Egyptian breakthrough as archaeologists make 3500-year-old find at female pharaoh temple | World | News




Archaeologists have made an incredible discovery in the Egyptian city of Luxor.  

A mortuary built by a woman who ruled Egypt was found in the area of Deir al-Bahari.

The excavation team led by former head of Egypt's Ministry of Antiquities, Zahi Hawass, found the temple's "foundation deposit" which is a collection of objects that the ancient builders buried at the time of constructing the temple.

An adze, a tool used to cut and shape wood, a wooden hammer, two chisels, a wooden cast model for making mud bricks, and two stones, were among the artifacts found at the site.

It was built by Hatsheput, a female pharaoh who reigned from around 1473 to 1458 B.C, during the 18th dynasty. She was also the stepmother of Thutmose III, who severed as co-ruler at times and the succeeded after her death.

The two stones contained Hatsheput's cartouches and ovals with hieroglyphs, which Zahi Hawass, told Live Science, can represent a ruler's name.

In ancient times, the mortuary temple was known as Djeser Djeseru and inscriptions on the adze, hammer, cast model and one of the chisels reads: "the good god Neb Matt Re, in the temple Djeser Djeseru, beloved by Amun," according to Zahi Hawass.

Amun was the chief god of Thebes - now Luxor and the words "Neb Maat Re" is a reference to the name and some of the titles of the sun god Re, also known as Ra.

The archaeologists also found 1,500 colourful stone blocks which were part of the pharaoh's valley temple and some of the decorations on the blocks can still be seen today.

Zahi Hawass also revealed that it was Hatsheput's stepson who restored the mortuary temple after her death. While some of her inscriptions across Egpyt were destroyed, Thutmose III was able to restore her temple.

Whilst the discovery of the temple is remarkable, it wasn't the only thing the team discovered - in fact they made a number of find, including a cemetery dating back to the 17th dynastry, when certain areas in Egypt were controlled by foreign people called the Hyksos.

The cemetery contained coffins which held the remains of ancient Egyptians and while excavating the site they also found remains of bows and arrowheads.



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Posted: 2025-01-22 03:55:48

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