by Ahmed Shafiq
LUXOR, Egypt, Sept. 13 (Xinhua) -- Under the cliff of an ancient hill in Upper Egypt's Luxor city, excavator Mohammed Bebish was carefully searching for relics inside a recently unearthed Pharaonic tomb.
"This burial place belongs to a goldsmith," Bebish proudly said as he inspected a number of pottery items found in the tomb that is located in Draa Abul Naga necropolis of noblemen on the west bank of the Nile.
The 40-year-old, who inherited excavation profession from his ancestors, said the tomb is rich of priceless antiquities that date back to the New Kingdom of Egypt; the period between 16th century BC and 11th century BC, covering the 18th, 19th and 20th Dynasties of ancient Egypt.
"The tomb is a new addition to Egypt's rich history," Bebish, who works under the authority of Egypt's antiquities ministry, said, flashing a victorious smile.
As one of the most ancient civilizations, Egypt has been hard at work to preserve its archaeological heritages.
Also, in an attempt to revive the country's ailing tourism industry, which has suffered from an acute recession in the past few years due to political turmoil and security issues, Egypt is keen to uncover the Pharaohs' archaeological secrets as well as other ancient civilizations throughout the history of this country.
The new discovery was carried out by an Egyptian archaeological mission led by director general of antiquities in Luxor Mostafa Waziri, who said the tomb belongs to God Amun's goldsmith, Amenemhat.
Waziri said excavation works at the site started in April.
"After hard work, we discovered such a beautiful tomb that dates back to the 18th Dynasties; almost 3,400 years ago," Waziri told Xinhua. "We have found many treasures such as mummies, wooden coffins, earrings, rings accessories, funeral masks and Ushabti figurines.
Helping his coworkers inside the tomb, Waziri said the newly discovered site includes an entrance located in the courtyard of another Middle Kingdom tomb.
"The entrance leads to a squared chamber where a niche is found at its end. A partly damaged duo sandstone statue depicting the tomb's owner and his was found inside," Waziri revealed.
He added that the statue shows Amenemhat sitting on a high back chair beside his wife who wears a long dress and a wig.
"Between their legs stands, in a smaller scale, a little figure of one of their sons," Waziri said.
He pointed out that the tomb has two burial shafts; the first is located to the right of the chamber and probably had been dug to bury the mummy of the diseased and his wife.
"The burial place is seven meters deep with a collection of mummies, sarcophagi and funerary masks carved in wood along with a collection of statuettes of the tomb's owner and his wife," the official said.
The archaeologist noted that the second shaft is located at the left side where a collection of the 21st and 22nd dynasties deteriorated sarcophagi was discovered.
In the courtyard, the mission stumbled upon a group of burial shafts which probably date to the Middle Kingdom.
In one of them, a family burial place of a woman and her two children were found.
"The shaft includes two wooden coffins and a collection of head rests ... the mummies of the children were found inside one the coffins while the second has the mother's mummy," Waziri added as he observed excavators cleaning one of the coffins cautiously.
The mission has also unearthed a collection of 50 funerary cones, 40 of which are evidence of the presence of other tombs belonging to four officials, Waziri said.
However, he added, the exact location of their tombs has not been yet found.
"I expect we will find them in the same area ... we will start digging to locate them soon," Waziri said.
Antiquities minister, Khaled al-Anany, who was present at the opening ceremony of the newly discovered tomb, said the works at the tombs are not finished yet, adding that he is expecting to find more objects inside the burial site.
"Every discovery has its value ... this discovery will help us know more about historical eras and areas," the minister told Xinhua.
Al-Anany revealed that Chinese archeologists will arrive in Egypt later this year for new excavations in Luxor, the city that embraces one-third of the world's antiquities including the super-famous King Tut's tomb.
"Very soon we will have the first Chinese archeological mission in Egypt ... we are looking forward to cooperate with the Chinese experts," the minister said.
