Archaeologists excavating the Karnak temple complex in Luxor, Egypt, were in for a dazzling surprise when they turned up a clutch of gold jewelry and ornaments.
The mission was undertaken by the French-Egyptian Centre for the Study of the Temples of Karnak, in partnership with the French National Centre for Scientific Research and Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities. Researchers were surveying the northwest sector of the site when they unearthed a partially broken ceramic vessel that held the artifacts. The well-preserved objects have been dated to the 26th Dynasty (664–525 B.C.E.).
“It is a very important discovery,” Mohammed Ismail Khaled of the antiquities council said in a statement, “because it provides a clearer understanding of the historical development of the Karnak temples during the first millennium B.C.E.”
The Great Hypostyle Hall of the Temple Of Amun at the Karnak Temple Complex, Luxor, Egypt. Photo: Insights / Universal Images Group via Getty Images.
During its heyday, the Karnak complex was ancient Egypt’s largest and most significant religious sites. For more than 1,500 years beginning in the Middle Kingdom, rulers added structures to the area—Thutmose II built a courtyard, Ramses III created shrines to Amon and Khons, and Hatshepsut and Thutmose III oversaw a temple to Ptah. But towering over them was the Temple of Amun-Ra, dedicated to the sun god, distinct for its grand size and hypostyle hall.
By the 20th Dynasty, as the Egyptian empire waned, construction at Karnak slowed, with Nectanebo I making the last notable change in the 30th Dynasty. When Christianity swept the region, many of the buildings were left abandoned or repurposed as Christian churches. The ruins of the complex were rediscovered in the 16th century.
Jewelry and ornaments unearthed at the Karnak Temple Complex. Photo courtesy of the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities.
The new finds, then, were crafted at a time when Egypt’s political might was in decline, even as it was governed by a run of strong Saite kings—the last native rulers before the Persians arrived. As such, artisans of the era eagerly looked to the nation’s rich artistic traditions to buttress their heritage. Many of their elegant statues, funerary goods, and monuments carried echoes of Old Kingdom styles.
Among the new discoveries are gold rings and amulets, some of them ornately carved with figures and symbols, as well as a metallic brooch and a necklace strung with gold-plated beads. An eye-catching statuette depicts a key mythical triad in the Theban pantheon—Amun, his wife Mut, and their son Khonsu—all of them delicately represented in full regalia.
Statuette of Amun, Mut, and Khonsu unearthed at the Karnak Temple Complex. Photo courtesy of the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities.
Researchers also located some mudbrick buildings at the site, dated to the same period, which they believe were used as workshops or for storage during the construction of the Karnak temples.
According to Egypt’s Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, the artifacts are now undergoing study and restoration, before they are exhibited at the Luxor Museum, which already holds other relics found at the Karnak temple complex.
