A team of British and Egyptian archaeologists made a historic discovery by locating the Tummy Temés II tomb, the first since the famous discovery of the Tutancâmon tomb, over a century ago in 1922.
The tomb was found in the western valleys of the Tebana Necropolis, near Luxor, in an area previously linked to the rest sites of women who were part of the real families.
The discovery surprised the researchers, who hoped that the funeral chambers of the 18th dynasty pharaohs would be located more than 2 km away, closer to the Reis Valley.
However, upon entering the funeral chamber, the team found a blue ceiling decorated with yellow stars, a clear indicative that it was a real tomb.
The Temetes II Tomb, which ruled Egypt about three and a half millennia, was empty, but not because of withdrawals. The researchers believe that the tomb was deliberately emptied after being flooded by a waterfall a few years after the Burial of Pharaoh.
Fragments of alabaster vessels with registration of the names of Temés II and Queen Hatshepsut were found on site, giving crucial clues about who was the tomb.
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The discovery ends over 12 years of work from the New Kingdom Research Foundation and the Ministry of Tourism and Antiques of Egypt.
During this period, the team had already excavated 54 tombs in the western region of the Tebana Mountain in Luxor and identified more than 30 royal wives and women of the court.
In a statement, Egypt’s Minister of Tourism and Antiques, Sherif Fathy, highlighted the importance of the finding, stating that it is an extraordinary moment for Egyptology and the understanding of shared human history.
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The discovery not only solves the mystery of the location of the tombs of the first kings of the 18th dynasty, but also opens new possibilities for future archaeological explorations in the region.
