Ancient tomb rediscovered in Egypt

Some decorations and inscriptions are intact in the tomb of Amenhotep in Luxor, Egypt, which has been rediscovered. (AFP/ Getty Images)

CAIRO - Belgian archeologists have unearthed a 3,500-year-old pharaonic official's tomb that had disappeared under sand in southern Egypt after it was first found about 130 years ago.

Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities said in a statement yesterday that the Belgian team in Luxor uncovered the tomb of Amenhotep, the deputy seal-bearer for King Thutmose III, who ruled Egypt in the 18th Dynasty.

The tomb was first discovered in 1880 by Swedish Egyptologist Karl Piehl, but it later became buried under sand until the Belgian team found it again this year.

The statement quoted the head of the Belgian team, Laurent Bavay, as saying most of the inscriptions on the tomb's walls were heavily damaged, but the ceiling inscriptions were in good condition.