UK's archaeologist unveils ancient Egyptian secret

In a groundbreaking discovery that could reshape understanding of ancient Egypt, UK's archaeologist and his team have unearthed the first rock-cut pharaoh's tomb in nearly a century. 

Uncovering a tomb of a long-lost pharaoh is an extraordinary achievement for any archaeologist, but discovering a second one is beyond even the most ambitious expectations, researchers have released an article via The Guardian. 

UK's archaeologist Piers Litherland has recently made a groundbreaking announcement, revealing that his team had discovered the first rock-cut pharaoh's tomb in Egypt since the famous discovery of Tutankhamun’s tomb in 1922.

Litherland's team unearthed the tomb of Pharaoh Thutmose II beneath a waterfall in the Theban mountains in Luxor, located about 3 kilometers west of the Valley of the Kings. While the tomb was found mostly filled with debris and believed to have been flooded and emptied shortly after Thutmose II’s death in 1479 BC, the discovery marks an important milestone in Egyptian archaeology.

But Litherland is not stopping there. In an interview with the Observer, he shared that he believes he has located the site of a second tomb belonging to Thutmose II, and he suspects this one may contain the mummified body of the young pharaoh, along with his burial treasures.

Archaeologists have long speculated that the second tomb has been hidden in plain sight for over 3,500 years, concealed beneath 23 meters of limestone flakes, rubble, ash, and mud plaster, designed to blend seamlessly into the mountain landscape.

“There are 23 metres of a pile of man-made layers sitting above a point in the landscape where we believe – and we have other confirmatory evidence – there is a monument concealed beneath,” said Litherland. “The best candidate for what is hidden underneath this enormously expensive, in terms of effort, pile is the second tomb of Thutmose II.”

While searching near the first tomb for clues about the fate of its contents after the flood, Litherland uncovered a posthumous inscription buried in a pit with a cow sacrifice. The inscription suggests that Thutmose II’s wife and half-sister, Hatshepsut – one of Egypt’s greatest and rare female pharaohs – may have relocated the tomb's contents to an undiscovered second tomb nearby.

Last week, the New Kingdom Research Foundation, a British independent academic body, and the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities officially announced that Litherland’s team uncovered the first tomb in 2022 after more than a decade of excavation.

For nearly a year, Litherland and his team of Egyptian archaeologists – “discoveries like this are not made by individuals,” he says – have been working diligently to gain access to the second tomb. The team has been excavating 3,500-year-old man-made layers of rock and plaster that surround it.

At the top of these layers, Litherland described the presence of large limestone flakes, some the size of a dining room table, along with tufa (a type of flaky limestone forming cement), rubble, and mud plaster. He added that among the ash, they found the remains of beer jars and chisel ends, confirming that these layers were man-made.

Although any tomb underneath these layers would have been well concealed, Litherland’s team faced additional challenges during the excavation. The ancient Egyptians, he explained, had “levered away large portions of the cliff and made them come crashing down on top.” These massive rocks, some the size of a car, were cemented in place using limestone plaster.

Litherland and his team are now focused on removing these rocks and plaster by hand: “We’ve tried to tunnel into it, we’ve tried to shave away the sides, but there are overhanging rocks, so it’s too dangerous,” Litherland explained.

Three weeks ago, Litherland, along with his foreman Mohamed Sayed Ahmed and archaeological director Mohsen Kamel, made the decision to remove the entire structure, which stands out from the cliff. They are currently halfway through the process and estimate that they will complete the removal in about a month.

“We should be able to take the whole thing down in about another month,” Litherland concluded, adding that the discovery of the second tomb could be just around the corner.

By Naila Huseynova