EGYPTIAN MINISTER OF ANTIQUITIES, DR. KHALED EL-ENANY HAS ANNOUNCED THE DISCOVERY OF A NEW KINGDOM TOMB THAT BELONGED TO THE GOD AMUN’S GOLDSMITH, AMENEMHAT (KAMPP 390), ALONG WITH A BURIAL SHAFTS CONTAINING FURTHER BURIALS.
The discoveries were made in the Draa Abul Naga necropolis in Luxor, which is known for its temples and burial grounds, located on the west bank of the Nile. The discoveries date back to the New Kingdom, which lasted from the 16th to 11th centuries BC.
An Egyptian archaeological team led by Dr. Mostafa Waziri, Director General of Luxor, was the one responsible for carrying out the excavations on the tomb.
According to Dr. Waziri, “the newly discovered tomb has an entrance that is situated in the courtyard of another Middle Kingdom tomb.”
The doorway opens up into a room that is roughly square in shape and has a nook off to the side. Sandstone was used to create a “duo” statue that depicts Amenemhat seated on a chair with a high back next to his wife. This statue is partially damaged on the inside. In the space between their legs is a miniature representation of one of their sons.
Dr. Waziri brought to everyone’s attention the fact that the tomb contains two burial shafts. The first shaft is located to the right of the chamber and contains a collection of wooden funerary masks, mummies, and sarcophagi. It also contains a collection of statuettes depicting Amenemhat and his wife. The second shaft contains sarcophagi that date to the 21st and 22nd dynasties but have suffered significant damage since their time of origin.
The archaeological team discovered a group of burial shafts in the courtyard, which possibly date back to the Middle Kingdom and include the burial of a woman and her two children along with wooden coffins and a collection of head rests. The shafts were discovered in the courtyard.
An offering table, four wooden sarcophagi, a sandstone statue of a trader in King Tuthmose III’s temple named “Mah,” a collection of 150 ushabti figurines carved in faience, and fifty funerary cones, of which forty are evidence of the presence of other tombs belonging to four officials, were among the funerary objects discovered by the mission during excavations, according to an archaeologist named Mohamed Baabash