Egypt unearths ‘lost golden city' buried under the sands

‘The city is 3,000 years old, dates to the reign of Amenhotep III, and continued to be used by Tutankhamun and Ay. The mission expects to uncover untouched tombs filled with treasures’

Archaeologists have uncovered the remains of an ancient city in the desert outside Luxor that they say is the “largest” ever found in Egypt and dates back to a golden age of the pharaohs 3,000 years ago.

Famed Egyptologist Zahi Hawass announced the discovery of the “lost golden city,” saying the site was uncovered near Luxor, home of the legendary Valley of the Kings.

“The Egyptian mission under Dr Zahi Hawass found the city that was lost under the sands,” the excavation team said in a statement on Thursday.

“The city is 3,000 years old, dates to the reign of Amenhotep III, and continued to be used by Tutankhamun and Ay.”

The team called the find “the largest” ancient city ever uncovered in Egypt.

Betsy Bryan, professor of Egyptian art and archaeology at Johns Hopkins University, said the find was the “second most important archaeological discovery since the tomb of Tutankhamun” nearly a century ago, according to the team’s statement.