A display at the National Gallery of Art includes a full-size reconstruction of the burial chamber of the New Kingdom pharaoh Thutmose III, who ruled in the 18th dynasty from 1479 to 1424 B.C. Photo: Chuck Kennedy/KRT
Digging For A Dynasty

###### All are located where the ancient city of Abydos once stood.

"It looks like there's a whole royal necropolis of this lost dynasty," said Josef Wegner, who led the expedition. Necropolis is the term for an ancient cemetery. It literally means "city of the dead."

###### There are names on it that were unfamiliar to archaeologists.

The name Senebkay seems to match one of the names on the list, said Wegner.

"They basically were forgotten to history," Wegner said." In the later king lists, they don't appear. ######

The tomb has been dated to 1650 B.C. It was raided by tomb robbers in ancient times, Wegner said.

Woseribre Senebkay probably stood about 5 feet 10 inches. He appears to have died in his 40s.

A 60-Ton Stone Chamber

###### The chest would have been used to hold the king's organs: his heart, his liver and so on. It was common to remove the organs of ancient Egyptians before they were buried.

The chest that held his organs seems to have been reused. It seems to have been taken from the nearby tomb of an earlier king, named Sobekhotep. ######

The string of discoveries began last year when Wegner and others came across a 60-ton stone chamber. It was built to house a sarcophagus, which is a carved stone box that Egyptian coffins were placed in.

The sarcophagus chamber appeared to have been moved. Its original owner was identified as Sobekhotep. ######

Woseribre Senebkay's tomb was discovered near the 60-ton chamber. The tombs of other members of his dynasty are thought to lie nearby.]]>