Egypt unveils two restored New Kingdom tombs in Luxor

By Sayed Sheasha

LUXOR, Egypt, May 14 (Reuters) - Egyptian authorities on Thursday unveiled two restored ancient tombs on the West Bank of Luxor that date back to the New Kingdom and contain scenes of daily life and funerary rituals.

The tombs are those of Rabuya and his son Samut from the 18th Dynasty, the first of the New Kingdom dynasties. Rabuya and Samut served as door keepers of the deity Amun, the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities said.

"Today we are inaugurating two very important tombs that were discovered by chance in 2015," said Hisham El-Leithy, secretary-general of Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities.

The tombs contain scenes of activities including agriculture, harvest, crafts, bread, pottery and wine production.

The West Bank of the River Nile at Luxor is home to the Valley of the Kings, where pharaohs and nobles of the New Kingdom were buried in tombs carved into the rock.

Among the many New Kingdom pharaohs buried there were Tutankhamun - popularly known as King Tut - whose 14th-century BC tomb and its full contents were unearthed in 1922.

(Writing by Eman Abouhassira; Editing by Aidan Lewis)