A tomb at Saqqara has produced two small wooden figures shown in a worshipping pose, a set of bronze instruments that may have been used in medicine, and a false door naming a priestess of Hathor. The Egyptian Gazette reported the find on 26 October 2026, citing a statement from Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities; Arkeonews attributed its account to Egypt's Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities.
The tomb and its owner
The Egyptian Gazette reports that an Egyptian archaeological mission found the burial chamber while excavating a mudbrick tomb structure northwest of the pyramid of King Merenre. Arkeonews calls the structure a mastaba with several burial shafts and describes Merenre as a ruler of the Sixth Dynasty.
The chamber belonged to a man named Weni. The Gazette says his inscriptions list a range of senior administrative and religious titles, according to the Supreme Council's statement. Both outlets name him as mayor and overseer of royal expeditions, and both describe a man of high standing in the Old Kingdom administration.
The figures above the burial room
The Gazette reports that a vaulted chamber directly above the burial room held two wooden figures, which the antiquities authority described as an unusual funerary find. Arkeonews says Egypt's Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities described them as small wooden statues in a rare posture of worship or reverence.
According to Arkeonews, Mohamed Abdel Badie, whom it identifies as head of the Egyptian Antiquities Sector at the Supreme Council of Antiquities, said the discovery would help researchers investigate how different spaces within Old Kingdom mastabas functioned. Arkeonews also noted that the ministry had yet to release photographs of the figures, and it ran its own illustration, which it labels a hypothetical reconstruction. Until pictures appear, what the public has is a description from officials rather than an object to look at. That is a reason to hold the details loosely, not a reason to doubt the find.
Bronze tools with no obvious owner
The Gazette says bronze tools were found in the burial shaft and that officials described their possible medical use as still under study. Weni's inscriptions do not identify him as a physician, so researchers are left to work out why the objects were buried with him. Arkeonews makes the same point and adds that further examination may show whether the objects were medical tools or another category of tool placed in the tomb.
A false door and a priestess of Hathor
The excavation also uncovered a false door belonging to a woman named Sekhet Nebti, whose titles included "priestess of Hathor", according to the Gazette. The Gazette presents it as evidence of women's religious roles in the Old Kingdom.
What the bones say
According to the Gazette, which attributes this to the statement, a preliminary study of Weni's skeletal remains suggests he was over 50 when he died and had advanced dental problems and bone changes consistent with repeated physical strain. Arkeonews gives the same findings, estimating that he died after the age of 50, and says they add a personal dimension to the titles on the tomb walls.
Work continues
According to Arkeonews, Hisham El-Leithy, whom it identifies as secretary-general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, said the discovery provides new information about mastaba architecture, religious practices and the social position of the people buried in them. The Gazette says archaeologists are continuing architectural, linguistic and scientific studies of the site and its artefacts.
Sources
Altuntaş, L. (2026) 'Two Mysterious Wooden Figures Discovered Above Ancient Egyptian Tomb at Saqqara', Arkeonews, 26 October 2026, available at: https://arkeonews.net/two-mysterious-wooden-figures-discovered-above-ancient-egyptian-tomb-at-saqqara/ (Accessed: 26 October 2026).
Samir, S. (2026) 'Ancient Egyptian official's tomb unearthed at Saqqara', Egyptian Gazette, 26 October 2026, available at: https://egyptian-gazette.com/egypt/ancient-egyptian-officials-tomb-unearthed-at-saqqara/ (Accessed: 26 October 2026).
Picture credits
- Top picture: View of the ruins of the mastaba tomb of the official Ti. Photo: Rodolfo Vittorio Lanzone, 1870, via Archivio fotografico Museo Egizio, Turin (CC0) (source)
- Image: Saqqara archaeological complex, Ancient Egypt — Vyacheslav Argenberg (CC BY 4.0), via Wikimedia Commons
- Map: drawn from Natural Earth (public domain) and Wikidata.
