Family Burials from Second Intermediate Period Uncovered West of Luxor

An archaeological mission, led by Mostafa Waziri, Secretary General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, revealed the burials of families from the thirteenth dynasty of the Second Intermediate Period, during excavations in the Dra' Abu el-Naga cemetery on the western mainland in Luxor.

Waziri explained that the discovery is the first of its kind in the region, with a width of about 50 meters and a length of 70 meters.

More than 30 burial wells have been discovered within these tombs of similar designs and construction, including a burial well for a minister named "Ankho", who lived in this era during the reign of King Sobekhotep II.

The well contains an entire pink granite sarcophagus bearing his name and weighing about ten tons.

Inside one of the discovered wells, a small funerary stela was found decorated with a scene depicting its owner, while making offerings to King Sobekhotep II. Waziri indicated that he held the position of assistant minister.

On his part, Fathy Yassin, the Director General of Upper Egypt Antiquities said that the mission also found a mud-brick building that was dedicated to making offerings.

Inside were various ushabti statues painted white with writings in black hieratic script, along with a large collection of amulets made of faience in various shapes, such as scarabs, the sons of Horus, and a large amount of beads, in addition to hundreds of funerary seals without an inscription that distinguishes the the era prior to the New Kingdom.