09/01/2025
💥NEW DISCOVERY LUXOR 💥
👉8th of January 2025.
🟡"Zahi Hawass confirmed that over three years of scientific research and excavations, started in September 2022, the mission has made several significant archaeological discoveries in the area at the beginning of the ascending path to the Temple of Queen Hatshepsut at Deir el-Bahri.
🟡The mission uncovered part of the foundations of the Valley Temple located at the edge of the valley, which served as the main entrance to Queen Hatshepsut's mortuary temple, known as "Jesr Jesru." This temple is considered one of the most beautiful Pharaonic temples.
🟡Hawass indicated that the mission found a large number of inscriptions from the Valley Temple, which are some of the rarest and most beautiful examples of the art of sculpture during the reigns of Queen Hatshepsut and Thutmose III. These inscriptions have no similar pieces in Egyptian museums, with only a few examples found in Luxor and Metropolitan Museums.
🟡Dr. Mohamed Khaled, Secretary-General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, stated that the mission found more than one hundred stone slabs of limestone and sandstone inscribed with the names and cartouches of Queen Hatshepsut (birth and coronation names), which form part of the foundation deposits that confirm the ownership of the temple by its builder. These are known as 'Stone Names.'
Among these stone slabs is a unique limestone slab bearing a relief inscription of the name and title of Queen Hatshepsut's chief architect, Senenmut, and his title as 'Overseer of the Palace.' The complete set of Queen Hatshepsut's foundation deposits is one of the mission's most important discoveries, coming nearly a century after American scholar Herbert Winlock discovered the last complete set of Queen Hatshepsut's foundation deposits at the site of the mortuary temple (1923-1931).
🟡Hawass confirmed that the mission found a number of rock-cut tombs from the Middle Kingdom (2050-1710 BC), and revealed the historical sequence of the site, which began to be occupied in the Middle Kingdom and continued until the beginning of the Eighteenth Dynasty when the royal architect Senenmut ordered the cessation of burials in the area and chose it as a site for the construction of the Valley Temple and part of the extension of the ascending path connecting the Valley Temple to the mortuary temple. Senenmut buried this cemetery under large quantities of sand as part of the preparations for the construction of the Valley Temple.
🟡Hawass explained that a number of shaft tombs dating back to the Seventeenth Dynasty (1580-1550 BC) were also discovered, carved into the rock. Inside these tombs, a number of wooden coffins in human form, known as 'basket coffins,' were found, which are characteristic of the Seventeenth Dynasty. One of the most important of these coffins is that of a small child, still closed and bound with ropes, as it was when it was buried 3,600 years ago.
Alongside these coffins, a rolled mat was found in its original discovered state. The mission is currently preparing a special program for its restoration and transfer for display at the Museum of Civilization.
🟡Hawass pointed out that the discovery of war bows and arrows heads that been found was one of the important results of the Egyptian mission, indicating the occupation of the owners of these tombs and their military background, as well as their struggle to liberate Egypt from the Hyksos.
🟡The tomb of Jihwty Mes , the overseer of the palace of Queen Tetisheri, the great-grandmother of the Eighteenth Dynasty kings, was also found. This is one of the most important archaeological discoveries that spots the light on this important period in Egyptian history, for which not many artifacts have been found. The tomb is dated to the ninth year of the reign of King Ahmose I (1550-1525 BC), as confirmed by the date written on the funerary stela of Jihwty Mes found in the tomb.
👉The tomb has a simple plan, consisting of a square chamber carved into the rock, preceded by a mud-brick chapel coated with a layer of white plaster and having a vaulted ceiling.
Inside the tomb chamber, remains of red-colored drawings were found on a layer of white plaster. In the floor of the chamber, a rectangular shaft was found leading to two burial chambers. In the shaft, a limestone offering table was found, as well as the funerary stela of the tomb owner, Jihwty Mes.
👉Despite the important title held by the tomb owner as the overseer of the palace of Queen Tetisheri, the most powerful queen in ancient Egyptian history, the appearance and simplicity of the tomb provide a great deal of economic information about the early Eighteenth Dynasty, which came after bitter wars of liberation that drained the state's economy.
🟡Hawass confirmed that a part of a Ptolemaic cemetery was discovered, which extended over the site of the ascending path and the Valley Temple. Its tombs were built of mud bricks and parts of the stones of Queen Hatshepsut's temple. Some parts of this cemetery had been discovered by foreign missions at the beginning of the last century but had not been properly documented.
🟡The Egyptian mission also discovered a large number of artifacts from that period, including bronze coins bearing the image of Alexander the Great, dating back to the era of Ptolemy I (367-283 BC). Also found were children's toys made of terracotta (fired clay) in human and animal shapes, as well as a number of pieces of cartonnage and funerary masks that covered mummies, and a large number of winged scarabs, beads, and funerary amulets."
https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/world/2025/1/8/egypt-unveils-new-archaeological-wonders-in-luxor-0101
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