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While the Rosetta stone and some of the most famous discoveries in Egyptology were made long ago, some more recent discoveries have been equally spectacular in both appearance and historical heft. To identify ten significant finds from the last 20 years, Smithsonian.com consulted with two eminent scholars: Josef Wegner at the University of Pennsylvania Museum in Philadelphia and Betsy M. Bryan at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland.
1. KV 5
Discovered: 1987
Dates to: 1290-1224 B.C.
Place: Valley of the Kings
This massive complex of more than 100 chambers was called the largest royal tomb in Egypt when it was found in the Valley of the Kings 20 years ago. Initially, U.S. archaeologist Kent R. Weeks believed he'd located the mausoleum of Ramses II's principal sons (the powerful ruler had 52 of them).
Weeks didn't actually discover the tomb; an English Egyptologist, James Burton, explored KV 5 in 1825 and mapped a few of the rooms. Afterward, however, the entrance was lost until Weeks and his crew relocated it.
To date, they've identified 121 corridors and rooms inside the ruins. Weeks speculates that when the painstaking excavation and conservation work is completed, KV 5 could have more than 150 rooms.
2. Worker Cemetery
Discovered: 1990
Dates to: 2575-2134 B.C.
Place: Giza
While many imaginative souls believe aliens built the pyramids at Giza, the people responsible were actually earthly beings, skilled and unskilled. And thousands of them were buried in mud-brick structures located south of the Great Sphinx.
Egypt's renowned dean of antiquities, Zahi Hawass, had theorized that this was the case. But only after a tourist's horse stumbled over a sandy ruin did he have proof. The laborers and their overseers were buried in modest replicas of the grand edifices they erected for kings and queens. Inscriptions and bones tell stories of the workers and how physically demanding it was to construct a pyramid.
3. Alexandria Ruins and Artifacts
Discovered: 1994
Dates to: 332-330 B.C.
Place: Alexandria's harbor
Two teams of French underwater archaeologists plunged beneath the waves off the coastline to explore this busy port's Ptolemaic past. The first group, led by Jean-Yves Empereur, found several 36-foot-long granite blocks that he believed came from the lighthouse at Pharos, one of the Seven Wonders of the World. The second group, led by Frank Goddio, found remains of a palace. These discoveries and others give a sense of how grand the area around the fabled lighthouse must have been. And since the new city has been built right atop the old, going underwater is one of the easier ways to dig up the past.
4. Valley of the Golden Mummies
Discovered: 1996
Dates to: 330 B.C.-A.D. 300
Place: Bahariya Oasis
A donkey's stumble led to the discovery of an amazing necropolis of thousands of mummies, some which were adorned in gold. The cemetery in the Western Desert was the last resting place for residents of an oasis that thrived on wine production. Most of the mummies found so far are from the years when Greece and then Rome ruled Egypt. Ongoing excavations have helped historians learn much about this period.
5. Tomb of Maia, Wet Nurse of King Tutankhamun
Discovered: 1997
Dates to: circa 1335 B.C.
Place: Saqqara
Cobbling together the biography of the boy-king Tutankhamun got a little easier when the French archaeologist Alain-Pierre Zivie found the tomb of Tut's wet nurse, Maia, "the one who has fed the god's body." A carving of her dandling the baby on her knee adorns one of the walls.
Excavations here and throughout Saqqara are key to learning about what went on during the Amarna Period when Tut's father, Akhenaten, held the throne. Often called the heretic king, Akhenaten abolished polytheism and moved the capital from Thebes to a new city named Akhenaten. After his death, polytheism returned, and the capital moved back to Thebes.
Wasn't Queen Tiy the mother and not the wife of Akhenaten? I think Tiy was the wife of Amenhotep III and Akhenaten's wife was Nefertiti. (Discovery #8 paragraph 3)
Posted by Heidi Sawatzky on November 21,2007 | 01:32PM
scarryy!
Posted by on November 21,2007 | 09:22PM
Queen Tiy was Akhenaten's mother, not his wife. She was married to Amenhotep III.
Posted by Stan Parchin on November 24,2007 | 08:05AM
Akhenaten didn't *really* abolish polytheism. He did abolish the worship of Amen and other major state gods in favor of the Aten, but the worship of smaller household gods were still allowed. This is backed up by the discovery of figurines and shrines to such lesser gods at the workmen's village at Amarna, Akhenaten's capital. Another error-- while the site is now referred to as Amarna, historically it was called Akhetaten, not to be confused with Akhenaten, the one who built it. Again, regarding the polytheism-- after Akhenaten's death, worship of the Aten was abolished, and worship of Amen and other major state gods was reestablished.
Posted by Dan Carpenter on December 11,2007 | 01:48AM
It's really impressive what technology and archeologists can discover.For school i'm doing a project on new kingdom. I WANT to know how the ancient egyptians died.Also im curious about how egyptian girls were believed to have married at ages 8 or older.Its real intresting stuff!
Posted by Christian page on December 19,2007 | 03:58PM
Dear Sir Has there every been a tomb found for a Jew in Thebes Egypt? Reaspectfully Garry
Posted by Garry Matheny on December 21,2007 | 09:01AM
I am a retired US Army officer. I have been in 25 countries, including Egypt. I have 2 years in combat in RVN with PH, etc. I have sent several messages to different places regarding Alexander the Great, but they all discount me. He was buried in Alexandria in a display coffin. He and his coffin disappeared during the riots in Alexandria 100's of yeas ago. I believe he, and his coffin, were carried by six priests out of Alexandria and hidden in Egypt. They remain undisturbed. His coffin sits on six rectangular stone blocks, feet facing north. The coffin is flat on the bottom, slopes up and out and has a flat slab lid. It is light to medium green in color.If interested in retrieving it...................contact me!
Posted by Pres Kendall on March 14,2008 | 03:30PM
My question--Has there ever been any burial sites found in Egypt that will confirm the presence of Jews (Hebrews) during the time of the Pharoahs? PLEASE REPLY MyTHANKS BobB
Posted by BobBallard on June 26,2008 | 07:46AM
Can anyone tell me how gold was discovered in ancient Egypt, and how did they know how to ''work it''...............are there documents as to how this precious metal was found.
Posted by chester carone on October 30,2008 | 06:50AM
I thought she was not found !
Posted by diana mejia on February 19,2009 | 05:07PM
to Mr : Pres Kendall i am from alexandria ( Egypy ) i agree with you about Alexander the Great coffin story , pleas contact me by my email . by the way iam retired too. thank you
Posted by oss on April 1,2009 | 03:59AM