CAIRO: Archaeologists have found a rare double wooden statue of an ancient Egyptian scribe and his wife near a pyramid in Saqqara, south of Cairo, the country s supreme council of antiquities said Monday. The double statue of Ha-Kay and his wife Spri-Ankh was found in a mud brick tomb dating back to the late fifth dynasty and early sixth dynasty , or around the middle of the 24th century BC, said a statement. It is a unique statue, said antiquities chief Zahi Hawass. In general double-seated statues are made of limestone and are rarely carved in wood.
The writer of sacred records and his wife were buried in a necropolis near the pyramid built for Teti, the first pharaoh of the sixth dynasty, the statement said. The site was discovered by a team of Egyptian and Australian archaeologists who have been excavating in the Saqqara necropolis since the early 1970s.
