3,000-year-old city unearthed in Egypt
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Archeologists on Saturday showed off their finds at what they say is the 鈥渓argest鈥 ancient city ever found in Egypt, dating to a golden age of the pharaohs 3,000 years ago.
At the site near Luxor, home of the legendary Valley of the Kings, workers carefully carried ancient pots and showed human and animal remains dug up from the earth as members of the media toured around curved brick walls and rudimentary streets.
鈥淭his is a large city that was lost. It was connected with the god Aton and Amenhotep III,鈥 famed Egyptologist Zahi Hawass told reporters on Saturday.
鈥淲e found three major districts: one for administration, one for workers to sleep in and another for industry,鈥 he said.
Spaces include workshops for drying meat, making clothes and sandals, and crafting amulets and small statues.
Mostafa Waziri, head of the country鈥檚 Supreme Council of Antiquities, said the site was not limited to buildings.
鈥淲e can see ... economic activity, workshops and ovens,鈥 he noted.
Hawass had earlier in the week announced the discovery of a 鈥渓ost golden city,鈥 and the archeological team said the find was 鈥渢he largest鈥 ancient city ever uncovered in Egypt. 鈥淲e found one portion of the city only,鈥 Hawass said on Saturday. 鈥淭he city extends to the west and the north.鈥
The team began excavations in September between the temples of Ramses III and Amenhotep III near Luxor, some 500 kilometers south of Cairo.
Amenhotep III inherited an empire that stretched from the Euphrates River in modern Iraq and Syria to Sudan and died around 1354 BC, ancient historians say.
He ruled for nearly four decades, a reign known for its opulence and the grandeur of its monuments, including the Colossi of Memnon 鈥 two massive stone statues near Luxor that represent him and his wife.
Betsy Bryan, professor of Egyptian art and archeology at Johns Hopkins University, had said in a statement that the find was the 鈥渟econd most important archeological discovery since the tomb of Tutankhamun鈥 nearly a century ago.
鈥淭he archeological layers have laid untouched for thousands of years, left by the ancient residents as if it were yesterday,鈥 the team鈥檚 statement said.
Archeologists have unearthed items of jewelry, colored pottery vessels, scarab beetle amulets and mud bricks bearing seals of Amenhotep III.
Hawass said 鈥渁 large fish covered in gold鈥 may have been venerated.
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