They discover an ancient funerary temple in Egypt

Archaeologists have discovered an ancient funerary temple in an extensive necropolis in Egypt.

Former antiquities minister and renowned archaeologist Zahi Hawass revealed details of the find south of Cairo on Sunday.

Hawass told the press in the Saqqara necropolis that archaeologists unearthed the temple of Queen Neit, wife of King Teti, the first king of the Sixth Dynasty who ruled Egypt between 2323 BC and until 2150 BC.

Archaeologists also found a 3-foot-long papyrus that includes texts from the Book of the Dead, which is a collection of spells aimed at targeting the dead through the underworld in ancient Egypt., He added.

Hawass said archaeologists also unearthed burial wells, coffins and mummies dating back to the New Kingdom that ruled Egypt between about 1570 BC and 1069 BC.

They discovered at least 22 burial voids up to 40 feet deep, with more than 50 wooden coffins from the New Empire, said Hawass, who is Egypt’s most renowned archaeologist.

Hawass, known for wearing Indiana Jones-style hats and for television specials on ancient Egyptian sites, noted that for more than 10 years work has been done near the Teti pyramid.

The finding was the result of cooperation between the Ministry of Antiquities and the Zahi Hawass Center at the Alexandrine Library.

The Saqqara site is part of the necropolis in the ancient Memphis capital of Egypt that includes the popular Pyramids of Giza, as well as the smaller pyramids at Abu Sir, Dahshur and Abu Ruwaysh. The ruins of Memphis were listed as a World Heritage Site in the 1970s.