Egypt 'uncovers burial chamber of pharaoh's daughter'

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Photograph published by the Egyptian ministry of antiquities showing a burial chamber at the Dahshur royal necropolis, south of Cairo (10 April 2017)Image source, Nevine El-Aref / Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities
Image caption,

The discovery was made at an archaeological site at the Dahshur royal necropolis

The 3,700-year-old burial chamber of a pharaoh's daughter is believed to have been found near the remains of a recently discovered pyramid in Egypt.

The ministry of antiquities said, external the chamber at the Dahshur royal necropolis, south of Cairo, contained a wooden box engraved with hieroglyphs.

Inside the box were four canopic jars filled with the organs of the deceased, likely a daughter of King Emnikamaw.

The ruler's pyramid is about 600m (1,970ft) from the chamber.

Last month, archaeologists investigating the remains of the structure found a relief with 10 lines of hieroglyphs bearing Emnikamaw's name.

They also uncovered the remnants of an anthropoid sarcophagus.

Image source, Nevine El-Aref / Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities
Image caption,

A box found inside the chamber bore hieroglyphics meant to protect the body

Dahshur is where King Sneferu of the 4th Dynasty built ancient Egypt's first true smooth-sided pyramid, the 104m-high (341ft) Red Pyramid, about 4,600 years ago.

He also constructed an earlier version, the 105m-high Bent Pyramid, whose slopes change angle from 54 degrees to 43 degrees about halfway up.

Sneferu was succeeded by his son Khufu, renowned for the Great Pyramid at Giza, which - at 138m high - was a wonder of the ancient world.