Archaeologists were left shocked after opening Ancient Egyptian pyramid for the very first time
After being over the moon at the discovery, Egyptologists were left in complete shock after opening a lost pyramid for the very first time.
Located in the Dahshur, it is an Ancient Egyptian royal graveyard housing a complex necropolis honouring the dead from the time.
A site in which only a few pyramids actually remain, archaeologists studying the area were shocked when they discovered the remains of one pyramid that had been hidden under the sands for thousands of years.
British Egyptologist and writer, Doctor Chris Naunton, investigated the site following the 'thrilling' discovery in what he described as a 'lunar looking landscape'.
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Quarry workers had been digging in the area when they came across the hidden pyramid remains, coming across finely cut blocks of limestone.
They quickly informed the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, the government department that protects and preserves the heritage and ancient history of Egypt, which excavated the site.
Following the discovery of the site, the next steps were documented in the Mystery of the Lost Pyramid documentary film broadcast by the Smithsonian Channel.
The documentary reveals a passage that once lead from the entrance of the pyramid to deep underneath it.
"The stairs lead to an underground complex, the heart of the pyramid," the narrator tells the audience.
"These huge blocks are protecting the only access to the chamber and any mummy and treasure that may be hidden inside.
"And unlike any other pyramid found so far, it still appears to be sealed."
Egypt's Ministry of Antiquity granted permission to raise the capstone 'to reveal what lies within' the pyramid. And after working to form a levy system to raise the stone, the pyramid is opened for the first time in almost 4,000 years.
"But what's inside is a shock," the narrator says.
With contents in 'disarray', archeologists thought they would be unveiling treasure.
"There are two questions here... who was buried here, who was this built for," Dr Naunton explained.
"And secondly, how is it that an apparently completely sealed, unbreached burial chamber comes to have been disturbed?"
Later described as an 'ancient crime scene', it was apparent 'someone got here first' and robbed what was inside, the narrator explains.
After researching the site, it was determined that remains found in the pyramid belonged to a person in Ancient Egyptian history known as Princess Hatshepsut, dating back to the early 13th Dynasty of Ancient Egypt.
Shockingly, Dr Naunton believes that the site was ransacked before it was sealed shut, with the capstone designed to keep looters out for good.
And given looters couldn't get in, the burial also couldn't be checked to have gone ahead without being looted by those putting the burial together, something Dr Naunton described as the 'perfect crime'.
Princess Hatshepsut's name was revealed for the first time after using the latest scanning technology to reveal damaged hieroglyphs on the side of her canopic chest.
"This is a revelation. There are no records of this newly discovered Princess Hatshepsut yet she was important enough to have been buried in her own pyramid," the narrator says.
Topics: Documentaries, History, Science, TV, World News, Ancient Egypt
Tom Earnshaw