A joint Egyptian-British mission has found a previously undiscovered ancient royal tomb in the Egyptian city of Luxor, according to the country’s authorities.
The royal tomb was discovered in an ancient site on the west bank of the Nile River, 650 kilometers south of Cairo, Egypt’s capital. The mission consisted of archaeologists from the Supreme Council of Antiquities and the New Kingdom Research Foundation at the University of Cambridge.
Mostafa Waziri, secretary-general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, highlighted the importance of the recent discovery, stating that based on initial evidence it could be a tomb dating back to the 18th dynasty of pharaonic Egypt, which spanned from 1550/1549 BC to 1292 BC. Archaeologists claimed it could be a tomb of a royal wife or princess.
The information is expected to be verified in the near future as soon as the archaeological documentation of the tomb is gathered. Work at the site is set to continue.
According to the director of the Western Valleys archeological site Mohsen Kamel, the tomb's state of preservation is quite poor, as it was partially damaged by floodwaters during ancient times which flooded it with sand and limestone, obliterating its inscriptions.
The tomb is the latest discovery in a series of findings Egypt has recently publicized in a bid to revive its tourism sector, which heavily relies on the country’s ancient treasures. The industry was largely affected by years of political unrest and later by the COVID-19 pandemic, which caused a significant drop in the number of tourists visiting the country, and subsequently decreased revenue derived from the sector.
27 November 2022, 17:04 GMT