Egypt finds 5,000-year-old tomb near Lahun pyramid

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LAHUN, Egypt (Reuters) - Archaeologists have found a nearly 5,000-year-old tomb near Egypt's mud brick Lahun pyramid, in a sign that the site held religious significance a millennium before previously thought, the site head said Tuesday.

The find, down crumbling steps in sand covered desert rock, debunks a prior understanding by archaeologists that the site dates back only to 12th dynasty pharaoh Senusret II who ruled 4,000 years ago, archaeologist Abdul Rahman Al-Ayedi said.

"The existence of this tomb is very significant because now we know that Senusret II, the builder of the pyramid, is not the founder of this site," Ayedi told Reuters in an interview.

"It must have had religious significance in ancient Egypt, so that's why he chose it for his pyramid," he added.

Egypt, whose economy relies heavily on tourism, has made several significant discoveries this year including a rare intact mummy found in February in a sealed sarcophagus near the world's oldest standing step pyramid at Saqqara, near Cairo.

Ayedi said second dynasty tombs had never before been found at Lahun, site of Egypt's southernmost pyramid, or elsewhere around the nearby Fayoum oasis, 60 km (35 miles) south of Cairo.

Inside the tiny tomb, too small for a person to stand, a box-like wood coffin contains what is left of the remains of a 40 to 49-year-old man who was likely a significant figure in the ancient Egyptian government of the time, Ayedi said.

The body, buried in a bent position and wrapped in linens, was not well preserved because the tomb predates the era in which ancient Egyptians mummified their dead, Ayedi added.

"This was a very early example of a coffin ... The body was buried flexed. The lid of the coffin was vaulted and the side of the coffin has a representation of the facade of a palace or a house," he said.

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