Flood Prevention Work Uncovers Unknown Egyptian Tomb

The moment you first step inside a newly found ancient tomb is exciting and unnerving in equal measure. Archaeologist Carina van den Hoven got to experience that firsthand this year, though she wasn’t even looking for a new tomb when she found one.

A Discovery Born From a Conservation Project

Van den Hoven directs an international research team working in the Theban necropolis, a UNESCO World Heritage Site near Luxor, Egypt. The team’s main goal isn’t discovery for its own sake. They’re implementing a conservation and risk management program for the necropolis of Lower Sheikh Abd el-Qurna, an area especially vulnerable to flash flooding because of its position at the foot of the Theban mountain. While clearing debris and excavating to redirect floodwater away from known tombs, the team unexpectedly came across one nobody had ever recorded.

What the Tomb Looks Like Inside

Before entering, the team had no idea whether the ceiling had collapsed, whether looters had gotten there first, or whether the tomb had survived intact. Its layout turned out typical of elite Theban tombs from the New Kingdom period, roughly 1550 to 1069 BC, when Thebes served as Egypt’s capital and main religious and political center. An outer courtyard includes a mudbrick platform with a niche for a stela and a staircase flanked by ramps leading down into the tomb. Inside the rock-cut chapel, well-preserved paintings show the main tomb owner adoring various deities inside shrines, and sitting beside his wife in front of an offering table piled with bread, beer, fruit, meat, and flowers.

Identifying the Tomb’s Owner

Based on the iconography and painting style, the team dated the tomb to the Ramesside period, roughly 1292 to 1069 BC, named for the many pharaohs called Ramesses who ruled during that time. A preliminary look at the decoration identified the tomb’s main owner as a male official named Paser. The paintings remain covered in a layer of dirt, and van den Hoven’s team expects a conservation specialist’s cleaning work to reveal more about Paser’s identity, his position within Ramesside society, and the other people, possibly family members or later reusers of the tomb, connected to the space. One of the team’s ongoing research questions concerns why officials of this period chose to reuse, modify, or build new tombs directly beside monuments from the earlier 18th Dynasty.

A Race Against a Changing Climate

The Theban necropolis covers roughly 10 square kilometers and served as Egypt’s primary royal and elite burial ground for around 500 years, beginning about 1550 BC. It includes globally famous sites like the Valley of the Kings and Valley of the Queens alongside hundreds of private elite tombs. Van den Hoven’s team has worked in the area since 2018 in partnership with Egypt’s Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities. Climate change is expected to increase the frequency and intensity of flash flooding in the coming years, a serious threat capable of triggering salt crystal growth, loss of painted decoration, and even structural collapse. Lower Sheikh Abd el-Qurna has been studied far less than famous neighboring sites, and van den Hoven notes that the area is proving rich in archaeological material, offering a genuine glimpse into the daily lives, funerary beliefs, and artistry of Egypt’s ordinary officials across many centuries.

Sources

This report draws on an original account by excavation director Carina van den Hoven, published via The Conversation.