A brightly painted cache of 22 wooden coffins, many marked with the title “Singer/Chantress of Amun”, has been uncovered on Luxor’s West Bank, alongside eight rare papyri sealed inside a large ceramic vessel. The find is being described by Egyptian officials as a significant addition to the record of the Third Intermediate Period, a complex era when power was shared and contested between different centers. For archaeologists, the real intrigue lies not only in the color and craftsmanship, but in what these women’s titles may reveal about temple life at the height of Thebes’ religious influence highlights a Heritage Daily report.
A Carefully Packed Cache in Qurna Near Luxor
Announced by the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism & Antiquities, the cache was discovered during excavations in the southwestern corner of the courtyard of the Tomb of Seneb in the Qurna area, on Luxor’s West Bank. The work is being carried out by an Egyptian mission linked to the Supreme Council of Antiquities and the Zahi Hawass Foundation for Antiquities and Heritage.
Inside a rectangular chamber cut into the rock, researchers found 22 painted wooden coffins stacked in carefully planned layers. The coffins were arranged in ten horizontal rows, and the ancient embalmers even separated lids from bases to squeeze more burials into the space. It’s an orderly, almost archival approach to death, one that hints the chamber functioned as a deliberate storage cache rather than a single-person tomb, writes the Egypt Independent.
Part of the cache of brightly painted coffins from the Third Intermediate Period found in Luxor. (Ministry of Tourism & Antiquities)
Who Were the “Singers of Amun”?
One detail stands out - many coffins don’t carry personal names, but professional titles, with “Singer/Chantress of Amun” appearing again and again. Officials say this concentration of burials opens new paths for studying temple musicians and religious chanters in this period, when ritual performance helped sustain the cult of Amun centered at Karnak.
Temple music was not a decorative extra in ancient Egypt; it was considered a way to soothe and please the gods, encouraging divine favor. Archaeology Magazine notes that chantresses were often elite women connected to priestly families, taking part in ceremonies and festivals with instruments such as the sistrum and menat, even if the exact sound of the music remains unknowable.
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Experts working on the preservation of one of the coffins. (Ministry of Tourism & Antiquities)
Eight Sealed Papyri and a Mummification Toolkit
Alongside the coffins, the mission recovered pottery vessels believed to have been used during mummification, plus eight papyri of different sizes found inside a large jar - some still sealed with clay. Egyptian officials have described the papyri as an “information goldmine,” but the contents will only become clear after careful restoration and translation.
Papyri found in a large jar. (Ministry of Tourism & Antiquities)
The context is important: this burial cache is dated to the Third Intermediate Period (Dynasties 21–25), a time that began after the death of Ramesses XI and saw political power fragment and shift, even as religious institutions remained influential. The Metropolitan Museum of Art summarizes the Third Intermediate Period as roughly 1070–664 BC, highlighting major cultural changes in art and burial practice during the first millennium BC.
What Happens Next
Conservators have already begun urgent stabilization work, because painted plaster and ancient wood can deteriorate quickly once exposed. Reports say the team is reinforcing weakened fibers, consolidating paint layers, and documenting each coffin before moving the material to storage.
The bigger question is provenance: the mission is still trying to locate the original tombs from which these coffins were moved, and to identify the individuals inside. If the papyri prove to be administrative texts, hymns, or funerary compositions, they may help explain why so many “Amun singers” were gathered and placed in one place, offering insights into religious life during one of Egypt’s most politically unsettled centuries.
Top image: Painted coffin discovered at Sanab Cemetery in the Qurna area in the western part of Luxor. Source: Ministry of Tourism & Antiquities
By Gary Manners
References
Allen, J., and Hill, M. March 2018 (last revised). Egypt in the Third Intermediate Period (ca. 1070–664 B.C.). Available at: https://www.metmuseum.org/essays/egypt-in-the-third-intermediate-period-1070-712-b-c
Daily News Egypt. 28 February 2026. Egypt uncovers cache of coloured coffins of Amun chanters in Luxor. Available at: https://www.dailynewsegypt.com/2026/02/28/egypt-uncovers-cache-of-coloured-coffins-of-amun-chanters-in-luxor/
Egypt Independent. (n.d.). New ancient Egyptian discovery unearthed in Luxor. Available at: https://www.egyptindependent.com/new-ancient-egyptian-discovery-unearthed-in-luxor/
Heritage Daily. March 2026. Painted coffins of the “Amun Singers” discovered in Luxor. Available at: https://www.heritagedaily.com/2026/03/painted-coffins-of-the-amun-singers-discovered-in-luxor/
Wernick, R. July/August 2012. Tomb of the Chantress. Available at: https://archaeology.org/issues/july-august-2012/features/tomb-of-the-chantress/
