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"The mission expects to uncover untouched tombs filled with treasures," the statement added.Īfter years of political instability following the Arab Spring uprising of 2011, which dealt a severe blow to Egypt's tourism industry, the country is seeking to bring back visitors, in particular by promoting its ancient heritage. The team said they were optimistic that further important finds would be revealed, noting they had discovered groups of tombs reached through "stairs carved into the rock", a similar construction to those found in the Valley of the Kings. Manf, Mn nfr, or Memphis is an ancient Egyptian city - one of the World Heritage Sites - and it was founded in 3200 BC by King Narmer. "The archaeological layers have laid untouched for thousands of years, left by the ancient residents as if it were yesterday," the team's statement said.īryan said the city "will give us a rare glimpse into the life of the ancient Egyptians at the time where the empire was at his wealthiest". He ruled for nearly four decades, a reign known for its opulence and the grandeur of its monuments, including the Colossi of Memnon - two massive stone statues near Luxor that represent him and his wife. "What they unearthed was the site of a large city in a good condition of preservation, with almost complete walls, and with rooms filled with tools of daily life."Īfter seven months of excavations, several neighbourhoods have been uncovered, including a bakery complete with ovens and storage pottery, as well as administrative and residential districts.Īmenhotep III inherited an empire that stretched from the Euphrates River in modern Iraq and Syria to Sudan and died around 1354 BC, ancient historians say. "Within weeks, to the team's great surprise, formations of mud bricks began to appear in all directions," the statement said. The team began excavations in September 2020, between the temples of Ramses III and Amenhotep III near Luxor, some 500 kilometres (300 miles) south of Cairo. Ancient Egyptian cities and towns have until recently been one of the least-studied and least-published aspects of this great ancient civilization. "Many foreign missions searched for this city and never found it," said Hawass, a former antiquities minister. Items of jewellery have been unearthed, along with coloured pottery vessels, scarab beetle amulets and mud bricks bearing seals of Amenhotep III. The team called the find "the largest" ancient city ever uncovered in Egypt.īetsy Bryan, professor of Egyptian art and archaeology at Johns Hopkins University, said the find was the "second most important archeological discovery since the tomb of Tutankhamun" nearly a century ago, according to the team's statement.