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Integrated ancient city uncovered in Karnak, dating back to 2000 BC
A joint Egyptian-French mission has uncovered the oldest city and settlement dating back to the Middle Kingdom in the archaeological area of the Karnak Temple.
This discovery was made during excavation work in the temple area.
The excavations revealed a complete city in the far southeastern corner of the temple, dating back to the period 2050-1710 BC.
This is the second discovery this year in the same area.
Archaeological sources at the Karnak Temple confirmed that the discovered city lies between the ancient mud-brick wall built by King Thutmose III of the 18th Dynasty (New Kingdom), and the massive wall surrounding the Karnak temple complex, which dates back to the reign of King Nectanebo I of the 30th Dynasty.
Restoration work
On the sidelines of his visit to Luxor, the Secretary-General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities Mohamed Ismail Khaled inspected the restoration and rehabilitation project of the 'southern chapels' of the Temple of Akhmenu in the Karnak Temple complex.
Khaled said that the restoration work on the Akhmenu complex included cleaning, structural and meticulous restoration, as well as complete documentation of the inscriptions and religious scenes.
During his stay in Luxor Governorate, the Secretary-General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities also inspected the work being carried out by several Egyptian missions affiliated with the Supreme Council of Antiquities at several archaeological sites.
These included the Egyptian mission's excavation site in al-Asasif area in Qurna, and the excavation site of the Egyptian archaeological mission in Nagaa Abu-Asaba area in Karnak.
He explained that the mission was able to uncover a group of small wooden children's coffins in the al-Asasif area, most of which were in a very poor state of preservation.
All coffins were devoid of inscriptions or writing.
