Egypt reveals discovery of tombs in Luxor; a date from 3,600 years ago

Cairo. Egypt yesterday revealed several discoveries near the famous city of Luxor, including ancient rock-cut tombs and burial pits dating back 3,600 years.

They were found in the causeway of Queen Hat-shepsut’s funerary temple in Deir al-Bahri, on the west bank of the Nile, according to a statement from the Zahi Hawass Foundation for Antiquities and Heritage, which added that it worked together with the Council Supreme Court of Antiquities on site since September 2022.

Artifacts found in the tombs included bronze coins with the image of Alexander the Great, dating to the time of Ptolemy I (367-283); children’s toys made of clay, cardboard and funerary masks that covered mummies, winged beetles, beads and funerary amulets.

Hawass informed reporters that the discoveries could reconstruct history and offer an understanding of the type of programs that the ancient Egyptians designed within a temple.

Archaeologists also found the remains of Queen Hatshepsut’s Valley Temple, rock-cut tombs dating back to the Middle Kingdom (1938-1630 BC), burial pits from the 17th Dynasty, the tomb of General Djehuti -Month and part of the Ptolemaic Necropolis of Assassif.

The rock-cut tombs were looted during the Ptolemaic period and later. However, Egyptian teams discovered some artifacts, such as ceramic tables, that were used to offer bread, wine and meat.

Inside the burial pits, dating from 1580-1550 BC, anthropoid coffins were found, including that of a child, which remained intact since his funeral, some 3,600 years ago. War bows were also found in the burial chamber, indicating that the dead had a military background and fought to liberate Egypt from the Hyksos.

Not many artifacts were found from the tomb of General Djehuti Mes, but the tomb itself reveals more about him, who oversaw the palace of Queen Teti Sheri. The date engraved on the person’s funerary steles indicates that the tomb dates back to the ninth year of the reign of King Ahmose I (1550-1525 BC).

Necropolis

Part of the extended Ptolemaic necropolis occupying the site of the causeway and the Valley Temple was also discovered. The tombs in the cemetery were built with mud bricks over the remains of Queen Hatshepsut’s temple. Much of the necropolis was unearthed at the beginning of the 20th century, but was not properly documented.

In November, Egyptian and American archaeologists excavated an ancient tomb containing 11 sealed burials near Luxor. The tomb, dating from the Middle Kingdom, was found in the South Asasif necropolis, next to the Temple of Hatshepsut.