Archaeologists in Egypt have discovered an ancient tomb belonging to the "keeper of the secrets of royal decrees," they announced following an excavation at Saqqara.
The decorated burial belongs to an official named Sekhentio-Ptah, who lived during the Old Kingdom (2649 to 2150 B.C.), a period that's famous for the building of the pyramids, including those at Giza.
While the title "keeper of the secrets of royal decrees" may sound mysterious, it was likely a more bureaucratic position, said Ann Macy Roth, a clinical professor of Egyptology at New York University who was not involved with the excavation.
It "probably merely means that as someone in charge of royal documents and the people who write them, he has access to confidential information," Roth told Live Science in an email. "It's a common title among royal scribes."
The official Sekhentio-Ptah had a number of other titles, according to his tomb, including "Overseer of all the King's Works" and "Overseer of Royal Documen...
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