One could easily argue that everything subterranean in Egypt could be a potentially fascinating new archaeological site. (What with all the boat tombs and such.) And according to Ahram Online, Egypt’s largest news organization, the country has just uncovered yet another major find: a 3,200-year-old mummy at an ancient Egyptian king’s temple in Luxor.
Back in September, a joint Spanish-Egyptian team of archaeologists came upon a new tomb at the Temple of Millions of Years of Thutmose III on Luxor’s west bank. It belonged to a servant of the king, a nobleman by the name of Amenrenef. The mummy dates to 1070–70 B.C. Notes Ahram of the discovery:
“Mahmoud Afifi, head of the Ancient Egyptian Antiquities Department at the Ministry of Antiquities [said] … that the tomb was uncovered at the southern enclosure wall of the temple and is in a very good state of conservation. A deteriorated wooden coffin was found inside the tomb … but inside a beautiful and well-preserved mummy [sarcophagus] was found.”
Field director and Egyptologist Myriam Seco Álvarez noted to Ahram that the mummy’s multi-colored case is inscribed with a number of religious symbols, including ones relating to the sun, goddesses Isis and Nephthys with spread wings (that offered protection), and “the four sons of Horus.”
Read Ahram‘s original story here. Take a look at additional photos of the mummy’s sarcophagus below.
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