Nature Middle East | House of Wisdom

3,000 years old tomb of Egyptian singer discovered

A team of archaeologists from the University of Basel, Switzerland, stumbled on a burial well during a routine expedition in the Valley of the Kings containing the tomb and mummy of an Egyptian temple singer and daughter of the high priest of Amon Ra, reports the BBC.

The Valley of the Kings is an ancient burial ground for pharaohs and other high-born nobles, most famous for housing the tomb of the boy king Tutankhamun, discovered in 1922. The new tomb was discovered on nearly the royal tomb of King Thutmoses III during the first day of the January 25 Egyptian revolution. The discovery was kept hidden in fear of looters during the chaos that ensued in the following weeks but the tomb was only opened last week at the start of the season of field expeditions.

According to the Egyptian daily Al-Ahram, the wooden tomb was painted black and decorated with hieroglyphics,with a wooden stelae engraved with the names and different titles of the buried singer. The intact mummy found inside is almost 3,000 years old, belonging to the singer at the Karnak Temple from the 22nd Dynasty (945-712 BC)

While over 60 tombs were discovered in the Valley of the Kings in the early 1990’s, this is only the second tomb discovery since Tutankhamun’s in 1922. The previous discover was a tomb unearthed in 2005. While it contained no mummies, it had flowers, sarcophagi, linen and pottery inside. Researchers think this location was an embalming cache.

Research is now in full swing to discover the rest of the tomb’s hidden treasures.

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    Susan Hughs said:

    Amazing find! Thanks for sharing. I love reading this blog for all kinds of out-of-the-ordinary news.