GoKawiilArchaeologists working at Saqqara have uncovered a roughly 4,400-year-old mastaba tomb belonging to a high-ranking Egyptian official and his father, revealing finely carved agricultural scenes and offering processions that still preserve traces of their original colors.
The tomb dates to the late Fifth Dynasty, during the reign of Pharaoh Djedkare Isesi, and was discovered during the 2026 excavation season in the Mariette Necropolis, an extensive burial ground north of Saqqara that has been known to archaeologists since the 19th century but remains far from fully understood. Egypt’s Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities announced the discovery on September 7.
The newly investigated monument is a medium-sized mastaba containing two funerary chapels. The larger northern chapel belonged to an official named Younmin, while the southern chapel was constructed for his father, Ity.
But the inscriptions inside make clear that this was not an ordinary family burial.
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A man who handled complaints at the heart of the Egyptian state
According to the Ministry, Younmin held several important administrative positions. He served as a judge and director of the court, as well as head of the scribes responsible for examining petitions and complaints.
Those titles provide an unusually direct glimpse into the administrative machinery of Old Kingdom Egypt. Rather than simply recording prestige, they suggest that Younmin participated in the system through which disputes, petitions, and official requests reached the upper levels of the state.
His father Ity also belonged to the scribal administration, holding positions connected with the management of agricultural land and offerings.
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