Egypt discovers first royal tomb in over 100 years
The entrance to the tomb was found in October 2022.
Egyptian officials announced on Tuesday that an ancient tomb has been discovered, marking the first Egyptian royal tomb uncovered in over 100 years, the country's Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities said in a press release.
Minister of Tourism and Antiques H.E. Sherif Fathi “hailed the excavation efforts in the area, emphasizing the significance of this discovery in revealing further secrets and treasures of Egypt’s ancient civilization,” the press release said.
Officials said an Egyptian-British archaeological mission found the tomb in the Mount of Thebes area, on the west bank of the Nile river near the city of Luxor, and determined it belonged to King Thutmose II. The tomb was the last of the lost royal tombs from ancient Egypt’s famed Eighteenth Dynasty, dating back to approximately the 15th century B.C.
This is the first royal Egyptian tomb to be found since King Tutankhamun’s tomb was discovered in 1922, the tourism ministry said in a statement.
Mohamed Ismail Khaled, the secretary general of Egypt's Supreme Court of Antiquities, said in a statement that the discovery was “one of the most significant archeological breakthroughs in recent years.”
The team discovered the entrance and main passage to the tomb back in October 2022, the tourism ministry said. Originally, the tomb was thought to belong to one of the royal wives of the so-called Thutmosid kings, a succession of pharaohs named Thutmose who ruled Egypt some three-and-a-half millennia ago. Archeological evidence ultimately proved that the tomb was the resting place for Thutmose II, who died around 1479 B.C., said Mohamed Ismail Khaled, secretary-general of Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities.
Thutmose II had a relatively short reign, with researchers estimating he ruled for fewer than five years. He married his half-sister, Hatsheput, who was rumored to have been the real power behind her husband. Studies suggest Thutmose II died around the age of 30, after which Hatsheput had herself crowned pharaoh several years into the rule of her husband’s heir, Thutmose III.
Piers Litherland, the head of the British side of the excavation mission, said in a statement that the tomb’s simple architectural design served as a “prototype” for the later tombs of the Eighteenth Dynasty of Egyptian rulers.
The tomb was found in “poor condition” due to flooding shortly after the king’s death, according to Mohamed Abdel-Badii, the head of the Egyptian Antiquities Sector at the Supreme Council of Antiquities. Abdel-Badii said water had inundated the tomb, “damaging its interior and necessitating extensive restoration work by the archaeological team to recover fallen plaster fragments.”
“Preliminary studies suggest that the tomb’s original contents were relocated to another site during ancient times after the flooding,” Abdel-Badii said in a statement.
Accompanying the tomb were fragments of “alabaster jars” inscribed with the name of the king and his chief royal consort, funerary furniture belonging to the king, remnants of plaster, yellow star motifs, and portions of the Book of Amduat, a “key religious text associated with royal tombs of ancient Egypt,” the tourism ministry said.
Thutmose II's mummy was discovered in 1881 in Al-Deir El-Bahari Cache. It is believed to have been moved there by grave robbers seeking treasure.
Literland said the team will “continue its work to uncover more secrets of the area and locate the final resting place of the tomb’s original contents.”
-ABC News’ Ayat Al-Tawy contributed to this report.