Egypt unearths 4,300-year-old Pharaonic obelisk in Giza

Cairo : Archaeologists have discovered part of a Pharaonic obelisk dating back to about 4,300 years ago in Saqqara district on the outskirt of Egypt’s Giza Province, the chief of the country’s Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA) said in a statement Wednesday.

SCA Secretary General Mostafa al-Waziri revealed the discovery of the upper part of an obelisk belonging to ancient Egyptian Queen Ankhesenpepi II, mother of Pharaonic King Pepi II of the Sixth Dynasty who ruled Egypt from 2278 to 2184 BC.

The discovery was unearthed by a French-Swiss archaeological mission from Gueneva University in cooperation and coordination with the Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities.

“The importance of this discovery is that it belongs to one of the females of the ancient royal family as she was the guardian of the throne during the first reign of her son who came to power at the age of six,” said Waziri in the statement.

He added that the mission also found an ancient cartouche on the side of the obelisk reading in Hieroglyphics the first letters of “Neferkare,” the Horus throne title name of King Pepi II Neferkare.