Muhammed Zakaria Goneim (زكريا غنيم) (alt. spelling: Muhammad Zakarīya Ghunaim, 1905–1959) was an

Egyptian Egyptian describes something of, from, or related to Egypt. Egyptian or Egyptians may refer to: Nations and ethnic groups * Egyptians, a national group in North Africa ** Egyptian culture, a complex and stable culture with thousands of years of ...

archaeologist Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...

, known for his discoveries in and around

Saqqara Saqqara ( ar, سقارة, ), also spelled Sakkara or Saccara in English , is an Egyptian village in Giza Governorate, that contains ancient burial grounds of Egyptian royalty, serving as the necropolis for the ancient Egyptian capital, Memphis. ...

. He is best known for discovering the Step Pyramid of Sekhemkhet. Before

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, Goneim worked at Saqqara on the mortuary temple of

Unas Unas or Wenis, also spelled Unis ( egy, wnjs, hellenized form Oenas or Onnos), was a pharaoh, the ninth and last ruler of the Fifth Dynasty of Egypt during the Old Kingdom. Unas reigned for 15 to 30 years in the mid- 24th century BC (circa ...

. He spent the war in

Luxor Luxor ( ar, الأقصر, al-ʾuqṣur, lit=the palaces) is a modern city in Upper (southern) Egypt which includes the site of the Ancient Egyptian city of ''Thebes''. Luxor has frequently been characterized as the "world's greatest open-a ...

and then returned to Saqqara to work on the Step Pyramid of Sekhemkhet in close association with

Lauer Lauer is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Andrew Lauer (born 1965), American filmmaker * Bonnie Lauer (born 1951), American golfer * Brad Lauer (born 1966), Canadian ice hockey coach * Bruno Lauer (born 1965), American profe ...

who was working on the

Step Pyramid A step pyramid or stepped pyramid is an architectural structure that uses flat platforms, or steps, receding from the ground up, to achieve a completed shape similar to a geometric pyramid. Step pyramids are structures which characterized several ...

Djoser Djoser (also read as Djeser and Zoser) was an ancient Egyptian pharaoh of the 3rd Dynasty during the Old Kingdom, and was the founder of that epoch. He is also known by his Hellenized names Tosorthros (from Manetho) and Sesorthos (from Euseb ...

. He thought he had found an intact burial, as the seals of the

alabaster Alabaster is a mineral or rock that is soft, often used for carving, and is processed for plaster powder. Archaeologists and the stone processing industry use the word differently from geologists. The former use it in a wider sense that includes ...

sarcophagus A sarcophagus (plural sarcophagi or sarcophaguses) is a box-like funeral receptacle for a corpse, most commonly carved in stone, and usually displayed above ground, though it may also be buried. The word ''sarcophagus'' comes from the Greek ...

were undamaged, and funerary wreaths lay atop the sarcophagus. There was tremendous media attention, and he invited high state officials, journalists, reporters and film teams to the opening. But on opening the sarcophagus, it proved to be empty. "They dig for three years and find nothing," one newspaper reported. There was consequent popular disappointment, although the discovery was still an important one for Egyptology. The Egyptian President Nasser visited the site, and commended Goneim for his work. After this he went on a lecture tour of the US. He also wrote a book, ''The buried pyramid'', with the aid of Leonard Cottrell, in order to publicise the work further. The book was a success, and was translated into several languages. But he was already in trouble at home, where official harassment had begun. He was eventually falsely accused of smuggling a large, valuable vessel that Quibell and Lauer had found two years earlier near in the Djoser complex out of the country. There was no hard evidence, only accusations and slander. But it devastated Goneim, who was Egyptian himself. He was repeatedly interrogated by the police. His friend

Jean-Philippe Lauer Jean-Philippe Lauer (7 May 1902 – 15 May 2001), was a French architect and Egyptologist. He was considered to be the foremost expert on pyramid construction techniques and methods. Biography Arrival in Egypt He was born in the 8th arrondi ...

attempted to help him by searching for the missing item. In 1959, he tracked the missing vessel to a corner of the Egyptian Museum's depository. But it was too late. The perpetual harassment was too much, and he was either murdered or drowned himself in the

Nile The Nile, , Bohairic , lg, Kiira , Nobiin language, Nobiin: Áman Dawū is a major north-flowing river in northeastern Africa. It flows into the Mediterranean Sea. The Nile is the longest river in Africa and has historically been considered ...

on 12 January 1959. Zakaria Goneim was the cousin of the Egyptian Heiress Nofert Sourial Sa'id. Zakaria Goneim's father's family became Muslim in the late 19th century. They were of

Coptic Coptic may refer to: Afro-Asia * Copts, an ethnoreligious group mainly in the area of modern Egypt but also in Sudan and Libya * Coptic language, a Northern Afro-Asiatic language spoken in Egypt until at least the 17th century * Coptic alphabet ...

descent.

Publications

* ''The buried pyramid''. Longmans, Green; London, New York; 1956 * ''The lost pyramid''. Rinehart; New York; 1956 * ''Excavations at Saqqara: Horus Sekhem-khet, the unfinished step pyramid at Saqqara''; Impr. de l’Institut français d’archéologie orientale; Le Caire, 1957

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Goneim, Muhammed Zakaria 1905 births 1959 deaths Egyptian Egyptologists Egyptian archaeologists Egyptian people of Coptic descent 20th-century archaeologists 1959 suicides Suicides by drowning Suicides in Egypt