depicted in The Tomb

The tomb is well-preserved and has rare wall-paintings depicting priestess Hetpet. The tomb conserves some unique scenes which not only show the priestess hunting and fishing but also show some musical and dance performances. It has such type of scenes where monkeys featured a domestic animal. Most of the painting scenes are in good condition.

Here, honorable mention should be given to a scene where a monkey is showing in dancing posture in front of an orchestra. Another scene in the tomb of Hetpet shows a monkey reaping fruits.

Previously, this kind of rare scenes was found only from one Old Kingdom tomb which is of ‘Kas-Iber’ in Saqqara where there is a scene showing a monkey dancing in front of a guitarist. In the tomb of Khnoum Hetep II of the 12th Dynasty in Beni Hassan bear similar kind of scenes featuring monkeys.

There are also some scenes where Hetpet is depicted in sitting posture before a large offering table and receiving offerings from her children. Pictures of the then leather smiths and metalsmiths are also there on the walls of the tomb.

The architecture of The Tomb

The tomb has an entrance leading to an ‘L’ shaped shrine. This feature along with other typical architectural attributes and decorative elements of the Fifth Dynasty are present in this tomb. A purification basin has been found where the names of the tomb owner and her other titles are engraved.

Association with Hathor

Hetpet was a priestess whose main devotion was concentrated on Hathor, the goddess of fertility. In ancient Egypt, Hathor was considered as a primeval goddess of motherhood, childbirth and fertility. In art, she is usually depicted as a woman with the head of a cow, ears of a cow or sometimes only in the form of a cow.

This new discovery has given more powerful light to the ancient civilization. Although, archaeologists decided to continue the excavation in the site with the hope of finding make new discoveries.