Abb Takk News
News Ticker Science / Technology TRENDING

Two Ancient Tombs Discovered in Egypt

Cairo(December 10, 2017): Egyptian officials announced the discovery and excavation of two tombs found in the necropolis of Dra’ Abu el-Naga in Luxor.

Egyptian excavation workers restore funeral furniture found in a newly discovered tomb, Kampp 161, in the Draa Abul Naga necropolis on Luxor’s West Bank, Egypt, Dec. 9, 2017. (H. Elrasam/VOA)The tombs, dated to the 18th Dynasty (1550-1292 B.C.) belonged to officials who likely served here at the ancient capital of Thebes, now a UNESCO world heritage site.The tombs were surveyed and numbered by German Egyptologist Friederike Kampp-Seyfried in the 1990s. At the time, the tomb known as Kampp 161 was never opened, while the tomb identified as Kampp 150 was only excavated to its entrance.The tombs were recently re-discovered and excavated by Egyptian archaeologists. The names of the officials buried in the tombs remains unknown, as no inscriptions bearing the names of the tombs’ occupants have yet been found.In April, the tomb of an 18th Dynasty magistrate named Userhat was discovered in the same necropolis. Kampp 161 likely dates to the reigns of Amenhotep II or Thutmose IV, based on stylistic and architectural comparisons with other tombs in the area, making it around 3,400 years old.The western wall of the tomb features an elaborate depiction of a social event, possibly a banquet, with a figure presenting offerings to the tomb’s occupant and his wife. Wooden funerary masks, the remains of furniture, and a decorated coffin were discovered in the tomb.