Two Pharaonic tombs discovered in Egypt's Luxor

LUXOR, Egypt, Dec. 9 (Xinhua) -- Egyptian Minister of Antiquities Khalid El-Anany announced Saturday the discovery of a new tomb and the re-discovery of an older one in the heritage-rich Luxor province in Upper Egypt.

Both tombs were given special numbers by German archaeologist "Frederica Kampp" during the 1990s, the minister told reporters during the opening ceremony of the tombs.

The first tomb has the number of "Kampp 161" and has never been excavated before while the second one has the number of "Kampp 150" and Kampp started its excavation until reaching its entrance gate but never entered it, the minister said.

Since then both tombs were left untouched until the Egyptian archaeological mission started its excavations during the recent archaeological season, Anany added.

The wall paintings, engravings and inscriptions found in Tomb Kampp 161 suggest that it could be dated to the era between the reign of King Amenhotep II and the one of King Thutmose IV.

The tomb has a court lined with stone and mud-brick walls. It has a six meters deep burial shaft at its southern side that lead to four side chambers, Dr. Mostafa Waziri, Secretary-General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities and Head of Egyptian excavation mission, told Xinhua.

He said the tomb's entrance is located at the eastern side with a sandstone facade without any inscriptions that leads to a rectangular hall with a Niche.

"All the inscriptions are found on the western wall located at the tomb's northern end showing two feast scenes; the first depicts a person, probably the deceased's brother, presenting offerings and flowers to the deceased and his wife," he said.

The second scene is found below the first one and shows some guests standing in four rows among which a row consists of three men and three women.

A large wooden mask, a small painted wooden mask, a fragment of a gilded wooden mask in bad condition of preservation, four legs for wooden chairs, the lower part of a wooden Osirian shaped coffin were found at the tomb, Waziri added.

The second tomb, dubbed Tomb Kampp 150, is only a few yards away from Tomb Kampp 161.

According to the cartouche of king Thutmosis I engraved on the ceiling of one of the tomb's chambers, it could be dated to the end of the 17th Dynasty and the beginning of the 18th Dynasty, Waziri explained.

"The tomb's owner is unknown yet but there are two possibilities. The first suggests that the tomb could belong to a person named "Djehuty Mes" as his name was engraved on one of the walls," Waziri said.

He added that the second possibility sees that the owner could be the scribe "Maati" as his name and the name of his wife "Mehi" were inscribed on 50 funerary cones found in the tomb's rectangular chamber.

The tomb has five eastern entrances that open on a rectangular hall partly damaged with two burial shafts, Waziri said.

The Egyptian official said that a burial of a woman named "Isis Nefret" was also found.

"Studies suggest that it could be the mother of the tomb's owner," he proclaimed.

Waziri revealed that a very special ushabti depicting Isis Nefret in the form of Osiris was found.

The tomb has only one inscription on one of its northern pillars, showing a scene of a seated man offering food to four oxen.

The entrance of the long hall inscribed with remains of hieroglyphic text with the name of "Djehuty Mes."

"The ceiling of the chamber is inscribed with remains of hieroglyphic inscriptions and the cartouche of King Thutmose I," Waziri said.

He revealed that hundreds of artifacts, a small box in the shape of a wooden coffin, a collection of clay vessel and a mummy were found at the tomb.

As one of the most ancient civilizations, Egypt has been hard at work to preserve its archaeological heritage.

In an attempt to revive the country's ailing tourism sector, Egypt is keen to uncover the Pharaohs' archaeological secrets as well as other ancient civilizations throughout the country. Enditem