In Rare Middle-Class Tomb Found From Ancient Egypt National Geographic reports on the discovery of an Egyptian tomb that was never ransacked by robbers. Neferinpu, the priest and administrator who was buried in the 2 X 4 meter tomb was rich, but as is often true today, his wealth was not enough to make him upper class. His mummified body has badly decomposed because it's from before Egyptian preservation methods had been perfected. By his side were 4 canopic jars, 10 sealed beer jars, among other ceremonial items, and a 2-meter walking stick with a gold end.Neferinpu was from the Old Kingdom, 5th Dynasty. Another recently discovered tomb, from the 6th dynasty contained the remains of a dentist (see Tomb Robbers Find Egyptian Dentists' Tombs). That tomb had been robbed in antiquity. The National Geographic article says robbers knew it was worth robbing because while in the 5th Dynasty the king was still in control of the burials, by the following dynasty, the central control had weakened and individual officials had more say in their own burials and so could make them more lavish.
Canopic Jar Photo C.C. Tostie14 at Flickr.com
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