‘Once in a lifetime find’ Hundreds of human skulls uncovered in Egyptian tomb

King Tutankhamun is one of the most famous ancient Egyptian pharaohs, largely due to the discovery of his remarkably well-preserved tomb almost 100 years ago. With more than 5,000 artefacts, the discovery of his tomb sparked a renewed interest in ancient Egypt. Known colloquially as ‘King Tut’, tourists have flocked to the area just to see some of his treasure.

Tours first began almost 60 years ago, with international exhibitions also shown across the world, at places including the Louvre in Paris and Los Angeles.

The full Tutankhamun collection, gathered from all Egyptian museums and storerooms, will be on display next year at the new Grand Egyptian Museum in Cairo.

Less than a mile away from King Tut’s tomb in the Valley of Kings, near Thebes, Egypt, archaeologists made an equally impressive discovery.

In the National Geographic documentary ‘Lost Treasures of Egypt’, which aired last month, archaeologist Ezz El Noby entered a recently opened tomb.

The documentary’s narrator said the contents of the tomb may have remained unseen by human eyes for some 3,000 years.

The discovery was made in Luxor, the city in which the ruins of the ancient city of Thebes lie today.

After just a day working on the tomb’s entrance, Mr El Noby and his team had cleared it enough to go inside.

Upon entering the tomb, he said: “Oh my God, wow.

“A lot of human remains, a lot of skeletons.”

After briefly exiting the tomb to collect some better lighting equipment, he returned, and was even more amazed.

He said: “Skulls everywhere. There’s hundreds of skulls, hundreds of human remains.

“It is a very big discovery.

“The biggest discovery of my career.”

The tomb, according to the documentary’s narrator, is a “once in a lifetime find”.

More and more discoveries like this are being made on a regular basis after archaeologists announced in April that they had discovered the “lost golden city of Luxor”.

Thebes had been the ancient Egyptian capital for more than 150 years, but it was abandoned some 3,400 years ago by Tutankhkamum’s father Akhetaten.

Initially discovered in September 2020, archaeologists have barely scratched the surface of the site, with an impressive level of preservation throughout.

Speaking to National Geographic in April, archaeologist Salima Ikram said of the site: “There’s no doubt about it; it really is a phenomenal find.

“It’s very much a snapshot in time — an Egyptian version of Pompeii.”

Among the more recent discoveries include the only known example of a pregnant mummy, believed to date back to the first century B.C., as well as three ancient stone ram heads.

Situated on the recently opened Avenue of the Sphinxes in Luxor, the ram was believed to have been a symbol of the god Amun-Ra.

Once lined with around 700 statues, the Avenue of the Sphinxes connected Karnak Temple with Luxor Temple.

It was opened to the public at the end of November after the completion of restoration works spanning some seven decades.

With the opening of the long-awaited Grand Egyptian Museum, as well as the centenary of the discovery of King Tut’s tomb, 2022 marks a landmark year for Egypt and its tourism industry.

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