The Draa Abul-Naga necropolis at Gurna on Luxor’s West Bank has yielded yet another of its ancient treasures: a tomb that belongs to Amenemhat, the goldsmith of the god Amun. The tomb goes back to the New Kingdom (16th – 11th century BC) and includes a burial shaft in which the mummies of a woman in her fifties and her two sons, in their twenties, lay.
The discovery was announced by Antiquities Minister Khaled al-Anani at a press conference attended by Luxor Governor, Egyptian officials, a number of foreign diplomats, and Egyptian and international archaeologists. Mr Anani said the discovery was made by an Egyptian archaeological mission headed by Mustafa al-Waziri, director general of antiquities in Luxor.
According to Mr Anani and Dr Waziri, the tomb included mummies, coffins, funerary cones and masks, as well as a large amount of jewellery and terracotta objects. He said that a collection of 150 ushabti figurines carved in faience, wood, burned clay, limestone and mud brick were also unearthed.
Dr Waziri explained that the entrance of the tomb led to a square chamber which in turn led to two burial shafts, the mummies were found down one of these shafts. He said the bodies were preserved in a good condition.
“But the work is not finished yet,” Mr Anani said. “Archaeologists have read four new names, meaning we should be working to find all about them.”
Watani International
11 September 2017