Cairo - Intact clay pots sealed with cartouches of King Tutankhamun and eight baskets have been discovered in his treasure room in the Valley of the Kings, the Egyptian Culture Minister said on Monday. Farouk Hosni said the discovery was unearthed by the first Egyptian excavation team to work in the Valley of the Kings near the city of Luxor in southern Egypt.

The Valley of the Kings was used for burials for around 500 years from 1540 BC onwards.

Egypt's chief archaeologist, Zahi Hawas, explained that inside the Tutankhamun treasure room the team discovered eight baskets filled with almost 60 cartouches printed with the king's stamp.

Cartouches are oval or oblong in shape and typically contain the Egyptian hieroglyphs for a monarch.

Hawas said those cartouches had previously been found by Howard Carter in 1922, but he left them inside the treasure room.

"It is the first time ever to find such cartouches," said Hawas, adding that Egyptian archaeologists would start documenting them and open the clay pots to know what they contain.

Hawas thinks the pots may contain seeds and drinks.

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