Amidst a howling sandstorm that local workers whispered was a restless omen, Josh Gates and a team of Egyptian archaeologists have unearthed a remarkably poignant New Kingdom burial. The discovery, found on the periphery of a much larger Old Kingdom shaft, reveals the heartbreaking efforts of an ancient family to secure an afterlife for a young girl who died over 3,000 years ago.

The find began near the surface of a newly excavated site, where the team identified a small, sealed wooden coffin. Pushed against the exterior wall of a grander, more ancient burial vault, the placement suggests a “satellite” burial—a common practice for families who lacked the means to build independent tombs but sought to “borrow” the sanctity of a more prominent site for their deceased offspring.

A Race Against the Elements

As the team began the delicate process of extraction, the Egyptian desert lived up to its reputation for volatility. High-velocity winds forced the expedition to move operations into a reinforced field tent.

“It is a bizarre feeling to be a pallbearer for a child who died thousands of years ago,” Gates remarked as the team carried the stretcher into the safety of the facility. The sense of urgency only heightened when, upon opening the lid, a fierce storm battered the tent’s exterior, a coincidence not lost on the superstitious members of the crew.

The Girl with the Ivory Earrings

Despite the intrusion of moisture over the millennia, which had compromised the preservation of the skeletal remains, the burial was rich with personal adornments. The team discovered a set of delicate ivory earrings, leading lead archaeologists to conclude the occupant was a young girl.

Further excavation of the linen-wrapped remains revealed a stunning multi-strand necklace. The piece consists of hundreds of individual discs made of faience—a lustrous, glazed ceramic—and quartz. Even after 3,000 years, the brilliant turquoise and earth-toned glazes shone with a clarity that Gates described as looking “made yesterday.”

The burial was also accompanied by a high-status New Kingdom vase and a perfectly preserved, hand-woven basket, indicating that while her life was short, she was buried with significant familial wealth and devotion.

Breakthrough at the Old Kingdom Vault

While the child’s burial provided a human face to the New Kingdom era, the team’s primary objective remained the massive burial shaft below. After clearing several feet of compacted sand and limestone debris, the workers identified an upper vault that had remained undisturbed for thousands of years.

The discovery of a complete ceramic vessel tucked into the corner of this upper chamber served as the prelude to a much larger find. As the team breached a layer of mud-brick and limestone, they exposed the entrance to a fully decorated, brilliantly painted tomb.

“Oh my word, it’s all painted,” Gates exclaimed as the camera lights hit the walls. The vibrant pigments, depicting scenes meant to guide the soul through the underworld, suggest that the “Old Kingdom collapse” may not have been as total as previously thought, or that this particular official held onto his status during a time of immense mysterious upheaval.

Restoring a Name

As the girl’s coffin was re-sealed to allow her to rest, the team emphasized that the find was more than a “specimen.”

“She had a name, she had a family, she has a story,” Gates noted. The expedition now turns its focus to the newly revealed painted tomb below, hoping that the inscriptions will provide the definitive timeline for the fall of the Old Kingdom and perhaps identify the lineage of the family that so carefully laid the “girl with the ivory earrings” to rest at its gates.