Egypt unearths underground tombs, golden tongues ahead of construction in ancient coastal city

Egyptian archaeologists unearthed 18 tombs and numerous artifacts in Marina El Alamein, an ancient coastal city, during excavations for a new visitor's center. The discoveries, announced in early July, include 11 rock-carved hypogeum tombs and seven limestone tombs, some sealed since antiquity. A 2.5-meter granite sarcophagus with skeletal remains was found, along with 24 "golden tongue" pieces, including one shaped like the Eye of Horus, placed in the mouths of the deceased. Other artifacts include pottery, oil lamps, a limestone altar with a "false door" facade, an unfinished Aphrodite statue, and glass tear bottles. The site, believed to be the city of Leukaspis, flourished from the Hellenistic to Byzantine periods and is being developed into a formal tourist destination with completion expected by mid-2027. This follows another recent discovery of a Ramesside-period tomb belonging to "Paser" in the Theban necropolis.