Archaeologists in Luxor have unveiled an intact 18th-Dynasty chamber dedicated to the pharaonic art of falconry. The suite, located within a larger elite villa, contains gilded wooden perches, leather hoods with gold leaf, and dozens of mummified falcons and hawks, some of which were buried with miniature silver talons.
This is the first time a dedicated "falconry office" has been found in a domestic context, suggesting that bird-of-prey training was a highly formalized courtly profession. Wall paintings within the chamber depict pharaohs engaging in ritual hunts, providing a vivid record of the symbolic and recreational importance of these birds in Ancient Egyptian society during the New Kingdom.