No new information really, but a few items of interest.

They got sidetracked after a team member, Irish archeologist Alistair Dickey, unearthed a precisely cut corner stone. He cleared more earth away and found the start of a vertical shaft.

Other team members gathered around. They watched the shaft get deeper as more earth was cleared.

Their wary expectations deepened, as well.

"How far would it go? How deep would it be? Would there be a door? Would there be stairs? All these thoughts were running through our minds — until finally we noticed the top of the door," Corcoran said.

The door, about 20 feet below ground level, was blocked by limestone chips. The diggers cleared an opening about 6 inches high.

Dickey and team photographer Heather Alexander peered inside. In the darkness, they saw forms.

Alexander, flat on her stomach, aimed her flashlight inside.

"They saw a face, a really beautiful painted face. Painted yellow," Corcoran said. "Then they called up and said, 'We see pottery!' That was really the exciting moment."

University of Memphis scientists 'on air' after Egyptian tomb discovery, The Tennessean, Tennessee, USA, February 13, 2006.

Paul LeRoy of Tacoma got hooked on the study of mummies, pharaohs and ancient Egypt as a 10-year-old when he saw Boris Karloff in the movie “The Mummy.”

LeRoy also has donated money to the search for tombs in Egypt’s Valley of the Kings, outside Luxor.

His investment paid off this week with the discovery of the first tomb — containing five coffins with mummies — since King Tut’s tomb in 1922.

Tomb hound hits pay dirt, Tacoma News Tribune, Washington, USA, February 11, 2006.

The following from NPR is audio.

Dr. Lorelei Corcoran discusses with Robert Siegel the recent findings from the archeological dig at Valley of the Kings in Egypt. The Egyptologist and the director of the Institute for Egyptian Art and Archeology was at the site today and is the academic sponsor of the dig.

New Discoveries at Egyptian Tomb, NPR, District of Columbia, USA, February 10, 2006.

Another audio story from the BBC world service.

Tomb find stuns Egypt, BBC News, UK, February 10, 2006.

Yahoo News have set up a slideshow for the tomb find itself rather than adding them to the Archaeology & Anthropology slideshow.

New Tomb Discovered in Egypt, Yahoo! News, USA, February 13, 2006.

by Zahi Hawass

The story of the governor's tomb began in 1947 when Ahmed Fakhry, an Egyptian archaeologist, excavated three tombs, dating to 26th Dynasty. These tombs belonged to Ta-Nefert-Bastet, Thaty, and Bedashtar.

When Fakhry discovered these tombs he was more interested in exploring as much as possible. So, they were briefly described and left unexcavated. Over time, desert sand reburies sites as it had done for thousands of years. I realised there was more to this particular group of tombs.

Before I excavated Bahariya, it was my dream to discover the tomb of its most powerful governor during the 26th Dynasty, Djed-Khonsu-ef-ankh. This had also been Fakhry's dream. When I was a young man I felt a special connection with Fakhry, whose books I read while I was in college. When I read about the "Lost Tomb," something captured my imagination. I was determined to discover this tomb as a dedication to him.

At the end of our 1999 season, two young men came to me and told me that they could tell me something very important that would help me make a huge discovery and they would lead me personally to the location. I asked them what they wanted from me, and they wanted jobs in the Inspectorate, perhaps as security officers.

They said that five men were going to dig under houses near the cenotaph of Sheikh Soby for artefacts to sell. There were many tombs there. I asked, "are you sure of this information?" The young men swore they were telling the truth. I told them that if we found the tombs, we would give them both jobs at the Antiquities office in Bahariya.

One night Ashry and I went to Sheikh Soby to watch, but nothing happened. The next day, we went into one of the houses and saw a hole in the floor. When we looked inside we were amazed to see painted scenes of a tomb chapel about fifteen to twenty feet underground. At the bottom of this shaft there was a maze of rounded rooms forming chambers and corridors of the three tombs Ahmed Fakhry had discovered in 1947.

Discovery of Djed-Khonsu-ef-ankh - Governor of Bahariya (Part 1), The Egyptian Gazette, Egypt, February 13, 2006.

cf. More Egyptian Mummies Keep Telling Their Secrets, The New York Times, New York, USA, September 11, 2000.

cf. Finding the Tomb of the Pharaoh's Vizier in the 'Valley of the Mummies', egyptvoyager.com, undated.

cf. Dig Days: Treasures under the modern houses, Al-Ahram, Egypt, Issue No. 761, September 22 - 28, 2005.