Archaeologists have unearthed the lost “Golden City,” which had been buried beneath the sands for millennia. The Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities announced the completion of the excavation work, which lasted five years.
Once a thriving city of gold miners, Aton was discovered beneath the Valley of the Kings in Luxor. The team uncovered remnants of houses, workshops, administrative buildings, religious temples, and baths. Among the artifacts found are items dating back to later historical periods, such as the Roman era (30 B.C. – 639 A.D.) and Islamic times (642 – 1517 A.D.).
This indicates that Aton remained active for many centuries, producing gold for pharaohs from various Egyptian dynasties. Rulers adorned themselves, their palaces, and their tombs with this precious metal.
According to researchers, they came across 628 fragments of pottery and stone inscribed with Greek, as well as hieroglyphs and demotic script. This suggests that Aton was a multicultural and multilingual city.
What else is known about this remarkable city?
The Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities described the completion of the excavations as “a significant step in preserving the ancient mining heritage of the country.”
Aton is closely linked to the reign of Amenhotep III, one of the most powerful pharaohs, who ruled from 1391 to 1353 B.C.
Named after the Egyptian sun god, the city was founded between 1386 and 1353 B.C. For many years, Aton was considered the main administrative and industrial center of Egypt, as reported by the Daily Mail.
However, in the 1350s B.C., just a few years after the ascension of Akhenaten, the father of Pharaoh Tutankhamun, the city was abandoned. The capital of Egypt was then moved to the city of Amarna, located 400 kilometers from the “Golden City.”
Center for the Extraction and Refining of Precious Metals
Researchers believe that their findings provide a new perspective on ancient Egypt’s mining industry and the daily lives of the workers who lived in this region.
Archaeologists discovered settlements of miners, as well as gold processing facilities and specialized factories for extracting gold from quartz veins. The ruins of these factories revealed evidence of a complex multi-stage process for purifying gold, which involved several steps: from crushing quartz to smelting ore in clay furnaces to obtain pure gold.
The team also found bronze coins from the Ptolemaic dynasty, the longest and last dynasty in Ancient Egypt, which ruled from 305 to 30 B.C. Additionally, scientists uncovered five altars: stone slabs where food and drinks were placed as offerings to gods or spirits of the deceased.
During the excavations, researchers frequently encountered terracotta figurines of people and animals, stone sculptures of deities, ceramic vessels for storing perfumes, medicines, and incense, as well as jewelry made from precious stones.
Archaeologists discovered the lost “Golden City” during excavations on the west bank of Luxor while searching for the burial temple of Pharaoh Tutankhamun. The decision to excavate in this area was linked to previous discoveries of temples belonging to other Egyptian pharaohs.
However, “within weeks, much to the team’s surprise, formations of mud bricks began to appear in all directions,” recalled lead researcher Zahi Hawass, an archaeologist and former Minister of Tourism and Antiquities of Egypt.
According to him, numerous international archaeological missions had been unable to locate Aton for many years. Now, researchers have unveiled many secrets of the ancient lost “Golden City,” which will help rewrite its rich history.