The Sekhemkhet pyramid was discovered in 1951, after which it was successfully excavated over the next 3 years. Muhammad Goneim can be called the main archaeologist for the study of this structure.
He was an Egyptian archaeologist who was directly involved both in the excavation of the pyramid and in its study. Subsequently, he even wrote a book about this object, called "The Lost Pyramid."
But today I want to tell you about the main artifact of the ancient pyramid. This artifact is an alabaster sarcophagus in the very center of a mysterious structure.
Goneim hoped to find in it the mummy of Pharaoh Sehemkhet, thereby inscribing his name in history with a great discovery. However, fate turned out to be more cruel to Goneim than he had planned.
If I am not mistaken with the date, in 1954 Goneim invited many people to the opening of this sarcophagus in order to fix the incredible find. Among them were eminent archaeologists, reporters, historians, officials and even the leader of the country in those years.
Everyone froze in anticipation of the great discovery. The workers fiddled with the "door" for about 2 hours, after which Goneim was the first to put it into his head into the sarcophagus. What was his surprise when it was empty.
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I forgot to add that the sarcophagus is unique because of its shape.
After the opening of the sarcophagus, Goneim and those around them were shocked.
The most surprising thing in this story is one curious moment.
This structure was not plundered before the discovery of archaeologists.
Many gold artifacts were found in it, which the robbers simply could not miss. Moreover, valuable artifacts were not even hidden, but simply lay on the ground or in the remains of wooden boxes.
But why then was the sarcophagus left empty? Goneim spent the rest of his life looking for an answer to this question, but he could not find it.
I will add a few more words about the sarcophagus. It seems to me that it was not originally a sarcophagus for its intended purpose, but was an integral part of the technology of some ancient builders.
Just take a look at his diagram. This design, even according to the official version, was created during the 3rd dynasty, which is about 2600 BC.
They also found a wreath of flowers on the sarcophagus. So the most striking thing is that their radiocarbon analysis shows an age of about a couple of hundred years older than the reign of Sehemkhet.
It turns out that the wreath was placed on the sarcophagus at a time when it did not exist yet? But let's assume a slightly different option.
First, a sarcophagus and an alleged pyramid was built by a certain ancient civilization with some unknown goals for us. After several thousand years, the Egyptians of the first dynasties began to dig up their buildings. The pyramid of Sekhemkhet was included in the list of found objects, and thus golden artifacts and traces of the Egyptians appeared in it.
The sarcophagus itself could have been initially empty, since it is an unknown element of someone else's technology. Therefore, initially there should not be any mummies in it.
How do you like this version? For several years, Zaha Havas climbed into the pyramid to look at the sarcophagus, so there is also a color photograph.
Note again the complexity of the design and the level of workmanship for 4500 years. By the way, the sarcophagus is unique for the most part because of the closing door of a similar shape.
And here is the inside of the sarcophagus.
As you can see, ancient buildings store equally interesting artifacts. Taken together, they hide the main secret - their true creators.