Not very long ago, an old black granite archaphagus was uncovered in the Egyptian city of Alexandria. Dr. Mostafa Waziri, the general secretary of Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities, is credited with making the formal discovery of the artifact, which dates back to the Ptolemaic period (305 BC–30 BC).

It didn’t take long for this coffin, which measured in at 8.7 feet (2.65 meters) in length and 5.4 meters in width, to become a cultural landmark. This sarcophagus, discovered near Alexandria, is the biggest of its kind.

The sarcophagus remained reportedly undisturbed for at least a thousand years until its discovery 16.4 feet below ground, due to a layer of mortar.

In addition, specialists have discovered a huge alabaster skull that they think was made for the giant who originally possessed the tomb.

Though references to giants appear often throughout Egypt’s history, the latest revelation that King Khasekhemui, who ruled Egypt about 2690 BC, was a giant who measured 2.44 to 2.60 meters in height came as a shock.

It sheds insight on Egyptian society as a whole, since the Egyptians were considered to be progressive, therefore the choice of a Giant as a monarch wasn’t all that strange.