A major part of the fascination with Ancient Egypt is no doubt down to the 1922 discovery of the tomb of Tutankhamun.
Having stayed hidden for thousands of years, the discovery of the near-intact tomb brought thousands of opulent burial goods into the public eye. Plus, the supposed curse added a touch of theatrics that continued the obsession long after Tutankhamun’s mummy was removed.
And now archaeologists have discovered a new Pharaonic tomb for the first time in more than 100 years. An Egyptian-British team who first uncovered the site in autumn 2022 have now confirmed it belonged to pharaoh Thutmose II.
The last missing tomb of the 18th Dynasty kings of Ancient Egypt, the Pharoah is thought to have ruled from around 1493 to 1479 BCE. Archaeologists identified the tomb thanks to a number of inscriptions, including one naming his wife Hatshepsut, who became only the second woman to rule in her own right in Ancient Egypt.
While the discovery will no doubt spur on a new generation of Egyptologists, the tomb isn’t a treasure trove like the one found by Howard Carter and his team, as it is believed that the chamber was deliberately emptied just a few years after the initial burial, potentially due to flooding.
Piers Litherland, Director of the NKRF and Honorary Research Associate at Cambridge’s McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research, said, “Initially we thought we might have found the tomb of a royal wife, but the wide staircase and the large doorway suggested something more important.
“The discovery that the burial chamber had been decorated with scenes from the Amduat, a religious text which is reserved for kings, was immensely exciting and the first indication that this was a king’s tomb.”
The discovery was made during excavations in the Theban Mountain area near Luxor. Mohsen Kamel, assistant field director, has said that the existence of a second, intact, tomb for Thutmose II is an ‘astonishing possibility’.
More information: cam.ac.uk/stories/tale-of-thutmose-tomb
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