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Archaeologists in Egypt have discovered the royal tomb of an unknown king who govern the part during a riotous time 3,600 years ago .

The grave was come up within an ancient Egyptian necropolis in Abydos . The burial is located about 23 feet ( 7 meter ) underground and contains a limestone interment chamber covered with mudbrick vaults , the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities wrote in astatement . The burial chamber was earlier about 16 pes ( 5 m ) high .

A hallway made of stone blocks in an excavated tomb

Part of the 3,600-year-old tomb of the unknown Egyptian king.

The big businessman ’s sovereignty dates to the " Second Intermediate Period " ( circa 1640 to 1540 B.C. ) , when northern Egypt was ruled by a group call the Hyksos and the southern part of Egypt was controlled by multiple Egyptian kings .

Abydos , in fundamental Egypt , would have been prevail by an Egyptian king . But the name of the newfound tomb ’s owner is unknown .

" The king ’s name was primitively commemorate in painted scene on daub brickwork that decorated the hole-and-corner entrance to the limestone burial chamber , " saidJosef Wegner , a professor of Egyptology and Egyptian archaeology at the University of Pennsylvania who led the team . " However , the hieroglyphical texts were damaged by ancient tomb robber and not enough survives to read the business leader ’s name . "

a fragment of pottery with writing on it

(Image credit: Courtesy of the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities)

The grave robbers sacked the tomb , and did n’t forget any remains of the king ’s mummy or sarcophagus behind , Wegner said .

Archaeologists are still inquire the area where the tomb was found , he added . The area " may give more royal tombs of the same era [ which ] could shake off light source on identity and ownership of this new royal grave , " Wegner told Live Science in an email .

Anna - Latifa Mourad - Cizek , an adjunct professor of Egyptian archeology at the University of Chicago who is not necessitate in the dig called the discovery " highly significant . " It " add to a very special consistence of evidence on the rulers of this region " and will provide more grounds on what the Second Intermediate Period was like in this part of Egypt , she tell Live Science in an electronic mail .

A hallway made of stone blocks in an excavated tomb

(Image credit: Courtesy of the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities)

This is the second uncovering of a tomb belonging to an Egyptian baron announced so far this year . In February 2025 , another group of archaeologists reported that they hadfound the grave of Thutmose IIto the west of the Valley of the Kings . Pharaoh Thutmose II was the half chum and husband ofHatshepsut . Queen Hatshepsut ascended the throne after Thutmose II ’s death about 3,500 twelvemonth ago .

A pottery shard , known as an ostraca , that has the Egyptian script Demotic written on it .

The newly chance on king ’s grave , which was plundered in ancient times .

Reconstruction of an early Cretaceous landscape in what is now southern Australia.

Pottery workshop

— Thutmose II grave discovery set up new mysteries : Where is his mummy , and why was n’t he entomb in the Valley of the Kings ?

— 4,100 - year - old tomb of doctor who treated pharaohs discovered at Saqqara

— Severed hired man buried in ancient Egyptian castle were likely ' trophies ' exchanged for gold

a photo of an eye looking through a keyhole

In addition to the new get wind tomb , archaeologists uncovered the remains of a clayware and glass workshop at Banawit , a village located due north of Abydos . The workshop dates to a time when theRoman Empirecontrolled Egypt ( 30 B.C to A.D. 642 ) , the ministry state in the program line . It contains a gravid phone number of kilns along with extensive storage areas .

Within the workshop , archaeologists find 32 ostraca — writing on clayware shards — that discuss commercial transactions and how revenue enhancement were pay , the ministry report . The ostraca were written in Greek and Demotic , an Egyptian script .

Between the seventh and 14th centuries A.D. , the shop was reused as a cemetery , and the cadaver of families were get within it .

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