Egypt: a new royal tomb unearthed in Luxor, the Thebes of the pharaohs
Egyptian and British researchers have discovered a new royal tomb, which could be “that of a royal wife or a princess of the Thutmosid line”, on the west bank of the Nile, where the famous Valleys of the Kings and Queens.
A new tomb, probably that of a royal wife of the 18th dynasty, that of Akhenaten and Tutankhamun nearly 3,500 years ago, has been discovered in Luxor, the Thebes of the pharaohs, authorities revealed on Saturday January 14. Egyptians.
The royal tomb was unearthed by Egyptian and British researchers on the west bank of the Nile, where the famous Valleys of the Kings and Queens are located, and the excavations are continuing, explains Mostafa Waziri, head of Egyptian Antiquities, in a communicated.
“In poor condition”
But already, “the first elements discovered so far inside the tomb seem to indicate that it dates from the 18th dynasty”, considered the apogee and the most prosperous period of ancient Egypt, adds. -huh.
For Piers Litherland, from the University of Cambridge, who leads the team of British researchers on this mission, “this tomb could be that of a royal wife or a princess of the line of Thutmosides, very few of whom have been put today”...................................................................................................
The interior of this tomb is “in poor condition” with “many constructions and inscriptions destroyed due to the floods of antiquity which filled the mortuary chambers with sandy and limestone sediments”, adds the Egyptian archaeologist Mohsen Kamel, also quoted in the press release.
Attract tourists
Egypt has revealed several major discoveries in recent months, mainly in the necropolis of Saqqara, south of Cairo. In a tweet, the head of Egyptian Antiquities invited the world to come “explore the new discoveries” with his country.
The country of 104 million inhabitants, in serious economic crisis, is counting on these announcements to revive tourism, hit hard by the Covid-19 pandemic. This sector, which employs two million people and generates more than 10% of GDP, has been at half mast since the Arab Spring in 2011.
Cairo has been promising for months the imminent opening of its “Grand Egyptian Museum”, near the Giza plateau, without having so far a date for its inauguration. Many predicted it in 2022, for the bicentenary of the deciphering of the Rosetta Stone by the Frenchman Jean-François Champollion and the centenary of the discovery of the tomb of the child-pharaoh Tutankhamun.
