Archaeologists in Egypt have made multiple discoveries of rock-cut tombs and burial shafts in Luxor, which date back 3,600 years.
According to a statement released by Zahi Hawass Foundation for Antiquities & Heritage, the tombs and burial shafts were discovered at the causeway of Queen Hatsheput’s funerary temple at Deir al-Bahri on the Nile’s West Bank.
The foundation had been working with closely with the Supreme Council of Antiquities on the site since September 2022.
Artifacts including bronze coins with the image of Alexander the Great, children’s toys made of clay, cartonnage and funerary masks used to cover mummies, winged scarabs, beads and funerary amulets, were found in the tombs.
Zahi Hawass shared that the discoveries could “reconstruct history”, as well as provide an understanding of programs ancient Egyptians designed inside a temple, reports phys.org
The archaeologists also found the remains of Queen Hatsheput’s Valley Temple, rock-cut tombs which date back to 1983BC – 1630BC, burial shafts from the 17th dynasty, the tomb of Djehuti-Mes and part of the Assassif Ptolemaic Necropolis.
Despite the rock-cut tombs being previously robbed during the Ptolemaic period, the team was able to unearth some artifacts including pottery tables used to offer bread, wine and meat.
The burial shafts contained wooden coffins one of which belonged to a young child, and despite the burial being 3,600 years old, it was still intact.
The team also found war archery bows inside the burial chamber which suggested that those who the tombs belonged to had miltary backgrounds and must have fought to free Egypt from the Hyksos.
Although artifacts were not found in Djehuti Mes’s tomb, it was the tomb itself which revealed more about Djehuti Mes, who oversaw Queen Teti Sheri’s palace. The data engraved on the Djehuti Mes’ funerary stelae suggests that the tomb is from the 9th year of King Ahmose I’s reign between 1550 BC and 1525 BC.
A section of the extended Ptolemaic necropolis that occupied the site of the causeway and the Valley Temple were also discovered. The tombs in the cemetery were constructed of mud bricks over the remains of Queen Hatsheput’s temple.
Although a large part of the necropolis was uncovered previously, in the 20th century but wasn’t properly documented.