The tomb belonged to Ptahmes who lived in the 13th Century B.C. A high-ranking official under pharaohs Seti I and Rameses II, Ptahmes was buried near the Pyramid of Unas, in Saqqara, home to the resting places of many important people from ancient times in Egypt.

Treasurer hunters discovered the tomb in 1885. Most of the tomb's treasures were taken away, and the tomb was forgotten. A 2010 rediscovery rekindled interest in the tomb. Also found were a handful of grave markers, one having an unfinished image of Ptahmes.

Among a group of pottery shards found in a subsequent dig by Egyptian and Italian archaeologists was a lump of something white next to a canvas fabric. New high-tech chemical tests proved that the white mass was once a hunk of cheese, wrapped in the canvas fabric and stored in an earthenware jar. Further, the tests revealed traces of milk from cows, sheep, goats and African buffalo.

It is the oldest solid cheese ever found, according to the study published in Analytical Chemistry, a journal of the American Chemical Society. Lead author of the study was Enrico Greco of the University of Catania.

The archaeologists have no plans to eat the cheese, however. Despite its age, it is also contaminated.

Scientists also found traces of the bacterium that causes brucellosis, or Malta fever, a potentially deadly infection contracted from eating unpasteurized dairy products or raw meat.

Hieroglyphs in Ptahmes' tomb speak of his importance. He was, at one time or another:

• mayor of the an
• overseer of the treasury
• loyal scribe
• High Priest of Amun at Karnak