New discovery at Kom El-Khelgan reveal millennia of settlement in Nile Delta
Nevine El-Aref , Saturday 8 Aug 2026
An Egyptian archaeological mission has uncovered an extensive cemetery dating from the Predynastic Period through the Greco-Roman era, alongside a settlement dating to the Second Intermediate Period, at the Kom El-Khelgan archaeological site in Dakahliya.
The discovery, carried out by an Egyptian mission, offers new evidence of the long history of human settlement in the eastern Nile Delta and provides a rare archaeological record spanning several thousand years of Egypt's history. Hisham El-Leithy, Secretary General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA), described the discovery as an important scientific addition to the understanding of the Delta's history and cultural development.
He explained that the Kom El-Khelgan area is emerging as an important archaeological site in the eastern Delta. The remains uncovered there document changes in settlement patterns, funerary traditions, and the relationship between communities and their surrounding environment from prehistoric times through the Greco-Roman Period.
Excavations at the site are continuing, with further investigations expected to reveal additional evidence about the communities that inhabited the area over the centuries.
The burials were found in different positions, indicating variations in funerary practices during the early period.
The graves contained relatively modest funerary goods, including small handmade pottery vessels and marine shells. The large number of burials suggests that the area was home to a substantial community at the time.
The settlement reveals daily life during the Second Intermediate Period: the mission uncovered a residential area and a group of graves dating to the Second Intermediate Period and continuing into the early New Kingdom. The settlement includes mudbrick structures, grain-storage silos, ovens, and hearths, offering archaeologists a glimpse into the everyday lives and economic activities of the site's inhabitants.
"Among the most distinctive architectural discoveries are a series of sinusoidal walls surrounding residential and funerary structures," said Mohamed Abdel Badie, Head of the Ancient Egyptian Antiquities Sector.
He explained that such walls are characteristic architectural features that appeared from the Middle Kingdom and continued into the New Kingdom. Archaeologists also unearthed pottery vessels, stone tools, and large quantities of fish, bird, and animal bones. The remains are expected to provide valuable information about the diet, subsistence practices, and daily life of the community during the Second Intermediate Period.
Several graves dating from the Fifteenth through Seventeenth Dynasties and the beginning of the New Kingdom were also discovered, providing further evidence that the area was inhabited during the Hyksos period, when the eastern Delta was a major center of political and cultural activity.
The site's proximity to Avaris, the Hyksos capital, adds particular significance to the discovery. The graves include mastabas and tombs featuring cornices. Preliminary studies indicate considerable diversity in burial positions, age groups, and funerary customs.
The funerary assemblages include jewelry, amulets, scarabs, bronze tools and weapons, as well as pottery vessels and Tell el-Yahudiya ware, a distinctive type of pottery associated with this period.
Hisham Hussein, Head of the Central Administration for Lower Egypt Antiquities, said the excavations have produced a number of significant findings, including a mudbrick-built tomb dating to the early Eighteenth Dynasty. The tomb contained pottery vessels and bronze tools. Archaeologists also uncovered the foundations of a structure with thick mudbrick walls, with pottery fragments and stone tools found on its floor dating to the beginning of the New Kingdom.
The archaeological record at Kom El-Khelgan extends well beyond the New Kingdom, as excavations uncovered several simple burial pits dating to the Ptolemaic Period, including the burial of a child placed inside two amphorae that had been reused as a funerary container. The unusual burial provides additional evidence that the site continued to be used across different historical periods, reinforcing its importance as a long-term settlement and funerary center in the eastern Nile Delta.
With excavations still underway, archaeologists expect further work at Kom El-Khelgan to shed additional light on the communities that lived, worked, and buried their dead at the site over thousands of years.
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