Field Research & Active Excavations

Egyptian Archaeology — Active Digs and Key Discoveries

Egypt is not a museum of the past — it is an active archaeological landscape where significant discoveries continue to emerge every season. This overview covers the most important current excavation zones, the methodologies that govern fieldwork in Egypt today, and the major discoveries of the past decade that have reshaped understanding of Pharaonic civilisation.

Step Pyramid of Djoser at Saqqara, with excavation tents visible in the foreground

Giza Governorate — Ongoing

Saqqara: The Most Active Dig Zone in Egypt

The Saqqara necropolis, stretching six kilometres along the desert escarpment south of Cairo, is the most densely excavated and archaeologically productive zone in Egypt. Its excavation history spans over 150 years, yet discoveries of the first order continue to be announced with unusual frequency — suggesting that the site's subsurface density has barely been sampled relative to what remains buried.

The necropolis is structured around the Step Pyramid complex of Djoser (Third Dynasty, c. 2650 BCE), which Imhotep designed as the first large-scale dressed-stone monument ever built. Surrounding it on all sides are mastaba tombs of Old Kingdom officials — flat-topped rectangular superstructures covering burial shafts — whose relief-carved walls depict scenes of agricultural, artisan and domestic life in meticulous detail. The mastaba of Ti, the mastaba of Kagemni and the double mastaba of Mereruka contain reliefs that remain among the finest examples of Old Kingdom two-dimensional art.

Recent excavations have focused on the area south and southeast of the Step Pyramid, where a series of large shaft tombs have been opened since 2018. These shafts, typically twelve to fifteen metres deep, contain Late Period (664–332 BCE) and Ptolemaic burial assemblages — painted wooden coffins, gilded mummy masks, ushabti figurines and in several cases mummified animal collections. The 2022 announcement of over 150 sealed bronze figurines of deities within a single water-filled shaft represented the largest find of its type since the early 20th century.

The Serapeum — the underground gallery system housing the giant granite sarcophagi of the sacred Apis bulls — is located beneath Saqqara. Each sarcophagus weighs approximately 70 tonnes and was sealed with a lid of equal weight. The gallery system extends 198 metres underground and was first excavated by Auguste Mariette in 1851. Access requires an additional permit available at the Saqqara ticket office.

New Kingdom tombs at Saqqara, including those of the Memphite necropolis of the court of Ramesses II, are the subject of ongoing excavation by the Leiden–Turin mission. Their work has produced extraordinary painted relief fragments, many depicting funerary scenes for senior state officials. Saqqara is best visited in combination with the Grand Egyptian Museum via our Cairo day itinerary guide.

Desert plain of Amarna showing excavation grid markings and the distant cliff face with royal tombs

Minya Governorate — Ongoing

Amarna and the Aten Heresy

The site of ancient Akhetaten — Tell el-Amarna in modern Minya Governorate — is the most archaeologically peculiar in Egypt. It was founded, occupied and abandoned within a single generation: the reign of Akhenaten (c. 1353–1336 BCE), the pharaoh who dismantled the traditional polytheistic religion of Egypt and replaced it with the exclusive worship of the Aten, the sun disc as a divine force without mythological narrative or iconographic tradition.

Akhenaten's religious programme, which also involved the deliberate erasure of the name of Amun from inscriptions across Egypt, provoked a wholesale reversal after his death. His successor Tutankhamun (originally Tutankhaten) restored the traditional religion, and Akhenaten's city was demolished and its building materials reused. As a result, the site of Amarna preserves a uniquely frozen snapshot: it was never built over, its ruins lying in the desert precisely as they were when the population departed around 1332 BCE.

The Amarna Project, led by the Egypt Exploration Society and currently directed from the University of Cambridge, has conducted systematic excavations at the site since 1977. The current excavation focuses on the South Tombs Cemetery, a workers' burial ground containing thousands of individuals dating to the Amarna Period. Analysis of the skeletal remains has revealed patterns of severe physical stress, fractures and nutritional deficiency consistent with heavy construction labour — illuminating the human cost of the city's rapid construction. The data is published annually in the Amarna Project's Journal of Egyptian Archaeology supplements.

The royal tombs at Amarna are cut into the eastern cliff face and are accessible to visitors. The tomb of Huya and the tomb of Meryra II contain the most intact painted decoration, including images of Akhenaten and Nefertiti under the rays of the Aten that define the art of the period. See our New Kingdom historical overview for the full chronological context of the Amarna episode.

Recent Fieldwork

Major Discoveries 2018–2026

A selection of the most significant finds announced from Egyptian excavations in the past decade, verified against published excavation reports and Ministry of Antiquities press releases.

Saqqara — 2022

The Bronze Trove of Saqqara

In September 2022, a joint Egyptian mission excavating water-filled shafts at Saqqara announced the recovery of over 150 sealed bronze figurines of deities including Anubis, Osiris, Hathor, Bastet and Nefertum, alongside 16 bronze sistrum instruments. The assemblage, dating to approximately 500 BCE (Late Period), represents one of the largest single groups of votive bronzes ever recovered from a controlled archaeological context in Egypt. The figurines are now displayed in the Grand Egyptian Museum pending final cataloguing. Publication of the full inventory is expected in 2026.

Museum collection →

Luxor West Bank — 2021

The Lost Golden City of Amenhotep III

Announced in April 2021 by Zahi Hawass and described in Nature and the Egyptian Journal of Remote Sensing, the "Rise of Aten" site uncovered at Luxor's West Bank represents the largest ancient Egyptian city ever found in an intact state. The settlement, dating to the reign of Amenhotep III (c. 1390–1352 BCE) and covering approximately 3,000 square metres of excavated area to date, contains workshops, bakeries, administrative buildings and a large number of sealed wine jars bearing hieratic inscriptions dating the settlement to year 37 of Amenhotep's reign. Mud-brick walls stand to a height of three metres.

Luxor guide →

Alexandria — Ongoing

Underwater Archaeology of the Ptolemaic Harbour

The Institut Européen d'Archéologie Sous-Marine (IEASM), under the direction of Franck Goddio, has conducted systematic underwater excavation of Alexandria's ancient eastern harbour since 1996. The sunken remains include portions of Cleopatra's palace, a large section of the Ptolemaic royal quarter, submerged sphinxes, colossal statues and the foundations of structures described in ancient sources as the Timonium of Mark Antony. Over 20,000 individual objects have been recovered from the site, with annual diving seasons adding to the inventory. The site lies in approximately eight metres of water in the modern eastern harbour.

Alexandria guide →

How Excavations Work

Egyptian Archaeology: Methods and Permissions

Concession Application

All archaeological fieldwork in Egypt requires a concession granted by the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities through the Permanent Committee for Egyptian Antiquities. Applications detail the institution, lead archaeologist, proposed site, methodology and conservation plan. The committee meets twice yearly. Foreign missions typically partner with an Egyptian co-director and an affiliated Egyptian university, as required by the 1983 Antiquities Protection Law.

Survey and Geophysical Assessment

Modern Egyptian excavations typically begin with non-invasive geophysical survey — ground-penetrating radar, magnetometry and electrical resistivity tomography — to map subsurface features before committing to manual excavation. This methodology, refined over the past 20 years, has dramatically increased the efficiency of site selection and reduced unnecessary disturbance of undisturbed stratigraphy.

Excavation and Documentation

Field excavation at major Egyptian sites now uses standardised recording systems combining stratigraphic context sheets, photogrammetric documentation (3D point clouds of features and objects in situ), dGPS positioning and digital object cataloguing. The move toward digital-first recording, accelerated after 2015, has substantially improved inter-mission data sharing and post-excavation analysis speed.

Conservation and Publication

All finds remain the property of the Egyptian state and are deposited with the Ministry of Antiquities after documentation. Objects of significance are transferred to appropriate museum collections. Publications are expected within five years of field completion under current Ministry guidelines. Many missions publish interim field reports annually in Egyptological journals including the Journal of Egyptian Archaeology, Mitteilungen des Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts and the Bulletin de l'Institut Français d'Archéologie Orientale.

Researcher Questions

Archaeology FAQ

Can members of the public observe active Egyptian excavations?

Active excavation sites are generally closed to casual visitors, but several missions operate open days or accept formally arranged visits from academic groups. The Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities issues press access permits on a case-by-case basis. Our centre can facilitate contact with specific excavation teams for qualified researchers and journalists; use the contact page to describe your interest and credentials. Academic institutions seeking site access for teaching groups should allow a minimum of three months lead time for permit processing.

What is the current status of the Saqqara excavations?

Saqqara remains one of the most active excavation zones in Egypt as of 2026. The Egyptian archaeological mission led by senior Egyptologists affiliated with the Supreme Council of Antiquities and the National Research Institute of Astronomy and Geophysics has been conducting parallel excavations in the area south of the Djoser Step Pyramid complex since 2018, with regular announcements of intact shaft tombs. Several of the most significant coffin assemblages discovered since 2020 are now on display in the Grand Egyptian Museum.

How can I access Egyptian excavation reports and scholarly publications?

Published excavation reports appear in peer-reviewed Egyptological journals available through academic library subscriptions: the Journal of Egyptian Archaeology (Egypt Exploration Society), Mitteilungen des Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts Abteilung Kairo (MDAIK), and the Annales du Service des Antiquités de l'Égypte (ASAE). Some missions publish open-access interim reports on their institutional websites. The Polish Centre of Mediterranean Archaeology, the French Institute (IFAO) and the Mission Archéologique Française de Saqqara all maintain English-language online publication archives. Contact our research services team for bibliographic assistance.

What sites should a student of Egyptian archaeology prioritise visiting?

For an archaeologically literate visitor, we recommend: Saqqara (for the density and continuity of excavation history), Deir el-Medina on Luxor's West Bank (the village of the tomb workers — uniquely documented by a papyrus archive and graffiti record), Amarna (for its unparalleled stratigraphic integrity as an abandoned city), and Abydos in Sohag Governorate (site of the earliest royal burials and ongoing excavations of the Early Dynastic cemetery at Umm el-Qa'ab). The historical periods guide provides chronological context for each of these sites.

How does Egypt regulate the export of archaeological finds?

Egypt's Antiquities Protection Law (Law 117 of 1983, amended 2010) prohibits the export of any object classified as an antiquity — generally defined as any artefact more than 100 years old — without a permit from the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities. Modern Egyptian law reflects a position that Pharaonic heritage is the collective property of the Egyptian people and of humanity, not a tradeable commodity. Objects illegally removed from Egypt after 1970 (the UNESCO convention date) are subject to repatriation claims, which Egypt has actively pursued through diplomatic channels and legal proceedings. For enquiries related to research collections abroad, contact our team via the enquiries page.