Luxor, Egypt

Travel Blog  •  Ben Keene  •  03.10.06 | 12:32 PM ET

Coordinates: 25 41 N 32 38 E
Approximate distance to Nile: 4.3 miles (7 kilometers)
image“The sight that met us was beyond anything one could conceive,” wrote Howard Carter in his diary, relieved that beneath the shifting sands of Egypt’s Valley of the Kings he had finally found the tomb of King Tutankhamun. Yet after seven long years of fruitless excavations in an area that had been scoured by generations of treasure hunters and archaeologists, even he would have doubted the existence of another needle in this desert haystack. Nonetheless, a team of scientists working at a nearby site recently uncovered seven intact coffins—the first such discovery since Carter’s famous announcement in 1922. Located on the west bank of the Nile, a short trip from the city of Luxor, the limestone valley guarding 500 years of dynastic history was previously thought to contain 62 tombs.

—.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) is the editor of the Oxford Atlas of the World. 

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Ben Keene has appeared on National Public Radio, Peter Greenberg Worldwide Radio as well as other nationally syndicated programs to discuss geographic literacy and his work updating a bestselling world atlas. Formerly a touring musician, he has written for Transitions Abroad and inTravel.


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