CAIRO: Egypt on Wednesday unveiled new archaeological discoveries, including the 4,000-year-old tombs of highranking officials and artwork from the time of Queen Hatshepsut, at an ancient necropolis in the famed city of Luxor.

The artefacts, unearthed during a three-year-long excavation, were found in Deir al-Bahari area in the necropolis of Thebes on the west bank of the Nile, renowned Egyptologist Zahi Hawass, who led the mission in cooperation with Egypt`s Supreme Council of Antiquities, said in a statement.

The findings date from the time of the 15th dynasty (1650-1550 BC) to the powerful 18th dynasty (1550-1292 BC), which included pharaohs such as Queen Hatshepsut and King Tutankhamun.The team unveiled an intact part of the foundations for the valley temple of Queen Hatshepsut`s funerary complex as well as intricate artwork rendered in vivid bas-reliefs and inscriptions with remarkably preserved colours. Some of the 1,500 decorated blocks depict the queen and her successor, Thutmose III, performing sacred rituals.

`(It is) the most beautiful scene I have ever seen in my life,` Hawass, who personally unveiled the new discoveries at the temple, said. `This is the first time that we have a final programme of the decoration of a temple dating to the 18th dynasty,` he told reporters. Beneath the temple`s foundation, archaeologists also discovered a pristine set of ceremonial tools inscribed with Queen Hatshepsut`s name.-AFP