Archaeologists unearth 3,500-year-old tombs revealing secrets of ancient Egypt's most powerful cult

In the shadow of Luxor's western bank, where the Nile bends and the desert holds its oldest secrets, archaeologists working in the Dra Abu el-Naga necropolis have pulled back the sand to reveal ten wooden coffins that have lain undisturbed for more than thirty-five centuries. The sarcophagi emerged from a single burial shaft in remarkable condition, their wooden surfaces still bearing the hieroglyphic inscriptions and detailed scenes that once guided the dead toward the afterlife. The discovery, announced by Egypt's Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities following excavations that began in November 2025, represents far more than a collection of ancient boxes. It is a window into the administrative machinery and spiritual hierarchy of Amun, the most powerful religious and political force in pharaonic Egypt.

The ten coffins do not all belong to the same era. Four date to the Eighteenth Dynasty, the period between 1550 and 1292 before the common era when Egypt's New Kingdom reached its height. Among those identified are Merit, who sang in the temple of Amun, and Padi-Amun, a priest who served the same god. The remaining sarcophagi come from later periods—the Ramesside era and the Late Period—suggesting that this shaft became a repository for the dead across centuries. The leading theory among researchers is that these coffins were not originally placed here. Instead, they were moved from their primary burial sites during times of political upheaval, a desperate measure by ancient Egyptians to shield their honored dead from looters or destruction. This relocation explains the deterioration visible in some of the mummified remains found inside.

The excavation also revealed a previously unknown tomb belonging to a purification priest named Aa-Shefi-Nakhtou. His burial chamber includes a courtyard, a rectangular shaft, and an entrance decorated with funerary texts that name both his father and his two wives—women who themselves held religious positions connected to the Amun cult. In a separate small tomb labeled DP91, workers recovered a sandstone pyramidion carved with the image of its owner, a scribe and nobleman named Benji, whose primary tomb has yet to be found. These discoveries expand the roster of individuals known to have served in the Amun priesthood, many of whom had never appeared in any historical record until now.

What captured international attention, however, was something far more unusual. Scattered through the debris south of the Baki cemetery, archaeologists found more than thirty mummified cats—both wild and domesticated—wrapped with meticulous care in linen and bound with strips of fabric. These animals were votive offerings, placed as spiritual protections for the dead. The practice was common during the Ptolemaic period, which lasted from 332 to 30 before the common era, when symbolic animal sacrifice became a standard component of funerary ritual. The cats themselves, preserved in the dry Egyptian climate, offer researchers an unexpected archive of ancient animal husbandry and religious devotion.

According to Hisham el Leithy, secretary general of Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities, the coffins themselves are decorated with inscriptions and scenes that speak to their owners' status and beliefs. Abdul Ghafar, director general of archaeology for Luxor, emphasized that the scientific value of these discoveries lies not just in the objects themselves but in what they reveal about people who left no other trace in history. "The patterns discovered inside also allowed us to document new titles and offices mentioned for the first time," Ghafar noted. These previously unknown administrative roles suggest that the Amun cult's hierarchy was far more complex and extensive than surviving records had indicated.

The work now shifts to restoration and detailed documentation—a painstaking process that must precede any formal publication in international scientific journals. The site remains under strict supervision as teams carefully preserve each artifact. The excavations continue, and archaeologists expect that further work at Dra Abu el-Naga will yield additional clues about the structure of this funerary complex and the lives of those buried within it. Each discovery adds another layer to the understanding of how power, faith, and death were organized in one of history's most enduring civilizations.