Archaeologists have discovered a tomb in Luxor, Egypt, where a pharaoh’s wife is believed to have been buried nearly 3,500 years ago. The excavations have not yet been completed, as announced yesterday by the head of the Antiquities Authority, Mustafa Wasiri. However, the first discoveries of the burial chamber indicate that it is an 18th dynasty tomb with legendary pharaohs such as Akhenaten and Tutankhamun.
According to Piers Litherland of the University of Cambridge, who is leading the team of British researchers on the excavation, it could be the tomb of a queen or princess of the ruling Thutmosid family, very few of whom have been unearthed.
Unfortunately, the tomb’s interior is in poor condition, said Egyptian archaeologist Mohsen Kamel. Many components and inscriptions had already been destroyed in ancient times, when sand and limestone sediments entered the burial chamber during floods.