Featured Image Credit: Mahmoud Khaled/Getty Images
Topics: History, Egypt, World News
Callum Jones
After a whopping 3,000 years, experts have finally unearthed the 'lost city of gold' near Luxor in Egypt.
The finds of the city lost to the sands of Egypt was dubbed one of the most important archaeological finds since Tutankhamun's tomb when it was discovered in 2020.
It was egyptologist Zahi Hawass who announced the ground-breaking find in April 2021, which was the largest ancient city ever uncovered in Egypt.
The city, known as Aten, dates back to when Amenhotep III was in power, who ruled the African country from 1391 to 1353 BC and is still regraded as one of the country's most powerful pharaohs to this day.
Advert
Betsy Brian, professor of Egyptology at Johns Hopkins University, said: "The discovery of this lost city is the second most important archaeological discovery since the tomb of Tutankhamun."
Meanwhile, Dr. Zahi Hawass added: "Within weeks, to the team's great surprise, formations of mud bricks began to appear in all directions. What they unearthed was the site of a large city in a good condition of preservation, with almost complete walls, and with rooms filled with tools of daily life."
Excavations of the site were completed this week, with the team finding buildings, religious temples and bath houses.
While many incredible artefacts were found amongst the rubble, it's a collection of pottery and stone inscribed with greeks scripts that have perked the interests of researchers.
They believe the find shows the ancient city was multicultural, which reflects the diversity of its subsequent inhabitants.
The Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities said in a statement: "After two years of dedicated work, Egypt’s Ministry of Tourism & Antiquities, represented by the Supreme Council of Antiquities, has successfully completed the 'Reviving the Ancient City of Gold' project at Jabal Sukari, southwest of Marsa Alam in the Red Sea Governorate.
"This achievement was made in collaboration with the Sukari Mine administration, following all necessary legal and administrative procedures and securing approval from the Permanent Committee for Egyptian Antiquities.
"As part of the project, extensive archaeological excavations, documentation, and restoration efforts were carried out to preserve the architectural elements uncovered at the site.
"These elements were then relocated to a secure area three kilometers north of the original location, outside the active modern mining zone at Sukari Mine."
After unearthing the 'lost city' and discovering some incredible finds, officials say the site is now open to researchers, as well as the general public.