Lost for More Than Three Millennia, Tombs Emerge From Egypt's Sands

SAQQARA, Egypt — Archaeologists unveiled the tombs yesterday of a pharaonic butler and a scribe that have been buried for more than 3,000 years — proof, they say, that Egypt's sands have even more secrets left to be discovered.

Although archaeologists have been exploring Egypt intensively for more than 150 years, some estimate only one-third of what lies underground in Saqqara — the site of the country's most ancient pyramid and burial site of kings — has been uncovered.

"The sands of Saqqara reveal lots of secrets," Egypt's antiquities chief, Zahi Hawass, said, as he showed reporters a 4,000-year-old mud brick tomb that belonged to a scribe of divine records, Ka-Hay, and his wife.

The tomb, along with the butler's 3,350-year-old limestone grave and two painted coffins, were discovered earlier this year near the famous Step Pyramid of King Djoser — the oldest of Egypt's more than 90 pyramids.

Mr. Hawass said the three discoveries are just the tip of what remains undiscovered at Saqqara.

In December, archaeologists in Saqqara discovered the remains of a doctor who was buried along with surgical tools more than 4,000 years ago. Two months earlier, the graves of three royal dentists were discovered in Saqqara after the arrest of tomb raiders led archaeologists to the site.