Egypt’s Ministry of Antiquities announced the discovery of a 3,500 tomb near Luxor, Egypt at a special ceremony on Saturday.
Discovered at the Dra Abul Naga necropolis on the west bank of the Nile, the newly opened tomb holds statuettes, mummies, pottery, and other artifacts, according to One of the statues depicts a goldsmith named Amenemhat sitting beside his wife. A figure of one of their sons stands beneath them. The archaeologists say the family lived during Egypt’s 18th Dynasty. (Also see pictures of King Tut’s father, Egypt’s first revolutionary.)
Beyond, two burial chambers hold a number of mummies, sarcophagi, and funerary masks carved in wood, along with more statuettes of the couple. The second chamber holds sarcophagi from the 21st and 22nd Dynasties.
The newly opened tomb is not in good condition, Minister of Antiquities Khaled El-Enany told reporters. But its contents may yield clues to other discoveries. For instance, the tomb contains 50 funerary cones—a type of stamped pottery—40 of which offer evidence of other tombs belonging to four officials from the period, the ministry announced in a press statement.
Read more at National Geographic.