The tomb of a mysterious ancient Egyptian pharaoh has been found at Mount Anubis Necropolis in Abydos, leaving experts stumped as they search for clues about his identity
Archaeologists have unearthed the ancient tomb of an Egyptian Pharaoh who ruled 3,600 years ago. However the identity of the Pharaoh who the tomb was constructed for remains a mystery.
The Pharaoh’s tomb was discovered at a depth of 7m below ground at the ancient Mount Anubis Necropolis in Abydos.
A Necropolis is a large cemetery with significant tombs and burials – the word “necropolis” coming from an ancient Greek word meaning “city of the dead.”
The city where the tomb was discovered is one of the oldest cities in ancient Egypt.
Archaeologists found a number of faded inscriptions on either side of the entrance of the tomb which depicted various ancient Egyptian goddesses such as Isis and Nephthys.
Alongside these depictions were a set of yellow inscriptions bands which would have once bore the name of the pharaoh in hieroglyphs.
Josef Wegner, a professor of Egyptology and Egyptian archaeology at the University of Pennsylvania, who led the archaeology team, said: “The king’s name was originally recorded in painted scenes on plastered brickwork that decorated the underground entrance to the limestone burial chamber.”
The professor added: “The hieroglyphic texts were damaged by ancient tomb robbers and not enough survives to read the king’s name.”
Wegner has confirmed archaeologists are still investigating the area where the tomb was found.
On the location, the professor noted: “[The area] may yield more royal tombs of the same era [which] could shed light on the identity and ownership of this new royal tomb.”
Scholars have noted these decorations share a similarity to art and inscriptions discovered at the tomb of King Senebkay.
On this similarity Mohamed Abdel Badie, the head of the Egyptian Antiquities Sector, noted the newly discovered tomb of the mystery pharaoh appears to be much larger than previously known mausoleums from the Abydos Dynasty.
Alongside this newly discovered tomb, archaeologists found remains of pottery and a glasswork shop at a village located north of Abydos.
The workshop dates back to the era when the Roman empire controlled Egypt ranging from 30 B.C to A.D. 642.
The find contained a number of kilns – a thermally insulated chamber or oven commonly used for firing clay into pottery tiles and bricks – alongside a vast number of storage areas.
Archaeologists found a 32 ostraca – writing on pottery shards – which discussed commercial transactions and how taxes were paid.
These multiple ostracas were written in Greek, Demotic and an Egyptian language.
From the seventh and 14th centuries A.D the workshop was repurposed as a cemetery and the remains of multiple families were discovered in it.
This find marks the second discovery of a tomb belonging to an ancient Egyptian pharaoh this year.
It comes after the tomb of King Thutmose II was found earlier this year in February 2025.