Egypt’s Tourism Ministry announced the discovery of a royal tomb in the West Bank of Luxor, where many ancient Egyptian royal tombs were found. The tomb was discovered by an Egyptian-British team in the desert on the west bank of the Nile as announced by Mostafa Waziri, head of the Supreme Council of Antiquities.
Archaeologists believe the tomb, which goes back about 3,500 years, belonged to a royal of the 18th Dynasty of Pharaonic Egypt (1550 BC to 1292 BC), although the contents of the tomb have not yet been identified. This region is home to the renowned Valley of the Kings and Valley of the Queens, which is where some of ancient Egypt’s most well-known pharaohs, including King Tutankhamun, are buried.
“The first elements uncovered so far within the tomb seem to indicate that it goes back to the 18th dynasty of pharaohs Akhenaton and Tutankhamun,” Waziri told the National News. Furthermore, Waziri praised the discovery and noted that preliminary research suggests it dates to the 18th dynasty of ancient Egypt. The “Thutmosid Dynasty,” as it is also known, lasted from 1550/1549 BCE until 1292 BCE. The tomb was heavily damaged by floods from ancient times and any of the tomb’s inscriptions were severely damaged when the rooms of the tomb were submerged in huge amounts of sand and limestone during the floods.
In recent years, Egypt has been unveiling major archaeological discoveries, mostly in the Saqqara necropolis southwest of the capital Cairo. Tourism is a prime source of revenue in the country that could pump much-needed hard currency in turbulent economic times. The sector however has sharply deteriorated in recent years, with the COVID-19 pandemic and then Russia’s war on Ukraine negatively impacting the number of tourists flying to Egypt.
Major archaeological finds have been made in Egypt recently, notably in the Saqqara necropolis southwest of the capital Cairo. It’s important to acknowledge, however, that the nation’s top source of income is tourism, which might provide much-needed foreign currency during uncertain economic times. Moreover, the industry has drastically declined recently as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and afterward Russia’s conflict with Ukraine, which has reduced the number of travelers traveling to Egypt.
