A mummy of a doctor who lived more than 4,000 years ago was discovered on Tuesday on the outskirts of Cairo, Egyptian news agency MENA reported.

 

Egyptian archaeologists discovered the mummy with the name of Qar, who lived under the sixth dynasty from about B.C. 2350 to B.C. 2180, at Sakkara area, 20 km south of Cairo, MENA quoted Chairman of the Egyptian Supreme Council for Antiquities Zahi Hawwas as saying.

 

The mummy was placed in a fine sycamore-timbre casket and the discovery was made while an Egyptian archaeological team was undertaking a cleaning mission of a nearby archaeological site, Hawwas added.

 

There was excellent and well-preserved decoration on the lid of the wooden casket and the mummy itself, the linen wrappings and the funerary drawings on the mummy was kept in an ideal condition, Hawwas said.

 

He said the mask on the face of the mummy is in an amazing state of preservation despite slight damage in the area of the mouth.

 

Among the discovered items were the bronze surgical instruments of the doctor, who built his tomb near Egypt's largest pyramid Khufu Pyramid, as well as earthenware containers bearing the doctor's name, a round limestone offering table and 22 bronze statues.

 

(Xinhua News Agency December 6, 2006)