Archaeologists unearth ancient pharaonic city in Egypt

Egyptian archaeologists have unearthed a 3,000-year-old lost city, complete with mud brick houses, artefacts and tools from pharaonic times.

Noted archaeologist Zahi Hawass said an Egyptian mission had discovered the mortuary city in the southern province of Luxor.

It dates back to what is considered a golden era of ancient Egypt, the period under King Amenhotep III of the 18th dynasty.

The city, built on the western bank of the Nile River, was once the largest administrative and industrial settlement of the pharaonic empire, he added.

Last year, archaeologists started excavating in the area searching for the mortuary temple of King Tutankhamun.

However, within weeks, the statement said, archaeologists found mud brick formations that eventually turned out to be a well-preserved large city.

“The archaeological layers have laid untouched for thousands of years, left by the ancient residents as if it were yesterday,” the press release said.

The newly unearthed city is located between the temple of King Rameses III and the colossi of Amenhotep III on the west bank of the Nile River in Luxor.

Betsy Brian, professor of Egyptology at Johns Hopkins University, said the discovery of the lost city was the most important archaeological find since the tomb of Tutankhamun.

King Tut became a household name and helped renew interest in ancient Egypt when his tomb in the Valley of the Kings was discovered nearly fully intact in 1922.

Some mud bricks bear the seal of King Amenhotep III’s cartouche, or name insignia.