Abu El-Naga Excavation Near Luxor Reveals Coffins, Tombs, and Mummified Cats
An archaeological season at the Abu El-Naga necropolis near Luxor has produced a cluster of finds that spans centuries of ancient Egyptian history, from painted coffins to a priest’s tomb and the burial of more than 30 mummified cats. Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities announced the discoveries this week.
The most notable object group is a cache of ten painted wooden coffins found in the shaft of the courtyard of the tomb of Baki. The coffins preserve colorful scenes and hieroglyphic inscriptions. Archaeologists believe they were moved from their original burial places during a period of instability, a displacement that appears to have caused damage to some of the mummies inside.
The coffins represent multiple eras. Four date to Egypt’s 18th Dynasty, including one inscribed with the name of Merit, identified as chantress of the god Amun. Another coffin, from the Ramesside period, bears the name Padi-Amun, a priest in the Temple of Amun. The remaining coffins belong to the Late Period.
The same courtyard yielded another important discovery: the tomb of A-Shafi-Nakhtu, a purification priest of the Temple of Amun. The tomb includes a courtyard, shaft, and entrance decorated with funerary scenes and texts that lead to the burial chamber. On the façade, archaeologists found the names of the priest’s two wives, both of whom held the title Singer of the Temple of Amun.
Other finds added further texture to the site. Excavators uncovered a sandstone figure named Benji, identified by the titles scribe and noble, suggesting that another tomb may lie nearby. They also found the burial site of more than 30 mummified cats wrapped in linen, likely dating to the Ptolemaic Period.
The current excavation season began in November 2025 and is the team’s eighth at Abu El-Naga. Abdel-Ghaffar Wagdy, director general of Luxor Antiquities, said the owners of the newly discovered tombs do not appear in earlier historical sources. He added that the titles and inscriptions are new to researchers, deepening understanding of ancient Egypt’s administrative and religious structures.
For archaeologists, the value of the season lies not only in the objects themselves, but in the names and titles they preserve — fragments of lives that had remained outside the historical record until now.
