New Archaeological Discovery—The Saqqara Pyramid
Katarina Kratovac reports in the Associated Press (Southeast Missourian, Wednesday, Nov. 12, 2008)-Archaeologists have discovered a previously unknown pyramid under the sands of Saqqara, [Egypt]…The 4300-year-old monument most likely belonged to the queen mother of the founder of Egypt’s 6th Dynasty, and was built several hundred years after the famed Great Pyramids of Giza, antiquities chief, Zahi Hawass said while announcing the find. The discovery is part of the sprawling necropolis and burial site of the rulers of ancient Memphis, the capital of Egypt’s Old Kingdom, about 12 miles south of Giza…the structure had been buried under 65 feet of sand. There was so much sand dumped here that no one had any idea there was something buried underneath, Hawaas said….To find a new pyramid is always exciting,..And this one is magical. It belonged to a queen (likely Queen Sesheshet). Calculations suggest that the pyramid was originally some 45 feet tall. The article concludes, “This find is important because it adds to the understanding of the 6th Dynasty, which reigned from 2,322 B.C. to 2,151 B.C. It was the last dynasty of the Old Kingdom…considered the first peak of phararonic civilization.”
The interest of the pyramids to Bible students, although not mentioned in the Scriptures, per se, seems to us to be nestled in several scriptures. These references include: Genesis 12:10; 47:7-11,21; Exodus 1:11; and Matthew 2:13-15. Memphis was in the south-east corner of the land of Goshen. We are not told who, among the Lord’s people, actually viewed the pyramids; but, the possibilities are present.
-Robert M. Housby