New royal tomb of ‘brutal’ Egyptian pharaoh discovered after 3,500 years

The hidden tomb of a ‘brutal’ Egyptian pharaoh has been discovered 3,500 years since his death. Archaeologists revealed the interior of King Thutmose II’s tomb, the first burial site to be unearthed since Tutankhamun’s in 1922. The site was unearthed in west Luxor, over a mile from the Valley of the Kings where Tutankhamun was buried.

Thutmose II ruled sometime between 2000 and 1001 BCE, with his reign famous for a savage order to kill the male children of the revolting Kush people. The Egyptian ruler’s mummy was found in the 19th century not far from west Luxor, but the burial chamber had eluded archaeologists for centuries.

His tomb was finally stumbled across in 2022, when Egyptologists believed it belonged to a Pharaoh’s wife. The Egyptian-British team used the fragments of alabaster jars to reveal the tomb actually belonged to Thutmose II himself. Experts now say Queen Hatshepsut, the king’s wife and half-sister, oversaw his burial.

The tomb was found in a poor state of preservation due to its exposure to floods shortly after the king’s death. Much of the mortar had fallen from the interior, while most of the original content inside the chamber was removed during ancient times. Archaeologists did discover the remains of blue inscriptions and yellow sky stars, as well as extracts from the religious book ‘IImydwat’ that was placed in the tomb of kings.

Mohamed Ismail Khaled, secretary-general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA), said: ‘This is the first time funerary furniture belonging to Thutmose II has been discovered, as no such items exist in museums worldwide.’. King Thutmose II’s reign is shrouded in mystery and debate.

He was the fourth Pharaoh of the Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt, and ruled for as little as three years from around 1482 to 1479 BC or as long as 13 years 1493 to 1479 BC. One of the main records of his time in charge of Ancient Egpyt is the Aswan Inscription, from the first year of Thutmose II’s reign, which records a southern campaign against the Kush people, according to the Armstrong Institute of Biblical Archaeology.

The ‘brutal’ inscription reads: ‘As I live, as Ra loves me, as my father lord of the gods praises me, I will not leave a male alive,’ referring to the killing of male children. Thutmose II’s tomb was the final one of the Eighteenth Dynasty Kings to be discovered.

His reign was seen as less important compared to his father, Thutmose I, son, Thutmose III, and wife, Queen Hatshepsut. Thutmose III became known as ‘the Napoleon of Egypt’ for his violent conquests and expansion across north east Africa. The discovery was made by a joint team from Brit Piers Litherland’s New Kingdom Research Foundation and Egypt’s Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities.

They have previously excavated 54 tombs in the area and determined the identities of more than 30 royal wives and court women. The discovery marks the last major royal excavation since the steps to Tutankhamun’s tomb was discovered by Howard Carter in November 1922.

The following year, Carter got to the burial chamber and found the boy King’s iconic sarcophagus. Tutankhamun ruled between 1332 BC and 1323 BC before dying at the age of 19. Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk. For more stories like this, check our news page.

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