New tomb of mummies found in Egypt's Valley of the Kings

Archaeologists Find New Ancient Egyptian Tomb

Mummies found just yards from Tutankhamun's tomb

By Peter Popham
Published: 10 February 2006

More than 80 years after the discovery of the tomb of Tutankhamun, Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities has stunned the world of Egyptology by revealing that another tomb has been found, just four metres away from Tutankhamun in the Valley of the Kings.

For a long time it was thought that the valley, opposite the modern city of Luxor and the source of many of the most famous discoveries, had given up all of its secrets.

The discovery was the work of a team of American archaeologists from the University of Memphis led by Otto Schaden.

"It's very, very exciting," said Patricia Podvorzski, curator of Egyptian Art at the University of Memphis. "It was completely unexpected, so long after the discovery of Tutankhamun's tomb. Many archaeologists said the valley was done 100 years ago." Dr Schaden's find is the 63rd tomb to be opened in the valley.

The newly discovered 18th-dynasty tomb contains five mummies in intact sarcophagi with coloured funerary masks, along with more than 20 large storage jars sealed with pharaonic seals, according to Zahi Hawass, head of the Supreme Council of Antiquities.

The sarcophagi are carved in human form, like Tutankhamun's. The tomb is rectangular, and the wooden sarcophagi are surrounded by the jars, which seem to have been placed haphazardly, suggesting that the burial had been completed quickly, according to Dr Hawass.

Dr Schaden has been working in the valley on the Amenmesse Tomb Project, a minor tomb of the 19th dynasty, for many years. "They had finished clearing up that tomb and had started to dig down to the bedrock in front of the entrance," said Dr Podvorzski. "They were looking for foundation deposits - the models of tools, vessels and other things that were put around the tomb of a king to assure the permanence of the structure. While doing that they found workmen's huts made of dry stone and dating from the 19th dynasty. I believe they were in the process of dismantling the huts when they found the new tomb."
It was a very similar chain of events that led to the discovery of Tutankhamun's tomb in 1922. That, too, had been covered by ancient workmen's huts. "That was why the tombs didn't get robbed," added Dr Podvorzski. "The ancient Egyptian tomb robbers saw the huts and assumed there was nothing underneath them."

Although the discovery came as a huge surprise, there had been a suspicion that something else might be found. "Some time ago a British team did remote sensing around the tomb and said they thought there might be something down there," said Dr Podvorzski.

Details of the find are expected to be announced officially by Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities today, including possibly the identities of the occupants.

Kent Weeks, an American archaeologist, said the tomb was a single chamber, probably intended for a single mummy. Some or all of the other sarcophagi could have been put in later. He added that photographs of the tomb suggested it did not belong to a king. "It could be the tomb of a king's wife or son, or of a priest or court official," he said. "It clearly proves that the Valley of the Kings is still not exhausted. There are probably many more tombs to be found in it."

Whatever the new tomb may contain, its fate is certain: Egypt's policy on undisturbed tombs is clear. "This stuff will stay in Egypt," said Dr Podvorzski.

First tomb since Tut's but not fit for a pharaoh

February 11, 2006


Burial site: A 3000-year-old Pharaonic coffin lies in a newly discovered tomb at the Valley of the Kings in Luxor, Egypt. The tomb, discovered this week by a US team from the University of Memphis, contains coffins and mummies and clay containers all yet to be analysed / Reuters




CAIRO: Very little is known about the first new tomb uncovered in Egypt's Valley of the Kings since Tutankhamun's in 1922. But no matter what's there, the discovery has broken the long-held belief that there is nothing left to dig up in the desert necropolis where some of the greatest pharaohs were buried.

Egypt's antiquities authority has said only that the single-chamber tomb contains five wooden sarcophaguses, in human shapes with coloured funerary masks, surrounded by 20 jars with their pharaonic seals intact -- and that the sarcophaguses contain mummies, most likely from the 18th dynasty, 3500 to 3300 years ago.

Any details beyond that will have to wait until after antiquities chief Zahi Hawass's visit to unveil the tomb, scheduled for today.

Officials were keeping tight-lipped yesterday after announcing the find. Mr Hawass could not be contacted and US archeologist Otto Schaden, who headed the University of Memphis team that uncovered the site, declined to answer any questions.

Photos released by the Supreme Council of Antiquities showed the interior of the tomb -- the bare stone walls undecorated -- with at least five sarcophaguses of blackened wood amid white jars, some apparently broken. What appeared to be a sixth sarcophagus was set on top of two of the other coffins, though the council's statement mentioned only five.

The tomb's spare appearance suggests it was not dug for a pharaoh, said US archeologist Kent Weeks, who was not involved in the find but has seen photos of the site.

"It could be the tomb of a king's wife or son, or of a priest or court official," he said.

The tomb may provide less drama than the famed opening of King Tut's tomb in 1922 by British archeologist Howard Carter, which revealed a treasure trove of gold artefacts along with the boy-king's mummy.

But it raises hopes that more is to be found in the Valley of the Kings, which for 83 years experts believed held only the 62 previously known tombs, labelled KV1-62 by archeologists.

Mr Weeks made the last major discovery in the valley. In 1995, he opened a previously known tomb, KV5, and found it was far larger than expected -- more than 120 chambers, which he determined were meant for sons of the pharaoh Ramses II.

"It's ironic. A century ago, people said, 'The Valley of the Kings is exhausted, there's nothing left'," he said. "Suddenly, Carter found Tutankhamun. So then they said, 'Now there's nothing to find'. Then we found KV5. Now we have KV63."

The 18th dynasty, which lasted from about 1500BC to 1300BC, was the first dynasty of the New Kingdom, the pharaonic empire that lasted until about 1000BC and made its capital in Thebes -- the present-day city of Luxor, 500km south of Cairo. Tutankhamun is believed to be the 12th ruler of the 18th dynasty.

The Valley of the Kings was used as a burial ground throughout the New Kingdom, though contrary to its name, not all the tombs are of kings.

Mr Schaden's team had uncovered shafts leading to the tomb -- about 5m from Tut's tomb -- while conducting "routine digs", the antiquities council said in a statement. The haphazard placement of the jars and coffins suggested burial was completed quickly, it said.

AP

Less than three months ago, Egyptian archaeologists found hundreds of amazing artifacts, which were lying under layers of dirt in the basement of the Egyptian Museum in Cairo.
The artifacts which included mummies and sarcophagi, were found inside dusty cases, which were forgotten for decades in the museum's basement. Following the theft of a few statues, the museum's management decided for the first time to compile a full list of all its artifacts. During the work, the basements were searched, and the treasure - some 600 coffins and 170 mummies - was revealed.