An enigmatic ancient tomb has been found, according to a team of archaeologists excavating in Luxor, Egypt.
According to Mostafa Waziri, head of Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities, the tomb was unearthed by Egyptian and British researchers on the west bank of the River Nile, where the famous Valley of the Queens and Valley of the Kings are located.
Credit: Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities
Scientists say the tomb is about 3,500 years old and may hold the remains of an 18th dynasty royal. Currently, it it unknown who could be buried inside.
“The first elements discovered so far inside the tomb seem to indicate that it dates back to the 18th dynasty” of pharaohs Akhenaton and Tutankhamun, Waziri said in a statement.
This could be the tomb of an ancient Egyptian royal. Credit: Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities
Piers Litherland of the University of Cambridge, head of the British research mission, said the tomb could be of a royal wife or princess of Thutmosid lineage.
Unfortunately, Dr. Mohsen Kamel made clear the excavations made be troublesome because the cemetery and the unearthed tomb are in poor condition.
Parts of it, including inscriptions, were “destroyed in ancient floods which filled the burial chambers with sand and limestone sediment,” Kamel added.
Credit: Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities
As reported by the AFP, “Egypt has unveiled several major archaeological discoveries in recent years, most notably in the Saqqara necropolis south of the capital Cairo.
Critics say the flurry of excavations has prioritized finds shown to grab media attention over hard academic research.
But the discoveries have been a key component of Egypt’s attempts to revive its vital tourism industry, the crowning jewel of which is the long-delayed inauguration of the Grand Egyptian Museum at the foot of the pyramids.
The country of 104 million inhabitants suffers a severe economic crisis.
Egypt’s tourism industry accounts for 10 percent of GDP and some two million jobs, according to official figures, but has been hammered by political unrest and the COVID pandemic.”
