They revealed more details about the shocking 3,000-year-old Pharaonic city found beneath the sands of Egypt

Workshops, ovens, brick walls, pottery and jewelry: the city of craftsmen linked to King Amenhotep III, dating back more than 3000 years, was presented to the press on Saturday by the Egyptian authorities, along with a group of the world’s most prestigious archaeologists.

“We only found part of the city”Zahi Hawass, archaeologist and former Minister of Antiquities, said Saturday morning amid the ruins of the ancient city on the west bank of the Nile near Luxor in the south of the country.

According to, “The city stretches west and north.” “It really is a great lost city … The inscription found here says that this city was called ‘The dazzling Aten’”He told reporters at the scene.

It is “The largest administrative and industrial establishment from the time of the Egyptian Empire on the west bank of Luxor”, located on the Nile, said the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities in a statement, which described the find as “The largest city ever found in Egypt.”

Excavations in the city buried under the sand for millennia, will continue for a few more yearsexplains the archaeologist who has carried out the work since September 2020.

A series of clay brick walls, as well as streets that pass between the buildings are visible today on the site of the discovery.

“We found three main quarters: one for administration, a dormitory for workers and one for industry “Hawass said, before adding that another location was reserved for the production of cured meat.

Among other discoveries, Hawass quotes “A place for sewing, for making sandals”, as well as “molds for amulets” and small statues. Archaeologists too they found a “great fish covered in gold” that was perhaps revered, according to Hawass.

According to the archaeologist, it is also about “the most important discovery since Tutankhamun’s tomb” in 1922.

Hawas explained that “Many foreign missions had searched for this city and had not found it“And, according to the Ministry of Antiquities,” the archaeological layers have remained intact for thousands of years, as if their former residents had left them yesterday. “

For his part, José Galan, head of the Spanish mission Dra Abu el Naga, near the site of the ancient city, recognizes that it is a “fantastic discovery”. “We are more used to discoveries linked to temples and tombs (…) and not so much related to human settlements», Says the Spanish archaeologist.

However, he said the findings need to be analyzed. “It is too early to draw any conclusions”, he says.

According to archaeologists, the city discovered dates from King Amenhotep III, who ascended to the throne in 1391 BC., and whose palace is located nearby The dating was established thanks to stamps affixed to the ceramics. The city is also linked to God Aten.

“It’s not just a city, you can also see economic activity, workshops, ovensMostafa Waziri, general secretary of Egypt’s General Antiquities Council, added to the media.

Betsy Brian, professor of Egyptology at American Johns Hopkins University, asserted that “The Rise of Aten” will not only take a look at the life of the ancient Egyptians at a time when “the Empire was at its peak”, but it will also bring to light “one of the greatest mysteries in history: Why did Akhenaton and Nefertiti decide to move to Amarna ”, the region in which a new imperial capital was built in the 16th century BC.

In addition, the specialist said that the discovery is “exceptional in terms of its scope and organization”.

The discovery was announced Thursday in a press release from the archaeological mission.

Egypt, which seeks to bring back tourists after years of instability, had already valued its archaeological heritage last week by organizing a high-profile parade of pharaoh mummies in Cairo.

In January, the authorities revealed to the public a fifty sarcophagi over 3,000 years old. These “treasures” had been discovered at Saqqarah, about fifteen kilometers south of the famous pyramids of the Giza plateau.

Several archaeologists, including the Egyptian Tarek Farag, claimed that the area in which the discovery was made was excavated over 100 years ago and that the city in question was found there.

But according to Waziri and Hawass, the previous excavations, a hundred years ago, had not been carried out in the same place, but further south.

Archaeologists began excavations in the area last year in search of the mortuary temple of the infant king Tutankhamun. However, weeks later, they found adobe formations that turned out to be a large, well-preserved city.

With information from AFP, EFE, AP

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