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CAIRO, Nov. 23 (Xinhua) -- The Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities announced on Wednesday the discovery of a Pharaonic necropolis and a town near an ancient tomb in Upper Egypt's province of Sohag, official MENA news agency reported.
"The necropolis and the town date back to the beginning of Pharaonic dynasties at around 5316 B.C.," MENA quoted Mahmoud Afifi, head of the ministry's archaeology sector, as saying.
Afifi said the sites have been unearthed during the work of the ministry's excavation mission 400 meters south of the temple of ancient King Seti I, at Arabet Abydos area in Sohag.
"It is likely that the cemetery and the town belonged to senior personnel in charge of the construction of royal tombs and funeral walls of the kings of the First Dynasty in Abydos," Afifi added, noting the mission also found remains of ancient huts and daily life potteries and stone tools.
For his part, Hani Abul-Azm, head of the central administration of Upper Egypt's antiquities, said that the mission has discovered so far 15 large tombs inside the necropolis.
He said the unearthed tombs are even larger than those royal tombs in Abydos that date back to the First Dynasty, "which indicates the importance, influence and social status of their owners during that time of ancient Egyptian history."
Several ancient tombs have been discovered in Sohag over the past decade, including the 13 tombs unearthed in 2008 that date back to over 5,000 years also southern Abydos town in Sohag.
A Pharaonic tomb was discovered at the Millions of Years Temple of Egyptian King Thutmose III in Upper Egypt's ancient city of Luxor in November, with a royal servant's coffin and a mummy inside, which are believed to be dating back to the Pharaonic Third Intermediate Period around 1,000 years B.C..
