Egypt

Rare Egyptian "Warrior" Tomb Found

National Geographic (Steve Stanek)

An unusual, well-preserved burial chamber that may contain the mummy of an ancient warrior has been discovered in a necropolis in Luxor.

Scientists opened the tomb—found in Dra Abul Naga, an ancient cemetery on Luxor's west bank—on Wednesday. (See an Egypt map.)

Inside the burial shaft—a recess crudely carved from bedrock—experts found a closed wooden coffin inscribed with the name "Iker," which translates to "excellent one" in ancient Egyptian.

Near the coffin they also found five arrows made of reeds, three of them still feathered.

A team of Spanish archaeologists made the surprise find during routine excavations in a courtyard of the tomb of Djehuty, a high-ranking official under Queen Hatshepsut whose burial site was built on top of graves dating to the Middle Kingdom, 2055 to 1650 B.C.

(Related: "Rare Middle-Class Tomb Found From Ancient Egypt" [January 18, 2008].)

The coffin dates to Egypt's Middle Kingdom era, though the cemetery is better known for its use during the New Kingdom, 1550 to 1070 B.C.

Based on the coffin's inscriptions and pottery found near it, experts date the burial to the early reign of the 11th dynasty, which lasted from 2125 to 1985 B.C. Soldiers played an important role in society during that time, when Egypt was reunified after years of civil war.

An enlargement of the photo shown on the above pages can be found on the National Geographic website.

See the above two-page article for the full story. The Djehuty project has its own website in Spanish and English.

- Exhibition: Djehuty Project Out In The Daylight
Al Ahram Weekly (Nevine El-Aref) With 2 photos. A NUMBER of artefacts discovered at a tomb in Draa Abul-Naga necropolis on Luxor's west bank is to go on show for the first time in the Luxor National Museum, Nevine El-Aref reports. After almost 10...

- Luxor Exhibits Project Djehuty Discoveries
El Mundo (Rosa M. Tristán) Thanks to Amigos de la Egiptologia for this link. Rough Translation: When the warrior Iquer was buried 4,000 years ago, those who interred him could not have imagined that he would be exhibited at the Luxor Museum. But this...

- In The Field: Opening The Tomb Of Sa-iset
drhawass.com (Zahi Hawass) Recently I went to Dashur to investigate the tomb of the vizier Sa-Iset and lift the huge sarcophagus lid to discover what it contained. This tomb was found by Jacques de Morgan in 1890, and the tomb was actually lost for many...

- Ancient Egyptian Gold Found In Luxor By Spanish Archaeologists
Bloomberg Spanish archaeologists digging on the west bank of Luxor, Egypt, have discovered jewelry in a tomb of a state treasurer who lived some 3,500 years ago under the reign of Queen Hatshepsut. The team found five gold earrings and two gold...

- More Re Newly Discovered Storeroom Containing Mummies
Sky News Underneath the Meresamun story there's a 36-slide photograph viewer showing 7 photographs of Hawass with one of the mummies from the new discovery. The other photographs concern other subjects. Yahoo! News A storeroom housing about two...

Egypt