Image of excavated tomb near pyramid falsely shared as discovery of Hindu Temple

An image of an excavated site near Egypt’s pyramids is being shared with the claim that a Hindu temple was discovered under the pyramids during excavations.

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Fact Check

NewsMeter found that the image shows a tomb located east of Giza’s Great Pyramid, where a wall painting dating back over 4,300 years was discovered.

On performing a reverse image search, we found the image in a LiveScience article from 15 July 2014. It said a wall painting was discovered in a priest’s tomb, located 1,000 feet (300 meters) east of the Great Pyramid of Giza in Egypt. The tomb was first recorded by the German explorer Karl Richard Lepsius and French Egyptologist Auguste Mariette in the 19th century. It is believed to date to the middle or late fifth dynasty (ca. 2450-2350 B.C.).

The image has been credited to Maksim Lebedev, a faculty member at the Institute of Oriental Studies, Russian Academy of Sciences, Department of History of the East. It quoted Lebedev as saying, “The painting reflects ancient life. At the top of the painting, there are images of boats sailing the Nile River, their sails pointing south. They probably represent the return of the owner from the north after a pilgrimage or inspection of his funerary estates.”

It also mentioned that a team from the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences had found the new painting in 2012. The team has been excavating these tombs since 1996. It added the painting was discovered when scientists began restoring the tomb of Perseneb, a man who was a “priest” and “steward” of the tomb.

We also found the viral image in 2014 reports by Fox News and NCB News. Both talked about the discovery of the ancient painting in the tomb.

Hence, we conclude that the viral image of the excavation of a tomb in Egypt is being falsely linked to the discovery of a Hindu temple.