Egypt discovers ancient tomb and workshops in Luxor
dpa
LUXOR, EGYPT (dpa)– Egyptian archaeologists have unearthed ancient workshops and a tomb in the southern city of Luxor, leading archaeologist Zahi Hawass said on Thursday.
The 30 workshops, from the 18th dynasty (1550-1292 BC), were set up to manufacture wood, pottery and funerary items, he told reporters.
Hawass, a former minister of antiquities, is the head of the Egyptian expedition that made the discoveries.
The archaeologists also found a grave with an entrance similar to the one on the famed tomb of boy pharaoh Tutankhamun, discovered in Luxor in 1922, Hawass said.
Gold pieces, a silver seal and mummification remnants were found inside the newly discovered tomb.
King Tut, as he is popularly known, was nine years old when he became an Egyptian pharaoh. He ruled between 1333 and 1323 BC as one of the last kings of the 18th dynasty.
The treasure of King Tut will be the centrepiece of the new Egyptian Grand Museum, which is being constructed near the famous Giza Pyramids.
In recent years, Egypt has announced a string of ancient discoveries in different parts of the country.
Authorities hope that the discoveries will help revive the country's tourism industry, a main source of national income.
The industry has been hard hit by the unrest that followed a 2011 uprising and a spate of militant attacks after the army's 2013 ouster of the country's first democratically elected but divisive Islamist president Mohammed Morsi.
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