Archaeologists unearth ancient Middle Kingdom tomb with burials | World | News

Archaeologists have made an incredible discovery of a Middle Kingdom tomb with several intact burials.

The tomb was found near Luxor which is home to some of Egypt’s most important ancient monuments, temples, and tombs, and included 11 sealed burials.

The Egyptian-American mission South Asasif Conservation Project discovered the tomb, which is the first Middle Kingdom tomb found in the area.

The Middle Kingdom designates a period of ancient Egyptian civilization that stretches from approximately 2030 to 1650 B.C.

The American and Egyptian archaeologists who discovered the tomb also found necklaces, armlets, bracelets, scarab rings, and girdles made of amethyst, among others.

Floods had significantly destroyed these burials with most of the damage seen on the wood of the coffins and on the linen wrappings.

The joint Egyptian-American mission also found coffins for men, women and children, further suggesting it was a family tomb which could have been used for generations during the 12th Dynasty and the beginning of the 13th Dynasty, according to Mohamed Ismail Khaled, Secretary-General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities in Egypt.

Despite these flood damages, some items remained almost perfectly intact including a finely crafted women’s necklace.

This necklace contained around 30 amethyst beads with a girdle of carnelian ball beads connected by double strings of blue faience ring beads framing a hippo-head amulet, according to the statement.

In total, 11 burials were discovered with other important finds, including a green-blue glazed faience fertility figurine with truncated legs. 

The figurine is decorated with a variety of jewellery with holes arranged in three sections which were intended for the attachment of “hair”. 

All of the jewellery was found among the female burials, except for one.

An imposing necklace was found in the men’s burials, Burial 9, which is now of special interest among the archaeologists with the man’s body alluding to seniority. 

Archeologists and experts believe this family tomb may have been used for several generations through the 12th and beginning of the 13th Dynasties.

This discovery also places South Asasif within Theban Middle Kingdom necropolis with the first of its tombs being unearthed raising even more questions.