A team of archaeologists has discovered a large limestone burial chamber belonging to an unidentified ancient Egyptian pharaoh near the historic city of Abydos, dating back around 3,600 years to a turbulent period in Egypt’s past.
The tomb, located seven meters (23 feet) underground in the Anubis Mountain necropolis, was revealed by experts from the University of Pennsylvania Museum and Egyptian archaeologists. It is the second royal tomb discovered this year.
Though originally adorned with inscriptions, the pharaoh’s name was erased by ancient tomb robbers. The chamber’s entrance had once displayed hieroglyphic texts and paintings of the goddesses Isis and Nephthys, according to Josef Wegner, an Egyptologist from the University of Pennsylvania leading the excavation. Possible candidates for the tomb’s occupant include Senaiib and Paentjeni, rulers known from Abydos monuments but whose final resting places had remained a mystery.
The burial site, constructed with five-meter (16-foot) high mudbrick vaults, dates back to the Second Intermediate Period (1640–1540 BC), a time of political fragmentation before the rise of the powerful New Kingdom. The Abydos Dynasty, one of several rival kingdoms during this era, controlled parts of Upper Egypt while the Hyksos ruled the Nile Delta.
“The political history of this period is still not fully understood, but it played a crucial role in shaping Egypt’s future,” said Wegner.
The tomb was built within the larger burial complex of Neferhotep I, an earlier and influential pharaoh. Wegner’s team had previously uncovered the tomb of another Abydos Dynasty ruler, Seneb-Kay, in 2014. Ongoing excavations suggest more undiscovered royal burials in the area.
This discovery comes just weeks after Egypt’s Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities announced the identification of a New Kingdom tomb near Luxor as that of Pharaoh Thutmose II.
