Khaberni - After about 4 months since the disappearance of a rare archaeological panel under mysterious circumstances, the public prosecution in Egypt, today Wednesday, conducted a comprehensive inspection of the archaeological tomb of "Khenty-Ka" in the Saqqara archaeological area in Giza Governorate, which witnessed the theft.
This came as a continuation of the investigations being conducted by the Technical Office of the Head of the Administrative Prosecution Authority.
Following the completion of the inspection, the prosecution ordered the monitoring of all technical reports related to the incident, review of all security and protection measures for archaeological sites according to the latest technological methods in security and protection, along with intensifying the procedures of the archaeological documentation and recording system for all Egyptian antiquities in light of the state's direction towards building a comprehensive database of antiquities.
The Media and Monitoring Center at the Administrative Prosecution had observed in October last various news websites reporting the theft of a stone archaeological panel from inside the tomb, and upon examining the incident, the Head of the Authority, Counselor Mohamed El-Shenawy, ordered an urgent investigation into the incident before the Technical Office of the Head of the Authority.
In an earlier time, Dr. Mohamed Ismail Khaled, the Secretary-General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, confirmed that the tomb was completely closed and used as a storehouse for antiquities since its discovery in the 1950s and had not been opened since 2019, noting that an archaeological committee chaired by Dr. Amro El Tayeb, in charge of the Saqqara archaeological area, was formed to inventory the contents of the tomb.
He also added that as soon as the report from the archaeological committee arrived, the matter was transferred to the public prosecution on the same day for investigation, pointing out that the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities closely follows the proceedings of the investigation in coordination with the relevant authorities.
For his part, Dr. Magdi Shaker, the senior archaeologist at the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, said in previous statements to "Al Arabiya.net" and "Al Hadath.net" that there is information about the disappearance of an archaeological panel from one of the tombs in the Saqqara area, specifically from the famous "Khenty Ka" tomb, which is used as a storage for archaeological pieces, adding that the panel is made of limestone, measuring about 40 by 60 centimeters, and portrays three scenes from daily life in the Old Kingdom era.
The tomb of "Khenty Ka" is located in the archaeological area of Saqqara, south of the Step Pyramid of Djoser, and is one of the important tombs dating back to the late Fifth Dynasty in the Old Kingdom.
