Exclusive: Egyptian archaeologists discover 3500 years old tomb contains many mummies

 The world has been waiting for the announcement of the new discovery of a new tomb in Luxor according to the Minister of Antiquities invitation to the media to cover the press conference scheduled on Saturday the 9th of September.

The discovery of the tomb itself was announced in April between the lines.

On April 18th when a press conference was held at Dra Abu El-Naga on the West Bank of the Nile in Luxor, Dr. Mostafa Waziry said the following in the video below.

The links HERE and HERE shows you the exclusive videos and photos of the discovery of Userhat tomb in April and the exhibition at Luxor Museum for the finds of the tomb in May.  

Then, we knew there are already two tombs discovered sharing the same courtyard with Userhat tomb which were revealed after removing about 450 cubic meters of debris is a few weeks of work. "Hurray ... The spirit of Petri was around then."

So what we know about the new discovery so far:

1.               A new tomb of the 18th Dynasty.

2.               The tomb was previously unknown.

3.               The tomb is of a small size, probably one square room with a niche in the middle of the northern wall.

4.               The tomb owner is a high official “Probably a Priest served at a nearby mortuary temple” of the 18th Dynasty whose name was previously unknown.

5.               The location is to the south of tomb of Userhat at a higher level of Userhat tomb and the entrance was under the steps leading to TT148.

6.               The tomb shares the courtyard with the tomb TT300.

7.               The tomb was reused as a group burial for the poor ancient Egyptian people probably by 21^st and 22^nd Dynasty. Many family mummies and remains. 

8.               A large number of Ushabtis, Coffins, human remains, pottery, faience figurines and wooden masks were discovered so far. 

9.               Burial shaft filled with human remains. Excavation still ongoing.

10.           A burial shaft was discovered to the east of the entrance to the tomb contains many humans remains to family members. This shaft is not connected to the tomb as far as we know.

11.           The glass displays are being set to exhibit the new finds at the site for the media. 

Tune in Luxor Times Facebook page for the live stream of the press conference tomorrow morning between 7:30am and 8am GMT to find out all the details with exclusive coverage, interviews and footage of the new finds. 

#Egypt #Luxor #Discovery #History #LuxorTimes #ThisIsEgypt  

Exclusive photos: Recently discovered antiquities exhibited for the first time at Luxor museum

Instead of storing the recently discovered antiquities as it would usually happen, the ministry of antiquities decided to temporary exhibit a collection of the antiquities discovered in Userhat tomb at Luxor museum.

Dr. Khalid El-Enany inaugurated the exhibition at Luxor museum on “International Museum Day 2017”

The exhibition features a large number of objects were discovered in the tomb of Userhat including ushabtis figures, pottery, wooden masks and papyri.  

The tomb of Userhat (-157- Kampp) is located in Dra Abu El-Naga on the west bank of the Nile as a part of the Theban necropolis. On April 18, 2017, Minister of Antiquities, Dr. Khalid El-Enany made a special announcement on the re-discovery of the tomb. You can check the details HERE 

Also watch the exclusive interview with the minister on that day HERE

Ancient Egyptian noblemen were buried at Dra Abu El-Naga from as early as the Middle Kingdom (ca. 2030-1660 BC). The tomb was discovered last century and its location was known but it was buried under the rubble. It was not excavated till 2017.

The tomb was numbered -157- in the 1990s by German Egyptologists Friederike Kampp-Seyfried. This numbering system picks up where Bertha Porter and Rosalind Moss left off in 1920s.

Userhat was a counsellor of the city of Thebes and he lived during the 18^th Dynasty. The tomb was reused during the 21^st and 22^nd Dynasties.

The discovered wooden coffins are made of wooden planks of doum or tamarisk trees. The planks were connected using small pieces of dowel pegs made of acacia wood. The spaces between the wooden planks in some coffins were filled with filler substance made of silt and organic materials to ensure their strength, while remaining lightweight. A white wash later of gypsum was added, followed by the colours and then finally a sort of varnish was placed as protection.

It is worth mentioning that the tomb walls are not inscribed, except for the walls’ upper parts, where a decorative frieze is pained. The ceiling is vividly painted with geometrical patters. The second hall also has faded remnants of a painted scene featuring different deities.

Hundreds of pottery vessels were found in the tomb of Userhat. The collection from his tomb is especially interesting because of how they are painted; some of them are patterned in a way to emulate hard stones like alabaster.

Most of these vessels were made of Nile clay. They clay would have been coiled and pinched into shape with the aid of a slow turning wheel. The colours and glazes were made of different materials such as copper oxides or ochre. 

(1)  Linen fragments with funerary scenes, as well as mourners.

(2)  Two linen fragments depict men.

(3)  Basket made of palm leaves.

(4)  Papyrus with hieratic – a cursive form of hieroglyphs with red and black ink.

Funerary stelae typically show the deceased and his family, often being presented with offerings. They are usually carved with the titles of the deceased, and texts related to the offerings and the gifts bestowed upon the deceased by royalty. From the left, you can see the legs of the chair the deceased is sitting on, following by his wife. At the right side, you can see the stand of the offering table.

Video of the exhibition at Luxor Museum

Please note that the descriptions of the artefacts exhibited are taken from the labels and catalog produced by the Ministry of Antiquities.  

#Egypt #Egyptology #Archaeology #MuseumDay2017 #MuseumDay #Internationalmuseumday #AncientEgypt