Ramses' vizier pyramid found
2013-02-21 20:18
Cairo - A pyramid that dates back more than 3 000 years
and built for an advisor to King Ramses II has been discovered in Luxor,
Egypt's state minister for antiquities said.
The remains of the large mudbrick pyramid - whose
original height was 15m - was unearthed during excavations on the hill of
Sheikh Abdel Qurna by a Belgian mission of the Universite libre de Bruxelles
and Universite de Liege, Mohammed Ibrahim said.
"Stamp impressions on the bricks indicate that the pyramid
belongs to a vizier of Upper and Lower Egypt named Khay, who held this charge
for 15 years during the reign of pharaoh Ramses II (1279 -1213 BC) in the 19th
dynasty," the mission said in a statement.
"The monument was largely dismantled in the 7th and
8th century AD, when the tomb was transformed into a Coptic hermitage," it
said.
The discovery is of major importance "since the
vizier Khay was known to Egyptologists by a large number of documents but the
location of his tomb remained undiscovered," the mission said.
Luxor, ancient Thebes, is a treasure trove of ancient
Egyptian architecture and artefacts.
The city, a major tourist spot, has been badly affected
by insecurity gripping the country since the 2011 uprising that toppled Hosni
Mubarak.
