Mystery tomb identified as belonging to lost Pharaoh Sobekhotep I

FOR more than 3800 years the final resting place of Pharaoh Sobekhotep I has been lost to history. Now, his tomb has emerged from Egypt's sands.

Fragments from the tomb of the Pharaonic King Sobekhotep I in south Abydos in Upper Egypt. AFP / SCA

FOR more than 3800 years the final resting place of Pharaoh Sobekhotep I has been lost to history. Now, his enormous red-quartzite tomb has emerged from Egypt's roaming sands.

A team of archaeologists from the University of Pennsylvania discovered the sarcophagus about a year ago in the southern archaeological site of Abydos, but initial attempts to identify its owner came up trumps.

The rough-hewed 60-tonne slab of rock was largely unadorned. So it was not until team members discovered fragments of the same style of stone nearby that the identity of the owner was revealed.

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Inscribed on the fragments was the pharaoh's name and a depiction of him sitting on a throne.

Sobekhotep I is one of Egypt's least-known pharaohs. The discovery promises to thrown new light on ancient Egypt's most tumultuous times.

His tomb was constructed from limestone brought from the Tura quarries near modern Cairo, while his burial chamber is made from red quartzite.

Fragments from the tomb of the Pharaonic King Sobekhotep I in south Abydos in Upper Egypt. AFP / SCA

The burial was originally topped by a pyramid which has since eroded away.

Among further finds are a stele bearing the name of the king, an image of Sobekhotep I enthroned, parts of the Canopic jars that once contained the pharaohs internal organs, and golden funerary objects.

"He is likely the first who ruled Egypt at the start of the 13th dynasty during the second intermediate period," Egypt's Antiquities Minister Mohamed Ibrahim said.

Since new royal tombs are rarely discovered, and as only ten from the 13th Dynasty are known - all at Dahshur, just south of Cairo - this is an important find.

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The surviving evidence for this period is so complex that scholars are still debating the order of the 13th Dynasty kings. Historians aren't even sure of when the dynasty began - 1803 B.C. and 1781 B.C. are the leading contenders.

Pharaoh Sobekhotep I is believed to have reigned for about four-and-a-half years, one of the longest period during that era of decline.

Excavation at the tomb is ongoing, though Egypt's antiquities chief, Mohamed Ibrahim, hopes to open the site to the public, once the tomb has been restored.

The entrance passage of the tomb of the Pharaonic King Sobekhotep I in south Abydos in Upper Egypt. AFP /EGYPTIAN MINISTRY OF ANTIQUITIES