Archaeologists unearth a mummy in a previously unexplored tomb in Egypt
Egypt's antiquities ministry says funerary items have been also been found but it is not yet known whom the two tombs belong to. The tombs were discovered in the 1990s but excavation work did not start till recently.
Mustafa al Waziri, the director general of Luxor's Antiquities, points at an ancient Egyptian mural at the newly-discovered "Kampp 161" tomb at Draa Abul Naga necropolis on the west Nile bank of the southern Egyptian city of Luxor, about 650 kilometres (400 miles) south of the capital Cairo. December 9, 2017.
Egyptian archaeologists have discovered a mummy in one of two previously unexplored tombs across the Nile from the southern city of Luxor, the antiquities ministry said Saturday.
The tombs were found in the 1990s by German archaeologist Frederica Kampp, though she had only reached the entrance gate "but never entered", the ministry said.
It said that both tombs, which were given numbers by Kampp, were likely to date back to dynasties of the New Kingdom, which lasted several centuries until about 3,000 years ago.
Egyptian archaeological technicians restore a mummy wrapped in linen found at the newly discovered "Kampp 150" tomb at Draa Abul Naga necropolis on the west Nile bank of the southern Egyptian city of Luxor, about 650 kilometres (400 miles) south of the capital Cairo, on December 9, 2017.
Since Kampp's discovery "both tombs were left untouched" till an Egyptian archaeological mission started work.
Antiquities Minister Khaled al Enany was in Luxor to announce the discovery in Draa Abul Nagaa necropolis near the famed Valley of the Kings where many pharaohs, including Tutankhamun, were buried.
In addition to funerary items, archaeologists found "a mummy wrapped in linen", the ministry said, adding that "studies suggest the mummy could be for a top official or a powerful person".
A picture taken on December 9, 2017 shows ancient Egyptian wooden funerary masks and small statuettes found in and retrieved from the newly discovered "Kampp 150" tomb at Draa Abul Naga necropolis on the west Nile bank of the southern Egyptian city of Luxor, about 650 kilometres (400 miles) south of the capital Cairo.
The owner is unidentified, though the ministry said they have two possible identities.
The tomb might belong to "a person named Djehuty Mes whose name was engraved on one of the walls," the ministry said.
Or it could belong to "the scribe Maati as his name and the name of his wife Mehi were inscribed on 50 funerary cones found in the tomb’s rectangular chamber."
An Egyptian archaeological technician restores artefacts found at the newly discovered "Kampp 161" tomb at Draa Abul Naga necropolis on the west Nile bank of the southern Egyptian city of Luxor, about 650 kilometres (400 miles) south of the capital Cairo, on December 9, 2017.
The other tomb was not excavated and only "uncovered" in April, the ministry said, adding that the tomb's owner is not yet known.
"The tomb has a court lined with stone and mud-brick walls. It has a six-metre (-yard) deep burial shaft at its southern side that lead to four side chambers," the ministry said.
"Studies reveal that the tomb was reused in antiquity," it said.
The tomb contains several artefacts and a depiction of "a person, probably the deceased’s brother, presenting offerings and flowers to the deceased and his wife."
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