A joint Egyptian-French team has uncovered new archaeological finds at the Ramesseum—the imposing mortuary temple of Pharaoh Ramesses II—on the West Bank of Luxor in the Theban Necropolis. The team, composed of experts from Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities and the National Center for Scientific Research of France, and Sorbonne University.
Built during the reign of Ramesses II, also called “Ramesses the Great,” the Ramesseum was not only a monument to the legacy of the pharaoh but also a living center of religious, educational, administrative, and economic activity. This discovery has brought a change in scholars’ understanding of the way ancient Egyptians lived, worked, and organized their world, according to Mohamed Ismail Khaled, Secretary-General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities.
One of the most shocking revelations is the discovery of a House of Life—or Per Ankh—within the temple grounds. This institution was a temple-school or knowledge center that Egyptologists have long theorized about but never before physically confirmed at the Ramesseum. During excavation, students’ drawings, fragments of educational toys, and remnants of ancient learning tools were uncovered. The design of the House of Life was also revealed. According to the researchers, the find constitutes the first material evidence for an educational institution directly associated with the temple, also known as the “Temple of Millions of Years.”
Beyond education, the mission also uncovered widespread evidence of the temple’s economic infrastructure. Subterranean storerooms and cellars on the north side were revealed as storage areas for olive oil, honey, fat, and wine. Widespread wine jar labels unearthed in the area confirm its role as an active wine cellar. Excavators also documented textile and stone workshops, kitchens, and bakeries—painting a rich picture of an independent complex that not only served the temple staff but the wider community as well.
The Ramesseum’s eastern sector revealed another side of temple life: administrative offices. These structures suggest a complex hierarchy of civil servants who managed the production and redistribution of goods.
The northeast sector of the site produced a group of tombs dating to the Third Intermediate Period (1069–525 BCE). The tombs contain burial shafts, nested sarcophagi, canopic jars, funerary tools, and a total of 401 ceramic ushabti figurines. Human remains, scattered throughout the site, further confirm the temple’s function as a necropolis in later periods.
Another major announcement was made by Egyptian archaeologist Hisham El-Leithy, who confirmed the re-excavation of the Middle Kingdom burial of Sehetep-ib-Re, originally found in 1896 by British archaeologist James Quibell. That burial contains well-preserved funerary art and adds yet another chronological layer to the use of the temple.
Restoration efforts also yielded results. In the temple’s southern sector, the team reconstructed the colossi of Ramesses II and his mother, Queen Tuya, and placed them in their original locations. The royal palace adjacent to the temple’s first courtyard has also been carefully restored, revealing its original throne room and reception hall, spaces likely used by the pharaoh when he visited on state visits.
The discoveries show the temple site was occupied even before Ramesses II’s reign and was reused by stonecutters during the Ptolemaic and Roman periods.
More information: Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities
