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Fans of mummies, pharaoh's and really, REALLY old stuff will be excited to read about this amazing discovery!

A team of archaeologists have unearthed the largest ancient city found in Egypt, called Aten.

It's over 3,000 years old and is one of the most important finds since the tomb of the famous ancient Egyptian pharaoh (or king), Tutankhamun, was found.

Egyptologist Zahi Hawass announced the discovery of the "lost golden city", saying the site was uncovered near Luxor, home of the Valley of the Kings - which is an ancient royal burial site.

What else do we know?

The team began digging in September 2020, between the temples of the pharaohs Ramses III and Amenhotep III near Luxor, which is 300 miles south of the capital, Cairo.

"The Egyptian mission under Dr Zahi Hawass found the city that was lost under the sands," the archaeology team said.

"The city is 3,000 years old, dates to the reign of [pharaoh] Amenhotep III, and continued to be used by [pharaohs] Tutankhamun and Ay."

Betsy Bryan, Professor of Egyptian art and archaeology at Johns Hopkins University, said the find was the "second most important archaeological discovery since the tomb of Tutankhamun".

The team found jewellery, coloured pots, scarab beetle amulets, and mud bricks with the seals of the pharaoh Amenhotep III, who ruled for nearly four decades during a period of great wealth and power.

And that's not all! After seven months of careful digging, several neighbourhoods were uncovered, including a bakery complete with ovens and storage pottery, as well as work and residential districts.

Bryan said the city "will give us a rare glimpse into the life of the Ancient Egyptians at the time where the empire was at his wealthiest".

"Within weeks, to the team's great surprise, formations of mud bricks began to appear in all directions," the team's statement said. "What they unearthed was the site of a large city in a good condition of preservation, with almost complete walls, and with rooms filled with tools of daily life.

"The archaeological layers have laid untouched for thousands of years, left by the ancient residents as if it were yesterday."

The team said it was hopeful that more important finds would be revealed, and said they had already discovered groups of tombs reached through "stairs carved into the rock", similar to those found in the Valley of the Kings.

"The mission expects to uncover untouched tombs filled with treasures," the statement added.

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