Egyptian archaeologists uncovered a 4000 year old pyramid outside the city of Cairo. The pyramid was last spotted by an archaeologist some 200 years back, and then it went missing. In around 1842, a German archaeologist Karl Richard Lepsius mentioned it in his finds, referring to it as number 29 and called it a “Headless Pyramid” as only the base had remained and there was no top on it. Later, the desert sand covered it, sending Headlesss Pyramid into obscurity.
The pyramid is thought to be the last resting place of King Menkauhor, who is believed to have ruled in Egypt’s 5th dynasty for eight years in mid 2400 BC, about 4000 years ago.
The team also found part of ceremonial procession road. It runs along side the pyramid, leading to the Saqqara Serapium. A high priest used to carry the bull’s mummified remains down the procession road; allegedly, the only human allowed to walk on it. The road dates back to the Ptolemaic period, which ran for about 300 years before 30 BC.
Anceint Egyptians considered bull a sacred animal, a direct incarnation of city god Memphis. A bull was chosen by high priest and was honored until death. On death the bull was mummified and buried in Saqqara Serapium.
The procession route’s discovery is being viewed by Egyptian Supreme Council for Antiquities (SCA) as an important addition to their knowledge of the Old Kingdom and its rituals. Although the explorations have been going on in Egypt for past 200 years, its believed, only a third of what lies underground in Saqqara has been discovered. SCA is confident of unraveling more mysteries of past in near future.
