Egypt unveils ancient rock-cut tombs and burial shafts in Luxor

CAIRO (AP) — Egypt unveiled several discoveries near the famed city of Luxor on Wednesday, including ancient rock-cut tombs and burial shafts dating back 3,600 years.

They were unearthed at the causeway of Queen Hatshepsut’s funerary temple at Deir al-Bahri on the Nile’s West Bank, according to a statement released by Zahi Hawass Foundation for Antiquities & Heritage. It said it worked in tandem with the Supreme Council of Antiquities on the site since September 2022.

Artifacts found at the tombs included bronze coins with the image of Alexander the Great dating to the Time of Ptolemy I (367-283), children’s toys made of clay, cartonnage and funerary masks that covered mummies, winged scarabs, beads and funerary amulets.

Hawass told reporters that the discoveries could “reconstruct history” and offer an understanding of the type of programs ancient Egyptians designed inside a temple.

The archaeologists also found the remains of Queen Hatshepsut’s Valley Temple, rock-cut tombs dating back to the Middle Kingdom (1938 B.C. - 1630 B.C.), burial shafts from the 17th dynasty, the tomb of Djehuti-Mes and part of the Assassif Ptolemaic Necropolis.

The rock-cut tombs had been previously robbed during the Ptolemaic period and later. Still, the Egyptian teams uncovered some artifacts such as pottery tables that were used to offer bread, wine and meat.

Inside the burial shafts dating back to 1580 B.C. - 1550 B.C., anthropoid wooden coffins were found, including one that belonged to a young child. It remained intact since its burial some 3,600 years ago. War archery bows were also found inside the burial chamber, indicating that those who owned the tombs had military backgrounds and fought to liberate Egypt from the Hyksos.

Not many artifacts from Djehuti Mes’s tomb were found, but the tomb itself reveals more about Djehuti Mes, who oversaw Queen Teti Sheri’s palace. The date engraved on the Djehuti Mes’ funerary stelae indicates that the tomb goes back to the 9th year of King Ahmose I’s reign (1550 B.C. - 1525 B.C.).

Part of the extended Ptolemaic necropolis that occupied the site of the causeway and the Valley Temple was also uncovered. The tombs in the cemetery were built of mud bricks over the remains of Queen Hatshepsut’s temple. A large part of the necropolis was unearthed earlier in the 20th century but wasn’t properly documented.

In November, Egyptian and American archaeologists excavated an ancient tomb with 11 sealed burials near Luxor. The tomb, which dates to the Middle Kingdom, was found in the South Asasif necropolis, next to the Temple of Hatshepsut.

Egyptian archaeologist Zahi Hawass, the head of Zahi Hawass Foundation for Antiquities & Heritage, speaks at a recently discovered ancient rock-cut tomb at the causeway of Queen Hatshepsut's Funerary temple at Deir al-Bahri on the Nile's West Bank, in Luxor, Egypt, Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2025. (APPhoto/Khaled Elfiqi)

Recently unearthed artifacts by the mission of Zahi Hawass Foundation for Antiquities & Heritage on display at the causeway of Queen Hatshepsut's Funerary temple at Deir al-Bahri on the Nile's West Bank, in Luxor, Egypt, Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Khaled Elfiqi)

A recently discovered ancient rock-cut tomb discovered by Zahi Hawass Foundation for Antiquities & Heritage at the causeway of Queen Hatshepsut's Funerary temple at Deir al-Bahri on the Nile's West Bank, in Luxor, Egypt, Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Khaled Elfiqi)

Egyptian archaeologists restore recently discovered artifacts by the mission of the Zahi Hawass Foundation for Antiquities & Heritage, at the causeway of Queen Hatshepsut's Funerary temple, at Deir al-Bahri on the Nile's West Bank, in Luxor, Egypt, Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Khaled Elfiqi)

Two people were killed in Ukrainian drone strikes in Russian border regions, local officials said Sunday, ahead of peace talks to end the nearly 4-year-old war in Paris this week.

Belgorod regional Gov. Vyacheslav Gladkov said one person died and two others, including a young child, were wounded when a Ukrainian drone struck a car.

Another person was killed in a drone strike on a village in the Kursk region, regional Gov. Alexander Khinshtein said Sunday.

In Ukraine, three people were wounded in the Kharkiv region in drone strikes overnight into Sunday, the country’s State Emergency Service said.

Meanwhile, the death toll from a Russian missile attack on the city of Kharkiv on Friday increased to five when body parts were found under the rubble of a building, Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov said Sunday.

The latest attacks came after national security advisers from Europe and other allies visited Kyiv on Saturday to discuss security guarantees and economic support, as a U.S.-led diplomatic push to end the war in Ukraine intensifies.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, preparing to travel to Paris for a meeting with partners, said Saturday that work on the peace proposals could now accelerate as Ukraine has shared all documents under discussion with the 18 national security advisers, including those on security guarantees.

He said representatives from Ukraine’s General Staff and military sector would meet on Monday in Paris, followed by a meeting Tuesday of European leaders, where he said he hoped documents on security guarantees would be finalized. He said there also would be meetings with U.S. representatives in Paris.

Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

In this photo provided by Ukraine's 65th Mechanized Brigade press service, a soldier prepares a MILAN, a Franco-German anti-tank missile system, during a drill close to the frontline on the site of heavy battles with the Russian troops in the Zaporizhzhia region, Ukraine, Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026. (Andriy Andriyenko/Ukraine's 65th Mechanized Brigade via AP)

In this photo provided by Ukraine's 65th Mechanized Brigade press service, soldiers prepare a MILAN, a Franco-German anti-tank missile system, during a drill close to the frontline on the site of heavy battles with the Russian troops in the Zaporizhzhia region, Ukraine, Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026. (Andriy Andriyenko/Ukraine's 65th Mechanized Brigade via AP)

In this photo provided by Ukraine's 65th Mechanized Brigade press service, a soldier fires a MILAN, a Franco-German anti-tank missile system, during a drill close to the frontline on the site of heavy battles with the Russian troops in the Zaporizhzhia region, Ukraine, Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026. (Andriy Andriyenko/Ukraine's 65th Mechanized Brigade via AP)

In this photo provided by Ukraine's 65th Mechanized Brigade press service, soldiers fire an anti-tank missile system during a drill close to the frontline on the site of heavy battles with the Russian troops in the Zaporizhzhia region, Ukraine, Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026. (Andriy Andriyenko/Ukraine's 65th Mechanized Brigade via AP)

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy speaks during a briefing in Kyiv, Ukraine, Saturday, Jan. 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Danylo Antoniuk)