Archaeologists have unearthed the tomb of a yet unknown Egyptian pharaoh who ruled 3,600 years ago during a time of political instability in the region.
The royal tomb was found at a depth of around 7m below ground level at the ancient Mount Anubis necropolis in Abydos, the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities said.
The find provides new evidence of the development of royal tombs at the necropolis.
Abydos is one of the oldest cities of ancient Egypt, dating back to the Abydos Dynasty, a series of kings who ruled Upper Egypt between 1700 and 1600 BC.
The mystery pharaoh’s tomb consisted of a limestone burial chamber covered with mudbrick vaults reaching a height of approximately 5m.
Archaeologists also found faded inscriptions on either side of the entrance leading to the burial chamber. One was of the goddesses Isis and Nephthys and the other set of yellow inscription bands once bore the king’s name in hieroglyphs, they said.
The surviving decorations and texts bear similarities to the art and inscriptions discovered at the tomb of King Senebkay, scholars said.
Mohamed Abdel Badie, head of the Egyptian Antiquities Sector, said the newly discovered tomb appears much larger than previously known mausoleums attributed to the Abydos Dynasty.
The name of the mystery tomb’s owner has not been determined yet but it surely belongs to one of the kings who reigned before Senebkay, he said.
The latest find came days after archaeologists found the royal burial site of another Egyptian pharaoh named Thutmose II.
PERCEPTION RESET 