7 February 2025 The Future is the Product of the Past

A burial complex dating to the Second Intermediate Period has been discovered at the Dra Abu el-Naga necropolis at Luxor

At the Dra Abu el-Naga necropolis in Luxor, a family burial complex from the Second Intermediate Period has been found.

The necropolis of Dra Abu el-Naga’ is located on the West Bank of the Nile in Thebes, Egypt, just north of the necropolis of el-Assasif and near the dry bay entrance leading up to Deir el-Bahari. The necropolis is located near the Valley of the Kings.

The finds date to the Thirteenth Dynasty, a group of pharaohs that reigned at the beginning of Egyptian history’s Second Intermediate Period (c. 1700–1550 BCE).

Dr. Mostafa Waziri explained that this discovery is the first of its kind in that cemetery. It includes a place designated for burials measuring about 50 meters in width, and 70 meters in length.

The Egyptian mission discovered 30 burial shafts with similar architectural designs, as well as a mud-brick offering chapel containing a collection of ushabtis and amulets.

Stele, ushabtis and fragment of papyrus found in Dra Abu El Naga  Photo: MoTA Egypt.
Stele, ushabtis and fragment of papyrus found in Dra Abu El Naga Photo: MoTA Egypt.

A minister by the name of Ankhu who served under King Sobekhotep II (13th Dynasty) was interred in one of these wells. The burial contained a pink granite sarcophagus with the deceased’s name engraved on it. The sarcophagus weighs about 10 tons.

Another well contained a small funerary stele, decorated with a scene depicting the stele’s owner bringing offerings to King Sobekhotep II. According to the inscription, the man held the position of a deputy minister.

Other finds included canopic jar stoppers, cartonnage fragments, and several woven baskets. Images released by the Ministry also show an inscribed papyrus fragment among the finds.

A small stela discovered at the Dra Abu el-Naga family burial complex. Photo: MoTA Egypt.
A small stela was discovered at the Dra Abu el-Naga family burial complex. Photo: MoTA Egypt.

The Director General of Antiquities of Upper Egypt, Dr. Fathi Yassin stated that inside the adobe building, there was a group of white-painted ushabti statues with inscriptions in black ink in hieratic script.

There were also hundreds of funerary seals without inscription, which are typical of the time before the New Kingdom, as well as a sizable group of faience amulets shaped like scarabs and the Sons of Horus, a sizable number of beads.

MOTA

Related Articles

Archaeologists find evidence of how Iron Age Britons adapted to the Roman conquest in Winterborne Kingston

29 June 2024

29 June 2024

Archaeologists from Bournemouth University (BU) have discovered human remains and artifacts which give new insight into how early Britons adapted...

Al-Aqiser Church, Disappears in the Depths of The Iraqi Desert

10 May 2021

10 May 2021

In a country that has been devastated by successive conflicts and economic crises, Al-Aqiser, like the numerous Christian, Islamic and...

China’s ancient water pipes show people mastered complex engineering 4,000 years ago without the need for a centralized state authority

16 August 2023

16 August 2023

A system of ancient ceramic water pipes, the oldest ever unearthed in China, shows that neolithic people were capable of...

148 Ancient Tombs Spanning 2,100 Years Unearthed in the Construction Area of the Zoo

18 August 2024

18 August 2024

An ancient burial site with 148 tombs,  spanning over 2,100 years, has been discovered on the construction site of the...

21 Copperplate Inscriptions discovered at Ghanta Matham in India

14 June 2021

14 June 2021

During excavations at Ghanta Matham in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh,  important 21 copper plates for the Mallikarjuna Swami...

A former Spanish disco-pub confirmed as lost medieval Synagogue

11 February 2023

11 February 2023

In the Andalucian city of Utrera, archaeologists have uncovered the remains of a 14th-century synagogue. The discovery, made public on...

Hima, a rock art site in Saudi Arabia, added to the UNESCO World Heritage List

24 July 2021

24 July 2021

The rock art site Hima in Najran has been included in the UNESCO World Heritage List, becoming the sixth registered...

Archaeologists have found an intriguing Iron Age “shrine” in the Yorkshire Wolds

19 September 2021

19 September 2021

Archaeologists have discovered an interesting ancient Iron Age “shrine” in the Yorkshire Wolds, which was marked out by meticulously placed...

New Museum being Built for the Stolen Goddess Cybele in Western Turkey

12 June 2021

12 June 2021

A marble statue of the Anatolian mother goddess Cybele, which was returned to its native home of Turkey’s Afyonkarahisar will...

The exciting discovery of a 4000-year-old stone box grave in western Norway

10 November 2023

10 November 2023

Archaeologists report an extremely important 4,000-year-old stone box grave has been unearthed in Western Norway, describing it as the most...

Newly discovered inscribed brick may reveal Elamite water supply system in Western Iran

15 January 2024

15 January 2024

Archaeologists discovered a brick inscribed with Akkadian script, marking the Elamite water supply system, alongside some intricately patterned bricks in...

A small temple discovered in the ancient city of Selinunte, one of the largest and most important ancient Greek cities in southern Italy

9 August 2024

9 August 2024

Recent excavations in the ancient Magna Graecia city of Selinunte in southwestern Sicily have revealed the presence of a new...

134 ancient settlements discovered north of Hadrian’s Wall

26 May 2022

26 May 2022

134 ancient settlements have been found during a survey of the region north of Hadrian’s Wall in the United Kingdom....

“Nikasitimos Was Here Mounting Timiona,” 2,500-year-old erotic graffiti on Astypalaia, Greece

7 April 2024

7 April 2024

In 2014, an archaeologist working on Astypalaia, a remote Greek island of the Dodecanese discovered one of the world’s oldest...

Britain’s oldest decoratively piece of carved wood discovered in a layer of peat

8 June 2023

8 June 2023

A heavily notched oak timber found in a peat layer during construction work turned out to be the oldest piece...