Khentakawess III — 4,500-Year-Old Queen — Discovered in Egyptian Tomb

Khentakawess III is the name of a newly-discovered Egyptian queen that lived 4,500 years ago, and remained entombed until this week.

According to NBC News, the queen was uncovered Sunday in a tomb at the Abusir necropolis 20 miles southwest of Cairo on the Nile River. She is thought to be the wife of the Pharaoh Neferefre, also known as King Raneferef, who ruled during the Fifth Dynasty.

"This is the first time we have discovered the name of this queen, who had been unknown before the discovery of her tomb," Egypt's Antiquities Minister Mamdouh al-Damaty said in a statement.

Statuettes, limestone vessels, and copper utensils were found among Khentakawess' possessions, which were buried with her. There were signs of early grave robberies, so the tomb likely contained even more long ago.

Inscriptions that translate to "wife of the king" and "mother of the king" were also found inside the tomb, suggesting again that she was a family woman.

The king and queen's reign is thought to have been a brief one, lasting only two or three years. A pyramid simply known as "the unfinished pyramid" is thought to have been intended to honor Neferefre.

The tomb was uncovered by archaeologists working with the Czech Institute of Egyptology.

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