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Sarah Parcak

This family shaft tomb from the southern part of Lisht is among the 802 newly mapped burial chambers.

The team found this brightly painted face in Intef's tomb while excavating the structure in December 2017. The presence of other rock-cut structures, similar to Intef's tomb, suggests the southern section of the site housed many elite members of the ancient society.

This offering table was found in Intef's tomb. Though the other tombs at the site were largely looted, researchers still hope to study the structures to gain insights into Middle Kingdom culture.

Before researchers extensively mapped the ancient burial grounds, they started work excavating and restoring one of the elite tombs. A name inscribed on the structure revealed it was the tomb of Intef, head of the treasury under Senusret I. In this image, Reis Abu Hamid leads the 2017 excavation of this ancient structure.

The large collection of ancient burials at Lisht in Egypt could offer insights into life and death in the Middle Kingdom roughly 4,000 years ago.