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# Saqqara: Czech mission reports a first-time offering chapel and the sarcophagus of Ptahshepses
- URL: https://theegyptfiles.com/saqqara-ptahshepses-tomb-czech-mission-offering-chapel/
- Published: 2026-10-27T10:46:58.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-27T10:46:58.000Z
- Description: Egypt's tourism minister toured the Czech mission's dig at Saqqara on 26 October. Officials described a newly revealed offering chapel and the burial chamber of the Old Kingdom official Ptahshepses.
- Author: J E Cowie
- Tags: News

On Monday 26 October 2026, Egypt's Minister of Tourism and Antiquities, Sherif Fathy, toured the work of the Czech Institute of Egyptology's mission at Saqqara. According to Egyptian outlets reporting the visit, the mission has recently re-excavated [Old Kingdom tombs](https://theegyptfiles.com/saqqara-tomb-weni-wooden-figures-bronze-tools/) belonging to high priests of Ptah and senior state officials. Two of them are the tombs of a man called Sabu and his son Ptahshepses.

The officials on the tour described several finds. One is an offering chapel belonging to Ikhetnefert, Sabu's wife, revealed for the first time. Another is the burial chamber of Ptahshepses, which holds a limestone sarcophagus containing his remains.

![Map showing where Saqqara is](https://theegyptfiles.com/content/images/2026/10/map_saqqara-2.jpg)

Saqqara, Markaz al Badrashayn, Egypt

## Tombs found, lost and found again

![General view of the Saqqara necropolis, Egypt](https://theegyptfiles.com/content/images/2026/10/shot2_general-view-of-the-saqqara-necropolis-e.jpg)

The Saqqara necropolis.

The dig is part of what SEE News describes as a long-term research project to rediscover and fully document tombs first uncovered in the 19th century and then reburied by desert sand. Hisham El-Leithy, Secretary-General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA), said the value of the work lies in reopening tombs whose excavation was never completed. Modern scientific methods now allow them to be studied and documented properly, he said.

According to El-Leithy, the first exploration of these tombs took place between 1858 and 1860 under the French archaeologist Auguste Mariette, founder of the Egyptian Antiquities Service. Masrawy and Al-Masry Al-Youm report him saying Mariette uncovered about 160 Old Kingdom tombs. He added that the work was confined to parts of the tombs, namely the offering chapels, the serdabs and some burial chambers. The rest of their architecture was neither fully revealed nor comprehensively recorded before the sand covered them again.

![Portrait of Auguste Mariette, the 19th-century French Egyptologist](https://theegyptfiles.com/content/images/2026/10/shot3_portrait-of-auguste-mariette-the-19th-ce.jpg)

Auguste Mariette.

## What the Czech team says it found

Miroslav Bárta, head of the Czech mission, said one of the most notable results is the first-time discovery of Ikhetnefert's offering chapel, which Mariette had not found during his excavations. The team also found a false door showing Ikhetnefert with her husband Sabu and their two sons, Ptahshepses and Ra-nefer. Bárta said it adds new information about the family and the relationships within it.

Bárta described Sabu's tomb as lying north of his son's. He gave its dimensions as 54 by 28 metres, with an estimated original height of about five metres. Its outer façades carry architectural decoration imitating the façades of royal palaces. The offering chapel holds well-preserved reliefs of Sabu and Ptahshepses overseeing processions of offering bearers.

The mission also relocated the tomb of Ptahshepses itself, Bárta said, using satellite imagery and field surveys. He put its area at more than 900 square metres. It includes an offering chamber and an entrance decorated with scenes of offering-bearer processions and sacrificial slaughter.

## The burial chamber

Mohamed Abdel-Badei, head of the Egyptian Antiquities Sector at the SCA, said the burial chamber of Ptahshepses is reached by a massive sloping passage from the east. Inside, the excavators found the limestone sarcophagus with his remains.

Abdel-Badei said Ptahshepses held high positions under four Fifth Dynasty kings: Sahure, Neferirkare, Raneferef and Nyuserre. He also said that, according to archaeological studies, Ptahshepses was the first official from outside the royal family to marry an Egyptian princess. She was Princess Kha-maat, daughter of King Userkaf, founder of the Fifth Dynasty.

Mohamed Megahed, the mission's deputy head, said the tomb was robbed in antiquity and its jewellery and precious objects lost. The remains of Ptahshepses's mummy survived, however, and a team of Egyptian anthropologists was able to examine them. Megahed said their study showed Ptahshepses died at over 60\. He said this matches what his autobiographical inscriptions record, and that it was an advanced age by the standards of the period.

## What happens next

The mission is continuing study and restoration work in both tombs, according to SEE News and Al-Masry Al-Youm. It is also extending the excavation to uncover the remaining tombs in what Masrawy calls the forgotten cemetery at Saqqara. Fathy was also briefed on the mission's plans for the coming period, which include more excavation, scientific study and restoration. He said the findings shed light on religious and social life and funerary architecture in the Old Kingdom.

## Sources

Abu Dashish, A. (2026) 'Tourism Minister Inspects Saqqara Digs as Czech Mission Unearths Old Kingdom High Priests' Tombs', SEE News — Sada Elbalad English, 26 October 2026, available at: [https://see.news/tourism-minister-inspects-saqqara-digs-as-czech-mission-unearths-old-kingdom-high-priests-tombs](https://see.news/tourism-minister-inspects-saqqara-digs-as-czech-mission-unearths-old-kingdom-high-priests-tombs?ref=theegyptfiles.com) (Accessed: 27 October 2026).

Al-Masry Al-Youm (2026) 'New archaeological discovery in Saqqara unveils 4,000-year-old secrets' (edited translation), Egypt Independent, 27 October 2026, available at: [https://www.egyptindependent.com/new-archaeological-discovery-in-saqqara-unveils-4000-year-old-secrets/](https://www.egyptindependent.com/new-archaeological-discovery-in-saqqara-unveils-4000-year-old-secrets/?ref=theegyptfiles.com) (Accessed: 27 October 2026).

Al-Mutairi, A.S. (2026) 'اكتشاف أثري جديد في سقارة.. مقبرة «بتاح شبسس» تكشف أسرارًا عمرها 4 آلاف عام', Al-Masry Al-Youm, 26 October 2026, available at: [https://www.almasryalyoum.com/news/details/4393651](https://www.almasryalyoum.com/news/details/4393651?ref=theegyptfiles.com) (Accessed: 27 October 2026).

Mamdouh, M. (2026) 'السياحة: اكتشاف مقصورة قرابين وحجرة دفن بتابوت أثري في سقارة', Masrawy, 26 October 2026, available at: [https://www.masrawy.com/news/news\_egypt/details/2026/10/26/3069074/](https://www.masrawy.com/news/news%5Fegypt/details/2026/10/26/3069074/?ref=theegyptfiles.com) (Accessed: 27 October 2026).

## Picture credits

- Top picture: A limestone false door and architrave inscribed for Ptahshepses, now in the British Museum. Limestone false-door and architrave of Ptahshepses, 5th Dynasty, British Museum — photo: Andres Rueda ([CC BY 2.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/?ref=theegyptfiles.com)), via [Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Limestone%5Ffalse-door%5Fand%5Farchitrave%5Fof%5FPtahshepses%5F-%5F5th%5FDynasty%5F-%5FBritish%5FMuseum.jpg?ref=theegyptfiles.com)
- The Saqqara necropolis. Saqqara, Ancient Egypt — photo: Vyacheslav Argenberg ([CC BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/?ref=theegyptfiles.com)), via [Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Saqqara,%5FAncient%5FEgypt.jpg?ref=theegyptfiles.com)
- Auguste Mariette. Auguste Mariette, photograph by Nadar (c. 1861), via [Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Auguste%5FMariette%5Fphotography.jpg?ref=theegyptfiles.com)
- Map: drawn from [Natural Earth](https://www.naturalearthdata.com/?ref=theegyptfiles.com) (public domain) and [Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q192134?ref=theegyptfiles.com).