Wahtye ( 2485 BC - 2450 BC)
was a high-ranking priest and official who served under King
Neferirkare Kakai during the
Fifth Dynasty of Egypt. Based on his skull, he was probably around 35-years-old when he died.
Tomb
In November 2018, it was announced that Wahtye's tomb had been found at the
Saqqara necropolis. Inside the tomb were reliefs of Wahtye (he stole the tomb of his brother), his wife Weret Ptah, his 4 children and his mother Merit Meen. The tomb is long from north to south and wide from east to west and was built circa 2415–2405 BC.
Wahtye and his family were buried there but not all of them were in wooden sarcophagi. The tomb has an inscription about Wahtye: "Wahtye, Purified priest to the King, Overseer of the Divine Estate, overseer of the Sacred Boat, Revered with the great God, Wahtye".
When inspecting the structure of Wahtye's bones, the archeologists found that they were distended, indicating that Wahtye had a disease. One hypothesis by Amira Shahin, professor of rheumatology at
Cairo University
Cairo University () is Egypt's premier public university. Its main campus is in Giza, immediately across the Nile from Cairo. It was founded on 21 December 1908;"Brief history and development of Cairo University." Cairo University Faculty of En ...
, is that he had
malaria
Malaria is a Mosquito-borne disease, mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects vertebrates and ''Anopheles'' mosquitoes. Human malaria causes Signs and symptoms, symptoms that typically include fever, Fatigue (medical), fatigue, vomitin ...
.
Wahtye's tomb contains 4 shafts. The first shaft was empty and incomplete. The second, third and fourth shafts were filled with the remains of Wahtye and his family. The tombs were separated by gender, the deepest one contained Wahtye's remains which were found in a wooden sarcophagus, another contained the remains of Wahtye's mother Merit Meen who was probably 55-years-old, his wife Weret Ptah who was most likely around her thirties and his young daughter who was probably 6-years-old when she died and the other one contained Wahtye's 3 sons with two of them most likely under 20 and 18.
Life
The names of members of Wahtye's family inscribed in his tomb included those of his mother, Merit Meen, his wife Weretptah, his sons Seshemnefer, Kaiemakhnetjer, and Sebaib, and his daughter Seket.
Documentary
On 28 October 2020,
Netflix
Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...
premiered a two-hour documentary about the discovery of Wahtye's tomb called ''
Secrets of the Saqqara Tomb''.
References
External links
Virtual exploration of his tomb
25th-century BC Egyptian people
People of the Fifth Dynasty of Egypt
{{AncientEgypt-bio-stub
3rd-millennium BC births
25th-century BC deaths