Ancient burials and official tombs in Luxor's El-Assasif

El-Assasif, located in the dry bay leading to Deir el-Bahari and just south of Dra' Abu el-Naga', is a necropolis containing tombs from various dynasties, spanning from the 18th to the 26th dynasty, roughly 1550 to 525 BC. In November 2018, a tomb with a female body was opened to the public, while in May 2025, a tomb featuring a T-shaped layout typical of the 19th-20th dynasties was identified as belonging to Amun Mes, a high-ranking official who served as the mayor of Thebes during the Ramesside period.

In November 2018, a tomb with paintings and a female body was opened in the Assasif valley near Luxor. In a separate discovery in October 2019, an Egyptian archaeological mission uncovered 30 coffins dating back to the Twenty-second Dynasty. These coffins contained mummies of 23 adult males, five adult females and two children. The condition of the cachette was exceptionally good, with many of the coffins sealed and intact, featuring high quality painting and preservation. According to archaeologist Zahi Hawass, mummies were decorated with mixed carvings and designs, including scenes from Egyptian gods, hieroglyphs, and the Book of the Dead - a series of spells that allowed the soul to navigate the afterlife.

The tomb featuring a T-shaped layout typical of the 19th-20th dynasties was first discovered in the 1970s but remained unattributed until recent excavations revealed inscriptions confirming Amun Mes's identity and several of his titles, including tax collector, royal advisor, divine father of Amun, and overseer of quarry expeditions. The joint Egyptian-Canadian archaeological mission also found evidence of later reuse, such as painted plaster over original reliefs and fragments of ushabti figures.

Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons