Archaeologists Discover 3,000-Year-Old Tomb in Luxor

Ramesside Period and Theban Tomb Type

The structure consists of an open inner courtyard leading to a rock-cut chapel in the shape of an inverted "T." Beneath the chapel are underground burial chambers. In the courtyard, the archaeologists found a staircase flanked by ramps leading up to the entrance of the chapel.

In the inner courtyard, the experts also discovered several well-preserved architectural elements, including a bench made of Nile mud bricks on which a gravestone, a so-called stele, could be placed. Such benches are known from Theban burial complexes of the New Kingdom.

Construction and Finds in the Courtyard

Inside the chapel, inscriptions bear the name Paser. They show the tomb owner during the cult of various deities in shrines. Further depictions show Paser seated together with his wife before an offering table, a motif that refers to the funerary cult and the provision of the deceased in the afterlife.

Leiden University has been conducting excavations in the western Theban area for years. The Sheikh Abd el-Qurna necropolis is one of the most important burial sites of ancient Egypt and houses numerous rock-cut tombs of high officials and priests from the New Kingdom.

Significance for Research

With the discovery, the picture of the Theban necropolis is expanded by another Ramesside tomb. Egypt's Ministry of Antiquities assessed the find as an important contribution to the study of the administrative and priestly elite of the time.

According to the ministry, the exact function of Paser within the administration of the New Kingdom is still the subject of further investigations. Future excavation work is intended to fully document the inscriptions and further uncover the underground chambers.

The Luxor region, ancient Thebes, has been a focal point of Egyptian archaeology for decades. Finds such as Paser's tomb are regularly published by the Ministry of Antiquities to promote both scientific research and cultural tourism on the western bank of the Nile.