Archaeologists from the National Museum of Antiquities in Leiden (RMO) and the Egyptian Museum in Turin (Museo Egizio) have uncovered the remains of Panehsy’s tomb and several smaller chapels at Egypt’s Saqqara Necropolis, according to Ahram Online. Panehsy was the steward of Amun Temple during a period of ancient Egyptian history. Mostafa Waziri, Secretary-General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, said that the discovery sheds new light on the development of Saqqara Necropolis and introduces previously unknown historical figures.
Panehsy’s tomb, resembling a free-standing temple, features a gate entrance, an inner courtyard with columned porticoes, and a shaft to the underground burial chambers. It is located north of the tomb of Maya, a high-ranking official from Tutankhamun’s time. The tomb’s mud brick walls, standing 1.5 meters high, are adorned with decorated limestone revetment slabs. These slabs display colorful reliefs of Panehsy, his wife Baia, who was the singer of Amun, and various priests and offering bearers.
Christian Greco, Director of the Museo Egizio in Turin, highlighted a particularly striking representation of Panehsy worshiping the cow goddess Hathor. In another scene, Panehsy and Baia sit together before an offering table while a priest, wearing a leopard skin, tends to their mortuary cult. During the excavation, the team also discovered four smaller tomb chapels located east of Panehsy’s tomb. One of these belonged to Yuyu, the gold foil-maker of the treasury for the Pharaoh. The tombs are well-preserved and feature high-quality, detailed, and stunning decorations.
Another intriguing discovery was made on the eastern side of Panehsy’s tomb, where an anonymous chapel with a rare sculptured representation of the tomb’s owner and his family was found. The artistic style of this representation may have been inspired by the statues neighboring the tomb of Maya and Merit.