New Discovery, Tuna Al-Gabal: Cachette of 17 Mummies Unearthed in Egypt's El-Minya

The Late Period burial site was discovered at the Tuna Al-Gabal archaeological site by a team from Cairo University. Written By/ Nevine El-Aref.

Egyptian Antiquities Minister Khaled el-Enany (C) speaks to the media on May 13, 2017,
 in front of mummies following their discovery in catacombs in the
Touna el-Gabal district of the Minya province, in central Egypt. (AFP)

Tuna Al-Gabal archaeological site, near Upper Egypt's El-Minya, buzzed Saturday with journalists who flocked in to catch a glimpse of a newly discovered cachette of mummies, dating from the Late Period.

During excavation work in the area, which neighbours the birds and animals necropolis, a mission from Cairo University stumbled this week upon the cachette -- a term that describes an unmarked burial site used to house multiple mummies and protect them from looting.

Mission head Salah El-Kholi told Ahram Online that the cachette includes 17 non-royal mummies wrapped in linen and very well preserved. It was found by chance through a radar survey carried out in collaboration with experts from the university's faculty of science in early 2016 that revealed hollow ground.

A mummy inside the newly discovered burial 

site in Minya, Egypt  May 13, 2017. (Reuters)

El-Kholi said the mummies were found in burial shafts along with a collection of eight limestone sarcophagi, two of which were carved in clay. A number of baboon coffins were also found.

Minister of Antiquities Khaled El-Enany described the discovery as important because it is the first made in the area since the discovery of the birds and animals necropolis by Egyptologist Sami Gabra between 1931 to 1954.

The discovery adds to a spate of recent finds at sites across Egypt. Most recently, a mission from the antiquities ministry stumbled upon the almost intact funerary collection of Userhat, the chancellor of Thebes during the 18th dynasty, in the Draa Abul Naga necropolis on Luxor's west bank.

A number of mummies inside the newly discovered burial
site in Minya, Egypt  May 13, 2017. (Reuters)

El-Enany told reporters about this week's cachette discovery at a gala ceremony attended by El-Minya governor Essam Al Bedewi, the ambassadors of Belgium, Hungary and Serbia and a number of top officials from the ministry and Cairo University.

El-Kholi said that both clay sarcophagi are anthropoid coffins, one of which is in good condition while the other is partly damaged. Two papyri written in Demotic and a gold decoration with the shape of a feather were also found.

"This feather could be decoration on the hair dress of one of the deceased," El- Kholi said. He said the papyri would be transferred to the Grand Egyptian Museum for restoration.

At a neighbouring site, the mission has also uncovered a number of Roman funerary houses made of clay. Inside they found a collection of different coins, lamps and other domestic items.

Source: Ahram Online

About Tel el Amarna Click Here 

For All New Discoveries Posts Click Here 

New Discovery, Dahshur: Burial Chamber of Recently Unearthed 13th Dynasty Pyramid in Dahshur Uncovered

Newly Discovered Box 

Photo Nevine El-Aref

The wooden box of the canopic jars and remains of an anthropoid sarcophagus were uncovered inside the newly discovered pyramid remains in Dahshur necropolis. Written By/ Nevine El-Aref.

The Egyptian archaeological mission from the Ministry of Antiquities uncovered the burial chamber of a 13th Dynasty Pyramid discovered last month at Dahshur archaeological site.

Adel Okasha, head of the mission and the general director of the Dahshur site, explained that after removing the stones that covered the burial chamber, the mission discovered a wooden box engraved with three lines of hieroglyphics.

These lines are rituals to protect the deceased and the name of its owner.

Sherif Abdel Moneim, assistant to the minister of antiquities, revealed that the box housed the four canopic jars of the deceased with their name engraved, that of the daughter of the 13th Dynasty King Emnikamaw, whose pyramid is located 600 metres away.

He said that the mission also discovered last month a relief with 10 lines of hieroglyphics bearing the cartouche of King Emenikamaw. Hence the box may belong to the King’s daughter, or one of his family. Inside the box, the mission found wrappings of the deceased's liver, intestines, stomach and lungs.

Remains of an anthropoid sarcophagus have been found but in a very bad state of conservation. Excavation works would continue to uncover more of the pyramid's secrets.

Khaled El-Enany, minister of antiquities, visited the site this morning to inspect the excavation works.

Source: Ahram Online

Find More About New Discoveries in Egypt Here

News, Sakkara: Djoser Pyramid Restoration 90% Complete

CAIRO: More than 90 percent of the restoration work at Djoser Pyramid, also known as the Step Pyramid, has been completed, the head of the Projects Sector at the Ministry of Antiquities, Waad Abul-Ela, said Tuesday.

The pyramid will be open to the public once maintenance works are approved. “We are also working on repairing the southern tomb,” Abul-Ela added.

Djoser Pyramid, located in Saqqara, Giza, was built approximately 4700 years ago. Archaeologists believe it was the first pyramid built in ancient Egypt and is now the oldest stone structure of its size in the world. It is 62 meters high and consists of six 'steps' built atop one another.

In 2015, the cabinet approved the allocation of 15.3 million EGP ($844,000) for the pyramid’s restoration.

Source: Egypt Today

To Explore The Ancient City of Sakkara Click Here

News: Experts Meet In Egypt Over Moving King Tut Property

Archaeologists and conservation experts are meeting in Cairo to discuss the safe transportation of King Tutankhamun’s throne, chests and bed from the Egyptian Museum in central Cairo to a new one being built on the other side of the city.

Sunday’s gathering brought together experts from Egypt, France, Spain, Germany, Switzerland, Denmark and Japan and is being organized by the Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities.

No date has yet been set for the transfer of the priceless items, which would be displayed at two halls in the new museum near the Giza Pyramids. The halls are scheduled to open at the end of 2017.

The tomb of King Tut, who ruled Egypt more than 3,000 years ago, was discovered in 1922 in the southern city of Luxor.

Source: Ahram Online

 All Related Posts About Tutankhamun Click Here 

News, Cairo: Third Annual Tutankhamun Conference Inaugurated Yesterday

The Golden King Tutankhamun's human remains and furniture, discovered in his tomb, are the main focus of this year's conference. Written By/ Nevine El-Aref.

Under the title, "Tutankhamun: Human Remains and Furniture," the third annual conference on the boy king launched yesterday at Ahmed Kamal Pasha Hall at the Ministry of Antiquities premises.

The conference is organised by the Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM) since 2015 in an attempt to further discussion of best methods to restore and preserve Tutankamun’s funerary collection and ensure its safe transportation from the Egyptian Museum in Tahrir Square to the GEM overlooking the Giza Plateau.

It also discussed state of the art display techniques, to put on show the golden king’s collection at new permanent exhibition halls at the GEM.

Tarek Tawfik, GEM supervisor general, told Ahram Online that Egyptology professor at the American University in Cairo Fayza Heikal is the head of this year's conference with the participation of 12 scholars from six countries (France, Spain, Germany, Switzerland, Japan and Denmark).

Participants during the three days of the conference will discuss 17 scientific papers on the human remains of the boy king as well as his funerary collection.

Tawfik explained that on the first day the king’s chair, bed, and his wooden boxes would be the focus of discussion, while the second day would review the experience of the Berlin Museum in Germany and the Louvre Museum in Paris in transporting parts of their collection, along with new techniques used in exhibiting artefacts.

The third and final day, asserted Tawfik, would focus on the best techniques to be used to restore the king’s funerary collection.

Source: Ahram Online

New Discovery, Luxor: Unique Funerary Garden Unearthed in Thebes

For the first time, an almost 4000 year-old funerary garden is uncovered in Draa Abul Naga necropolis on Luxor’s west bank. Written By/ Nevine El-Aref.

During excavation work in the area around the early 18th Dynasty rock-cut tombs of Djehuty and Hery (ca 1500­‐1450 BCE) in Draa Abul Nagaa necropolis, a Spanish archaeological mission unearthed a unique funerary garden.

Mahmoud Afifi, head of the Ancient Egyptian Antiquities sector at the Ministry of Antiquities told Ahram Online that the garden was found in the open courtyard of a Middle Kingdom rock-cut tomb and the layout of the garden measures 3m x 2m and is divided into squares of about 30cm.

These squares, he pointed out, seem to have contained different kinds of plants and flowers. In the middle of the garden the mission has located two elevated spots that was once used for the cultivation of a small tree or bush.

At one of the corners, Afifi continued, the roots and the trunk of a 4,000 year-old small tree have been preserved to a height of 30cm. Next to it, a bowl containing dried dates and other fruits, which could have been presented as offerings, were found.

“The discovery of the garden may shed light on the environment and gardening in ancient Thebes during the Middle Kingdom, around 2000 BCE,” said Jose Galan, head of the Spanish mission and research professor at the Spanish National Research Council in Madrid.

He explained that similar funerary gardens were only found on the walls of a number of New Kingdom tombs where a small and squared garden is represented at the entrance of the funerary monument, with a couple of trees next to it. It probably had a symbolic meaning and must have played a role in the funerary rites. However, Galan asserted, these gardens have never been found in ancient Thebes and the recent discovery offers archaeological confirmation of an aspect of ancient Egyptian culture and religion that was hitherto only known through iconography.

Moreover, he pointed out, near the entrance of the Middle Kingdom rock-cut tomb, a small mud-brick chapel measuring 46cm x 70cm x 55cm was discovered attached to the façade. Inside it three stelae of the 13th Dynasty, around ca 1800 BCE, were found in situ.

He explained that early studies reveal that the owner of one of them was called Renef‐Seneb, and the owner of the second was “the citizen Khemenit, son of the lady of the house, Idenu.” The latter mentions the gods Montu, Ptah, Sokar and Osiris.

“These discoveries underscore the relevance of the central area of Dra Abul Naga as a sacred place for the performance of a variety of cultic activities during the Middle Kingdom,” asserted Galan. The Spanish mission has been working for 16 years in Dra Abul Naga, on the West Bank of Luxor, around the early 18th Dynasty rock-cut tombs of Djehuty and Hery.

Source: Ahram Online 

Find More About New Discoveries in Egypt Here &  About Luxor City' Treasures Click Here

Short Story: Rommel Cave to Reopen

The Rommel Cave Museum in Marsa Matrouh is to reopen to the public within the next two months after almost seven years of closure, reports Nevine El-Aref.

Holidaymakers in the Marsa Matrouh governorate on Egypt’s Mediterranean coast will have more to enjoy than the sun, sand and sea next summer. They will also be able to explore the Rommel Cave Museum, the place where German army field marshal Erwin Rommel, the so-called “Desert Fox”, hid in the area’s cliffs and planned German military operations against the British during World War II.

Rommel was one of Germany’s leading field commanders in World War II, and he was famous for his battle tricks, courage, determination and leadership. He fought the 12-day Battle of Alamein against the British from 23 October 1942, only to retreat on 4 November in the face of an onslaught by British troops.

According to a plaque at the Cave Museum, Rommel died in October 1944, having been accused of plotting against the life of German dictator Adolf Hitler and given the choice of either standing trial or quietly committing suicide to ensure the safety of his family. Rommel chose the latter course, and his death was announced as having been due to a heart attack.

The cave is located near the Rommel Beach in Marsa Matrouh, and it was originally cut out of the rocky cliffs during the Roman period as a storage space due to its position near an ancient seaport. When the German troops entered Al-Alamein, Rommel selected the cave as his military headquarters because it was hidden in the cliffs overlooking the harbour.

In 1977, the idea of transforming the cave into a museum was launched as a way of paying tribute to Rommel’s career. However, the plan was not put into effect until 1988, when it was opened to the public in order to display a collection of Rommel’s personal possessions, many of them donated by his son Manfred, as well as weapons, shells and military equipment used during World War I.

Among the exhibited objects are Rommel’s full-length leather coat, clothes trunk, photographs, field telephone, compass, military attire, maps he drew himself, battle plans and medals he received from Hitler. Copies of a newspaper produced by Rommel’s troops in Africa during the war, called Al-Waha (Oasis), are also on display, as well as boxes housing the files of German soldiers from the time.

In 2010, the museum was closed for restoration and development, and it has since been closed to the public. However, last month the Ministry of Antiquities resumed restoration work at the cave and the conservation of its artifacts, saying that it would be reopened to the public within the next two months.... READ MORE.

Source: Al-Ahram Weekly

News, Luxor: First Karnak Temples Conference to Be Held on Today in Luxor

The Karnak Monuments Scientific Research Department will hold the first Karnak Temples Conference on today in Luxor with the aim of exchanging academic studies on Karnak's temples, shrines, sanctuaries, obelisks, colossi and pylons. Written By/ Nevine El-Aref .

Moeimen Saad, director of the Karnak Monuments Scientific Research Department, told Ahram Online that the two-day conference will be held at the Misr Public Library in Luxor.

The conference will provide an opportunity for a large number of Egyptian and foreign Egyptologists – along with the French Institute for Karnak Temples Studies and the American Research Centre in Cairo – to discuss the newest academic studies that have been carried out on Karnak temples for publishing in a book.

Saad explains that the studies will show the latest restoration works that have been carried out on Karnak as well as new discoveries.

Source: Ahram Online

Explore Karnak Temple From Here  &  For All Related Posts of Karnak Temple Click Here

Discover Luxor City With Egitalloyd.com

New Discovery, Nile Delta: Skeletons Of Two Possible Eunuchs Discovered In Ancient Egypt

Recent excavations at the Ptolemaic-Roman site of Quesna in Egypt have revealed two skeletons of individuals who might have been eunuchs. But these people’s above-average height and other skeletal irregularities might also reflect a congenital condition rather than castration.

Skeleton B21 from Ptolemaic era Quesna, Egypt. With its immature bones and 

tall stature, this individual might have been intersex.

Presenting at last week’s American Association of Physical Anthropologists conference, archaeologists Scott Haddow (University of Bordeaux), Sonia Zakrzewski (University of Southampton), and Joanne Rowland (University of Edinburgh) highlighted the two unusual burials out of 151 total interments at Quesna, located in the Nile Delta region of the country.

One person – B21 – was an adolescent of indeterminate sex from the Ptolemaic Era. The burial was oriented rather differently: with the head to the south, rather than the typical head-north orientation of the period. Although the skeleton was poorly preserved, Haddow and colleagues noticed that most of the person's bones looked extremely immature, including the growth plates of the limb bones, which were completely unfused. This meant that the person was taller than average, even though they were not fully grown.

The other person – B26 – was also an adolescent of indeterminate sex, dating to the Roman Era. Buried in a collective tomb, this person was similarly much taller than average with completely unfused growth plates.

Archaeologist Scott Haddow excavating B26, a potentially intersex

individual from Roman-era Quesna, Egypt.

Haddow and colleagues began to suspect these individuals were possibly eunuchs because castration before the onset of puberty typically results in people who are tall and slender, with broad hips, narrow shoulders, and a sunken chest. Although there are few skeletal studies of individuals known to have been castrated, those that exist – such as of the Italian castrati Farinelli and Pacchierotti – also reveal incompletely fused long bones, tall stature, and osteoporosis.

So were these people from ancient Egypt eunuchs? The historical record would certainly allow for that possibility. Intersex individuals were present throughout the ancient world, Haddow and colleagues note, with eunuchs playing important administrative roles in Assyrian, Persian, and Roman courts. Linguistic evidence also indicates the recognition of non-binary gender statuses. In Egypt specifically, there are textual references to eunuchs working in administrative roles in the Ptolemaic and Roman courts.

But the skeletal evidence is not conclusive. Haddow and colleagues clarify that, beyond castration, other causes need to be considered. These involve a number of congenital conditions affecting the endocrine system, including sex chromosome abnormalities such as Klinefelter Syndrome or autosomal disorders such as Androgen Insensitivity Syndrome and an estrogen deficiency called aromatase deficiency. Because these conditions disrupt a person's hormonal balance and subsequent skeletal development in a similar way to pre-pubertal castration, it is difficult to differentiate among them..... READ MORE.

Source: Forbes

 Find More About New Discoveries in Egypt Here 

News, Luxor: The Biggest German Tourism Magazine Holds Its B2B Workshop in Egypt

The Leading German Trade Magazine for Tourism and Business Travel "FVW" continues to hold its high-profile workshops internationally. 

This time "fvw workshop" was held in Egypt (22-26 of April 2017)

40 German tour operators and travel agents came to meet with hoteliers and Egyptian officials to discuss the advantages, potentials and strategies for marketing Egyptian destinations to the German market which is the largest in Europe.

Mr. Klaus Hildebrandt, Editor-in-chief, spoke to Luxor Times on the workshop and tourism situation in general.

Update: You can read (In German) what Mr. Klaus Hildebrandt wrote about fvw workshop inEgypt HERE

For full interview, please watch the video below.

Source: Luxor Times Magazine

News, Cairo: Monuments on Cairo's Al-Muizz Street Safe And Sound After Shop Fire

Investigations are currently underway to determine the cause of the blaze. Written By/ Nevine El-Aref.

The storied Islamic monuments surrounding Al-Muizz Street in Historic Cairo are safe and unaffected by a fire that broke out in a shop there on Wednesday, Head of Egypt's Islamic and Coptic Antiquities Sector Al-Saeed Helmi announced.

Helmi told Ahram Online that the shop that caught fire sits in front of private residential building number 88, which is not registered on Egypt's heritage list for Islamic monuments.

The nearest monument is Al-Ashraf Bersbay School, located 400 metres away, Helmi said. The school was untouched by the blaze and remains safe and sound.

The civil security authority extinguished the fire promptly after it started at dawn. Investigations are currently underway to determine the cause of the incident.

A committee from the Ministry of Antiquities is also on site to follow the investigation and monitor all monuments on the street.

Source: Ahram Online

More about Islamic Cairo Click Here 

News, Cairo: Collection of Prince Mohamed Ali Horse Paintings On Display at Cairo's Manial Palace

The Cover of A Book on Display

A temporary exhibition displaying a collection of paintings of Arabian and Egyptian horses belonging to Egypt's Prince Mohamed Ali (1875 - 1954) will open on Wednesday at El-Manial Palace. Written By/ Nevine El-Aref.

Walaa El-Din Badawi, director of the Manial Palace, told Ahram Online that the exhibition will put on display a collection of 75 paintings by renowned Egyptian and foreign artists.

The exhibition will last for one month, where a number of painting workshops for visitors will be held.

Badawi said that the exhibition comes as part of an effort by the ministry to organise temporary exhibitions to promote tourism and attract more visitors to archaeological sites and museums.

Badawi said that two books written by Prince Mohamed Ali – one on Arabian horses and other on Egyptian horses – will also be on display. “Prince Mohamed Ali was fond of horses and had [a very large stable],” Badawi said.

Source: Ahram Online

Short Story: Ancient Egyptians in Japan

The Japanese city of Shizuoka is celebrating Easter the ancient Egyptian way with a major exhibition of antiquities, reports Nevine El-Aref.

It seems that ancient Egyptian artifacts are hogging the attention of the Japanese city of Shizuoka this Easter, taking away attention from traditional bunnies and coloured eggs. 

Pictures of the Great Pyramids at Giza, the Pharaoh Khufu’s solar boat, a golden mask of Amenemopet, a limestone pyramidion of Ry and Maya, a black basalt statue of Khafre and jewellery embellished with precious stones have been decorating the walls of the city’s train station, shops, hotels and streets instead of the usual Easter decorations.

Last Saturday a gala ceremony was organised at the Shizuoka Prefectural Museum of Art to celebrate the opening of “The Golden Pharaohs and Pyramid Builders” exhibition on the seventh leg of its tour, with Japanese officials, Egyptologists and curators gathering to attend the inauguration.

The exhibition was originally opened in October 2015 in the Japanese capital Tokyo and was scheduled to tour seven other cities in Japan over a 25-month period, including Matsuyama, Sendai, Kagoshima, Kyoto, Toyama, Shizuoka and Fukuoka. 

“The exhibition at its sixth stop in Toyama attracted 80,000 visitors, and we are expecting around 110,000 people to visit the exhibition in Shizuoka,” Naomi Kudo, the exhibition coordinator, told Al-Ahram Weekly. She said that all the tickets for the first day had been sold.

“The exhibition not only sheds light on the Old Kingdom and the age of the Pyramid Builders, but also highlights the strong relationship between Egypt and Japan,” Mahmoud Afifi, head of the Ancient Egyptian Antiquities Department at the Ministry of Antiquities, told the Weekly. He added that the exhibition was a good opportunity to promote tourism and to encourage Japanese tourists to return to Egypt.

Afifi said that Egyptian-Japanese cooperation in the cultural field was being seen in many current projects. Among the most important was the Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM) overlooking the Giza Plateau, which will put on display 100,000 artefacts and welcome millions of visitors every year. 

“This is thanks to the Japanese government and the Japan International Cooperation Agency [JICA] for their continuous efforts and support in offering two soft loans to complete one of the most important cultural projects in the world,” Afifi said.

In addition, Japan has provided technical and scientific support through the provision of scientific equipment and materials to the GEM’s conservation centre. 

There are many joint Egyptian-Japanese missions at various archaeological sites in Egypt that have yielded important results. Waseda University, for example, has been excavating in Egypt since 1966, and it was among the first foreign institutions to introduce advanced technological tools to better understand Egypt’s archaeology.

One of the university’s recent projects is the exploration of Khufu’s second solar boat in its pit on the Giza Plateau. “The exhibition is the first of its kind in Japan,” Sakuhi Yoshimura, president of the Higashi Nippon International University and the exhibition’s supervisor, told the Weekly, adding that exhibitions featuring the Pyramids were currently rare internationally.

He explained that the aim of the exhibition was to use a variety of exhibits to decipher the truth behind the construction of the Pyramids in order to discard fantasies and present only established facts. “This is the first comprehensive exhibition dealing with the Pyramids to be held anywhere in the world, and the artifacts it presents are amazing for their quality,” Yoshimura said.

The exhibition has five sections. The first features the construction of the Pyramids and the techniques employed, displaying a pyramidion, a hammer that was used to work the square stone blocks, surveying tools and other items....  READ MORE.

Source: Al Ahram Weekly

 Find All Our Exhibitions Abroad Posts Here  

News, Luxor: Mummies, Thousand Statues Discovered in Ancient Egyptian Tomb

During excavations of a 3,500-year-old tomb near the city of Luxor, Egyptian archaeologists made what is being hailed as a major discovery. Written By/ Sarah Gibbens.

Entering a tomb near the famed Valley of the Kings for the first time, a team of Egyptian archaeologists has made what they are labeling an "important discovery."

Several mummies, 10 wooden sarcophagi, and more than 1,000 funerary statues were discovered inside a 3,500-year-old tomb. Erected during Egypt's 18th Dynasty, the tomb is thought to have belonged to an ancient Egyptian magistrate named Userhat, who belonged to Egypt's noble class.

The find was made by Egypt's Ministry of Antiquities during a dig and was the first time the tomb has been examined.

Speaking to the Luxor Times about the discovery, Minister of Antiquities Khaled El-Enany noted that the find was significant for the numbers of items found and the intact condition in which they were discovered.

"This tomb was known from the outside, but we have never been inside," he said during a press conference with reporters.

During the coming weeks, the team plans to continue excavation and hopes to find more artifacts.

The tomb is arranged in a "T" shape that opens with a courtyard, before narrowing into a long hall with a corridor that leads to an inner chamber. Nearly 16,000 cubic feet of debris had to be removed to expose the tomb's opening.

During the dig, a shaft extending from the main burial hall was found, revealing two small rooms. The first held a collection of ushabti figurines, and the second was home to sarcophagi and linen-wrapped mummies from what the research team believes to be the 21st Dynasty.

In an interview with reporters, El-Enany explained that the tomb might have been used as a possible cachette, or hideout, after its initial construction.

The tomb was located near the Draa Abul Nagaa necropolis on the Nile's west bank, which is situated near Ancient Egypt's famed Valley of the Kings. Located near the ancient capital of Luxor, the Valley of the Kings was the final resting place of some of Egypt's most famed rulers, including the young King Tutankhamen. Luxor, which sat to the east of the Nile, was the epicenter of life during Egypt's 18th Dynasty.

Egyptians from the ruling and upper classes were buried to the west of the Nile as a sign of reverence.

The Ministry of Antiquities in Egypt is optimistic that the find will increase tourism in the region. Following a wave of protests that removed former military and political leader Hosni Mubarak from power, tourism, a major economic driver in Egypt, has significantly declined.

Two adjacent tombs are currently being excavated in an effort to unearth their ancient artifacts.

Source: National Geographic

News, Luxor: 3,000-Year-Old Nobleman's Tomb Discovered by Egyptian Archeologists

Eight mummies, along with sarcophagi, figurines and other artifacts, were uncovered in the vault.

Egyptian archaeologists have unearthed the 3,000-year-old tomb of a nobleman - the latest in a series of major discoveries of ancient relics. 

Discovered near the Nile city of Luxor, it contains the remains of Userhat, who worked as a judge in the New Kingdom from roughly 1,500 to 1,000 B.C.

The vault consists of an open court leading into a rectangular hall, a corridor and inner chamber, according to the country's Ministry of Antiquities.

In one of the rooms in the tomb, archaeologists found a collection of figurines, wooden masks and a handle of a sarcophagus lid. Excavation is continuing in a second chamber.

Earlier this year, Swedish archaeologists discovered 12 ancient Egyptian cemeteries near the southern city of Aswan that date back almost 3,500 years. In March, an eight-metre statue that is believed to be King Psammetich 1, who ruled from 664 to 610 BC, was discovered in a Cairo slum.

Hisham El Demery, chief of Egypt's Tourism Development Authority, said tourism was picking up and discoveries like the one at Luxor would encourage the sector. "These discoveries are positive news from Egypt's tourism industry, which is something we all really need," he said.

Tourism in Egypt has suffered in the aftermath of the mass protests that toppled former president Hosni Mubarak in 2011. Militant bomb attacks have also deterred foreign visitors.

Source: Independent UK

 Find More About New Discoveries in Egypt Here 

News, Luxor: History In The making, Luxor Temple Gets A Face Lift

For the first time in hundreds of years if not thousands, Luxor temple facade gets an addition. Ramses II statue which was broken into pieces.

An Egyptian team of restorers and conservators managed to assemble the statue and re-erect it where it used to be.

The video below shows the different stages of work.

Source: Luxor Times Magazine

New Discovery, Luxor: Big Discovery of A New Tomb in Luxor

Rumours has it that the minister of antiquities will announce this morning a discovery of a new tomb but the truth is; it is actually a previously known tomb that is now rediscovered.

Do you remember Spring 1995 when Dr. Kent Weeks was working on documenting the Theban tombs as a part of Theban Mapping Project.

Dr. Weeks was in KV5 which was known before as a small undecorated room but when Dr. Weeks noticed a small inscription, he decided to start working on clearing the debris and rediscovered the tomb as one of the largest tombs with more than 120 rooms and corridors cleaned so far.

Similar story here, the tomb which is supposed to be announced by the minister is tomb (-157-) in Dra Abu El-Naga.

Not TT157 though but (-157-) according to Friederike Kampp "Die Thabanische Nekropole" page number 708.

The tomb is located to the south of Tomb TT255 of Roy and it has a typical T-shape. A wide room then a corridor ends with a niche.

The Egyptian team of the ministry of antiquities has been working recently in the tomb which belong to a New Kingdom official called "Userhat" has discovered a large number of ushabtis, pottery and a number of wooden coffins as well as remains of a stelae and human remains.

More details and exclusive footage will be posted later.

Source: Luxor Times Magazine

 Find More About New Discoveries in Egypt Here 

&

  About Luxor City' Treasures Click Here

New Discovery, Luxor: Egyptian Archaeologists Unearth Tomb of 18th Dynasty Magistrate in West Luxor

An Egyptian archaeological mission in Luxor has announced the discovery of a major tomb in the city's west bank area dating back to the 18th Dynasty and containing priceless artifacts. Written By/ Ahram Online

The tomb of Judge Ou Sarhat of the 18th Dynasty in west Luxor

Mostafa Waziry, Director General of Luxor Antiquities, told reporters on Tuesday that the tomb, which was unearthed in the Zeraa Abu El-Nagaa necropolis, most likely belonged to the city's magistrate Ou Sarhat.

The New Kingdom funerary collection includes dozens of statues, coffins and mummies.

Minister of Antiquities Khaled El-Enany told Ahram Online that, despite the tomb's small size, it represents an important discovery due to the funery collection being largely in tact.

Waziry, who heads the Luxor archaeological mission, told Ahram Online that the tomb was first mentioned in the early 20th century but it had never been excavated before because its entrance was only located in March.

He said that, despite having been reused in the Late Period, the tomb still contains most of its original funery collection.

The contents include well-preserved wooden coffins decorated with coloured scenes, as well as wooden funerary masks and almost 1,000 ushabti figurines carved in faience, terra-cotta and wood. Also found was a collection of clay pots of different shapes and sizes.

The tomb is a typical example of a nobleman's resting place, Waziry said, with a t-shaped structure consisting of an open court leading into a rectangular hall, a corridor and an inner chamber.

Excavations continue to reveal the tomb's secrets, with an inner chamber containing a cachette of sarcophagi from the 21st Dynasty with mummies wrapped in linen. Experts are examining the mummies to discover the identities of the dead and the reasons for their deaths.

A nine-metre-deep shaft was also uncovered, connected to two rooms.

Source: Ahram Online

 Find More About New Discoveries in Egypt Here