Thursday, August 22, 2019

Ancient Egypt News 08/26/2019




Was It Really a Mummy’s Curse?
A handout photo made available by Egyptian Ministry Of Antiquities on July 17, 2019

A slew of mysterious deaths following the opening of King Tut’s tomb prompted one epidemiologist to investigate.

Egyptian pharaoh Tutankhamun’s gold-covered sarcophagus is undergoing its first restoration work since its 1922 discovery. The conservation initiative at the Grand Egyptian Museum in Cairo is addressing the cracks and other deterioration on the delicate coffin of gilded wood. It was just one of the many treasures found in the Valley of the Kings tomb that caused global Egyptomania.

The fascination propelled by the extensive media coverage of the finds in the burial vault of “King Tut” lingers to this day, including the rumors of a supposed curse inflicted on the archaeological team that disturbed the grave.

Papyrus Westcar
Image of Thoth, from the Book of the Dead (2016 Book of the Dead).

Continuing the theme of Egyptian literature, today we’re going to be talking about another ‘classic’ Egyptian story; the Tale of Khufu and the Magicians, also known as Papyrus Westcar.

The Westcar Papyrus (P. Berlin 3033) was (supposedly) found by Henry Westcar, a British antiquarian, in 1823-4. In 1838-9 it was (supposedly) bequeathed to Karl Lepsius, but was found in his attic after his death; there’s a deal of speculation about whether Lepsius did ‘inherit’ the papyrus, or whether it was stolen! The papyrus was viewed as a curiosity, until it was translated into German by Adolf Erman in 1890; since then, it has been re-translated numerous times.

Prague’s National Museum Opens Large-Scale Tutankhamun Multi-Media Exhibit
Photo via Nm.cz

Prague’s National Museum, in association with Civita Mostre e Musei, will open a new exhibit on August 21st, as part of a project to commemorate 100 years of Czech Egyptology. Tutankhamun RealExperience offers visitors a unique opportunity to learn more about the famed pharaoh by combining original artifacts with innovative multimedia technologies.

World’s Largest Mummy Exhibit Headed to Pittsburgh

The largest collection of real mummies and related artifacts ever assembled is headed to Carnegie Science Center in October.

“Mummies of the World: The Exhibition” features 125 real mummies and related artifacts from across the globe, and will open Oct. 5 in the science center’s PPG Science Pavilion.

The exhibition will provide a window into the lives of ancient people from Europe, South America and ancient Egypt, offering unprecedented insights into past cultures and civilizations. Guests will see dramatic displays of the mummies and their personal stories, as well as state-of-the-art multimedia stations presenting a 4,500-year journey to explore the mummies’ history and origins as well as how they were created.

Why Was Sigmund Freud So Obsessed with Egypt

The rituals, the mummy wrappings, the hieroglyphs and the partly animal deities was like a thesaurus of the unconscious mind, as this new show at the Freud Museum demonstrates.



The Best Movies Based On Ancient Egypt

Ancient Egypt is one of the founding civilizations of the world as we know it. Going back 5,000 years, it is also one of the most mysterious, with a complex belief structure that involved a strange mixture of the scientific and supernatural. It’s a civilization that made incredible steps forward in scientific discovery – so great that some believe the Ancient Egyptians must have had a little outside assistance.

That alone sounds like the basis of a great movie. However, the big surprise is that unlike in the world of gaming, where gamers play Book of Dead and dozens of other Egyptian-themed slots, the movie world does not boast as many titles on this enthralling era as you might expect. Nonetheless, in the spirit of scientific and cinematographic research and advancement, we have narrowed down a handful that you really shouldn’t miss. How many of these classics have you seen?

How Tourism Trails Give a Modern Take on Egyptian Heritage


Tourism trails are allowing tourists to discover Egypt in a new light. Visitors can now follow the footsteps of the ancient Egyptians.

British explorer Ben Hoffler, who was responsible for creating the first long-distance trail in mainland Egypt five years ago, shows off the route to Red Sea Mountains on CNN’s Travel Trends: Egypt. Known as an ancient heritage site for numerous ancient Egyptian civilisations, Hoffler said that the main challenge is translating the route for modern times whilst not compromising their cultural importance.

“The Red Sea Mountains have always been a really key area for Egypt. Many civilisations came here, and they made ways through these mountains. From the pharaohs to the Ptolemies to the Romans to the civilizations that followed.

All You Need to Know about Akhenaton Museum
Akhenaton Museum overlooks the Nile - ET

Akhenaton Museum- that is currently being renovated- is the third largest museum in Egypt and the largest in Upper Egypt. Modern showcases have been installed and interior work of the museum is almost completed.

Egypt Today brings the readers everything they want to know about the museum, which has been under construction for 15 years, stopped for several years and has recently resumed again …

The Two Mourners in the Funerary Mask of Artemidora
Funerary Mask of Artemidora. Right side. Photo: metmuseum.org

We know how important was the decoration on the corpse in Ancient Egypt.
The egyptian artist selected the most effective iconography for the benefit of the deceased. Among the most requested images were those of the two mourners Isis and Nephthys. Because, in their role of mourners of Osiris, guaranteed the mummy’s resurrection.

We have already seen that Artemidora selected images of Isis, Nephthys, the two mourners, and Osiris at their feet and at both sides od her corpse. In both cases, the decoration was very concise and minimalist, but highly effective.

The Radical Philosophy of Egypt: Forget God and Family, Write!
The Seated Scribe. By Rama, CC BY-SA 3.0 frLink

New research indicates that Plato and Aristotle were right: Philosophy and the term “love of wisdom” hail from Egypt.

A remarkable example of classical Egyptian philosophy is found in a 3,200-year-old text named “The Immortality of Writers.” This skeptical, rationalistic, and revolutionary manuscript was discovered during excavations in the 1920s, in the ancient scribal village of Deir El-Medina, across the Nile from Luxor, some 400 miles up the river from Cairo. Fittingly, this intellectual village was originally known as Set Maat: “Place of Truth.”

Revealed Secrets of Egyptian Pharaoh's Tomb Hint at Queen Hatshepsut's Illicit Affair
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

In ancient Egypt, men inherited the throne. So, when Hatshepsut, who was often depicted as a man, found herself in charge after the untimely death of her husband, the remarkable woman realised the only way to rule Egypt was to be better than any king.

New secrets of Egyptian pharaoh Queen Hatshepsut’s tomb have been revealed to viewers in a fascinating documentary that offers a glimpse into usually off-limits parts of the temple.

6 Facial Reconstructions of Ancient Egyptians You Should Know About

Historical facial reconstructions provide us with a glimpse into the past in a manner that we can visually connect to our ancient predecessors. However, it should be noted that most of these reconstructions, while guided by empirical evidence, are based on educated appraisements, thereby presenting approximations of the facial structure of the individual. Taking this into consideration, let us take a gander at six facial reconstructions of ancient Egyptians, from the period between circa 15th century BC to the 1st century BC.

Egyptian Mummies in Kirk Hammett’s Horror Collection


In mid July, the It’s Alive! Classic Horror and Sci-Fi Art from the Kirk Hammett Collection opened at Toronto’s Royal Ontario Museum. Featuring original film posters from the 1920s to 1970s, the exhibition not only celebrates the creativity and popularity of many of the films on displays, but also takes a look at the collector, Kirk Hammett, himself. The Nile Scribes visited It’s Alive! looking for Egypt’s appearance in several posters from classic Hollywood films.


Photo of the Week: A bit of Egyptomania
Camelbeach Waterpark from the Instagram account of tomes_and_tombs.

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