Archeologists believe they have unearthed the tomb of a previously unknown ancient Egyptian queen, officials announced on Sunday.

Egypt's Antiquities Minister Mamdouh al-Damaty identified the ancient royal as Khentakawess, the wife of Pharaoh Neferefre who reigned 4,500 years ago.

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Czech archaeologists who made the discovery said, the tomb was found in Neferefre's funeral complex in Abu Sir, a burial place for the ancient Egyptian capital of Memphis located southwest of present-day Cairo.

Before the discovery of the tomb, al-Damaty said the pharaoh's wife had not been known. They based it on an inscription on the inner wall of the tomb that may have been written by tomb builders. Because two previous queens have had the same name, she is referred to as Khentakawess III.

The tomb was dated back to the middle of the Fifth Dynasty which lasted from 2994 to 2345 B.C. "This discovery will help us shed light on certain unknown aspects of the Fifth Dynasty, which along with the Fourth Dynasty, witnessed the construction of the first pyramids," al-Damaty said. The archeological dig in Abu Sir also yielded 30 limestone and copper utensils.

Meanwhile, on the Nile's west bank in Luxor, archaeologists discovered a symbolic tomb of the Egyptian god Osiris.

Milagros Alvarez Zosa of Spain and Irene Morfini of Italy found the tomb in the Valley of the Nobles, a necropolis for high officials and dignitaries of ancient Egypt. The complex of more than 15 excavations has a shaft that connects to multiple chambers, Antiquities Department official Abdel-Hakim Karar told The Cairo Post on Friday.

"The tomb was found inside the unfinished tomb of 'Kampp -327'. It is centred on a statue of Osiris who is depicted sitting in a chapel facing a staircase with a nine-metre deep shaft connecting to another room with another six-metre deep shaft," said Karar.

In Egyptian mythology, Osiris is the Egyptian god of the afterlife and ruler of the realm of the dead. He was the husband of Isis, goddess of the earth and moon. According to legend, he was murdered by his brother Set who threw his body into the Nile in a sarcophagus.

Though he lived in the underworld, Osiris was seen as the source of renewed life. 

TagsEgypt, pharaoh neferefre, khentakawess, Osiris, Memphis, Luxor