Egyptian Desert May Hold Untold Treasures on the Scale of Tut’s Tomb

Treasures even greater than those in King Tut’s tomb may still be lying under the desert sands of Egypt.

“When I’m asked if there’s another Tut’s tomb out there, I always answer at least one, maybe more,” said Zahi Hawass, director of the Giza pyramids area outside Cairo and the huge ancient cemetery of Sakkara, 11 miles to the south.

“My guess is we’ve found no more than 30% of what’s buried. After all, Egypt is 97% desert. . . . We can’t begin to imagine what the sands have hidden.”

The tomb of Pharaoh Tutankhamen--King Tut--was found almost intact in 1922 by the British archeologist Howard Carter.

It took Carter 11 years more to document the hoard of gold, semiprecious stones, furniture and knickknacks stuffed into the makeshift tomb dug into the hills of southern Egypt’s Valley of the Kings.

A Lesser King

But Tutankhamen was a lesser king and the discovery of his tomb left archeologists to wonder what treasures might have accompanied ancient Egypt’s great monarchs into the afterlife.

Some intriguing trophies have eluded both early archeologists and their modern successors:

-- Mummies and relics of Pharaoh Cheops, whose pyramid on Giza Plateau is among the world’s best-known monuments.

-- The tomb of the architect Imhotep at Sakkara, where more than 4,600 years ago he built for Pharaoh Zozer a step pyramid, an architectural feat that quickly evolved into the true pyramid. Generations of later Egyptians worshipped Imhotep as a god.

-- At least seven tombs of royalty and officials from the New Kingdom, the era of Tutankhamen and the Ramses line.

-- The tomb of Alexander the Great, the young Macedonian conqueror who died at the age of 33 in 323 BC. Records say he wanted to be buried in Egypt’s Siwa Oasis, near Libya, but finally was encased in a gold coffin in Alexandria, the Mediterranean city he founded.

-- The 50,000-man army of Persian conqueror Cambyses, which vanished in a sandstorm in 525 BC while en route to Siwa to punish the powerful priests of the temple of the Siwan Oracle.

Egyptian officials realize the historical value that any of those finds would entail. But the mammoth job of preserving what is said already to be the world’s greatest national storehouse of antiquities has halted treasure hunts.

‘Keep What’s Buried, Buried’

“I’m trying to keep what’s standing, standing,” said Sayed Tawfik, chairman of the Egyptian Antiquities Organization. “What I’d like to do is to keep what’s buried, buried until we can deal with it. It’s usually safer for the pieces not to be exposed to modern pollutants.”

As Egypt’s population rapidly expands, however, roadways, gas lines and housing projects unearth a vast ancient legacy just beneath the ground. Often, excavations are rescue missions.

Archeological work in Egypt generally is restricted to the cooler winter months, and last season’s work was filled with surprises. Giza director Hawass said the results give a glimpse of what lies ahead when archeologists begin anew in September.

In January five magnificent statues that rival the loveliest artwork the ancient Egyptians produced were unearthed in a pit beneath the tourist-trampled courtyard of Luxor Temple. Seventeen more statues, many broken, later were discovered in the cache.

In March a mummy of a young woman, her Mona Lisa smile frozen in a gypsum mask, was found on Giza Plateau a few feet from a roadway through the pyramids.

Other Discoveries

Other discoveries ranged from gold to fortresses, some found on sites once impenetrable except by camel or donkey, now accessible by paved roads.

One area to be surveyed in the fall is Giza Plateau’s East Cemetery, a Pharaonic burial ground for royalty and officials beside Cheops pyramid.

“I’m sure we’re going to find an intact burial of a prince or official, because the area never has been excavated properly,” Hawass said.

“In Sakkara, where we know Imhotep is buried, you don’t even need to have shovels and picks to find tombs. You can just use your hands, dig in the sand. They’re there.”

Modern man owes rich finds to the ingenuity of ancient priests, who reburied important pieces to ensure survival during politically troubled times, Hawass said. These caches, which may explain the Luxor Temple statues, give clues to what may still be hidden.

He believes the pyramids area contains at least one major cache from the reign of Old Kingdom Pharaoh Cheops, whose relics include the world’s largest pyramid, a full-sized boat and an ivory statue so small it can be held between two fingers.

Cheops’ Mummy

“I think out there is Cheops’ mummy, maybe statues, maybe personal items,” Hawass said.

“Four priests were in charge of their safety, but in the next dynasty (after Cheops) his memory soured. There was a revolt. His monuments were damaged, perhaps because he made himself a god.”

Hawass believes that like the Luxor find, the Cheops discovery will be accidental.

“We have magnificent statues of his successors (and) delicate funerary items of Cheops’ mother . . . so we know such things did exist,” he said.

“One day you’ll be digging a power line, or cleaning, and there they’ll be.”

Hawass thinks chance also may locate the long-sought tomb of Alexander the Great in Alexandria.

“We have early descriptions of his tomb, but Alexandria has gone through many changes,” he said.

“We’re not going to find the tomb, if it even still exists, by going after it. We’ll find it by accident, when somebody’s digging a foundation for a house or installing sewer lines.”

Hawass insists that people who think incredible discoveries remain to be found aren’t dealing in fantasy.

“We’ve got too much evidence,” he said: “Kings without tombs, places we know existed but never were found.”