Ancient tomb rediscovered under sands of Egypt

[March 03, 2009]  CAIRO (AP) -- Belgian archaeologists have unearthed a 3,500-year-old pharaonic official's tomb that had disappeared under sand in southern Egypt after it was first discovered about 130 years ago.

Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities said in a statement Sunday that the Belgian team in Luxor uncovered the tomb of Amenhotep, the deputy seal-bearer for King Thutmose III who ruled Egypt in the 18th Dynasty.

The tomb was first discovered in 1880 by Swedish Egyptologist Karl Piehl, but it was later buried under sand until the Belgian team found it again this year.

The statement quoted the head of the Belgian team, Laurent Bavay, as saying most of the inscriptions on the cemetery's walls were heavily damaged, but the ceiling inscriptions were in good condition.

[Associated Press]

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