egypt's "new" tomb

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STOP PRESS: Friday 10th February 2006: New tomb opened in the Valley of the Kings!

Archaeologists have discovered an intact, ancient Egyptian tomb in the Valley of the Kings, the first since King Tutankhamun's was found in 1922. A University of Memphis-led team found the previously unknown tomb complete with sarcophagi and five mummies. The archaeologists were working last year on the neighbouring tomb of Amenmeses, a late 19th dynasty pharaoh, when they found the remains of ancient workmen's huts. The scientists then discovered a depression in the bedrock that they suspected was a shaft. When they returned to work during this excavation season, they opened the shaft and found the door to the chamber.

The archaeologists have not yet been able to identify the mummies. But Egypt's chief archaeologist Zahi Hawass says they "might be royals or nobles" moved from "original graves to protect them from grave robbers". "We don't really know what kind of people are inside but I do believe they look royal. Maybe they are kings or queens or nobles," he said. The newly-found tomb is thought to date from the 18th Pharaonic Dynasty, the first dynasty of the New Kingdom which ruled between 1539 BC and 1292 BC and made its capital in Thebes, now Luxor. It is the 63rd tomb to be discovered since the valley was first mapped in the 18th century, and was unexpectedly found only five metres away from King Tutankhamun's. The team of archaeologists had not been looking for it. "The excavation team was focused on the tomb of a 19th Dynasty pharaoh, King Amenmesses," said Patricia Podzorski, curator of Egyptian Art at the University of Memphis. "They were working in front of the tomb looking for foundation deposits possibly related to that tomb, and clearing away some workmen's huts from the 19th Dynasty that were both to the left and right side of the tomb," she explained. "Underneath these workmen's huts, they found a shaft." Four metres below the ground was a single chamber containing sarcophagi with coloured funerary masks and more than 20 large storage jars bearing Pharaonic seals. The sarcophagi were buried rapidly in the small tomb for an unknown reason. One of the coffins has toppled and faces the door, showing its white, painted face. Another was partially open, showing a brown cloth covering the mummy inside.
		At the bottom of a 10m deep pit, a narrow shaft leads down to the door, made of blocks of stone. A hole about a foot wide has been cleared from the door.
		Inside the chamber, about 4m x 5m, alabaster pots, some broken, are lined up next to the sarcophagi.
		Close up on one of the mummy cases.

STOP PRESS: Thursday 29th June 2006: Ancient garland in Egyptian tomb!

Archaeologists in Egypt expecting to find a mummy during their excavation of a burial chamber in Luxor have instead discovered embalming materials and ancient woven flowers. The 3,000-year-old garland is the first to be discovered. It was found in the last of the coffins which archaeologists had hoped would contain the mummies of royal queens or even Tutankhamun's mother.

Researchers and media had been invited into the chamber, near Tutankhamun's tomb, to watch the coffin's opening. The chief curator of Cairo's Egyptian Museum said the surprise find was "even better" than discovering a mummy. "I prayed to find a mummy, but when I saw this, I said it's better - it's really beautiful," said Nadia Lokma, the chief curator. "It's very rare - there's nothing like it in any museum. We've seen things like it in drawings, but we've never seen this before in real life - it's magnificent," she said. Experts say ancient Egyptian royals often wore garlands entwined with gold strips around their shoulders in both life and death.

Courtesy of BBC News and National Geographic