Archaeologists uncover 3,000-year-old tomb of Paser near Luxor

Archaeologists uncovered a 3,000-year-old tomb at the Sheikh Abd el-Qurna necropolis on Luxor’s West Bank, identifying the burial site as belonging to a man named Paser from inscriptions. The Dutch mission from Leiden University made the discovery in a part of southern Egypt that officials increasingly present as central to the country’s tourism economy.

The tomb appears to date to the Ramesside period, the era of Egypt’s 19th and 20th dynasties, based on the style of its inscriptions and artwork. Its layout includes an open courtyard, a rock-cut chapel shaped like an inverted T and burial chambers carved beneath the ground, a form consistent with elite burials from the New Kingdom period.

Egyptian officials framed the find as the latest in a series of archaeological discoveries meant to pull more visitors to Luxor and to underline the country’s claim to one of the world’s richest ancient landscapes. Luxor, the modern name for ancient Thebes, was one of the most important cities in ancient Egypt and is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site, with a necropolis that holds some of the most significant burial areas from the New Kingdom.

That makes discoveries like Paser’s tomb more than an academic event. They are part of a broader state-backed effort to turn archaeology into economic leverage, particularly in Upper Egypt, where tourism remains a vital source of revenue. The Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities and the Supreme Council of Antiquities have repeatedly linked major finds to efforts to strengthen visitation, while also reinforcing Egypt’s role as custodian of its Pharaonic heritage.

The West Bank necropolis at Sheikh Abd el-Qurna sits at the center of that strategy because it combines excavation, preservation and public visibility in one of the country’s most heavily branded heritage zones. For Cairo, each major tomb uncovered near Luxor serves a dual purpose: it adds to the historical record and keeps Egypt’s ancient monuments in the international spotlight.