Saqqara, Egypt ? A superbly preserved 2,300-year-old mummy bearing a golden mask and covered in brilliantly colored images of gods and goddesses was unveiled Tuesday at Egypt’s Saqqara Pyramids complex south of Cairo.

The unidentified mummy, from the 30th pharaonic dynasty, was enclosed in a wooden sarcophagus and buried in sand at the bottom of a 20-foot shaft when it was discovered recently by an Egyptian-led archaeological team.

“We have revealed what may be the most beautiful mummy ever found in Egypt,” Zahi Hawass, chief of Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities, said as he helped excavators remove the sarcophagus lid to show off the find.

Hawass said experts will use CT scanning technology within the next week to reveal more details about the ancient Egyptian’s identity and how he had lived and died.

Afterward, the mummy will be displayed at Saqqara’s museum of Imhotep, the famed architect who designed the Stepped Pyramid — Egypt’s oldest.

The mummy was buried within the necropolis of King Teti, a funerary area containing dozens of burial chambers, false doors that ancient Egyptians said the souls of the dead would use to leave their tombs, and temples.

The necropolis lies alongside the collapsed pyramid of Teti, who ruled during ancient Egypt’s 6th dynasty, more than 4,300 years ago.

Zahi Hawass, chief of Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities, right, opens a wooden coffin containing a brilliantly colored mummy dating back more than 2,300 years. The mummy was unveiled Tuesday at Egypt's Saqqara Pyramids complex south of Cairo. The unidentified mummy, from the 30th pharaonic dynasty, had been buried in sand in a 20-foot shaft. Hawass said the mummy would undergo CT scanning before being put on display at a Saqqara museum.

Hawass also said a previously unknown pyramid had been located in the Saqqara area and would be uncovered after two months.

Saqqara, about 12 miles south of Cairo, is one of Egypt’s most popular tourist sites and hosts a collection of temples, tombs and funerary complexes.