It’s a steamy November day in the southern Egyptian city of Luxor, and the tourists tramping through the ancient temples of Luxor and Karnak are sweating. But the city’s famed 7,000-year-old antiquities are feeling the heat too.
Increasingly high temperatures linked to climate change, as well as wilder weather, particularly heavy rains and flooding, are taking a growing toll on the ancient stonework, said Abdelhakim Elbadry, a restoration expert who works at Karnak temple.
During investigation of the funerary complex of the 5th Dynasty pharaoh Djedkare Isesi (r. ca. 2381–2353 B.C.), a team from the Czech Institute of Egyptology discovered the painted tomb of a high-ranking Old Kingdom Egyptian dignitary. After descending a narrow subterranean tunnel that opened up into a series of rooms, members of the team, led by archaeologist Mohamed Megahed, found hieroglyphs on the walls announcing that a man named Khuwy was entombed within the chamber. The writing also enumerates Khuwy’s many titles, including “Secretary of the King,” “Companion of the Royal House,” and “Overseer of the Tenants of the Great House.”
During excavations carried out at the Funerary Temple of king Amenhotep III, an Egyptian-German archaeological mission led by Horig Sourouzian unearthed a large part of a granodiorite colossus of a standing falcon-headed god Horus.
Sourouzian said the statue is missing the legs, and the arms are broken, but the head and torso are very well preserved.
The 1.85-metres-tall statue depicts the ancient Egyptian deity Horus wearing the divine pleated kilt held around the waist with a horizontally pleated belt.
In October, the Nile Scribes led their first tour to Egypt, stopping in Aswan, Luxor, and Cairo. Agilika Island, located in the river at Aswan, is now the home of Philae Temple. It was moved there in the 1960s, piece by piece, from neighbouring Philae Island, now underwater. The island is a regular spot for visitors to southern Egypt thanks to its gorgeous setting in the Nile, but we were anxious to visit the temple complex for another reason: hieroglyph hunting. Philae contains the last known instances of inscriptions that were written using both the hieroglyphic and Demotic scripts. This week we are introducing our readers to both inscriptions, and showing you how you can see them for yourself on your next visit to Philae.
Death isn't exactly a comfortable topic of conversation in our modern culture. But in countless societies around the world and throughout time, death has been openly discussed, revered and even celebrated. Ancient Egypt is no exception — case in point, the deity Anubis, otherwise known as Inpu or Anpu, aka the god of death.
"Anubis is the Egyptian god of mummification, and one of the many deities related with the afterlife," says M. Victoria Almansa-Villatoro, Ph.D. candidate in Egyptology at Brown University. "He is usually depicted as either some sort of canid, or as a cynocephalus god."
NOTE: Don't despair. Read the end of the article. Peseshet is a genuine hero of the modern feminist struggle.
Merit Ptah. In recent decades, the name of this ancient Egyptian doctor, said to have lived nearly 5,000 years ago, has become a figurehead of women in science, technology, maths, and engineering (STEM).
She is credited as being the "first woman known by name in the history of science". But there's a bit of a problem - Merit Ptah probably didn't exist. Not as described, at any rate.
Egyptologist Lara Weiss is curator at The National Museum of Antiquities and has been leading the VIDI research project ‘Walking Dead’ since 2017. The exhibition ‘Sakkara: Living in a necropolis’h will be on display at the museum starting March 9 next year.
Nikola Tesla died somewhat unappreciated but his fame and the myth around him has continued to grow tremendously into our times. He is now perceived as the ultimate mad scientist, the one who essentially invented our times, credited with key ideas leading to smartphones, wi-fi, AC electrical supply system, and more.
Besides ideas that Tesla implemented and patented, he also had many other interests in different fields of research, some quite esoteric. One of the most unusual was his preoccupation with Egyptian pyramids, one of humanity's most mysterious and magnificent constructions.
At the heart of Egypt’s ancient history is the 14th-century-BCE pharaoh Akhenaten, a leader depicted with full lips, a long nose, and evident breasts. At the heart of the visual cornucopia in Philip Glass’s 1983 opera Akhnaten is Anthony Roth Costanzo, a slender singer with full lips, a long nose, and a voice so high and clear it seems implausible coming from a man’s throat. There’s a lot of uncertainty around the historical figure, who is almost as famous for the woman he married (Nefertiti) as for his own accomplishments, which were considerable.
For centuries rumours have persisted about a powerful and mysterious substance. And these days, adverts and videos offering it for sale can be found online. Why has the story of "red mercury" endured?
Some people believe it's a magical healing elixir found buried in the mouths of ancient Egyptian mummies.
The symbol of Anubis, a black canine or a muscular man with the head of a black jackal, the ancient Egyptian god of the dead was said to oversee every aspect of the process of dying. He facilitated mummification, protected the graves of the dead, and decided whether or not one’s soul should be granted eternal life.
Strange that a civilization known to worship cats should come to personify death as a dog.
By analysing the dentistry of a woman who lived in Ancient Egypt, archaeologists have made a surprising discovery: her unusual profession. Take a look at the video above for all the details...
With this incredible discovery, archaeologists have gone from surprise to surprise. A short time ago, a team of scientists from the University of Alberta, in Canada, analysed the teeth of a woman who lived 4000 years ago, in Ancient Egypt. From this study, they learnt a lot more than they expected.
We liked him instantly — perhaps because he’s so unlike all of the other gods and goddesses of Ancient Egypt we had seen carved onto temple walls and painted in the dark, narrow tombs. And since most of those deities feature animal heads, that’s saying something.
Even so, Bes is perhaps the most unique character in the Ancient Egyptian pantheon. I’d try to come up with my own colorful description, but once Duke read this to me, I figured why bother? I can’t top Alastair Sooke’s write-up in Frieze, who describes this “grotesque little fellow” so evocatively.
Khepri - Total Solar Eclipse Scarab God
The Internet Archive has done a pretty good job of preserving my 'Khepri - Total Solar Eclipse Scarab God' eclipsology "web site". Here is the complete text of the original website with the two main GIF animations that it displayed.
From head to toe, Egypt is one of the most intriguing places you will ever get the pleasure of visiting. It has something of a bad reputation and that isn't entirely unjustified, and it's certainly worth discussing from time to time. However, we aren't here to debate the ins and outs of Egyptian law—we're here to work with the word 'fascinating.'
The French and international news outlets reported that the temporary exhibition of King Tutankhamun currently on display at the Grande Halle La Villette in Paris broke records of turnout of the French cultural exhibitions.
International media outlets stated that the exhibition is the most visited exhibition in France, where the total number of registered visitors so far has reached 1,371,476, according to the latest official census issued by the exhibition officials, explaining that the number will increase. Visitors
Egypt’s vast, much-delayed museum is scheduled to open in 2020. But while Tutankhamun’s treasures are being readied for tourists, some critics see the building as a vanity project.
In the vast, shade-dappled atrium of Egypt’s new Grand Egyptian Museum, construction work surrounded a colossal statue of Ramses II, his left foot striding forward and fists clenched in readiness.
As Marvel fans begin looking ahead to the future of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the time has come to look at the announced films and projects coming in the MCU’s Phase 4. One of the most prominent films that everyone is talking about has to be Marvel’s The Eternals.
A relatively unknown property to casual Marvel fans, the Eternals are a race of immortal beings created by The Celestials millennia ago. Bestowed with their own unique abilities, The Eternals have been around long enough to see the Marvel gods emerge. Here are ten Marvel gods we hope to see appear.
Watch | A Night At The Museum With Egyptian Icon Sawsan Badr
Proudly showcasing her silver locks, Egyptian screen siren Sawsan Badr takes an enchanting tour of the Egyptian museum in downtown Cairo, Egypt.
Lovingly dubbed ‘the fugitive from the museum’ due to her uncanny resemblance to the Ancient Egyptian queen, Nefertiti, Sawsan’s reputation precedes her. Add to that a career that has spanned nearly 40 years, and her persona in the public eye is almost unparalleled.
This next excerpt from Lewis Holmes’ book The Mystery of Music reads more like a pulp-fiction mystery novel. However, the story is preserved on 3000 year old papyri. It has torture, conspiracy, bribery and, yes, a bit of music.
The setting: Egypt, 1080 BCE. It was the end of the second Ramessid dynasty, during what Egyptologists call “The New Kingdom.” Law and order had decayed in the once great cities. Crime and corruption were on the rise as gangs looted old tombs and palaces for the precious treasures buried with the dead.
The scene of this crime was the "Valley of the Queens," an ancient burial site for the wives of pharaoh over the centuries.
The Find the Path podcast is an officially-licensed partner of Paizo, the makers of the Pathfinder roleplaying game. Comprised of a group of longtime friends, the Find the Path podcast invites gamers and non-gamers alike into the world of Golarion and the Pathfinder RPG system.
Known for their strong grasp of the Pathfinder rules system and genuine, cooperative table dynamics, Find the Path tells an engaging and exciting story set in an Ancient Egypt analog that is full of diverse, multifaceted characters and epic fantasy adventure.
According to various local media outlets, Egypt’s government is stepping up preparations for the inauguration ceremony of the Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM) which is set to open by 2020.
Working jointly, Prime Minister Mostafa Mabdouly and the Museum’s supreme committee have been arranging several logistical aspects of the ceremony such as the actual date, its program spanning multiple days, and the consultation of specializing international companies which can organize and arrange the ceremony.
EGYPT archaeologists uncovered a “subterranean world” hidden below the city of Saqqara, just metres from one of the most famous pyramids of the ancient world.
Saqqara is best known for being home to the Pyramid of Djoser, also known as the Step Pyramid. Built in the 27th century BC, during the Third Dynasty, the six-tiered structure is the earliest known attempt of what the ancient civilisation became best known for. However, below the constructions lies something more sinister.
This month many of us are preparing for another academic semester, as teachers or as students. This fall promises to be an exciting season as several compelling exhibitions will be on display in North American museums in Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, and Quebec. The Nile Scribes are excited about these four upcoming exhibitions about the Nile Valley cultures in Egypt and Sudan. Why not plan a weekend to visit one of these exhibitions for your next Egyptological getaway?
With the end of summer upon us, the Nile Scribes are getting closer to our first ever Scribes on the Nile tour leaving for Egypt on October 17 from Toronto! With our group of 15 participants, Thomas and Taylor will be travelling up and down the Nile from Cairo to Aswan and back, taking in the sights and enjoying the culinary wonders Egypt has to offer. In our blog this week, we round up our Top 5 favourite guidebooks any prospective visitor should consider getting to learn as much as you can before, and during, your trip to Egypt!
I was initially attracted to The Pyramid Supper Club because of its kooky architecture and its surprising location on a rural Wisconsin road next to a cornfield. I admit I thought it was a joke.
As a 1991 advertorial noted, “The Pyramid Supper Club on Highway 33 east of Beaver Dam is surrounded by a bare, flat-land setting much like the original pyramids depicted in the interior wall paintings.”
In an attempt to develop Tahrir Square and to show the whole world Egypt’s unique civilisation, eight blocks of one of Ramses II’s obelisks, found in his temple at San Al-Haggar archaeological site in Zagazig, arrived in Cairo on Friday.
They will be restored, assembled and erected in Tahrir Square.
Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities decided on Friday to display the coffin of ancient Queen Tausert, the last ruler of Egypt's 19th Dynasty, to the public for the first time since its discovery two decades ago.
In a statement, Secretary General of Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA) Mostafa Waziri said that the coffin will put on display within the few coming days at the Luxor Museum in Upper Egypt.
He explained that the coffin has already been transferred on Thursday from the place of its discovery, at the closed tomb of King Bay in Luxor's west bank, to the Luxor Museum.
The director of Antiquities Museum at Bibliotheca Alexandrina and the supervisor of Zahi Hawass center for Egyptology Hussein Abdel Baseer revealed that the famed ancient Egyptian Queen Hatsheput died because of cancer at the age of 50 and was a diabetes patient as well.
Abdel Baseer announced that in a lecture entitled ‘’Egyptian Queens..Drama of Love and Power’’ at Zahi Hawass center for Egyptology.
Anubis Dog?
The Xoloitzcuintli (Mexican hairless dog). A dog considered to be the guide for the dead to reach the underworld. It resembles Anubis. Also it most commonly believed to be behind the legendary chupacabra.
A Virgil Finlay illustration from Weird Tales, October 1936
Day of the Dead is a Mexican holiday celebrated throughout Mexico, in particular the Central and South regions, and by people of Mexican ancestry living in other places, especially the United States.
On October 31, All Hallows Eve, the children make a children's altar to invite the angelitos (spirits of dead children) to come back for a visit. November 1 is All Saints Day, and the adult spirits will come to visit. November 2 is All Souls Day, when families go to the cemetery to decorate the graves and tombs of their relatives. The three-day fiesta is filled with marigolds, the flowers of the dead; muertos (the bread of the dead); sugar skulls; cardboard skeletons; tissue paper decorations; fruit and nuts; incense, and other traditional foods and decorations.
It does seem as if ancient Egyptians might find this holiday somewhat in keeping with their beliefs. So, in that spirit, some Egyptian ghost stories.
A tale known as Setne II or Setne Khamwas and Si-Osire concerns the magician of Ramses the Great, Prince Khaemwaset. Khaemwaset and his wife have a son named Si-Osire who turns out to be a highly skilled magician. In the first part of the story, Si-Osire brings his father to visit the Duat, the land of the dead, where they see the pleasant fate of the deceased spirits who lived justly and the torments inflicted on spirits who sinned during their lives. The link in the title takes you to that story
The best-known ghost story from ancient Egypt is known, simply, as A Ghost Story but sometimes referenced as Khonsemhab and the Ghost. The story dates from the late New Kingdom of Egypt (c. 1570 - c.1069 BCE) and specifically the Ramesside Period (1186-1077 BCE). It was found in fragments on ostraca (pottery with writing on it) which scholars such as Georges Posener (in 1960 CE) and Jurgen von Beckerath (in 1992 CE) claim are copies of a much older story from the Middle Kingdom of Egypt (2040-1782 BCE). This would make sense as the traditional view of the afterlife in Egypt as a paradise was often questioned in texts from that era (such as The Lay of the Harper or A Dispute Between a Man and his Soul), and Khonsemhab reflects this view in his conversation with the ghost.
A text known as The Lay of the Harper, dating from the Middle Kingdom (2040-1782 BCE) encourages its audience to make the most of the time because death is a certainty:
Make a holiday! And do not tire of playing! For no one is allowed to take his goods with him, and no one who departs this life ever comes back again (Tyldesley, 142).
And if two stories isn't enough, you might want to check out the Egyptian Demonology project . . . . for a good time. . . a portal on liminal entities in Ancient Egypt from its earliest times (Predynastic) to the Byzantine. The word “demon” refers to any helpful or hostile being that does not belong to the Ancient Egyptian categories of major god, human, or animal.
These beings are known in many cultures by a multitude of names. A sample of the more recognizable includes: gremlins, imps, faeries, ghosts, daemons, genies, mischwesen, goblins, pixies, sprites, gnomes, pucks, sirens, fay, enchanters, fiends, monsters, and even angels.
In Ancient Egypt they were described in texts and imagery. For ordinary people, they played vital roles as mechanisms for coping with and manifesting abstract stresses, afflictions, and fears—or hopes, healers, and armed defenders. The main aim of this project is to explore and illuminate this less-visible side of Ancient Egyptian life.
I just added to my Egyptian coloring books with this offering by Dominique Navarro and the American University of Cairo Press
Embark on a colorful journey to reveal a hidden Egypt! Explore Egyptian gods, animals, hieroglyphs, designs, and more as you color the elaborate artwork, revealing vibrant details while learning unusual Egyptology facts and coloring tips along the way.
Learn about ancient Egypt color theory, including the history of primary colors in the Egyptian palette, their meaning and symbolism, to inspire your own artistic coloring choices. Use your imagination to color, or follow the suggestions accompanying each art panel, including techniques for adding texture, shading, and depth to your artwork.
It was the first thing I saw when I opened my Ancient Egypt: An Artist's Coloring Book. I'm pretty sure I haven't seen anything like it before. So, I had to look it up to see for myself.
For centuries, European artists adorned their canvases with pigment made from the pulverized remains of ancient Egyptians.
From at least the 16th century until as late as the early 1900s, a pigment made from mummified human remains appeared on the palettes of European artists, including Delacroix. Painters prized "mummy brown" for its rich, transparent shade. As a result, an unknown number of ancient Egyptians are spending their afterlife on art canvases, unwittingly admired in museum galleries around the world.
Anglo-French rivalry, a touch of Germanophobia, two world wars and a flawless artefact. This is the background of what became known as the Nefertiti Affair.
Even if you have never set foot in Egypt or you’re not sure why Nefertiti’s name rings a bell, you’ve probably seen her face somewhere. With the golden mask of Tutankhamun, the bust of Queen Nefertiti, now displayed in the Neues Museum in Berlin, is one of the best known pieces of Egyptian art.
Dying in ancient Egypt Photo Credit: Chris Stacey As silent witnesses to the past, ancient Egyptian mummies can add to our knowledge of their society well beyond what we can learn from the study of texts, art and funerary rituals.
In a study led by Macquarie University, researchers have successfully identified proteins present in skin samples from 4200-year-old mummies with evidence of inflammation and activation of the immune system, as well as possible indications of cancer.
For a slightly less technical version, read this one.
By examining infrared images taken by NASA satellites orbiting 400 miles above the Earth, space archaeologists have identified 17 pyramids buried deep under the ancient Egyptian city of Tanis, Egypt. Tanis, abandoned centuries ago, is famous as the fictional home of the Lost Ark from the Indiana Jones movies. Satellite images also showed other lost structures, upwards of 3,000 settlements, and 1,000 lost tombs, buried for thousands of years.
Many aspects of pyramid construction still a mystery Photograph courtesy of the Field Museum. The limestone block tomb of Unis-ankh, son of an Egyptian pharaoh, dates to 2400 B.C. and is part of the "Inside Ancient Egypt" exhibit at Chicago's Field Museum. Directions etched on his father's pyramid describe methods for transitioning from life into the afterlife.
The world's oldest inscribed papyrus journal was found just a few years ago in storage vaults at the world's oldest harbor. Discovered on Egypt's east coast near the Red Sea, the harbor was a stop for sailors whose ships transported copper and turquoise from nearby mines, and limestone tagged for the largest of Giza's pyramids -- the burial monument for the Pharaoh Khufu (also known by the Greek name Cheops).
The journal, written by inspector Merer, includes twice-a-day entries documenting activities by his staff of 200, dating back some 4,000 years ago
Ancient Egyptian worshipers of Set, god of darkness and chaos, collected fossils of extinct beasts by the thousands. From 1300 and 1200 BC, nearly three tons of heavy, black fossils, polished by river sands, were brought to Set shrines on the Nile. Many of the bones were wrapped in linen and placed in rock‑cut tombs.
Women named after the ancient Egyptian goddess of fertility describe the pain of dealing with constant ‘jokes’ about terrorism.
Before there was Isis, the extremist militant group responsible for the most brutal terrorist attacks and killings of recent years, there was Isis: an 11-year-old girl in Kent whose mother named her after the ancient Egyptian goddess of fertility, magic and motherhood. “I was really proud of it,” Isis Hales says. And now? “I just …” she trails off and her mother, Lucy, steps in. “You wanted to change your name, didn’t you?” “Yeah,” Isis replies quietly. “That was about four months ago.”
I've seen plenty of videos about the Osiris story. Most of them are pretty god-awful, no pun intended. If they're not scrambling the story to suit a personal agenda (and the story is pretty scrambled to begin with), the video is often just tacky.
Now comes this video by Ashraf Ezzat, which took my breath away. The narrative is clear from beginning to end, and the animation is crisp. Well worth a watch, even if you don't agree with every point.
You can find out more about the creator of this video and see his other works on his blog.
I first heard about the video on a Facebook page that I follow called The Hotel Healing Centre / House of Life Abydos. They offer tours, health treatments, accommodation, and a course of Ancient Egyptian Healing. They also have a web page.
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