Lost Egyptian tomb rediscovered
2009-03-02 10:05
Cairo - Belgian archaeologists have
rediscovered an ancient Egyptian tomb that had been lost for
decades under sand, Egyptian Culture Minister Farouk Hosni said
on Sunday.
In 1880 Swedish Egyptologist Karl Piehl uncovered the tomb
of Amenhotep, the deputy seal-bearer of the Pharaoh King
Tuthmosis III, in the city of Luxor, about 600 km (375 miles) to
the south of the capital Cairo.
"It later disappeared under the sand and archaeologists kept
looking for it to no avail until it was found by the Belgian
expedition," a statement from the Supreme Council of Antiquities
quoted Hosni as saying.
Tuthmosis III of the 18th Dynasty ruled Egypt between
1504-1452 BC. Egypt's chief archaeologist Zahi Hawass said the
tomb consists of an enclosure and a large hall divided into two
parts by six columns. Part of the northern side of the hall had
been destroyed a long time ago, he added.
Laurent Bavay, the head of the Belgian team, said most of
the inscriptions on the walls of the tomb were damaged, a sign
that the place had probably been robbed in the early 19th
century, the statement quoted him as saying.