Archeologists uncovered a 5,000-year-old chamber believed to have been used in the burial rituals of Egypt's first major pharaoh, and found a cache of 200 rough ceramic beer and wine jars. (Photo: Xinhua/AFP)

    BEIJING, May 20 -- A 5,000-year-old chamber once used as the burial rituals of Egypt's first major pharaoh was discovered, Egyptian authorities announced Thursday.

    Archeologists believes that this chamber was used as a mortuary enclosure of King Hur-Aha, the founder of Egypt's First Dynasty.

    "It is a very important discovery because it would provide us with new information about the First Dynasty," Zahi Hawass, head of Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities, was quoted as saying by AP.

    The mud-brick enclosure was discovered by a joint American excavation from Yale University, the Pennsylvania University Museum and New York University at Shunet El-Zebib, near Abydos. Many of Egypt's earlier pharaohs are buried in Abydos, a holy city 400 kilometres south of Cairo.

    Hur-Aha, who ruled around 3100 BC - some 500 years before the pyramids were built - is considered the first pharaoh of the First Dynasty, the first royal family to control both Upper and Lower Egypt in a unified kingdom. But little is known of the era. Enditem

    (Agencies)