A collection of 18 tombs and numerous artifacts were unearthed during archaeological excavations ahead of construction of a visitor’s center in Egypt’s ancient city of Marina El Alamein, the Egyptian Tourism and Antiquities Ministry announced in early July.
Marina El Alamein, which flourished between the Hellenistic period until the Byzantine era, is located on Egypt’s northwestern coast, about 100 kilometers west of Alexandria. It is believed to be the city of Leukaspis mentioned by the Greek geographer Strabo.
The site was discovered in 1986 during construction work in the Marina area. Since then, extensive archaeological excavations and studies have uncovered one of the best preserved ancient coastal cities in Egypt.
Of the 18 tombs discovered in July, 11 are carved entirely into the rock, a style of tomb known as a hypogeum, explained Mohamed Abdel Badie, head of the Egyptian Antiquities Sector at the Supreme Council of Antiquities, while the other seven are made of limestone aboveground.
Some of the tombs are also very well preserved, with chamber entrances sealed by stone slabs that had not been opened since ancient times.
Eman Abdel Khalek, leader of the archaeological mission, added that a 2.5 meter long granite sarcophagus had been uncovered with its original lid still in place.
The skeletal remains found inside are currently being studied.
Khalek added that a collection of 24 “golden tongue” pieces were found inside the mouths of some of those interred, including one shaped like the Eye of Horus, an important protective symbol in ancient Egyptian belief.
Several surface burials and a well, believed to have been reused for burial purposes, were also uncovered in the area surrounding the tomb.
These finds are an example of the continued influence of ancient Egyptian traditions on funerary architecture during the Ptolemaic and Roman periods, according to the ministry.
Collection of assorted ancient artifacts uncovered at site
A collection of artifacts was also discovered, included complete and partially-complete pottery vessels, amphorae, oil lamps, plates, limestone altars and basins, as well as a number of architectural elements associated with the tombs.
The most notable discovery, according to Central Administration for Lower Egypt Antiquities Head Hisham Hussein, was a limestone altar used to present offerings, featuring an ancient Egyptian funerary “false door” facade.
An unfinished statue of the Greek goddess Aphrodite, a limestone gravestone depicting a seated man holding a bird, and a number of glass tear bottles were also found at the site, as well as the remains of a plaster sphinx statue.
Dr. Hisham El-Leithy, Secretary-General of Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities said that the ministry is working to turn Marina El Alamein into a formal tourist site, which will include a visitor center, roads and pedestrian paths, a museum storage facility, administrative headquarters, and an open air theater.
Construction and development work are expected to be completed during the first half of 2027, according to Leithy.
Previously undiscovered ancient Egyptian tomb found at Theban necropolis
Two weeks ago, Egypt's Tourism and Antiquities Ministry announced that archaeologists had unearthed a previously undiscovered tomb during excavations at the Theban necropolis located on the west bank of the Nile.
The tomb, dating back to the Ramesside period, was unearthed in the lower Sheikh Abdel-Qarna area by a Dutch archaeological mission led by Dr. Karina van den Hoven of Leiden University.
Inscriptions found within the tomb bear the name of its owner, “Paser,” as well as wall paintings depicted Paser worshipping the shrines of several deities. Additional paintings portray Paser and his wife standing before an altar.
What further intrigued archaeologists was the tomb’s layout, which followed the traditional style of Thebes’s private tombs during the New Kingdom period, according to Abdel-Badie, as it consisted of an outer courtyard, an inverted "T” shaped chapel carved into the rock, and burial chambers hidden below the surface.
Abdel-Badie added that the tomb's courtyard contained several architectural elements that have been preserved in good condition, including a mudbrick platform with a niche in its center designed to hold a funerary stela, as well as a staircase flanked on both sides by ramps leading to the tomb's entrance.