The discovery of a 3,000-year-old city that was lost to the sands of Egypt has been hailed as one of the most important archaeological finds since
Tutankhamun's tomb.
Famed Egyptologist
Zahi Hawass announced the discovery of the "lost golden city" near Luxor on Thursday. He said the find was the largest ancient city, known as
Aten, ever uncovered in Egypt. It was unearthed within weeks of the excavation starting in September 2020.
The city dates to the reign of
Amenhotep III, one of Egypt's most powerful pharaohs, who ruled from 1391 to 1353 BC. The city continued to be used by pharaohs
Ay and
Tutankhamun, whose nearly intact tomb was discovered in the Valley of the Kings by British archaeologist Howard Carter in 1922.
The dig revealed a large number of valuable archaeological finds, such as jewellery, coloured pottery, scarab beetle amulets and mud bricks bearing seals of
Amenhotep III.
The team began excavations on the west bank of
Luxor near the
Valley of the Kings, some 500 km (300 miles) south of the capital
Cairo. Now, seven months after the dig started, several areas or neighbourhoods have been uncovered, including a bakery, an administrative district and a residential area.