Egypt

100 Years After Tutankhamun Discovery, New Finds Reveal More of Ancient Egypt's Secrets

“I really believe that this year and next year, this site is going to be the most important site in Egypt,” said Egyptologist Zahi Hawass.

The burial mask of Egyptian Pharaoh Tutankhamun
Hannes Magerstaedt/Getty Images

A century after the discovery of Tutankhamun's tomb made headlines around the world, in the sweltering desert heat just outside Cairo, a small team is still making new finds in ancient Egypt. 

Digging layer by layer at the Saqqara site in Giza, moving earth one bucket at a time, archaeologists have found a giant trove of ancient coffins and mummies, along with ceramic amulets believed to have been used in burial rituals, and thick papyrus documents. 

Egyptologist Zahi Hawass, Egypt's former state minister for antiquities, told NBC News Wednesday that the site contained countless other artifacts relating to another pharaoh, King Teti, and his followers who worshipped him as a god for 1,000 years after his death.

The remains of King Tutankhamun's closest generals and advisers were also at the site, which sits about 20 miles south of the North African nation's capital, he said. 

“I really believe that this year and next year, this site is going to be the most important site in Egypt,” said Hawass, referring to a network of underground rooms hidden 65 feet beneath the oldest pyramids in Egypt.

Read the full story here at NBCNews.com.

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