Ancient Egypt: Archaeologists discover 'false door' inside tomb
While researchers and grave robbers have been working in the area of Ancient Egypt for thousands of years, the land continues to offer up treasures.
Perhaps the best and most famous discovery came 100 years ago last year, British Egyptologist Howard Carter set out on a long journey that ended in him finding the Boy King.
The discovery of Tutankhamun was world-famous and to this day remains perhaps one of the field’s greatest and most coveted moments.
Yet, new and fascinating relics and artefacts are found on a regular basis in Egypt, especially as new technology allows researchers to study never-before-seen places.
Such a find was made recently, when archaeologists hailed the discovery of what is believed to be the largest ancient city ever found in Egypt — a place called Aten.
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Buried under sand for millennia, experts at the time said it was the most important discovery since the unearthing of Tutankhamun’s tomb.
Famous Egyptologist Dr Zahi Hawass found the city after a lengthy excavation campaign, a settlement believed to be 3,000 years old, dating to Amenhotep III.
It was, they said, used even by Tutankhamun and Ay.
Turning up many interesting and unique artefacts, Express.co.uk brings together five of the most bizarre discoveries from the dig.
A strange skeleton
Found with its arms outstretched and a rope tied around its knees, the skeleton eluded the team members who found it.
Coming across the skeletons of ancient rulers or noblemen and women isn’t uncommon in Egypt, and it is usually fairly obvious how the person passed away.
However, researchers are still uncertain as to how this person met their fate.
An entire cemetery was found elsewhere on the site, along with stone tombs consistent with those found in the Valley of the Kings, the main burial place of Egypt’s great pharaohs.
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A mystery-reinforced wall
An exceedingly unusual structure, the zigzag wall is unlike anything found across Egypt.
The wall had just one entrance, with researchers speculating that it may have acted as a way for people to control who came in and out.
What lay beyond the wall, however, is unknown, and the team say there may have been a mix of residential and administrative buildings beyond it.
A storage box full of… meat?
Perhaps the most disgusting of all the finds was a container full of boiled or dried meat.
Less guesswork was needed for this find as inscribed into the container itself was a note from whoever owned it: “Year 37, dressed meat for the third Heb Sed festival from the slaughterhouse of the stockyard of Kha made by the butcher luwy.”
Of the find, Dr Hawass said: “This valuable information, not only gives us the names of two people that lived and worked in the city but confirms that the city was active and the time of King Amenhotep III’s co-regency with his son Akhenaten.”
Anyone for a bread roll?
Aten, the excavations found, had a thriving bakery scene.
Archaeologists came across an almost fully intact structure with a cooking and food preparation area, complete with ovens and storage pottery.
Dr Hawass said: “From its size, we can state the kitchen was catering for a very large number of workers and employees.”
Tools ordinarily used for things like spinning and weaving were also found at the site.
Lots and lots of neighbourhoods
Because Aten was found in such a pristine state, researchers have been able to glean crucial information from it, including how the people lived.
They identified a total of seven different residential neighbourhoods and separate industrial and administrative centres.
Why is this important? Well, it reveals much about the way the city’s economy worked and also its culture, with evidence of metalwork and glassmaking indicative of a flurry of creativity and the arts.
What researchers don’t know is why Aten was abandoned. Akhenaten and Nefertiti, it is believed, moved their empire’s capital from Aten to Amarna within a year of some of the discoveries having been built.
Why that move came about in the first place, however, remains a mystery.
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