CAIRO -- Egypt has unveiled several discoveries near the famed city of Luxor, including ancient rock-cut tombs and burial shafts dating back 3,600 years.
They were unearthed at the causeway of Pharaoh Hatshepsut's funerary temple at Deir al-Bahri on the Nile's West Bank. The Zahi Hawass Foundation for Antiquities & Heritage, in collaboration with the Supreme Council of Antiquities, has been working at the site since September 2022.
Artifacts found at the tombs include bronze coins featuring the image of Alexander the Great, dating to the Time of Ptolemy I (367-283 B.C.), children's clay toys, cartonnage, funerary masks that covered mummies, winged scarabs, beads, and funerary amulets.
Hawass stated that these discoveries could "reconstruct history" and provide insights into the programs ancient Egyptians designed within a temple.
The archaeologists also uncovered remnants of Hatshepsut's Valley Temple, rock-cut tombs from the Middle Kingdom (1938 B.C. - 1630 B.C.), burial shafts from the 17th dynasty, the tomb of Djehuti-Mes, and part of the Assassif Ptolemaic Necropolis.
Although the rock-cut tombs were robbed during the Ptolemaic period and later, some artifacts such as pottery tables used for offerings of bread, wine, and meat were recovered.
Inside burial shafts dating back to 1580 B.C. - 1550 B.C., anthropoid wooden coffins were discovered, including one belonging to a young child, which remained intact since its burial approximately 3,600 years ago.
Additionally, war archery bows found in the burial chamber suggest that the tomb owners had military backgrounds and fought against the Hyksos.
While few artifacts from Djehuti Mes's tomb were found, the tomb itself provides more information about Djehuti Mes, who managed Queen Teti Sheri's palace. The date on Djehuti Mes' funerary stelae indicates that the tomb dates back to the 9th year of King Ahmose I's reign (1550 B.C. - 1525 B.C.).
Part of the extended Ptolemaic necropolis, which occupied the site of the causeway and the Valley Temple, was also uncovered. The tombs in the cemetery were constructed of mud bricks over the remnants of Hatshepsut's temple. A significant portion of the necropolis was unearthed earlier in the 20th century but was not adequately documented.
In November, Egyptian and American archaeologists excavated an ancient tomb with 11 sealed burials near Luxor. This tomb, dating to the Middle Kingdom, was found in the South Asasif necropolis, adjacent to the Temple of Hatshepsut.