The discovery of King Thutmose II's burial site is considered a monumental discovery
The last missing tomb of a king from Ancient Egypt's Eighteenth Dynasty, King Thutmose II, has been found by researchers, marking the first royal burial to be unearthed since the discovery of Tutankhamen in 1922.
The discovery by an English-Egyptian archeological mission was announced in a statement Tuesday from the Egyptian State Information Service, the media office of Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi.
The main entrance to the site, known as Tomb No. C4, was found in 2022 in a valley near Mount Tayiba west of the city of Luxor, located about one and a half miles west of the Valley of the Kings.
But when the researchers found the tomb, they initially believed it may have belonged to the wife of a king because of its proximity to the tomb of the wives of King Thutmose III, his son, and also to the tomb of Queen Hatshepsut -- the wife and half-sister of Thutmose II who briefly served as regent after his death.
The tomb was found in poor condition because of floods shortly after the death of the pharaoh, and much of its contents were likely moved to another location afterward.
But as excavations continued, crews uncovered new archaeological evidence that identified the tomb as belonging to King Thutmose II. The evidence also showed that Queen Hatshepsut, as his wife and half-sister, was responsible for his burial.
That evidence included alabaster vessels engraved with his name as the "deceased king" along with the name of Hatshepsut confirming her identity as the owner of the tomb.
"The artifacts discovered there are an important addition to the history of the archaeological site and the period of the reign of King Thutmose II," authorities said.
His mummy was found in the 1881 in the Deir el-Bahari Cache, where many royal mummies were hidden by priests during the 21st Dynasty to protect them from tomb robbers. It is now displayed at the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization with those of other royals.
Piers Litherland, head of the English team at the site, told CBS News that the tomb has a simple architectural design which became common after his death. He said researchers would continue survey work to try to find where the rest of the contents from Thutmose II's tomb were relocated.