Egyptian archeologists say they have discovered a tomb of a "great army general" under Ramses II at the Saqqara burial complex near Cairo.

The antiquities ministry says in a Tuesday statement that the general, named "Iwrhya," was found in the New Kingdom necropolis, and had yet to be fully excavated but contained lots of material testifying to the high status of its owner and his family.

Ramses II, who took the throne in his early 20s as the third pharaoh of the 19th Dynasty, ruled Egypt more than 3,000 years ago. He is credited with expanding ancient Egypt's reach as far as modern Syria to the east and modern Sudan to the south.

Egypt hopes such discoveries will spur tourism, which has suffered from political turmoil following the 2011 uprising.