Giant Ancient Egyptian Sun Temple Discovered in Cairo

Archaeologists announced Sunday that they have discovered an ancient sun temple containing large statues of the pharaoh Ramses II under an outdoor marketplace in Cairo, Egypt.

The temple was found in a suburb of Cairo called Ain Shams. The site was once part of the ancient city of Heliopolis, which served as the center of sun worship in ancient Egypt. The chief sun god, Re, was the patron sun god of Heliopolis.

Ramses II, who is believed to have ruled Egypt from around 1279 to 1213 B.C., is known for his military exploits and monumental building projects. To celebrate his victories, he erected statues and temples to himself all over Egypt.

"The area where we are excavating now is where Ramses II of the 19th dynasty [1320 to 1200 B.C.] built an enormous temple for Re, the largest temple of Ramses II ever found," said Zahi Hawass, head of Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities in Cairo.

Hawass is also a National Geographic Society explorer-in-residence.

An Egyptian team has been cooperating with a team from the German Archaeological Institute on the excavations in the Ain Shams and Matariya neighborhoods of Cairo.

Egyptologists not involved with the discovery said it confirms suspicions that much of ancient Egypt has been buried under modern cities and still remains to be found.

Pink Granite Statue

The temple was built of limestone, and the archaeologists have uncovered the remains of one pillar bearing inscriptions of Ramses II.

The researchers are currently excavating the entrance area and the west side of the temple site. They have found chambers for the storage of wheat, a kiln for making amulets, part of a large statue—the head of which weighs 5 tons (4.5 metric tons) and would have stood almost 20 feet (6 meters) tall—and another head of granite, weighing 2 tons (1.8 metric tons).

"Perhaps the most exciting [find] is an unusual seated statue that shows Ramses II in the leopard skin of a priest, showing that he built this temple as the high priest of Re," Hawass said.

"This statue is in the style of dynasty 12 [1991 to 1786 B.C.] and may have been usurped by Ramses II," he added, meaning that it may have been altered to resemble Ramses II.

"This is an important discovery, giving us information about the cult of Re."

Ramses II, who made a name for himself by battling the Hittites and the Syrians, is traditionally believed to have been the Pharaoh of Exodus, the biblical figure from whom Moses demanded that his people be released.

Ramses II erected monuments to himself up and down the Nile with records of his achievements. His most famous temple is Abu Simbel, which was carved into a sandstone mountain on the banks of the Nile, near what is now Egypt's southern border. (See photo gallery: "Towering Treasures of Ramses.")

Heliopolis

Numerous temples to Egypt's many sun gods—particularly the chief god Re—were also built in ancient Heliopolis.

"This was the center for the worship of the sun god Re," Hawass said.

"A number of important remains have been discovered here, and there is evidence that this cult went back at least to the Old Kingdom [from about 2700 to 2200 B.C.] if not before and was active to the end of Egyptian history."

The German excavations show that lakes or swamps dominated the area in ancient times.

Most of the temples of ancient Heliopolis were later plundered, and the area is now covered with residential buildings.

The discovery of the sun temple may shed light on the status of Heliopolis in ancient Egypt.

"We do not know enough about Heliopolis, which was one of the main cities in Egypt and moreover a religious and, let us say, intellectual center," said French archaeologist Alain Zivie, leader of a team that has been excavating Saqqara, the cemetery of the ancient Egyptian city of Memphis, for more than two decades.

Zivie says the discovery also shows that much of ancient Egypt's treasures are still buried under modern cities, particularly Cairo and its suburbs.

"Cairo is the child of three cities: Memphis, [the Roman fortress of] Babylon of Egypt, and Heliopolis," Zivie said. "Expanding more and more, it swallows now its three mothers, especially Babylon and Heliopolis. But these [ancient cities] are not completely lost. They continue to exist in the underground Cairo."

Leo Depuydt, an Egyptologist at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, agrees.

"The recent find of a giant temple built by Ramses II, ancient Egypt's greatest builder pharaoh, in Cairo again reminds us of how archaeological discovery would increase exponentially—almost beyond imagination—if digging under urban centers and dismantling buildings of later date ever becomes, technically and politically, even more feasible," he said.

Fuente: Stefan Lovgren for National Geographic News, March 1, 2006

Enlace: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2006/03/0301_060301_egypt_2.html

© 1996-2006 National Geographic Society

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Descubren restos de ciudad antigua en Egipto

Trabajadores limpian los restos de una puerta de un templo en una excavación arqueológica, la cual formaba parte de un mercado popular y próximo a una zona residencial en El Cairo, Egipto.

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A picture released by the Egyptian Antiquities 27 February 2006, shows the site of an ancient solar temple that has been discovered beneath a flea market in a Cairo suburb. Royal statues in pink-coloured granite, probably from the time of Ramses II (13th century BC) and weighing five tonnes, were found in the temple and are now in the custody of the Council of Antiquities. The suburb of Ein Shams (eye of the sun) was built on top of the ancient city of Heliopolis, meaning city of the sun in Greek, and was famed for its theology and philosophy schools. AFP PHOTO/EGYPTIAN SUPREME COUNCIL OF ANTIQUITIES/HO (Photo credit should read -/AFP/Getty Images)
10:59 a.m.  ET, 2/27/06

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A picture released by the Egyptian Antiquities 27 February 2006 shows parts of a statue believed to be the head of 19th Dynasty Pharaoh Ramses II. The statue was recently discovered beneath a flea market in the Cairo suburb of Ain Shams (Sun Spring). Ramses II ruled Egypt for 66 years from 1279 BC to 1213 BC and was known as the Builder King because of the number of temples and monuments he built for himself during his long reign. 1:04 a.m.  ET, 2/27/06

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Ancient sun temple uncovered in Cairo

Artifacts include statues believed to be Ramses II

CAIRO, Egypt - Archaeologists discovered a pharaonic sun temple with large statues believed to be of King Ramses II under an outdoor marketplace in Cairo, Egypt's antiquities chief said Sunday.

The partially uncovered site is the largest sun temple ever found in the capital's Aim Shams and Matariya districts, where the ancient city of Heliopolis — the center of pharaonic sun worship — was located, Zahi Hawass told The Associated Press.

Among the artifacts was a pink granite statue weighing 4 to 5 tons whose features "resemble those of Ramses II," said Hawass, head of the Supreme Council of Antiquities.

Also found was a 5-foot-high (1.5-meter-high) statue of a seated figure with hieroglyphics that include three tablets with the name of Ramses II — and the 3-ton head from a royal statue, the council said in a statement.

The green pavement stones of the temple's floor were also uncovered.

An Egyptian team working in cooperation with the German Archaeological Mission in Egypt discovered the site under the Souq al-Khamis, a popular market in eastern Cairo, Hawass said.

"The market has to be removed" as archaeologists excavate the entire site, Hawass said.

King Ramses II, who ruled Egypt for 66 years from 1270 to 1213 B.C., had erected monuments up and down the Nile with records of his achievements, as well as building temples — including Abu Simbel, erected near what is now Egypt's southern border.

Numerous temples to Egypt's sun gods — particularly the chief god Ra — were built in ancient Heliopolis.  But little remains of what was once the ancient Egyptians' most sacred cities, since much of the stone used in the temples was later plundered.

The area is now covered with residential neighborhoods, close to a modern district called Heliopolis, in Egypt's packed capital.

La nueva tumba KV63 del Valle de los Reyes en Luxor, Egipto

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© 2006 The Associated Press

Intact tomb found in Egypt's Valley of Kings

First such discovery in the area since Tutankhamun"s in 1922

CAIRO, Egypt - American archaeologists have uncovered a pharaonic-era tomb in Egypt"s Valley of the Kings, the first uncovered there since King Tutankhamun"s in 1922, Egypt"s antiquities chief announced.

The 18th Dynasty tomb included five mummies in intact sarcophagi with colored funerary masks along with more than 20 large storage jars still with their with pharaonic seals intact, Zahi Hawass, head of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, said in a statement Wednesday.

Still unknown is who was the owner of the tomb. U.S. archaeologist Kent Weeks, who was not involved in the discovery but has seen photographs of the tomb"s interior, said its appearance suggested it did not belong to a king.

"It could be the tomb of a king"s wife or son, or of a priest or court official," he told The Associated Press on Thursday.

No matter, its discovery shatters the nearly century-old perception that there was nothing left to discover in the Valley of the Kings, where it had long been believed that the 62 previously known tombs were all there was, he said.

Weeks made the last major discovery in the valley. In 1995, he opened a previously known tomb and found it was far larger than expected: more than 120 chambers, which he determined were tombs for sons of the pharoah Ramses II.

The newly discovered tomb is a single chamber, meaning it was likely intended for one mummy, he said. Other sarcophagi — or even all of them — may have been put in later, Weeks said.

In later dynasties, high priests fearing grave robbers took mummies from their original sites and stashed them elsewhere. Even after the pharoanic era, mummies were moved either to protect them or to hide them, he said.

Hawass did not specify who was believed buried in the tomb. The antiquities chief was scheduled to visit the site Friday to announce more details.

A University of Memphis team of archaeologists led by Otto Schaden found the tomb 12 feet below the ground, buried under rubble and stones 15 feet from Tut"s tomb, Hawass said. The statement didn"t say when the tomb was found.

Inside the rectangular tomb, the five wooden sarcophagi were surrounded by the jars, which appeared placed haphazardly, suggesting the burial was completed quickly, Hawass said.

The 18th Dynasty, from around 1500 B.C. to 1300 B.C., was the first dynasty of the New Kingdom, the pharaonic empire than lasted until around 1000 B.C. and made its capital in Thebes — the present day city of Luxor, 300 miles south of Cairo. The Valley of the Kings was used as a burial ground throughout the New Kingdom, though contrary to its name not all the tombs are of kings.

The new tomb will be called KV63, adding to the previously known sites labeled from KV1 to KV62, which is the tomb of Tutankhamun, uncovered by Howard Carter in 1922. KV5 is the tomb of Ramses II"s sons.

"It clearly proves that the Valley of the Kings is still not exhausted," Weeks said. "There are probably more tombs to be found in it."

Fuente: © 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. / © 2006 MSNBC.com. 9 de febrero de 2006-02-09
Enlace: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11252094/

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1.- This image released by the Egyptian Antiquities Authority on Feb. 9, 2006, shows a worker is seen by the entrance of the burial chamber at a shaft leading to a new tomb discovered in Egypt's Valley of the Kings, outside Luxor, Wednesday, Feb. 8, 2006. American archaeologists have uncovered a pharaonic-era tomb in Egypt's Valley of the Kings, the first uncovered there since King Tutankhamun's in 1922, Egypt's antiquities chief announced. (AP Photo/Supreme Council of Antiquities)

2.- This image released by the Egyptian Antiquities Authority on Feb. 9, 2006, shows sarcophagi and pharaonic jars discovered in a new tomb discovered in Egypt's Valley of the Kings, outside Luxor, Wednesday, Feb. 8, 2006. American archaeologists have uncovered a pharaonic-era tomb in Egypt's Valley of the Kings, the first uncovered there since King Tutankhamun's in 1922, Egypt's antiquities chief announced. (AP Photo/Supreme Council of Antiquities)

3.- In this image released by the Egyptian Antiquities Authority on Feb. 9, 2006, an archaeologist works in a shaft leading to a new tomb discovered in Egypt's Valley of the Kings, outside Luxor, Wednesday, Feb. 8, 2006. American archaeologists have uncovered a pharaonic-era tomb in Egypt's Valley of the Kings, the first uncovered there since King Tutankhamun's in 1922, Egypt's antiquities chief announced. (AP Photo/Supreme Council of Antiquities)

4.- In this image made available by the Egyptian Antiquities Authority on Feb. 9, 2006, archaeologists work at a shaft leading to a new tomb discovered in Egypt's Valley of the Kings, outside Luxor, Wednesday, Feb. 8, 2006. American archaeologists have uncovered a pharaonic-era tomb in Egypt's Valley of the Kings, the first uncovered there since King Tutankhamun's in 1922, Egypt's antiquities chief announced. (AP Photo/Supreme Council of Antiquities)

5.- Zona de las cabañas de trabajadores de la tumba de Amenmeses, en el Valle de los Reyes, donde ha sido hallado el nuevo enterramiento. (UNIVERSITY OF MEMPHIS MISSION)

7.- Un equipo de arqueólogos estadounidenses liderados por Otto Shaden de la Universidad de Memphis hizo el descubrimiento hace unos días y todavía tienen que entrar en la tumba y abrir los sarcófagos. (EFE) © Mundinteractivos, S.A.

8.- El arqueólogo estaodunidense Otto Shaden (izqda.) y el Secretario General del Consejo Supremo de Antigüedades de Egipto, Zahi Hawass (dcha.) posan en la entrada de la tumba. (EFE) © Mundinteractivos, S.A.

9.- La entrada a la tumba, que está a tan solo cinco metros de la de Tutankamón y que contiene restos de la decimoctava dinastía. (EFE) © Mundinteractivos, S.A.

10.- El Secretario General del Consejo Supremo de Antigüedades de Egipto, Zahi Hawass, junto a la recientemente descubierta cabeza del faraón Amenotep III, padre de la línea sucesoria de Akenatón, en Luxor. (EFE) © Mundinteractivos, S.A.

11.- A 3,000-year-old Pharaonic coffin lies in a newly discovered tomb at the valley of the Kings in Luxor, Egypt February 10, 2006. The tomb, discovered this week by a U.S. team from the university of Memphis, contained coffins and mummies and clay containers all yet to be analysed by experts. REUTERS/Aladin Abdel Naby

12.- A 3,000-year-old Pharaonic coffin lies among other items in a newly discovered tomb at the valley of the Kings in Luxor, Egypt February 10, 2006. The tomb, discovered this week by a U.S. team from the University of Memphis, contains coffins and mummies and clay containers all yet to be analysed by experts. REUTERS/Aladin Abdel Naby

13.- Antiquities experts, members of the media and tourists stand at the entrance of a pit leading to a 3,000-year-old newly discovered tomb at the valley of the Kings in Luxor, Egypt February 10, 2006. The tomb, discovered this week by a U.S. team from the University of Memphis, contains coffins and mummies and clay containers all yet to be analysed by experts. REUTERS/Aladin Abdel Naby

14.- Antiquities experts, members of the media and tourists stand at the entrance of a pit leading to a 3,000-year-old newly discovered tomb at the valley of the Kings in Luxor, Egypt February 10, 2006. The tomb, discovered this week by a U.S. team from the University of Memphis, contains coffins and mummies and clay containers all yet to be analysed by experts. REUTERS/Aladin Abdel Naby

15.- Antiquities experts, members of the media and tourists stand at the entrance of a pit leading to a 3,000-year-old newly discovered tomb at the valley of the Kings in Luxor, Egypt February 10, 2006. The tomb, discovered this week by a U.S. team from the University of Memphis, contains coffins and mummies and clay containers all yet to be analysed by experts. REUTERS/Aladin Abdel Naby

16.- Egyptian Chief of Antiquities Zahi Hawass (R) and Otto Schaden of the U.S., head of the University of Memphis mission, stand in front of a hole that opens into a newly discovered tomb at the valley of the Kings in Luxor, Egypt February 10, 2006. The tomb, discovered this week by a U.S. team from the university, contains coffins and mummies and clay containers all yet to be analysed by experts. REUTERS/Aladin Abdel Naby

17.- The view of a newly discovered 3,000-year-old tomb at the valley of the Kings in Luxor, Egypt February 10, 2006. The tomb, discovered this week by a U.S. team from the University of Memphis, contains coffins and mummies and clay containers all yet to be analysed by experts. REUTERS/Aladin Abdel Naby

18.- German Egyptologist Hourig Sourouzian (L) and colleague Spanish archaeologist Miriam Seco Alvarez stand beside their recent discovery, the head of a 3000-year-old statue of King Amenhotep III, in Luxor, Egypt February 10, 2006. REUTERS/Aladin Abdel Naby

19.- A 3,000-year-old Pharaonic coffin lies in a newly discovered tomb at the valley of the Kings in Luxor, Egypt February 10, 2006. The tomb, discovered this week by a U.S. team from the University of Memphis, contains coffins and mummies and clay containers all yet to be analysed by experts. REUTERS/Aladin Abdel Naby

20.- Zahi Hawass junto a la entrada de la tumba. (Foto: EFE) © Mundinteractivos, S.A.

21.- La arqueóloga española Myriam Seco, junto a una estatua de granito negro de Sejmet, diosa guerrera con cabeza de leona, otro de los hallazgos de la expedición. (Foto: EFE)

22.- La cabeza hallada de Amenhotep III en la misma expedición. (Foto: AFP)

23.- Sarcophagi with funerary masks containing mummies visible in the newly-found tomb. Picture: Khaled Desouki/ AFP/ Getty Images

24.- Varias estatuas con cabeza de león fueron descubiertas a principios de febrero de 2006 en Luxor, al norte de Egipto. EFE

25.- Estatua Sekhmet, diosa con cabeza de león. Se cree que representaban a la madre del monarca, protectora de sus enemigos. EFE

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Hallado un sepulcro con cinco momias junto a la tumba de Tutankamón

El enterramiento está intacto y es de la misma época que el joven faraón    

El Valle de los Reyes egipcio está agotado, decían algunas voces. Lo decían antes de que Carter descubriera la tumba de Tutankamón en 1922 y lo siguieron diciendo después. Y el valle, la más fascinante necrópolis del mundo, sordo a esas voces, continúa deparando sorpresas, enormes y excitantes sorpresas. La última es el sensacional hallazgo, anunciado ayer por las autoridades egipcias, informa Reuters, de un sepulcro aparentemente intacto de finales de la dinastía XVIII (1550-1319 antes de Cristo), la misma época de Tutankamón, y que contiene al menos cinco momias en sarcófagos y un gran número de vasijas selladas.

"Tiene una pinta estupenda", opinó ayer del hallazgo en conversación telefónica con este diario desde Luxor el egiptólogo español José Manuel Galán, que excava actualmente en la zona.

Los detalles del descubrimiento, que se presentará oficialmente hoy, son aún escasos: la tumba está a tiro de piedra de la de Tutankamón y ha aparecido mientras se excavaban las ruinas de las cabañas de los constructores de la tumba del nieto de Ramsés II, Amenmeses (KV-10, según la numeración de la necrópolis), ubicadas junto a ésta. Las momias no han sido identificadas aún.

El hallazgo, casual, se enmarca en los trabajos de la Misión de la Universidad de Memphis (EE UU) que dirige Otto J. Schaden y que desde 1992 investiga y limpia de escombros la KV-10 y excava sus alrededores en busca de depósitos de fundación (pozos en los que se colocaban los materiales sobrantes de la momificación). En el curso de esas excavaciones, que depararon la sorpresa de todo un complejo de construcciones para albergar a los trabajadores de la tumba del oscuro faraón Amenmeses -casi un Deir el-Medina, la ciudad de los obreros de la necrópolis, en miniatura-, ha aparecido el inesperado enterramiento. Se trata de una especie de pozo a tres metros de profundidad y de momento sólo se ha podido echar una mirada a su interior.

Por su configuración y la forma de estar colocados los sarcófagos, alineados contra una pared, el sepulcro tiene toda la apariencia de ser un cachette, un escondite, donde los guardianes y sacerdotes de la necrópolis volvían a enterrar los cuerpos de los difuntos cuyas tumbas habían sido saqueadas. De hecho, las momias de los más famosos faraones de Egipto -excepto Tutankamón- no han sido halladas en sus tumbas oficiales, sino en escondrijos de ese tipo. El más célebre de estos cachette, como se los denomina en el argot egiptológico, es el de Deir el-Bahari, de donde Gaston Maspero extrajo en 1881 los cuerpos de todo un equipo de primera división de faraones que incluía a Ramsés II, Tutmosis III y Seti I. En 1891, Eugène Grébaut descubrió también en la misma área (y también previo soplo de los saqueadores Abd el-Rasul) el escondrijo de Bab el-Gasus con las momias de los sacerdotes de Amón (¡153 sarcófagos!).

"Parece un cachette", admite Galán, que excava junto al Valle de los Reyes, en Dra Abu el Naga, la tumba de Djehuty. El egiptólogo conoce el nuevo hallazgo y ha hablado con personal que trabaja en el mismo. "Hay un ambiente de gran expectación aquí. Está junto a la zona de entrada de KV-10, entre las mismas casas de los trabajadores. De momento se ve una cámara, pero quizá haya más porque se percibe una esquina que dobla en la habitación. Se pueden ver cinco momias en ataúdes pintados de negro y amarillo, alineados con relativo cuidado, y cerámica con los tapones puestos. Todo ello con una pinta estupendísima". Galán destaca que el enterramiento es de la dinastía XVIII, lo que lo hace "interesantísimo" sean quienes sean los difuntos. ¿Pueden ser momias reales? "No lo creo; por la tipología deben ser de nobles".

Fuente: JACINTO ANTÓN  -  Barcelona / EL PAÍS  -  Cultura - 10-02-2006

Enlace:http://www.elpais.es/articulo.html?xref=20060210elpepicul_6&type=Tes&anchor=elpporcul&d_date=20060210

New tomb discovered in Valley by American archaeologists

American archaeologists have made the first discovery of a new tomb in Egypt's Valley of the Kings since King Tutankhamun's was uncovered in 1922, Egypt's antiquities chief announced. The 18th Dynasty tomb included five mummies in intact sarcophagi with colored funerary masks along with more than 20 large storage jars, sealed with pharaonic seals, Zahi Hawass, head of the Supreme Council of Antiquities said in a statement.  

Still unknown is who the tomb belonged to. U.S. archeologist Kent Weeks, who was not involved in the discovery but has seen photographs of the tomb's interior, said its appearance suggested it did not belong to a king. "It could be the tomb of a king's wife or son, or of a priest or court official," he told The Associated Press on Thursday.

No matter who is in the new tomb, its discovery shatters the nearly century-old perception that there was nothing left to discover in the Valley of the Kings, where it had long been believed that the 62 previously known tombs were all there was, said Weeks, who made the last major discovery in the valley. "It clearly proves that the Valley of the Kings is still not exhausted," he said. "There are problably more tombs to be found in it."

Weeks made the last major discovery in the valley. In 1995, he opened a previously known tomb and found it was far larger than expected: more than 120 chambers, which he determined were tombs for sons of the pharoah Ramses II. The new tomb is a single chamber, meaning it was likely intended for a single mummy, he said. Other sarcophagi or even all of them may have been put in at a later time.

"The objects in the tomb don't necessarily date to the original tomb. It is not unknown for a tomb to be used as a storeroom for other materials," he said. "The objects could be 200 to 400 years later than the orginial cutting of the tomb. Some could be original, some may have been introduced later."

It is known that in later dynasties, high priests fearing grave robbers took mummies from their original sites and stashed them in other tombs or locations or even after the pharoanic area, mummies were moved either to protect them or to hide them for later theft, he said.

Hawass did not specify who was believed buried in the tomb. The antiquities chief was scheduled to visit the site Friday to announce more details. A University of Memphis team of archaeologists led by Otto Schaden found the tomb four meters (yards) below the ground, buried under rubble and stones five meters (yards) away from Tut's tomb, the statement by Hawass said.

Inside the rectangular tomb, the five wooden sarcophagi were surrounded by the jars, which appeared placed haphazardly, suggesting the burial was completed quickly, the statement by Hawass said. The 18th Dynasty, from around 1500 BC to 1300 BC, was the first dynasty of the New Kingdom, the pharaonic empire than lasted until around 1000 BC and made its capital in Thebes the present day city of Luxor, 500 kilometers (300 miles) south of Cairo. The Valley of the Kings was used as a burial ground throughout the New Kingdom, though contrary to its name not all the tombs are of kings, reports the AP.

Fuente: N.U. 9 de febrero de 2006

Enlace: http://english.pravda.ru/news/world/09-02-2006/75698-tomb-0

Face to face with ancient royals

Fuente: http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2006/782/fr2.htm

Last Friday was a hot, sunny day in the Valley of the Kings, and no less than 50 journalists, photographers, TV anchors and directors were waiting with heightened expectations near a large pit located just across the pathway to Tutankhamun's tomb. They were following the progress being made by Zahi Hawass, secretary-general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, and his Memphis University colleague Otto Shaden as they uncovered the first intact tomb to be found in the Valley of the Kings in 84 years.

As the two Egyptologists entered the pit for a preliminary view of its contents, the journalists were barred from following. Anxious to see what lay beneath, they reacted angrily, but a few minutes later they were permitted to enter the pit one by one to allow for the shortage of space. To access the tomb's entrance, everyone had to leap over a dozen huge stone blocks and then negotiate a five- metre-long wooden ladder. I found it hard to contend with these obstacles, but coming face to face with the royal mummies quickly caused my sufferings to melt away.

Through a 30-centimetre large hole it was possible to see five wooden anthropoid sarcophagi with painted faces resting undisturbed in a plain, rectangular rock-hewn tomb. The first coffin, which had toppled over and was facing the door, showed the painted face of a beautiful woman with full makeup and thin, arched eyebrows, black kohl-lined eyes and black hair styled in a blunt cut. The gold pattern of a thick necklace was also visible, but the lower half of the sarcophagi had rotted and broken. The face reminded me of the one painted on the coffin of Pharaoh Amenhotep I exhibited in the royal mummy room at the Egyptian Museum. In one corner was another coffin, which seemed to have been partially opened so that the brown cloth below the lid was visible, most probably part of the mummy's wrapping. At the back was the silhouette of the other three coffins, their faces staring upwards and their hands folded on their chests.

Almost two dozen alabaster and clay jars sealed with ancient Egyptian seals, some of which were broken, were lined up next to the sarcophagi. Although the exact date of the find is not yet certain, Egyptologists believe them to be some 3,000 years old and dating from the late 18th Dynasty.

"They may be mummies of kings or queens or nobles, we don't know yet," Hawass said, adding: "They were definitely connected to the royal family or had the favour of the king, otherwise they would not have been buried in the Valley of the Kings since it was prohibited for just anyone to come and make his tomb there."

Hawass hopes that the mission will find hieroglyphs on the coffins that will identify the mummies. He told reporters that the jars, the contents of which were yet unknown, were not canopic jars but might have contained food and drink to sustain the deceased on the journey to the afterlife.

Mansour Borayek, supervisor of Luxor antiquities, described the discovery as extremely important since it could reveal more about the mysterious Valley of the Kings and what it was really like. It also breaks the long-held belief that there is nothing left to dig in the valley. "It is proof that excavation in the Valley of the Kings is not exhausted, and there is more to offer archaeologists that is just waiting to be discovered," Borayek told Al-Ahram Weekly.

Who were these people? What did they do? Where were their original burials? And why were they buried here, in such a cache? These are among the perplexing questions waiting to be answered after further excavations are carried out.

Hawass told the Weekly that the vessels found in the cache had been arranged haphazardly, suggesting that the burials took place in haste. This was more likely, he continued, than that the cache was used as a storeroom for sarcophagi moved later from other tombs, either by priests to protect them from thieves, or by thieves to be stashed before being completely removed.

This is the fourth cache to be discovered in Luxor. The first was stumbled upon sometime before 1887 by the Abdel-Rassoul family, who found 40 hidden intact royal mummies. The second was the cache found in 1891 containing 100 sarcophagi of priests of Amun, while the third discovery was made in 1898 with 12 royal mummies being uncovered inside the tomb of Amenhotep II.

"It is a dream come true," Shaden says. "It is just so amazing to find an intact tomb 84 years after [Tutankhamun]." He says that after 13 years of working on tombs which have been known for a long time and had been partly cleared, and following other excavators, his mission finally had something new to add to the Valley of the Kings.

Shaden said a foretaste of what might be to come had been found last year as his team was working on the neighbouring tomb of Amenmeses, a late 19th-Dynasty pharaoh. While digging outside this tomb the team stumbled upon the remains of workmen's huts and noted a depression in the ground which they believed could be the top of a shaft leading to a tomb. When this year's archaeological season began three weeks ago, the team uncovered the intact tomb after removing the stone-block doorway at the bottom of a 10-metre-deep shaft.

Shaden believes that since it was an honour to be buried in the Valley of the Kings, these mummies belonged to relatives of the king, perhaps a brother-in-law, a gardener or another minor person in the palace who was given special honour.

Sarcophagi carry the names and all information about the person buried, but Shaden adds that so far the team has not been able to enter the burial chamber to examine them.

Hawass believes that further excavation will lead to more revelations about who these people were, and says that within three weeks more details will be announced. These may also specify details about eight pits the team has located inside the tomb, which were possibly used by Ancient Egyptians for entry and exit.

Enigmatic discovery

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The red granite colossal of King Amenhotep III

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"This really is a very surprising discovery," Hourig Sourouzian, director of the German conservation project for the Colossi of Memnon and Amenhotep III's temple, told Al-Ahram Weekly. She explained that since excavation of the site began in 1998 the mission had consistently stumbled upon homogenous New Kingdom statuaries until last week, when a well-preserved red granite royal head with Kushite features -- full cheeks and bulging lips -- was unearthed.

The 50-cm-tall head was found among several decaying granite block on a sandstone slab at the north end of the temple. Its top and right side were damaged, the nose was lightly chipped and the chin was broken. "It is a very beautiful head wearing a nemes (regal headdress)," says Sourouzian, who asserts that it does not belong to the area where it lay buried.

"If this head belongs to the Kushite period of the 25th dynasty, which is seven dynasties later than the reign of Amenhotep III, why is it deposited here?" Sourouzian asks. She says this leads one to suggest that it was deliberately moved from its original location and hidden for later retrieval. "It may possibly have been deposited here at the beginning of the 19th century by the agent of the British Council, [Henry] Salt, who recovered and sent abroad several statues from this temple," she says. "Or maybe it is a much younger deposit, in the first half of the 20th century, when antiquities dealers made illegal diggings and deals in the Theban region before the inspectorate of the Antiquities Service was established on the West Bank."

While digging trenches for a project to remove water from the western part of the temple precinct the team unearthed two 3,400-year-old statues of the lion-headed goddess Sekhmet. One is a black granite legless statue featuring the goddess of war standing and holding a papyrus in her hand. The other is a diorite bust of a colossal statue crowned with a diadem encircled by a uraeus headdress. The face of this statue is well preserved and only the back pillar is damaged. Both statues were brought immediately to the temporary site laboratory for primary cleaning and conservation.

"These are not the only Sekhmet statues found," says Zahi Hawass, secretary-general of the SCA. Hawass says numerous Sekhmet statues have been found over the centuries at the Amenhotep III temple site, with the German mission unearthing 20 of them, but the latest one is the largest of all.

Next day while digging the southern part of the peristyle court of the temple, workers uncovered a red granite head of a colossal statue of Amenhotep III. It is a very well preserved head featuring the king's entire face but the crown and the beard are yet missing.

"Although a crack traverses its right side, the head is considered the most complete, well preserved and most beautiful portrait of king Amenhotep III," said Sourouzian.

Other colossal heads had been previously discovered in Kom el Hettan by previous excavators, like the one in the Luxor Museum, but they are all partially damaged.

The head belongs to one of a series of colossal statues of the king, which surrounded the peristyle court of the great mortuary temple of Amenhotep III. They have all been destroyed over centuries, the last remains lie under the road which covers half of the southern portico of the court.

With the help of some 80 workmen the team succeeded in pulling from under the water level the monumental foot of a quartzite colossus of Amenhotep III, which was found in 2002 at the second pylon of his temple at Kom Al-Hittan. In 2003, the German team discovered the queen behind the right leg of the royal colossus, and last season they lifted the torso of the colossal statue 3.12m above the level where he had fallen, bringing it above the water. However the block with the foot, which was detached from the torso in antiquity, remained at a lower level. The base of the statue is inscribed with the names of Amenhotep III, and decorated with representations of people from the south. It is now out of the reach of ground water and placed on a higher level in preparation for reassembly with other blocks of the statue base. The method for pulling is exactly as in Pharaonic times, with rolls sliding on wooden beams and with the help of 80 workmen and two foremen. The block is about two metres high, and weighs approximately five tons.

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Dr. Otto Schaden standing outside doorway to KV-63