Witness Jaromir Krejci on the day he found a queen
Jaromir Krejci is a young Czech Egyptologist, teaching at the Institute of Egyptology of Charles University in Prague. A few years ago, shortly after his graduation, he joined excavation works conducted by Czech Egyptologists in a pyramid complex near the Egyptian city of Abusir, on the site allocated to the Czech Republic by the Egyptian Supreme Council for Antiquities. Here Jaromir Krejci recalls one morning when the Czech team unexpectedly discovered the mummy of a nameless Ancient Egyptian queen.
"It was only two or three months after I finished my MA studies in
Egyptology here at Charles University and I took part in the
archaeological excavations of the pyramid complex "Lepsius No.
24" at our archaeological site in Abusir. On one day I was appointed
as a director of the excavations because our professor was out of Abusir
and his deputy was also away. So I was directing the works and in the
middle of the burial chamber of this pyramid which was unfortunately very
badly destroyed, one morning we found a mummy of a lady. And because we
were working in this pyramid, it was clear that it was a mummy of a queen.
For me it was very exciting also because at that time there was a rainy
period in Egypt, which does not happen very often, but at that particular
time it rained every day. It was also a very stressful time because the
works had to be done very quickly and the mummy had to be quickly
documented and removed to the magazine. For me, this was one of the most
emotional moments in my life."
