Ancient Egypt's 3,000-year-old 'lost golden city' discovered

Archaeologists in Egypt on Thursday announced the discovery of what appears to be a 3,000-year-old lost city buried beneath the sands at Luxor, the site of the Nile Valley's famed Valley of the Kings. According to experts, it is one of the most important finds since the discovery of Tutankhamun's tomb.

Famed Egyptologist Zahi Hawass announced the discovery of the "lost golden city", saying the site was discovered near Luxor, home to the Valley of the Kings, the latest pharaonic-era wonder to be unearthed as the country seeks to revive its tourism. 

The city, considered by archaeologists to be the largest ancient city ever found in the country, is known as "The Rise of Aten" and dates to the reign of Amenhotep III, the ninth king of the 18th dynasty, who ruled Egypt from 1391 to 1353 BC. It was later used by his successors, including Tutankhamun, according to a statement sent Thursday by the Egyptian mission that made the find.

The area where the city was discovered lies between the temple of Amenhotep III at Memnon, west of the modern city of Luxor, and the temple of Ramesses III at Medinet Habu, located on the bank of the Nile opposite Luxor. The Egyptian mission began work at this point in search of Tutankhamun's mortuary temple. "Many foreign missions searched for this city and never found it," Hawass said in his statement.

"The discovery of this lost city is the second most important archaeological discovery since Tutankhamun's tomb," Betsy Bryan, a professor of Egyptian art and archaeology at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, said in the statement. She said it offers "a rare glimpse into the life of the ancient Egyptians at the time when the empire was at its richest". 

The announcement of the discovery comes as the world is still talking about the organisation of a grandiose parade to move 22 Royal Mummies to a new Cairo museum celebrating the country's ancient heritage. The procession was carefully choreographed to bolster interest in Egypt's important tourism industry, which has been hit by the pandemic.

Excavation work by a team led by Egyptian archaeologist Zahi Hawass began in September 2020.  Shortly afterwards they found a large and well-preserved city, with intact walls, a bakery and ovens, tombs and rooms full of tools, as well as rings, scarabs and colours. pottery. The mission was carried out jointly with the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities.

Another part, not yet fully uncovered, may correspond to the administrative and residential district, with larger and well laid out buildings. It is surrounded by a zigzag wall with a single entrance leading to the internal corridors and residential areas. 

In another area, a workshop has been found for the production of mud bricks used to build temples. Casting moulds for making amulets and decorative elements have also been found. Meanwhile, in the north, they have found a cemetery of a size yet to be determined, where they have found several tombs with similar characteristics to those found in the Valley of the Kings and the Valley of the Nobles.

They hope to find in this area some intact tombs full of treasures. Tools used in industrial activities such as spinning and weaving, and remains of metal and glass have also been found throughout the city, but the area where these activities were carried out has not yet been discovered. Also of note is the discovery of the grave of a person with his arms outstretched at his sides and the remains of a rope around his knees, unusual details that are being investigated.

Historical records, such as hieroglyphic inscriptions on clay lids of wine vessels, suggest that the settlement consisted of three royal palaces belonging to King Amenhotep III, as well as the administrative and industrial centre of the empire. Clay bricks with the seal of the pharaoh, or cartouche, confirmed the dating of the city. Elements such as rings, scarabs, coloured pottery vessels and the earlier mud bricks, all stamped with the hieroglyphic cartouche of the same pharaoh, also confirm the date.

"The streets of the city are flanked by houses, some with walls up to three metres high," notes Hawass, who believes the city extends westwards "to the famous Deir El Medina", a major metropolis of workers and craftsmen in ancient Egypt.

Further work at the site could help explain what Bryan described as one of the greatest mysteries of the time: "Why did Amenhotep III's son Akhenaton and his wife Nefertiti move the dynastic capital to a new location at Amarna?"

The new renovations in the area of the pyramids at Giza, the new National Museum of Egyptian Civilisations and this new find will help revive Egyptian tourism, which has declined over the past decade. The pandemic has also affected its decline and plans are underway to revive the tourism sector.