Donkeys, kids behind Unearthing Precious Treasures

Coincidence always is a key player the field of Archaeology. Therefore, archaeologists carry huge ambitions to leave a mark in the history by unearthing tombs where animals and coincidence play a huge role in such discoveries.

For example, the Catacombs of Kom el Shoqafa were discovered by Al Sayed Mansour’s donkey that fell into a 12-meter depth hall. This accident drove the residents of the city to search for this fall’s reason. Therefore, they found those amusing tombs.

In 1900, Howard Carter, the discoverer of King Tutankhamun’s tomb, horse was tripped into a hole. Carter checked the hole, and found that it led to a stairs of a tomb where he discovered Mentuhotep II’s tomb. He also found Mentuhotep II’s famous statue that exhibited at the Egyptian Museum in Tahrir.

Next in 1922, the archaeologist made the greatest discovery in the 20th century, unveiling the tomb of the golden king Tutankhamun. Discovered by an accident, the donkey of a young boy, Hussein Abdel Rasoul who belong to the family that found DB 320, helped in finding the tomb.

During carrying a container of water, the donkey walked into an unknown destination in the desert and it was followed by the boy who found himself in a remote place. Shortly, the boy started to put the water containers on the ground where he touched the earliest step in the stairs which led to Tutankhamun’s tomb.

Unearthed by Dr. Zahi Hawass in 1997, the Valley of the Golden Mummies was also discovered by chance. Sheikh Abdel Maugod, the guard of Alexander the Great Temple, observed his donkey running while sensing fear.

He checked the point where his donkey felt terrible, next, he found a hole carrying several smiley faces of gold.

Moreover, a horse leg’s ridden by a tourist was the reason for unveiling the tombs of Pyramids builders.

One of the incidents also is Ahmed ibn Tulun’s discovery for treasure of gold. During one of his tours in the Sahara, ibn Tulun’s horse tripped into a hole where he found treasure of gold that funded the building of his mosque.

Contributed by: Rana Atef