A new tomb, likely that of a royal woman of the 18th dynasty, that of Akhenaten and Tutankhamen almost 3,500 years ago, has been discovered at Luxor, the Thebes of the pharaohs, Egyptian authorities said on Saturday.
This royal tomb was excavated by Egyptian and British explorers on the west bank of the Nile, where the famous Valleys of the Kings and Queens are located, and excavations are continuing, said Mostafa Waziri, head of Egyptian antiquities, in a statement.
But already “the first elements discovered so far inside the tomb seem to indicate that it dates from the 18th dynasty”, which is considered to be the peak and most prosperous period of ancient Egypt, he adds.
For Piers Litherland of the University of Cambridge, who is leading the team of British researchers on this mission, “this tomb could be that of a royal wife or princess of the Thutmosid line, very few of whom have been unearthed”.
The interior of this tomb is “in poor condition,” with “many constructions and inscriptions destroyed by the floods of antiquity, which filled the mortuary chambers with sand and limestone sediments,” adds Egyptian archaeologist Mohsen Kamel, also in the press release is quoted.
Egypt has made several major discoveries in recent months, mainly at the Saqqara necropolis, south of Cairo.
The country of 104 million people in a deep economic crisis is counting on these announcements to revive tourism, which has been badly hit by the Covid-19 pandemic. This sector, which employs two million people and generates more than 10% of GDP, has been running at half-staff since the 2011 Arab Spring.
Cairo has been promising for months that its “Great Egyptian Museum” near the Giza Plateau will open soon, without yet having a date for its inauguration.
Many predicted this to happen in 2022, the 200th anniversary of the deciphering of the Rosetta Stone by Frenchman Jean-François Champollion and the 100th anniversary of the discovery of the tomb of the child Pharaoh Tutankhamen.
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