Qena: As part of the archaeological excavations at the Sheikh al-Arab Hammam site in the village of al-Arki, Qena Governorate, the joint Egyptian-French archaeological mission has unearthed parts of a mud-brick residential city dating back to the 18th century AD, during the reign of Sheikh al-Arab Hammam.

According to State Information Service Egypt, the excavations also revealed an extension of a Byzantine-era Coptic cemetery located beneath the discovered city. The excavations uncovered six houses with attached service buildings, adjacent to part of an industrial area. Preliminary studies indicate that some of these houses were covered with mud-brick domes, while the roofs of others were covered with palm trunks. The mission also found traces of whitewash in some rooms, while the rest of the city is still being excavated.

The discovered artifacts reflect the site's richness and the diversity of its activities, including bronze coins, various pottery pieces, children's toys, jewelry, textile fragments, and other evidence of daily life at the site. The cemetery contains a number of burials dating back to the Byzantine era, divided into two styles. The first involves direct burial in the ground, while the second is characterized by the burial area being defined by mud-brick walls.

A number of pottery fragments, linen wrappings, and parts of the tunic prepared for the deceased and woven in the Coptic style were also found with these burials. Many of these tunics are decorated with floral, geometric, and animal motifs, as well as crosses and some Coptic symbols and letters. A copper seal used for decorating cakes was also discovered.

These discoveries represent an important scientific contribution to the study of settlement patterns, funerary practices, and industrial activities in Upper Egypt. They also contribute new insights into the nature of population concentration and the geographical development of the region from the Byzantine era to the Islamic era.