Egypt Uncovers Sealed 2,000-Year-Old Tombs with Gold Artifacts Near Alexandria
The graves include sealed chambers and a 2.5-meter granite sarcophagus, with finds that point to burial customs and daily life in Greco-Roman Egypt.
- On Saturday, July 4, 2026, the Antiquities Ministry announced two major archaeological discoveries: a well-preserved Byzantine-era residential city in the Dakhla Oasis and 18 additional tombs at the Marina el-Alamein site west of Alexandria.
- Excavations at the Ain Al-Sabil site in the New Valley Governorate revealed a fortified settlement featuring a fourth-century Christian basilica, watchtowers, and mud-brick houses, providing rare insight into the region's urban development and economic activity.
- Researchers found about 200 inscribed pottery fragments and Byzantine coins, alongside a 2.5-meter-long granite sarcophagus and a plaster sphinx statue, where archaeologists identified a funerary practice involving 4 gold pieces known as "the golden tongue."
- With 6.1 million visitors arriving during the first four months of 2026, Egyptian authorities hope these findings will further boost the country's vital tourism sector, which saw a record 19 million tourists last year.
- The Dakhla Oasis is currently on the UNESCO Tentative List, a step toward potential inclusion on the World Heritage List, while experts continue studying skeleton remains found within the granite sarcophagus at the Marina el-Alamein site.
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85 Articles
Egypt uncovers long-forgotten 1,600-year-old, Byzantine-era city in latest western desert discovery
Archaeologists uncovered a long-forgotten, 1,600-year-old city in Egypt that includes preserved watchtowers, a church and a haul of artifacts and Christian symbols, officials announced.
Svenska Dagbladet
A hidden Byzantine city from the 4th century has been unearthed in the Dakhla Oasis in Egypt, with archaeologists describing the discovery as a key to understanding daily life at the time.
The discovery, located in the oasis of Dajla, in the western Egyptian desert, preserves a residential neighborhood, a basilica, watchtowers and hundreds of inscriptions that help rebuild the daily life of its inhabitants 16 centuries ago
Archaeologists have discovered a well-preserved Byzantine-era city in the western Egyptian desert. The 4th-century city quarter included residential and religious buildings, including a church in the Dakhla Oasis.
The remains of a Byzantine city from the 4th century were also uncovered in the desert.
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