A city that has been lost in sands and was founded more than 3,400 years ago has been unearthed in Luxor, south Egypt, Zahi Hawass, head of the Egyptian archeological mission that is responsible for the discovery, said Thursday, Al Balad newspaper reports.

According to the famous Egyptologist who used to head the Ministry of Antiquities, the city was built approximately around the time of Amenhotep III of the Eighteenth Dynasty (around 1388-1351 B.C.) and was thriving for decades after until the reign of King Tutankhamun (around 1332-1323 B.C.). "The city was called Ascension of Aton and served as a major administrative and industrial settlement of the Egyptian empire on the Nile’s west bank in Luxor," Hawass noted. "Even back then, the city was divided by streets, while buildings were reaching three meters in height."

The head of the mission noted that excavations started in September 2020 and were meant to discover Tutankhamun’s mortuary temple. "Buildings made out of mudbricks began to emerge out of sand in a few weeks’ time already, and we were astonished when we realized what a huge city we are witnessing before us," he said. "It is well preserved, building houses are almost fully intact, while many rooms are filled with houseware, as if residents just walked away, leaving everything where it was." According to him, archeological layers have not been touched for thousands of years.

Archeologists managed to determine that there were three palaces of Amenhotep III in the city as well as the empire’s administrative and industrial center. Colored ceramics, clay bricks with the king’s seal, jewelry, amulets shaped like scarabs and other artifacts will help scientists to understand the history and way of life of this city.

"The continuing dig gives archeologists access to the original functioning of the city, studying it will become valuable material for deeper understanding of ordinary life of ancient Egyptians," the experts concluded. "As of now, only a third of the city has been excavated, main work is still ahead, including the territory where Tutankhamun’s mortuary temple could possibly be located.".