June 17, 2019

Peace in Ancient Egypt

The existence of an ancient treaty is exciting enough. But when that 3,200-year-old treaty was concluded 16 years after the cessation of battle, it demands even greater attention. What did peace mean in that context for the Egyptians? As the result of proper action, it was a value frequently represented in the world of monumental depiction, one that united all beings.

The treaty was concluded by Ramesses II of Egypt and the Hittite king Hattušili III in the 21st year of Ramesses’ reign, which was the 10th year of Hattušili’s reign, corresponding to the mid-thirteenth century BCE. Prior to the settling of the treaty, a major confrontation between Egyptian and Hittite forces had occurred at the infamous battle at Qadesh. There, in the northern Levant, the forces of a young Ramesses II clashed with those of Muwatalli, the brother of Hattušili.

In Vino Veritas: Wine in Ancient Egypt

Wine has always been a drink for gods and people. The noble drink was just like today an important economic good and stimulant and possessed besides a large religious and cultic meaning. Also in the country at the Nile it was already early professionally produced and enjoyed generously. Under the title "In vino veritas. Wein im alten Ägypten", the Papyrus Museum of the Austrian National Library presents more than 70 fascinating exhibits, up to 3,000 years old, on viticulture and wine enjoyment

Military Buildings at Fortress From Ramses II Reign Discovered

Two more buildings at the site of an ancient Egyptian military fortress dating to the reign of Ramses II have been discovered by archaeologists working in the Beheira Governorate, north west of Cairo.

The two units attached to the fortress and residential building are believed to have been used as storage sheds for food, a statement from Egypt's Ministry of Antiquities said. The fortress dates to the 19th Dynasty, between 1279 and 1213 BC.

Digital Giza Project: an online scholar’s gate into Egypt’s ancient history

The Digital Giza project is a portrait of the considerable efforts devoted to Egypt by modern scholars from Harvard and Boston Universities, accessible to archeology explorers and academics who admire Egypt’s ancient history.

In 2000, the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston launched the Digital Giza Project when Peter Der Manuelian decided to digitize all the excavations by Egyptologist George Reinser carried out over the course of more than 40 years, the official website of the project read.

Visit Digital Giza.

How do you move a 13-ton Egyptian sphinx?

As the old engineering school saying goes: Every journey of 300 feet begins with months of preparation, acquisition of four air dollies, and use of the right hydraulic gantry.

So it is that the Penn Museum, desiring to move its 13-ton red-granite sphinx from its longtime home in the Lower Egyptian Gallery to a new abode in the museum’s main entrance lobby, turned to Bob Thurlow, special projects manager, to work it all out.

More about this story:

'Like 'Back to the Future:'' Penn Museum floats its ancient sphinx to a new home - WHYY

Sphinx of Rameses II hauled to new home in Penn Museum - Metro US

Huge sphinx makes crawling journey to new spot in museum - News 12 New Jersey

Massive Sphinx of Ramses II Sees Daylight for First Time in Nearly 100 Years - Live Science

THE BURIED: Life, Death and Revolution in Egypt

October 2011 was a fascinating, if precarious time, for Peter Hessler and his family to set up home in Cairo. Since January of that year, the chaotic events of the Arab Spring had been transforming Egyptian politics and society. Hessler arrived during a lull in proceedings but, before too long, the protests reignited and the rivalries spiralled out of control. The corpses piled up, the shells of burned out BMWs returned, and coups were on the horizon.

Many have written on these dramatic events, but Hessler introduces unexpected prisms of enquiry and the intimate perspective of an endlessly curious observer of Egypt past and present. The tone is set from page one. We are introduced to American archaeologists continuing their work as revolution engulfed the nation: unearthing small bronze statues of Egyptian gods while the crowds grew, not so far away, in Tahrir Square. Before too long, with the archaeologists fled, looters ransacked the dig sights. When the scholars returned, they found cigarette butts and cellophane wrapping strewn around the place.

Where Did Ramses Go? Filmmaker Amr Bayoumi's adventure with modern Egypt’s best known Pharaoh

Amr Bayoumi’s 60-min documentary Where Did Ramses Go? won the best long documentary award at the 21th Ismailia International Film Festival for Documentaries and Shorts

Videos

GEM May 2019 from Laurens Schokking on Vimeo.

Ancient Egypt August 13 2018

New look Bolton Museum to open the doors to Ancient Egypt

Bolton Museum's multi-million Egyptology gallery will be unveiled next month to showcase its Egyptian treasures in all their glory.

Bolton's Egypt will officially welcome people to step back into the land of the Pharoahs on September 22, where they can enter the burial chamber of Thutmose III, of which a full size reproduction has been created.

Karnak on the Cumberland
Victorian-era Egyptomania left its mark on this Nashville landmark. 

There’s a reason the building is affectionately referred to by some as the “Karnak on the Cumberland.” The Downtown Presbyterian congregation was so taken by Egyptomania that its members insisted this infatuation be reflected in the architecture of their church. The result is a stunning, if somewhat unexpected, mixture of Ancient Egyptian and Protestant Christian imagery.

New Egyptian dinosaur reveals ancient link between Africa and Europe
Credit: Andrew McAfee, Carnegie Museum of Natural History

Mansourasaurus shahinae helps fill in gaps of African dinosaurs of Late Cretaceous

When it comes to the final days of the dinosaurs, Africa is something of a blank page. Fossils found in Africa from the Late Cretaceous, the time period from 100 to 66 million years ago, are few and far between. That means that the course of dinosaur evolution in Africa has largely remained a mystery. But in the Egyptian Sahara Desert, scientists have discovered a new species of dinosaur that helps fill in those gaps.

Sphinx discovered during Road Construction between Ancient Temples
(File photo) © Tara Todras-Whitehill / Reuters

An Egyptian infrastructure project has been halted after construction workers found a sphinx-like statue during roadworks between the ancient temples of Karnak and Luxor.

Current GEM logo is temporary: Minister

After the Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM) launched its logo in June, citizens and experts have raised their objections, claiming that the logo is quite mundane and that it does not represent the Ancient Egyptian collection displayed in the museum.

Digital Resources for Teaching Ancient Egypt

As two newcomers to the teaching world, the Nile Scribes are interested in how they can apply digital humanities to their classrooms in the future. During our brief careers as students of Egyptology, we have been personally acquainted with how far digital humanities has come over the last decade, and the development of online resources for Egyptologists. This week, the Nile Scribes are taking a look at some of the digital tools that are available online to help with teaching Egyptology.Digital Resources for Teaching Ancient Egypt,

What is the Egyptian Book of the Dead? (Part 1) - Ancient Egyptian Religion

An introduction to the ancient Egyptian Book of the Dead (Spells of Coming Forth by Day) - what the Book of the Dead is, what the Book of the Dead isn’t, what the Book of the Dead’s purpose was, and why anyone would want a Book of the Dead.

Picture of the Week: 2,300-Year-Old Mummy Unveiled in Saqqara near the Pyramid of Teti

The 2300 year old mummy wearing a golden mask was discovered at Egypt’s Saqqara Pyramids complex south of Cairo in May 2005. The mummy is unidentified from the 30th dynasty, had been closed in a wooden sarcophagus and buried in sand at the bottom of a 20’ shaft before being discovered by Louvre’s Saqqara excavations team. The identity of the mummy is unknown but it is believed that it is from the 30th dynasty (380-343 BC). The ancient Egyptian was probably wealthy owing to the fine gold used to make the mummy’s mask and the location of the burial.

Ancient Egypt January 15

Ancient mining ops buildings found in Egypt — ministry
(AFP photo)

The ruins of two buildings used to supervise mines in ancient Egypt more than 4,400 years ago have been discovered in the south, the antiquities ministry said on Thursday.

The find was made by a US-Egyptian mission in the Tal Edfu area north of the city of Aswan.

Ramses II stelae uncovered at San Al-Hagar site

San Al-Hagar is a very distinguished archaeological site houses a vast collection of temples, among them temples dedicated to the goddess Mut, god Horus and god Amun.

During work carried out at San Al-Hagar archaeological site in Sharqiya governorate with a view to develop the site into an open-air museum, archaeologists stumbled upon a stelae of 19th Dynasty King Ramses II.

AUC Bookstore Opens in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo

The American University in Cairo Press (AUC Press) recently opened a bookstore in The Egyptian Museum, as part of the Egyptian Heritage Exhibition, marking the 115th anniversary of the Museum. “AUC Press and Bookstores regularly take part in events and book fairs but this is a unique and excellent initiative by the Ministry of Antiquities,” said Nigel-Fletcher Jones, director of AUC Press and Bookstores. “Many visitors to Cairo are here on a short, almost whistle stop tour, so this may be one of a few rare moments when they are able to see the huge range of high quality books AUC Press has to offer.”

Will the Tanis Collection replace King Tut’s in the Tahrir Museum?

Note: I was looking for the mask to which they refer, but there are apparently several gold masks in the Tanis Collection. I chose the mask of Funeral mask of Psusennes 1 1, around 994 BCE. 48 cm high. Room 2, 1st Floor from this page.

“The Egyptian Musem in Tahrir will not die, it will continue to receive visitors all year round,” stated Khaled el-Enani, Minister of State for Antiquities, proudly, on more than one occasion. Even now that King Tutankhamun, hereafter referred to as Tut, has been transferred to the Grand Egyptian Museum, the Egyptian Museum in Tahrir still has the Yuya and Tjuyu collection, in addition to the Tanis gold collection which includes a gold mask that could potentially replace King Tut’s mask in the exhibition.

The Victorian female collectors captivated by Ancient Egypt
Thomas Rowlandson Modern Antiquities (hand coloured engraving, c. 1800). Nelson and Lady Hamilton canoodle in an Egyptian coffin, hungrily watched by her antiquarian husband Sir William Hamilton.

In Victorian Britain’s overwhelmingly masculine society, intelligent, driven and often moneyed women were obliged to restrict their energies to acceptable “feminine” activities; like travelling, writing, fund-raising – and amassing impressive collections of Egyptian antiquities.

The results of this male-sanctioned pursuit are said to have greatly helped to establish British Egyptology and boosted the Victorian interest in all things Pharaonic.

Fragment of Black granite statue of King Amenhotep III discovered in Sohag parking lot

The Ministry of Antiquities announced the discovery of an artifact in a parking lot in Akhmim, Sohag governorate, during a drilling operation to develop the site.

The Walmart Book of the Dead

As for who reads this book
And who follows its spells
I know your name
You will not die after your death
In Walmart
You will not perish forever
For I know your name

So begins this darkly comic incantation on the gods and scourges of the 21st century. The Walmart Book of the Dead was inspired by the ancient Egyptian Book of the Dead, funerary texts with accompanying illustrations containing spells to preserve the spirit of the deceased in the afterlife. In Lucy Biederman’s version, shoplifters, grifters, drifters, and hustlers, desirous children, greeters, would-be Marxists, wolves, and circuit court judges, wander Walmart unknowingly consigned to their afterlives.

“This BOOK is for the dark hours, the seam that ties the end of the evening to sunrise, when the bad, wrong things people do in and around Walmart are a hospital infection, red Rit dye in a load of whites, a gun in a classroom: by the time the problem is identified, it’s already ruined everything.”

 So, of course, you'll want to read ‘The Walmart Book of the Dead’‘The Walmart Book of the Dead’ review.

Ancient Egypt December 18

Assassin’s Creed Origins: Gamescom 2017 Cinematic Trailer | Ubisoft [US]
♥ What a great use of Leonard Cohen's Song!

Tutankhamun archaeologist's London flat on sale for £9.75m

The house that King Tut bought... and now it's up for a pharaoh price tag! Lavish five-bedroom apartment archaeologist Howard Carter lived in after discovery of Tutankhamun's tomb goes on sale for £9.75million.

The Greatest Clash in Egyptian Archaeology May Be Fading, But Anger Lives On

After 200 years, the sad story of Qurna, a so-called ‘village of looters’, is coming to a close,

Om Ahmed has a lovely view, but no one to share it with.

All of her neighbors have gone, their houses slowly crumbling in the stiff Nile breeze. Most of the surrounding buildings have already been destroyed. Except for the workers excavating a tomb beneath her and the occasional lost tourist or nosy desert fox, this talkative old lady seldom sees another soul. “It’s very lonely,” she says. “You can’t imagine how lonely.”

Cazenovia mummy makes hospital visit to undergo medical testing
photo by Jason Emerson

On a cold, snowy Sunday night, when the Cazenovia Public Library was closed and silent as a tomb, members of the library staff opened the glass case containing Hen, the library’s Egyptian mummy. Standing silently by was an official from the Onondaga County Coroner’s Office, who carefully placed this 2,000-year-old relic onto a stretcher, covered it with a sheet and deposited the body into the office “bus” for a ride to Crouse Hinds Hospital in the city.

 For more, Watch: 2000-Year-Old Egyptian Mummy Goes Under CT Scanner At New York Hospital

Egypt uncovers ancient tombs at Luxor

Archaeologists in Egypt have displayed items, including a mummy, from one of two previously unexplored tombs in the ancient Nile city of Luxor.

For more information and other stunning photos, see

• Two ancient Egyptian New Kingdom-era tombs opened at Luxor necropolis
• Photos: Two ancient Egyptian tombs were just opened in Luxor
• Archaeologists discover two ancient tombs in Egypt
• Archaeologists discover 3,500-year-old tombs in Egypt's Luxor
• Two ancient tombs discovered in Egypt's Luxor
• Egyptian mummy and ancient treasures 'in near perfect condition' discovered in 3,500-year-old tombs
• Egyptian archaeologists discover 3,500-year-old mummified body as they explore pair of ‘exceptional’ tombs
  
  
  

  

  ‘Egypt Uncovered: Belzoni and the Tomb of Pharaoh Seti I’ at Sir John Soane’s Museum, London
  ©Bristol Culture: Bristol Museums and Art Gallery. By permission of the trustees of Sir John Soane’s Museum
  
  To coincide with the 200th anniversary of the discovery of the tomb of Pharaoh Seti I by the Egyptologist Giovanni Battista Belzoni (1778–1823), Sir John Soane’s Museum in London will present Egypt Uncovered: Belzoni and the Tomb of Pharaoh Seti I – a new exhibition revealing the story behind the Museum’s most treasured possession.
  
  

  

  The Map That Revealed How Ancient Egyptians Pictured the Afterlife
  © Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
  
  In the spring of 1915, in the dry, heavy heat of the Egyptian desert, an expedition of archaeologists unearthed the final resting place of a man and his wife.
  
  The team—made jointly of representatives from Harvard University and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston—made their discovery in a place called Deir el-Bersha, on the east bank of the river Nile and far south of the pyramids of Giza.
  
  
  

  

  Journey on an adventure into ancient Egypt with new Eye of the Amulet slot
  
  Games developer, iSoftBet has jumped on the ever-growing Egyptian-themed slots bandwagon and launched a new title, Eye of the Amulet, exclusively with LeoVegas Casino. Players of other casinos will have to wait until December 12 to get their hands on the new slot, when it will be available at other operators.

Ancient Egypt September 29

Lots of news this week required a second edition.

Astounding Animation Glimpses Into Amarna, The Royal Egyptian City Of Akhenaten

The royal city of Amarna was a relatively ‘new’ settlement if viewed from the perspective of Ancient Egyptian history. Built almost 1,200 years after the Great Pyramid (circa 1346 BC), the entire city was actually constructed on a virgin site, on the orders of the Pharaoh Amenhotep IV – who was later known as Akhenaten. And while this urban scope was situated almost midway between Cairo (Giza) and Luxor, on the east bank of the Nile River (presently in the Egyptian province of Minya), the city both inspired and instigated various sections of the Egyptian elite – since it was dedicated to

How the Met Convinced the U.S. Government That the Temple of Dendur Belonged in New York
The Temple of Dendur in situ, ca. 1865–1885. Photo by Antonio Beato. Courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

In the summer of 1968, a freighter set sail from the Mediterranean Sea to New York City. Stowed in its hold were canned tomatoes, maraschino cherries, wheels of cheese—and a centuries-old Nubian temple, dismantled and packed away into 640 crates for its international voyage.

These ancient sandstone blocks, 800 tons in total, were a gift from Egypt to the United States. A year earlier, President Lyndon B. Johnson had declared that the Metropolitan Museum of Art would serve as the Temple of Dendur’s new home; this month marks the 50th anniversary of that decision. For the occasion, the museum has cleaned the temple’s sandstone facade and unearthed a wealth of archival material.

Exhibit illustrates magical powers of Book of the Dead in ancient Egypt

Photo by

Jean Lachat

In ancient Egypt, you did not go to the afterlife empty-handed. The Book of the Dead, a collection of spells and charms, was there to guide you.

Starting Oct. 3, visitors to the Oriental Institute at the University of Chicago will have a unique opportunity to peruse copies of the Book of the Dead: Two 2,200-year-old papyri, each more than 30 feet long and beautifully illustrated with texts and images. They are on display in their entirety for the first time at a museum, accompanied by the mummy of a woman who lived over 2,000 years ago, as well as statues, stelae, scarabs, magic bricks, ushabtis (small funerary figurines) and other artifacts.

6 of Egypt's most fascinating archaeological discoveries

For numerous reasons, Egypt is a fascinating country.

In terms of history, it's one of the richest countries in the world and there is no shortage of places to visit to experience that wealth.

Egypt thrived for thousands of years as an independent nation whose culture was famous for great human advances in every area of knowledge, from the arts and sciences to technology and religion.

What it's like to crawl inside a 3,500-year-old Egyptian tomb

A man in a gray robe and white headscarf brushes the dust, undisturbed for thousands of years, off a human skull, one of many messily discarded by grave robbers.

"They were searching for gold and jewelry, and when they didn't find it they just threw everything over here," says Ali Farouq al-Gaftawi, the veteran foreman at the excavation at Draa Abu Al-Naga, a barren desert hillside overlooking the lush, green Nile Valley.

Grand Egyptian Museum receives artefacts ahead of launch

Ten ancient Egyptian artefacts, including a part of the Sphinx’s beard, were moved to the new Grand Egyptian Museum in Cairo on Wednesday.

The new museum is set to be the world’s largest archaeological museum when it opens in 2018.

“Ten heavy artefacts are being moved from the Egyptian museum in Tahrir to the Grand Egyptian Museum. These artefacts will be displayed near the grand staircase which will lead to all of the main exhibition halls,” said Tarek Tawfiq, General Supervisor, Grand Egyptian Museum

How were the Egyptian pyramids built? Why and when were they constructed, how many are there and who built them?
Image-Getty Contributor

THEY'RE one of the most impressive sights on Earth, and the only remaining Ancient Wonder of the World. Here's everything you need to know about the incredible Egyptian pyramids

Clues to ancient past—baby mummy, dinosaur skulls scanned

The mummified remains of a 7-month-old baby boy and pieces of skull from two teenage Triceratops underwent computed tomography (CT) scans Saturday, Sept. 16, at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, in hopes researchers could learn more about the ancient past. The project is a collaboration between the Saint Louis Science Center and the School of Medicine.

Sphinx, Baboon and Cat Statues Found in Ancient Egyptian Burial

After years of being washed, perfumed and fed in ancient Egypt, the statue of a revered Egyptian deity was given a proper burial with other "dead" statues more than 2,000 years ago, a new study finds.

Ancient Egyptians buried the statue of the deity Ptah — the god of craftsmen and sculptors — with other revered statues, including those of a sphinx, baboon, cat, Osiris and Mut, in a pit next to Ptah's temple.

Kinross Wolaroi School musical takes audiences back to ancient Egypt

Year 5 and 6 students from Kinross Wolaroi School have put on a singing and dancing spectacular as part of their school music and there is one show left of Slaves.

Year 6 teacher Romko Hordynsky has been writing and directing the schools musicals for about 30 years and this year was no different.

Along with writing the plot, Mr Hordynsky also created the musical score for the latest production, Slaves, set in Ancient Egypt.

Under the Protection of the Gods painting by 'Howard Carter 1908'

Ancient Egypt September 18

Ancient Egypt’s Book of the Dead exhibition at Chicago

he Oriental Institute of University of Chicago will host an exhibition about Ancient Egypt’s Book of the Dead from October 3, 2017 to March 31, 2018.

More than 50 objects define and explore the Book of the Dead will be displayed in the exhibition.

“The show features two spectacular Books of the Dead—one 41 feet long—which are shown in their entirety for the first time in nearly a century,” according to the museum’s official website.

ANCIENT EGYPT: GAMING’S NEGLECTED SETTING

Ancient Egypt is one of the most fascinating times in human culture. It is one of mystery, in which we strive to learn more about. It has given us iconic images in the forms of the pyramids and the sphinx, pharaohs, grand palaces, mummies and more. Things both real and imaginary have captured our fascination and imagination of this world for thousands of years. People can recognise names like Cleopatra, Ramses and Tutankhamun, as well as fictional with the likes of the Egyptian gods Anubis, Osiris, Thoth and Ra. It is a time with a distinct look, with gold, hieroglyphs, boats on the Nile, the sun setting over Giza, ancient burial chambers, treasure and more being what we think of when we think of Ancient Egypt.

Paris hosts Egypt’s celebration of Abu Simbel relocation anniversary

Antiquities Minister Khaked al-Anani expressed his full appreciation for the efforts exerted by the Egyptian government in cooperation with UNESCO in the relocation and rescue of the Abu Simbel temples during the last century, which was part of the international campaign to save the monuments of Nubia in 1962.

In ancient Egypt, scribal school was the path to the priesthood and the good life

At this moment, I am teaching a section on ancient Egyptology and droning on about burial practices, pagan gods, pyramids and the development of hieroglyphic writing. But I also point out to them what it would have been like to be students in the old days. And I can assure you it was a lot harder back then in the good old days on the Nile than it is now.

Soulful Creatures: Animal Mummies in Ancient Egypt
Mummified Ibis, 30 B.C.E.–100 C.E. Animal remains, bronze, linen, 295⁄16 x 413⁄16 in. (74.5 × 12.3 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of the Egypt Exploration Fund, 14.655

Soulful Creatures is the first major exhibition to focus on one of the most fascinating aspects of ancient Egyptian culture and religion—the mummification of animals. Drawing on the Brooklyn Museum’s renowned Egyptian collection, this presentation includes 30 mummies on display alongside 69 masterworks of Egyptian art related to the ritual use of animal mummies.

The Met Acquires Ancient Egyptian Gilded Coffin
 Image © The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

The Metropolitan Museum of Art announced Tuesday that it has acquired an ancient Egyptian gilded cartonnage coffin from the first century B.C. The highly ornamented lid of the coffin is displayed prominently in the Museum's Lila Acheson Wallace Galleries for Egyptian Art (gallery 138), where it will be seen and enjoyed by millions of visitors.

Exhibition at l’Hôtel Cabu, Musée d’Histoire et d’Archéologie, Orléans.

From the Petrie Museum Unofficial Page - Facebook: The Egyptian collections of the museums of Orléans which have been in storage for nearly 70 years will now be on display from the 16th of September to 11th of March 2018 in a new exhibition - Du Nil à la Loire. It will count more than 300 objects among which an exceptional collection of funerary cones (121 of them)!

Several conferences and a Colloquium will also be offered. Read more here: OR here.



Ubisoft drops new trailer for Assassins Creed: Origins introducing the Order of the Ancients

The latest installment in the Assassins Creed's series called Assassin's Creed: Origins was first unveiled at the E3 event this year. While the game, set in ancient Egypt and Roman times, has release scheduled for 27 October, the game's developers Ubisoft have released a trailer which reveal more on the primary antagonist group in the game called as the Order of the Ancients.



Peek inside Egypt's latest tomb discovery

CNN looks at the latest discovery of a tomb found in Luxor, EgyptSource: CNN