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Hieroglyphic details including eye and tusk symbols representing the dentistry profession, below-right, on the entrance of one dentist's tomb.(File Photo)
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BEIJING, Oct. 23 (Xinhuanet) -- The arrest of tomb robbers led archaeologists to the graves of three royal dentists, protected by a curse and hidden in the desert sands for thousands of years in the shadow of Egypt's most ancient pyramid, the Egyptian official news agency MENA reported on Sunday.
The thieves launched their own dig one summer night two months ago but were apprehended, Zahi Hawass, chief of Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities, told reporters. "We have to thank the thieves."
That led archaeologists to the three tombs.
The cemetery, built with bricks, dates back to the end of the fourth dynasty and the start of the fifth dynasty (more than 4,000 years ago), Hawass said in a statement.
The statement also said that the cemetery consists of three tombs of the king's three dentists, a chief one and two others who used to live near the royal palace to care for the teeth of the king and the royal family.
"It seems for the first time that the ancient Egyptians made a cemetery to the dentists and they are buried in the shadow of the Step Pyramid," Hawas was quoted as saying as he toured the site.
One of the three tombs included an inscription warning that anyone who violated the sanctity of the grave would be eaten by a crocodile and a snake.
A towering, painted profile of the chief dentist stares down at passers-by from the wall opposite the inscription.
Although their services were in demand by the powerful, the dentists likely did not share in their wealth.
The tombs, which did not contain their mummies, were built of mud-brick and limestone, not the pure limestone preferred by ancient Egypt's upper class.
During the visit to the site, Hawass pointed out two hieroglyphs — an eye over a tusk — which appear frequently among the neat rows of symbols decorating the tombs. He said those hieroglyphs identify the men as dentists.
The pictorial letters also spell out the names of the chief dentist — Iy Mry — and the other two — Kem Msw and Sekhem Ka. Hawass said the men were not related but must have been partners or colleagues to have been buried together.
Figures covering the pillars in the doorway of the chief dentist's tomb tell archaeologists much about his life and habits, Hawass said.
They depict the chief dentist and his family immersed in daily rituals — playing games, slaughtering animals and presenting offerings to the dead, including the standard 1,000 loaves of bread and 1,000 vases of beer.
Although archaeologists have been exploring Egypt's ruins intensively for more than 150 years, Hawass believes only 30 percent of what lies hidden beneath the sands has been uncovered.
He said that the excavation continues at Saqqara, one of Egypt's most popular tourist site, 25 km south of Cairo.
