Egyptian Archaeological News - General

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12012013, Daily News

Resurrecting the Pharaoh’s Solar Boat

By Leyland Cecco Mon, Feb 03, 2014

Buried for more than 4,500 years, a well-preserved ancient Egyptian funerary barque sees the light of day, aided by archaeologists and Japanese technology.

Cairo, Egypt - "Made from Lebanese cedar, the planks of the ships were masterfully pieced together. Strong and buoyant, these vessels were designed to move gracefully across a cosmic sea to transport a king across the heavens after death. They were Pharaoh Khufu's “solar” boats, and sailing by his side would be the god Re, the Egyptian sun god, embodying a testament to his piousness as a ruler and the blessings of the gods in his journey through the afterlife. Because the boats’ most important journey was intended to be a cosmic one, they may have seen little or no use in water like other ships. These boats were buried beside his pyramid tomb and hidden for thousands of years.

The king, his body silent in death, kept the secrets of the boats with the desert."

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Older than Giza: 4,600-year-old Pyramid Uncovered in Egypt

Owen Jarus, LiveScience Contributor LiveScience

15 hours ago

TORONTO — "Archaeologists working near the ancient settlement of Edfu, in southern Egypt, have uncovered a step pyramid that dates back about 4,600 years, predating the Great Pyramid of Giza by at least a few decades.

The step pyramid, which once stood as high as 43 feet (13 meters), is one of seven so-called "provincial" pyramids built by either the pharaoh Huni (reign ca. 2635-2610 B.C.) or Snefru (reign ca. 2610-2590 B.C.). Over time, the step pyramid's stone blocks were pillaged, and the monument was exposed to weathering, so today, it's only about 16 feet (5 m) tall."

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Issue No.1183, 6 February, 2014 05-02-2014 04:33PM ET

Lost Dynasty Revealed

The discovery of a previously unknown ancient Egyptian pharaoh has revealed evidence of a lost 3,600-year-old dynasty

"At the small town of Abydos near the Upper Egyptian city of Sohag, US archaeologists are busy deciphering a critical era in ancient Egyptian history that took place between the Second Intermediate Period and the rise of the New Kingdom, reports Nevine El-Aref. According to Egyptologists, this period is known for its fragmentation and political conflict as the authorities at the time struggled against rival kingdoms in the north ruled by the Hyksos and in the south ruled from Thebes.

Earlier this month excavators from Pennsylvania University in the US led by Josef Wegner stumbled upon what is believed to be the tomb of a previously unknown ancient Egyptian pharaoh who ruled during a forgotten local dynasty called Abydos.

The existence of this dynasty, according to Wegner, was first put forward in 1997 by Kim Ryholt from the University of Copenhagen, but evidence to prove its existence was not found until the Penn team uncovered the name and tomb of one of the early kings of the Abydos Dynasty called Woseribre-Senebkay.

The story of this discovery, according to the Penn team report of which the Weekly has seen a copy, started last summer when the team discovered the 60-ton red quartzite sarcophagus of the founder of the 13th Dynasty, Sobekhotep I, during routine excavation work at the Middle Kingdom necropolis in Abydos near Sohag."

 

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Spanish, Egyptian Archaeologists Make Discovery That Changes Chronology of the Pharaohs

Published at 11:04 am EST, February 8, 2014

"A team of Spanish and Egyptian archaeologists made a find in a southern Egyptian tomb that opens the way to a reinterpretation of Pharaonic chronology, since it could show that Amenhotep III and his son Amenhotep IV reigned together.

The team, headed by Spaniard Francisco Martin Valentin and funded by Spain’s Gaselec foundation, excavated the remains of a wall and columns of the mausoleum of a minister of the 18th Pharaonic dynasty - 1569-1315 B.C. - in the province of Luxor.

What is exceptional about the discovery, Martin Valentin told Efe, is that in the excavation they found the names of Amenhotep III and Amenhotep IV carved together."

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Egyptian Team Finds Trove of Ancient Artifacts

The Associated Press, Cairo

Sunday, 9 February 2014

"Egypt’s Ministry of Antiquities says that one of its teams has found a cache of artifacts dating to roughly 600 B.C. in a northern Nile Delta province of the country.

Minister of Antiquities Mohammad Ibrahim says in a statement Sunday that the team found 43 amulets, a gold-plated mummy mask and nearly 600 small funerary statues inside a pharaonic cemetery in the northern Dakahliya province. Archaeologists also found a cartouche engraved with the name of King Psammeticus I, a pharaoh from the 26th dynasty, the statement said."

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Further Update:

More Ancient Discoveries in Egypt's Dakahliya: Gallery

More Funerary Objects Are Unearthed Inside a Mastaba Tomb Uncovered Last Week in Dakahliya

Nevine El-Aref , Sunday 9 Feb 2014

"During excavation work carried out Sunday inside a mastaba tomb found in Tel El-Tabila in Dakahliya, a collection of three skeletons, a large collection of ushabti figurines and two tombs were uncovered.

Mohamed Ibrahim, minister of state for antiquities, said in a press release that the three skeletons can be dated to the Late Ancient Egyptian period. A collection of 14 amulets were found buried beside one of them. The most important amulet is one depicting the Triod gods of Amun, Horus and Neftis.

Beside the second skeleton, Ibrahim said, a collection of 29 amulets was found, among them a heart shaped scarab and garnet amulets.

Beside the third skeleton excavators uncovered 12 amulets featuring the Udjat eye of Horus."

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Rare Wooden Anthropoid Sarcophagus Discovered in Luxor

A 17th dynasty painted sarcophagus belonging to a top governmental official was unearthed at Draa Abul-Naga necropolis on Luxor's west bank

Nevine El-Aref , Thursday 13 Feb 2014

"A Spanish-Egyptian archeological team working on Luxor's west bank has discovered a rare wooden human-shaped sarcophagus from the 17th dynasty.

The find came during routine excavation work at the tomb of Djehuty, treasure holder for Queen Hatshepsut, at Dra Abul-Naga necropolis.

The sarcophagus is important for the detailed depictions of bird feather shapes and sizes painted on its lid, motifs that have earned it the title of Feathers Sarcophagi, according to Egypt's antiquities minister Mohamed Ibrahim.

The 2 metre long, 42 cm tall sarcophagus is in very good condition, Ibrahim said, and also engraved with titles of the deceased, which archeologists have not yet been able to identify."

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A Part of Memnon Colossi Uncovered in Luxor

Quartzite blocks belong to the colossi of Memnon was discovered Sunday at King Amenhotep III's funerary temple on Luxor's west bank

Nevine El-Aref , Sunday 16 Feb 2014

"The European-Egyptian archaeological mission headed by famed Egyptologist Horig Sourouzian has unearthed a collection of quartzite blocks that had been missing since antiquity from Memnon colossi, at the entrance of King Amenhotep III's temple at Kom El-Hitan on Luxor's west bank.

Egypt's antiquities minister Mohamed Ibrahim told Ahram Online on Sunday that the blocks belong to the northern colossus and depict a part of the statue's arm, painted belt and skirt."

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2/21/2014 12:24:00 PM

Ancient Egyptian Papyri Discovered at Luther College

Rare Early Christian Document Among the Finds

"Nine papyri documents almost 2,000 years old were discovered recently by a student in the Luther College Archives, where they had remained hidden in a cardboard box for decades.

Luther sophomore Brittany Anderson of Sparta, Wis. was examining the papers of the late Orlando Qualley, longtime professor of classics, the first vice president of Luther College (1934) and the first dean of the college (1946-64), when she came across the nine ancient documents among Qualley's letters and journals donated to the college in the 1980s.

The papyri-one of which, a libellus, is especially rare-date from the first to the fifth centuries A.D. and were apparently purchased by Qualley from an antiquities dealer when he was part of a University of Michigan archaeological excavation at Karanis, south of Cairo, in 1924-25."

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New Kingdom Tombs Discovered in Egypt's Aswan

Four rock-hewn New Kingdom tombs uncovered in Aswan may change the history of Elephantine Island

Nevine El-Aref , Monday 3 Mar 2014

"East Aswan inhabitants have accidentally stumbled upon what is believed to be a set of rock-hewn tombs on Elephantine Island, which displays a wide range of monuments from the prehistoric period to the Greco-Roman era.

Minister of Antiquities Mohamed Ibrahim told Ahram Online on Monday that early studies on the tombs' wall paintings reveal that they are dated to the New Kingdom era, which makes a very important discovery that may change the history of Elephantine Island.

Ali El-Asfar, head of the Ancient Egyptian Antiquities section, explains that the first tomb belongs to a top official in Elephantine named User who was a prince of Elephantine during the New Kingdom.

User’s tomb is well decorated with scenes depicting him in different positions with his family and deities. Among the distinguished wall paintings is a scene featuring the deceased wearing leopard fur along with five priests before an offering table, El-Asfar said."

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Ancient Egyptian Soldier's Letter Home Deciphered

By Owen Jarus, Live Science Contributor | March 05, 2014 10:18pm ET

"A newly deciphered letter home dating back around 1,800 years reveals the pleas of a young Egyptian soldier named Aurelius Polion who was serving, probably as a volunteer, in a Roman legion in Europe.

In the letter, written mainly in Greek, Polion tells his family that he is desperate to hear from them and that he is going to request leave to make the long journey home to see them.

Addressed to his mother (a bread seller), sister and brother, part of it reads: "I pray that you are in good health night and day, and I always make obeisance before all the gods on your behalf. I do not cease writing to you, but you do not have me in mind," it reads."

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Statue of pharaoh's daughter unearthed in Egypt

CAIRO Fri Mar 7, 2014 8:14am EST

Reuters) - "A statue of the daughter of King Amenhotep III, grandfather of Tutankhamen and ruler of Egypt around 3,350 years ago, has been unearthed by a team of Egyptian and European archaeologists.

The statue of Princess Iset was discovered at the temple of her pharaoh father on the western bank of the Nile in the southern city of Luxor, the Egyptian antiquities ministry said on Friday.

The new discovery is the first known representation of Iset alone with her father, the ministry said, noting that sculptures on display at the Egyptian Museum depict her and her siblings together with the 18th Dynasty ruler."

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Journal of Archaeological Science

Volume 45, May 2014, Pages 103–111

More evidence for cat taming at the Predynastic elite cemetery of Hierakonpolis (Upper Egypt)

Wim Van Neera, Veerle Linseelec, Renée Friedmand, Bea De Cuperea.

Highlights

• Burial in Egypt with 6 cats (Felis silvestris) dated to the early 4th millennium BC.
• Criteria for distinguishing wild and domestic cats maybe not valid outside Europe.
• Deviation from natural birth pattern in the wild suggests cultural control of cats.
• Finds predate previous Egyptian evidence for cat domestication by nearly 2000 years.

Abstract

Continued excavations at the Predynastic elite cemetery HK6 at Hierakonpolis have yielded new evidence for the cultural control of cats during the Naqada IC-IIB period (c. 3800–3600 BC). In the same burial ground where evidence was previously found for the keeping of jungle cat (Felis chaus), a small pit was discovered containing six cats. The animals that were buried simultaneously, are a male and a female, and four kittens belonging to two different litters. The long bone measurements of the adult individuals clearly fall in the range of Felis silvestris and outside those of F. chaus and F. margarita. Comparison of the measurements – through the log-ratio technique – with data from the literature, as well as morphological characteristics of the mandible, suggest that the animals are domestic. It is argued that these results should be used with caution, since the criteria established to distinguish wild and domestic cat in European sites may reflect differences at the subspecies level (wild Felis silvestris silvestris versus the domestic form derived from Felis silvestris lybica). In northern Africa only F.s. lybica (wild or domestic) occurs, thus the established criteria may not be adequate when applied to Egyptian material. However, possible circumstantial evidence for the cultural control of the cats buried at Hierakonpolis is provided by their ages at death which indicate a deviation from the birth pattern reported in Egyptian wild cats.

 

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More on:

Issue No.1189, 20 March, 2014

19-03-2014 01:24PM ET

Restoration of Khufu’s Boat

The third phase of the restoration of Khufu’s second solar boat has recently begun, reports Samia Fakhry

"The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) invited a number of Egyptian and foreign journalists to a press conference last week in order to announce the beginning of the third phase of the restoration project on Khufu’s second solar boat and to raise awareness of the Japanese contribution to the preservation of Egypt’s archaeological heritage.

A tour of the labs of the planned Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM) was also on the agenda, when those present were able to see the restoration work done on some of treasures found in the tomb of Tutankhamun that will be in the GEM collection.

In addition to the JICA’s work at the GEM and on Khufu’s solar boat, the Japanese government is also to establish a fourth phase of the Cairo underground, this time linking the capital to the Pyramids area and the GEM.

The story of Khufu’s solar boats started in 1954 when Egyptian archaeologist Kamal Al-Mallakh stumbled upon the two boat pits during routine cleaning on the southern side of the Great Pyramid of Khufu on the Giza Plateau. Working with conservator Ahmed Youssef, Al-Mallakh organised the removal and reconstruction of one of the boats."

 

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Guarding Grapes and Other Tales from Papyri

Mar 24, 2014 by Tom Robinette

If you weren't careful, you might end up beaten by grape thieves skulking in the darkness.

A University of Cincinnati graduate student writes about the contractual obligations of vineyard guards and researchers from around the world contribute more stories from ancient times in the most recent volumes of the Bulletin of the American Society of Papyrologists (BASP).

UC's Peter van Minnen, associate professor of classics, has edited the international journal since 2006. BASP is an annual collection of articles and reviews pertaining to important discoveries from around the world in the field of papyrology – the study of ancient texts on papyrus and other materials.

The latest volume of BASP is the 50th in the series and the eighth to have been edited at UC. The recently published journal features 35 contributions from 26 writers from 11 countries. The previous year's volume features 44 contributions from 41 writers from 14 countries. Each of the past two volumes includes content in three languages.

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4,000-year-old Mummy to go Back on Display After Evading Crystal Death

By Culture24 Reporter | 24 March 2014

Expert conservation work has been carried out on an Egyptian mummy given to Warrington Museum and Art Gallery more than 100 years ago

"A 4,000-year-old mummy case, attacked by a mysterious surface growth of white crystals more than a century after being gifted to Cheshire by a party returning from Egypt, will go back on show in Warrington thanks to the skilful handiwork of an expert from National Museums Liverpool.

Partly recycled from an earlier coffin due to a scarcity of wood in Egypt, the tomb once held the body of Pa-ikh-mennu, a man who worked at the temple of Amun in Thebe in modern Luxor. It was given to the museum by the Egypt Exploration Society in 1905, but has suffered from loose paint as well as the unusual invasion."

 

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Egypt Unveils Two Massive Restored Pharaoh Statues

By CNN Staff

March 24, 2014 -- Updated 1301 GMT (2101 HKT)

(CNN) - "Archeologists in the historic city of Luxor, Egypt have unveiled two massive ancient statues of Pharaoh Amenhotep III to the public.

The newly restored quartzite statues, one of which is more than 11 meters high and weighs 250 tonnes, can be found at the funerary temple of Amenhotep III.

They join a pair of already famous giants at the temple known as the Colossi of Memnon - two 16-meter-high images of King Amenhotep III seated on his throne, also made of quartzite.

The unveiling was presided over by German archaeologist Hourig Sourouzian, who heads the temple of Amenhotep III conservation project.

The two new statues, discovered during excavations at the site, were originally in pieces before being restored and raised to their current standing position at the temple.

According to the World Monument Fund (WMF), the temple of Amenhotep III was erected between 1390 and 1353 B.C. for the pharaoh. It was 100 meters wide and 600 meters long, but only the lower sections of the structure remain."

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Roman Emperor Dressed As Egyptian Pharaoh in Newfound Carving

By Owen Jarus, Live Science Contributor | March 25, 2014 11:07am ET

"An ancient stone carving on the walls of an Egyptian temple depicts the Roman emperor Claudius dressed as an Egyptian pharaoh, wearing an elaborate crown, a team of researchers has discovered.

In the carving, Emperor Claudius, who reigned from A.D. 41 to 54, is shown erecting a giant pole with a lunar crescent at the top. Eight men, each wearing two feathers, are shown climbing the supporting poles, with their legs dangling in midair.

Egyptian hieroglyphs in the carving call Claudius the "Son of Ra, Lord of the Crowns," and say he is "King of Upper and Lower Egypt, Lord of the Two Lands." The hieroglyphs say he is raising the pole of the tent (or cult chapel) of Min (an ancient Egyptian god of fertility and power) and notes a date indicating a ritual like this took place around the summertime researchers say. It would have taken place even though Claudius never visited Egypt. A cult chapel is a place of worship and a tent could also be used for this purpose."

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Byzantine Coin Hoard Found in Deir el-Bakhit

Early Byzantine coins revealed near Luxor, Egypt

by Archaeology Newsroom - Thursday, 27 March 2014

"On March 22nd 2014, a hoard find of 29 Byzantine gold coins in almost pristine condition was discovered by the German Mission at Deir el-Bakhit/Draâ Abu el-Naga North in Western Thebes. The hoard consists of two different kinds of denominations: 18 are solidi, 11 are so called tremissis coins (equal one third of a solidus). The deposit was found in a Coptic chapel that was installed in a Pharaonic tomb. The coins were hidden in the shaft of a small sandstone column which served as a support of the altar which was set up in the chapel."

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3,300-Year-Old Tomb with Pyramid Entrance Discovered in Egypt

By Owen Jarus, Live Science Contributor | March 30, 2014 01:27pm ET

"A tomb newly excavated at an ancient cemetery in Egypt would have boasted a pyramid 7 meters (23 feet) high at its entrance, archaeologists say.

The tomb, found at the site of Abydos, dates back around 3,300 years. Within one of its vaulted burial chambers, a team of archaeologists found a finely crafted sandstone sarcophagus, painted red, which was created for a scribe named Horemheb. The sarcophagus has images of several Egyptian gods on it and hieroglyphic inscriptions recording spells from the Book of the Dead that helped one enter the afterlife.

There is no mummy in the sarcophagus, and the tomb was ransacked at least twice in antiquity. Human remains survived the ransacking, however. Archaeologists found disarticulated skeletal remains from three to four men, 10 to 12 women and at least two children in the tomb."

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Did the Pharaohs Know Hieroglyphics? - Polish Egyptologist Explains

31.03.2014

"Could all the pharaohs read and write? Only 1-3 percent of the inhabitants of ancient Egypt mastered this exceptionally difficult art. Evidence of literacy of the rulers of Egypt are perhaps not numerous, but clear, argues Filip Taterka, Egyptologist, a doctoral student at the Institute of Prehistory, Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań.
In ancient Egypt, there were several types of handwriting. Currently, the best known are classical hieroglyphics, carved in stone on the walls of temples and tombs.

"For administrative documents and literary texts, ancient Egiptians used mainly hieratic, which was a simplified form of writing used since the Old Kingdom, the time of the builders of the pyramids in the third millennium BC. In the middle of the first millennium BC, even more simplified demotic appeared" - explained Taterka.

As it turns out, Egyptian written sources tell us very little about the literacy of the kings of Egypt. Poznań scientist tried to trace the problem since the beginning of pharaonic civilization in Egyptian texts."

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World’s Oldest Weather Report Could Revise Bronze Age Chronology

By Susie Allen and William Harms

APRIL 1, 2014

"An inscription on a 3,500-year-old stone block from Egypt may be one of the world’s oldest weather reports—and could provide new evidence about the chronology of events in the ancient Middle East.

A new translation of a 40-line inscription on the 6-foot-tall calcite block called the Tempest Stela describes rain, darkness and “the sky being in storm without cessation, louder than the cries of the masses.”

Two scholars at the University of Chicago’s Oriental Institute believe the unusual weather patterns described on the slab were the result of a massive volcano explosion at Thera—the present-day island of Santorini in the Mediterranean Sea. Because volcano eruptions can have a widespread impact on weather, the Thera explosion likely would have caused significant disruptions in Egypt.

The new translation suggests the Egyptian pharaoh Ahmose ruled at a time closer to the Thera eruption than previously thought—a finding that could change scholars’ understanding of a critical juncture in human history as Bronze Age empires realigned. The research from the Oriental Institute’s Nadine Moeller and Robert Ritner appears in the spring issue of the Journal of Near Eastern Studies.

The Tempest Stela dates back to the reign of the pharaoh Ahmose, the first pharaoh of the 18th Dynasty. His rule marked the beginning of the New Kingdom, a time when Egypt’s power reached its height. The block was found in pieces in Thebes, modern Luxor, where Ahmose ruled."

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also @

Past Horizons

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Issue No.1191, 3 April, 2014 02-04-2014 09:06PM ET

Resurrection at Thebes?

Could the mortuary temple of Amenhotep III be returning to something like its original splendour after 3,200 years in ruins, asks Nevine El-Aref

"At Wadi Al-Hittan on Luxor’s west bank, the two lonely Colossi of Memnon are seated, greeting visitors to the Theban necropolis. However, last week things were different from usual, as the temple that the monoliths once safeguarded is progressively re-emerging from oblivion for the first time since its collapse 3,200 years ago after a massive earthquake.

The originally awe-inspiring temple of the pharaoh Amenhotep III now appears as just slight elevations and depressions in the packed earth, with blocks, statues and fragments scattered across the surface. However, three of the temple’s original pylons can now be discerned, along with the statues and stelae that decorated its different courts.

The efforts exerted by the Colossi of Memnon and Amenhotep III Temple Conservation Project (CMATCP) and the Ministry of State for Antiquities (MSA) under the supervision of Egyptologist Hourig Sourouzian may be making the dream of the reconstruction of the lost temple come true.

The temple was built throughout the 38 years of the pharaoh’s reign in the first half of the 14th century BCE. Some 150 years later, it was toppled after a destructive earthquake hit the country around 1,200BCE."

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Ancient Egyptian Mummy Found With Brain, No Heart

By Owen Jarus, Live Science Contributor | April 06, 2014 05:12pm ET

"An ancient Egyptian mummy found with an intact brain, but no heart, has a plaque on her abdomen that may have been intended to ritually heal her, say a team of researchers who examined the female body with CT scans.

The woman probably lived around 1,700 years ago, at a time when Egypt was under Roman rule and Christianity was spreading, according to radiocarbon dating. Her name is unknown and she died between age 30 and 50. Like many Egyptians, she had terrible dental problems and had lost many of her teeth.

The use of mummification was in decline as Roman culture and Christianity took hold in the country. But this woman and her family, apparently strong in their traditional Egyptian beliefs, insisted on having the procedure done."

 

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British Museum Uses New Technology to Look Beneath Bandages of Ancient Egyptian Mummies

BY JILL LAWLESS, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS APRIL 9, 2014

LONDON - "Our fascination with mummies never gets old. Now the British Museum is using the latest technology to unwrap their ancient mysteries.

Scientists at the museum have used CT scans and sophisticated imaging software to go beneath the bandages, revealing skin, bones, preserved internal organs — and in one case a brain-scooping rod left inside a skull by embalmers.

The findings go on display next month in an exhibition that sets eight of the museum's mummies alongside detailed three-dimensional images of their insides and 3-D printed replicas of some of the items buried with them.

Bio-archaeologist Daniel Antoine said Wednesday that the goal is to present these long-dead individuals "not as mummies but as human beings."

Mummies have been one of the British Museum's biggest draws ever since it opened in 1759. Director Neil MacGregor said 6.8 million people visited the London institution last year, "and every one asked one of my colleagues, 'Where are the mummies?'"

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