Cairo, Jan. 27 -- Archaeologists have made a remarkable find in Egypt: a 4,300-year-old mummy sealed inside a gold-leafed sarcophagus.

The mummy, Hekashepes, is one of the oldest and most complete non-royal corpses ever discovered.

It was found in a 15m (50ft) shaft at a burial site south of Cairo, Saqqara, with three other tombs containing a priest, inspector, and supervisor of nobles; a senior palace official known as a "secret keeper"; and a judge and writer.

Among the tombs were also statues thought to be the largest ever found in the area, along with pottery. The discovery is dated to the 25th to 22nd centuries BC and is seen as connecting the ancient Egyptian rulers to the people living around them.

It follows the finding of a c...