The head of an Egyptian team excavating an area in the Valley of the Monkeys, near the famed Valley of the Kings in Luxor, says they have uncovered an industrial area that includes at least 30 buildings that housed workers. Dr. Zahi Hawass says some of the huts consist of two rooms, an inner room probably for sleeping, and an antechamber with stone along its wall. Most of the huts contained fireplaces inside and outside the rooms. The discovery reveals much about the lives of the workmen, and how the artifacts, decorations, coffins and funerary items were produced. The archaeologists have been working in the area since December 2017. Hawass is also looking for the tombs of queen Nefertiti and Ankhsenamun, her daughter and widow of Tutankhamun, which may be nearby.
New Discoveries in Egypt's Valley of the Monkeys
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This area contains a deep cut, labeled KV (T), fronted by an oven that once used for clay and pottery burning and other archeological objects. (H. Elrasam/VOA)
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Besides KV (T), is a tank KV(U) for the storage of water for the workmen to drink daily . (H. Elrasam/VOA)
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Egyptian archeologist Mohamed Said piecing together pottery found inside the workmen huts in the Luxor's Valley of Monkeys in Egypt. (H. Elrasam/VOA)
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Tools on display that the ancient Egyptian workmen used to sew the coverings for royal coffins. (H. Elrasam/VOA)