Ancient Egypt News 11/18 2019

World's Oldest Cheese: A 3,200 Years Old Cheese Found In An Egyptian Tomb

Scientists from the University of Catania and Cairo University found a solidified whitish mass in a jar, left in an Egyptian tomb. The substance turned out to be a 3,200 year old piece of cheese, among the oldest ever discovered.

A few years ago a team of archaeologists cleaning sand from an ancient Egyptian tomb discovered a group of broken jars, one of them containing a mysterious white substance. The team had guesses as to what the material might be, but a new analysis published in the journal Analytical Chemistry offers an answer: what they found during that excavation was an approximately 3,200 year old piece of cheese, one of the oldest solid specimens discovered

Found: Surprisingly Modern Paint on an Ancient Egyptian Gate

How did a pigment that Vermeer used in the 1600s wind up on Egyptian art from the 6th century BC?

THE PHARAOH APRIES WAS NOT exactly popular. He lost his kingdom to someone who, according to Herodotus, once farted in his face, and in 570 BC was strangled by the Egyptians he once ruled. But he had an excellent palace. Built in the northern part of the ancient Egyptian city of Memphis, Apries’s palace was a sprawling 524 feet by 354 feet. The Pharaoh would enter the grounds through an enormous gate decorated with seven limestone reliefs, one of which depicted the pharaoh under a star-filled blue sky. Other scenes have been lost to time.

Egyptian sculpture about 2686 BC – AD 396

Travel back through 3,000 years of Egyptian history and come face-to-face with the Rosetta Stone and the Statue of Ramesses II.

The objects in the Egyptian sculpture gallery represent three millennia of pharaonic history. The displays have evolved with the field of Egyptology itself.

Modern Egyptology began with a French scientific expedition accompanying Napoleon's invasion of Egypt in 1798. After the British defeated the French, they took some of their most important finds, including the Rosetta Stone and the sarcophagus of the last Egyptian pharaoh, both displayed here.

A German Museum Tried To Hide This Stunning 3D Scan of an Iconic Egyptian Artifact. Today You Can See It for the First Time

After a three-year freedom of information campaign, everyone can finally see the Egyptian Museum of Berlin’s official scan of the Bust of Nefertiti.

For more than a decade, museums around the world have been making high-quality 3D scans of important sculptures and ancient artifacts. Some institutions, such as the Smithsonian and the National Gallery of Denmark, have forward-thinking programs that freely share their 3D scans with the public, allowing us to view, copy, adapt, and experiment with the underlying works in ways that have never before been possible. But many institutions keep their scans out of public view.

Archaeology Breakthrough: Scientists Unravel Major Discovery that Redefines Ancient Life
Image: AFP
SCIENTISTS have used advanced technology to scan the bones of ancient humans in an attempt to understand their daily lives.

The experts utilised modern technology to shine a light on what daily life was like in ancient Egypt in a never before seen study. Using lasers, X-rays and infrared tools, scientists have been able to scrutinise and examine the bones of mummies to better understand our ancestors.

Ancient Egyptians Sacrificed and Mummified Millions of These Sacred Birds—Here's How They Gathered So Many
WASEF ET AL, 2019

The ancient catacombs of Egypt contain millions of mummified birds of the species Threskiornis aethiopicus—better known as the African sacred ibis. Now researchers have cast new light on how the Egyptians obtained so many of these animals—something that has long puzzled experts.

The Egyptians commonly sacrificed and mummified these birds between 665 B.C. and 250 A.D. in honor of the god Toth—who was often depicted as a man with the head of an ibis.

Photos: 3,400-Year-Old Tomb Along Nile River
(Image credit: AcrossBorders project/Julia Budka)

A tomb dating back around 3,400 years has been discovered on Sai Island, on the Nile River in Sudan. The tomb has multiple burial chambers, which contain the remains of more than a dozen, possibly mummified, individuals. The tomb was constructed at a time when there was an Egyptian settlement and gold mine on the island. This picture shows some of the artifacts found in the tomb, including a stone shabti, meant to do the work of the deceased in the afterlife.

Egyptian Museum opens in Rio Grande do Sul

Egyptian artist and businessman Essam Elbattal established in Canela in the Serra Gaúcha a museum with a pharaonic setting of Ancient Egypt. Venue features an internal pyramid with sarcophagus and hieroglyphs. Visitors may dress up in tunics, wigs and turbans.

Canela’s Egyptian Museum comprises a 3,000-square-meter plot and over 1,200 square meters of building area, with sculptures, busts, pieces, and mortuary chambers that refer to the history of the great pharaohs, queens and figures of Ancient Egypt, including Tutankhamun, Ramesses II, Akhenaton, Cleopatra, and Nefertiti.

Egypt Discovery: Historian's Stunned Reaction to 'Oldest Tomb of His Career' Revealed
Image: CHANNEL 5

The discovery came after Tony Robinson joined archaeologist Dr Vasko Dobrev who had uncovered more than 60 tombs in his quest to find the missing Pharaoh Userkare, who he believes is buried in an unfinished pyramid below Saqqara. The suspected burial site served as the necropolis for the Ancient Egyptian capital of Memphis and is home to numerous other pyramids including the Step Pyramid of Djoser. Dr Dobrev has spent the last three decades probing the area just 19 miles from the world-famous Giza Plateau and he now thinks he is closer to hitting the jackpot.

New Discoveries in Egyptology (September-October 2019)
Photo: Ahram

Every two months, the Nile Scribes bring you summaries of the latest research and discoveries in Egyptology, both from the field and the archives. We introduce you to the newest archaeological finds or rediscovered artefacts from museum collections, plus other new theories stirring in the Egyptological Zeitgeist. While few excavations take place in Egypt during the heat of the summer, there has nevertheless been a number of exciting discoveries announced at the outset of the cooler, post-summer months. The world’s attention was recently captured by the discovery of a new cache of Twenty-Second Dynasty mummies at Asasif in Luxor.

A Nile Journey Into the Past
Credit...Boyer/Roger Viollet, via Getty Image

In the 19th century, women explorers sailed the Nile, sending back vivid accounts of Egypt’s riches. A 21st-century writer travels in their wake.

Huddled on a chaise on the upper deck of the Orient, the dahabiya that I had chosen for a cruise down the Nile, I sipped hibiscus tea to ward off the chill. Late in February, it was just 52 degrees in Aswan, where I had boarded the sailboat, but the scenery slipping past was everything the guidebooks had promised: tall sandbanks, curved palms and the mutable, gray-green river, the spine of Egypt and the throughline in its history.

‘Ancient Wonders’ With a Future
PHOTOGRAPHS BY DEAN KEEFER

The Museum of Ancient Wonders opens in Cathedral City with replicas of King Tutankhamun artifacts, African masks, and prehistoric fossils.

A modest strip mall at the corner of Highway 111 and Date Palm Drive is an unlikely place for King Tutankhamun’s golden chariot and the skull of a T-Rex, but Alberto Acosta and Joe McCabe are making it work. The Museum of Ancient Wonders, the Coachella Valley’s newest cultural attraction, opened Oct. 26, showing a portion of Acosta’s extensive collection of replicas of Egyptian antiquities and dinosaur fossils, along with artistic recreations of African masks representing 3,500 years of tribal ritual and mysticism.

Ancient Greek and Roman Cemetery Discovered in Egypt
Credit: ET

The Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities announced recently that an ancient Greek and Roman cemetery has been discovered in Ismailia.

According to reports, the cemetery has multiple levels. The upper levels date back to ancient Greek and Roman times, while the lower are from Egypt’s pre-dynastic eras.

Egypt Says It’s Unearthed Large Animal Mummy, Likely a Lion

Egypt’s Ministry of Antiquities says local archeologists have unearthed the mummy of an unusually large animal, most likely a lion or lioness. The ministry said on Monday the mummy was excavated in Saqqara, a town south of Cairo that was a vast necropolis in antiquity and is home to the famed Step Pyramid.

Here's a more comprehensive article from NBC that came with this photo. This mummified lion was found in the tomb on King Tut's wet nurse. The colored scale has been placed next to it for measurement purposes.

P. Chapuis  /  MAFB. Copyright Hypogees

Ahnaten at the Met Trailer

Reviews:

• ‘Akhnaten’ Puts You on Philip Glass Time
• A place in the sun
• Gleaming and Self-Aware, Philip Glass’s Akhnaten Is Borne to the Met

Ancient Egypt News 10/21/2019

‘Signs and Wonders: The Photographs of John Beasley Greene’ Review: Exploring Egypt Through a Lens
John Beasley Greene’s ‘Karnak. Hypostyle Hall. Northern Wall, Interior. No. 3’ (1854) PHOTO: MUSEE D'ORSAY

J.B. Greene (1832-1856) might be relegated to dusty obscurity, just another amateur 19th-century photographer and archaeologist, had one of his Egyptian landscapes—an 1854 view of an island in the Nile and its low surrounding hills—not been published in Beaumont Newhall’s canonical “The History of Photography: From 1839 to the Present Day.” Generations of college students have been fascinated by that starkly modern picture, with its long lines and open planes verging on pure abstraction, and the enigmatic person who made it.

4,000-Year-Old Mummies Showed Early Signs of Heart Disease
One of the mummies that provided arterial samples came from Dakhla Oasis in Egypt, as did the mummies pictured here.(Image: © Alamy)

Four-thousand-year-old mummies have cholesterol buildup in their arteries, suggesting that heart disease was likely more common in ancient times than once thought, according to a new study.

Prior studies have examined arterial calcium accumulation in mummified human hearts and arteries using dissection and X-ray computed tomography (CT) scanning. But these studies showed damage that only occurs in the later stages of heart disease and presents an incomplete picture of how widespread heart disease risk may have been thousands of years ago.

Antiquities Releases Images of Colored Coffins Found at Luxor

Dr Khalid El Enani, Minister of Antiquities and Dr Mustafa Waziri, General –Secretary of the Higher Council of Antiquities head for Luxor, some 800 km south to Cairo, on Monday.

They inspected the site of digging carried out by the archeological mission under Ministry of Antiquities at ancient cemetery of Al-Assasif village in the western bank of the Nile River next Luxor.

Ancient Egyptian necropolis unearths 20 coffins - CNET

Egypt says archeologists uncover 20 ancient coffins in Luxor - Phys.Org

Egypt says archeologists uncover 20 ancient coffins in Luxor - Minneapolis Star Tribune

Mystery cache of 20 sealed Egyptian coffins found 'as the ancients left them' – and they could be ... - The Sun

Egypt archaeologists find 20 ancient coffins near LuxorBBC News

The NBC video (click here) is fantastic.

My Part in Making Bolton an Egyptology Leader

I really enjoy working on listed and heritage buildings. These projects bring a unique challenge; you need to think differently to bring out the best in buildings that have often been lost in time.

The project to repair and upgrade the Grade-II listed Bolton Museum was definitely a complex project for Bolton Council. It made us challenge the ways we normally do things, and ultimately had me engrossed in the world of ancient Egypt in a way I certainly didn’t expect!

MFA Boston Offers a Fresh Look at Ancient Nubia in New Exhibition
Vessel in the shape of a bound oryx, early 7th century B.C. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

For more than 3,000 years, a series of kingdoms flourished along the Nile Valley in what is today southern Egypt and northern Sudan, a region known in antiquity as Kush and by modern scholars as Nubia. In Ancient Nubia Now, the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (MFA), presents more than 400 works of art from its collection, made over thousands of years of Nubian history—masterpieces that highlight the skill, artistry and innovation of Nubian makers and reflect the wealth and power of their kings and queens.

Egyptian Mummies: Exploring Ancient Lives
Photo by Brandon Lorimer

When one thinks about historical Egyptian culture, it is hard not to think beyond the scope of what popular media and our education have focussed on: the great pyramids, the curious pantheon, the rules of pharaohs, the traditions with death, and, of course, mummies. And while “Egyptian Mummies: Exploring Ancient Lives” at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts has one of those keystones as the centrepiece for its current ongoing exhibit, it is the context of those laid to rest and the things which satellite these well-preserved people that shine a light on oft-neglected aspects of Egyptian history. At this exhibit, you will find pieces of everyday Egyptian life maintained just as carefully as the ornate sarcophagi.

Egypt Archaeologists Stunned after Draining Flooded Tomb: 'Never found anything like it'
In the corner a piece of history was found (Image: CHANNEL 5)

EGYPT archaeologists were left stunned after draining out a flooded tomb to reveal a perfectly intact piece of history hiding in the thick mud.

Tony Robinson visited Gebel el-Silsila to meet with archaeologist John Ward for his new Channel 5 show “Egyptian Tomb Hunting,” who had uncovered what he believed to be an entrance to a hidden chamber. The hole, which scaled down more than 20 feet, was completely filled with water. Unsure on the source of the pool, the pair used pumps in a bid to get a look at what could be hiding inside.

Picture of the Week

Detail of the funerary papyrus of Taminiu, showing demons
From Thebes, Egypt
Third Intermediate Period, around 950 BC

The demons which the deceased must pass on the way to the Afterlife

There were many obstacles on the path to the Afterlife in ancient Egyptian belief. They often took the form of demons. The various funerary books were intended as assistance to the deceased, with the spells needed to overcome every problem.

Some Underworld demons guarded the gates to the Mansion of Osiris, where the deceased was judged. These were often depicted, as here, in a mummified form, crouching and holding sharp knives. The demons were often shown with their heads twisted round behind them, or face on. Most had the heads of recognizable animals, often ones that were no threat in the living world, such as rams or hares. Others, like the double snake-headed demon, were creatures of fantasy. Another demon gatekeeper was the upright snake, with human arms and legs. This individual was the last guardian who stood at the doorway of the judgement chamber.

The other scene on this papyrus shows the deceased woman, Taminiu, receiving cool water from Nut, appearing as a sycamore goddess. Her ba, the small human-headed bird, is at her feet. Behind her is the goddess Maat, whose head is replaced by the feather that is her emblem.

S. Quirke, Ancient Egyptian religion (London, The British Museum Press, 1992)
British Museum

Ancient Egypt News 10/14/2019

‘Unexpected’ Discovery Stuns Archaeologist as Long-Lost Tomb FOUND
The find was made in the Aswan region of Egypt (Image: GETTY)

Imhotep was an Egyptian chancellor to the pharaoh Djoser, who is believed to have also been the mastermind behind the Step Pyramid in Saqqara. The Third Dynasty is remembered as being a great author of wisdom texts and also a physician, but the location of his tomb has been unknown for thousands of years, despite great efforts to find it. Until now.

Tony Robinson revealed during his new Channel 5 series “Opening Egypt’s Tomb” how a group of locals stumbled across what archaeologists believe to be Imhotep’s tomb.

Through Gemstones, a Glimpse into ancient Egyptian Civilization
Though these restrung beads were found in a grave in Amara West, in Sudan, they were also likely to have been worn in life, too. The reddish-orange beads are carnelian, the faded-blue beads are faience, and the white are ostrich eggshell, which was very popular in ancient Egypt. (Photo: Spencer et al. Amara West: Living in Egyptian Nubia , 69)

On the second day of fieldwork in Abydos, Egypt, Penn doctoral student Shelby Justl stumbled upon something rare: an inscribed piece of ancient limestone called an ostracon. “You rarely find writing in Egyptian archaeology. Writing is either on papyrus, which decays easily, or on stone that fades over time,” she explains. “I translated the text and determined this was a land-transfer document, a bill of sale of two arouras of land.”

The Chicago Archaeologist Who Changed the Way We Study Civilization
In 1906, James Henry Breasted traveled with his family to Abu Simbel, an archaeological site in Egypt. Image: Courtesy of the Oriental Institute

In 1919, a Chicago man with an opulent handlebar mustache had a radical idea. That man was James Henry Breasted, founder of the Oriental Institute (OI) at the University of Chicago. His radical idea was that scholars should look toward the ancient Middle East, rather than only examining ancient Greece or Rome, to understand the story of western civilization. Now, 100 years later, OI is celebrating its past by looking toward its future.

Breasted was born in 1865 in Rockford, Illinois. He began studying Egyptology at graduate school at the University of Berlin, becoming the first American to hold a PhD in the subject. He started teaching at the University of Chicago in 1894. In addition to his interest in the ancient Middle East, he could read, write, or speak several languages, including Greek, Latin, Aramaic, Syriac, Assyrian, Ancient Egyptian, and more.

From Grappling Art to Pharaonic Propaganda: The History of Wrestling in Ancient Egypt

While wrestling can be found all across the African continent, historical context has greatly focused on ancient Egypt. The country’s incredible Pharaonic tradition and later connection to the Roman Empire made it a topic of interest for Western study. The Victorian era saw the rise of Egyptologists from the English and French gentry, which led to the subsequent proliferation of information on Egypt that also overshadowed the remainder of the continent. As such, much of the information of wrestling’s ancient roots can be traced back to Egypt.

Hawass Announces Two New Archaeological Discoveries (bonus video)

Egypt’s Minister of Antiquities Dr. Khaled Al-Anani announced on Thursday two new archaeological discoveries carried out by an Egyptian expedition in the Valley of the Kings, known as the Valley of the Monkeys in Luxor, under the auspices of prominent archaeologist and Egyptologist Dr. Zahi Hawass.

Dr. Hawass, head of excavation mission, said that the Egyptian expedition, which has been working in the Valley of the Monkeys since December 2017, has succeeded to uncover an industrial area there for the first time ever.

What’s In an Ancient Egyptian Makeup Bag?
Painting from the tomb of Nakht depicting three women (Google images)

From the various looks we have sported across the centuries, the Ancient Egyptian look stands out as one of the more memorable ones in the history of makeup. This is not a surprise, for the Ancient Egyptians were avid lovers of cosmetics. Their heavily kohl-lined eyes are instantly recognizable and often recreated in Hollywood blockbusters, the most famous portrayal being Elizabeth Taylor’s Cleopatra.

Our Dark Materials: Rediscovering an Egyptian Collection
Cartonnage fragments (22231) under visible and ultra violet light.

Our Dark Materials: Rediscovering an Egyptian Collection examines Stanford University's forgotten collection of ancient Egyptian artifacts, which provides insight into the experiences of ordinary Egyptians in daily life and death.
This publication is a digital supplement to a physical exhibit on view in 2018–2019, providing additional content and interactive features. The site uses a non-linear multimedia platform to highlight the special aspects of Stanford University Archaeology Collections’ Egyptian collection: the artifacts’ material qualities, the ways they reflect everyday life and death, and their connections to the history of Egyptology.

Rio Venue to Host Mega Exhibit on Ancient Egypt

Egyptian history is taking over Rio de Janeiro's Centro Cultural Banco do Brasil ( CCBB ) starting October 12. 'Ancient Egypt: from day-to-day to eternity' will feature 140 pieces straight fromMuseo Egizio , in Turin, Italy, which boasts the second-biggest collection on Egypt in the world – trailing only the Cairo Museum, in Egypt's capital.

But curators Pieter Tjabbes and Paolo Marini want more. The idea is to also captivate people unfamiliar with the subject. Tjabbes explains that the exhibit will combine antiquities and 'instagrammable' spots conducive to photos that spread through the internet and ultimately become advertising for an event.

Ancient Egyptian Coffin Contains ‘Oldest Map of the Underworld’ Inscribed 4,000 Years Ago

The ancient doodle was designed to help the dead reach the afterlife by guiding them through the perilous obstacles of the underworld.

The coffin and its artwork were discovered in a burial shaft in the Egyptian necropolis of Dayr al-Barsha.

An inscription on two wooden panels recovered by archaeologists is a mix of hieroglyphs and symbols known to the Ancient Egyptians as The Book of Two Ways.

It depicts two zigzagging lines that detail two routes the dead can use to reach Osiris – the Ancient Egyptian god of the dead – in the afterlife.

EgyptianComposer Mohamed Saad Basha ‘Very Happy’ about Pemiere of His Ballet Cleopatra
Photo: fragment from the Cairo Opera House's ballet Cleopatra promotional material

On four consecutive evenings, from 15 to 18 October, the Cairo Opera Ballet Company and the Cairo Opera Orchestra, conducted by Mohamed Saad Basha, will stage the ballet Cleopatra. The ballet is choreographed by José Perez.

This is the first time that the Cairo Opera House has produced its own take on the famous queen, following a commission of Egyptian composer and conductor Mohamed Saad Basha earlier this year.

“I was commissioned to compose music for a new ballet, Cleopatra, by the Cairo Opera House in February,” composer Saad Basha told Ahram Online.

A Donkey Called Rameses
Scene from the New Kingdom tomb of Panehsy and Tarenu, TT16 (Dra Abu el-Naga)

In the village of Deir el-Medina, the home of the workmen who built the royal tombs of the Valley of the Kings, donkeys were big business. While scenes from the New Kingdom show pharaoh riding a horse-drawn chariot into battle, neither horses nor camels played a part in the day-to-day lives of villagers – camels weren’t even introduced into Egypt until a millennium later (see here). Donkeys were the principal beast of burden, and still play an important part in village life in Egypt today.

"Kenneth Branagh’s ‘Death on the Nile’ to Be Filmed in Egypt."
Wonder Woman’s Gal Gadot, Black Panther’s Letitia Wright, and Call Me by Your Name’s Armie Hammer are all set to star in Kenneth Branagh’s Death on the Nile (photos: Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images, Rich Fury/Filmmagic, Christopher Polk/Getty Images)

Kenneth Branagh’s Death on the Nile, the sequel to his 2017 box office hit Murder on the Orient Express, has finally been cleared for production, Den of Geek reports. Filming is already underway at Longcross Studios outside London and on location in Egypt. . .

Gang arrested with 193 statues, sarcophagus in Giza

Security forces on Saturday arrested a criminal gang with 193 statues and a sarcophagus in Giza which dates back to the fourth dynasty of ancient Egypt.

The suspects have found the ancient pieces inside a cemetery in Giza. The public prosecution and the Tourism Ministry were notified to take legal action.

In February 2019, a man was arrested over illegally digging under his house in Giza in search for artifacts, as part of Tourism police's crackdown against illicit trade in antiquities.

Picture of the Week 

This rare model of the Egyptian scarab beetle creator god Khepri, with a human head and arms emerging from a scarab’s exoskeleton. In many cases, Khepri is presented in a very matter-of-fact way (either as a large beetle or as a human with a scarab for a head) but the above example deserves special mention. It's most likely from the Late Period, ca. 664-332 BC. Now in the Egyptian Museum of Berlin.

Dung beetles were thought to generate spontaneously from the soil and their dung-rolling mirrored the daily journey of the sun disc across the sky. As such, they were potent symbols in Egyptian iconography, representing the solar deity Khepri.

Ancient Egypt News 9/30/2019

Jewels of the Nile: 11 Awesome Egyptian Museums
The Coptic museum holds the largest collection of Egyptian Christian relics in the world. Courtesy Experience Egypt, Egyptian Tourism Authority

For much of the 20th century, the Egyptian Museum in the center of Cairo was the gold standard for collections along the Nile.
Mainly because among the many nuggets inside were the glimmering death mask of Tutankhamun and all the other relics discovered in the boy king's tomb by archeologist Howard Carter in 1922.
But Egypt has always had far more treasures than a single museum could display.

Stolen Coffin Returns to Egypt After Mix-Up at the Met
(Photo: Wikimedia Commons)

The museum turned over the coffin after learning it had been looted from Egypt back in 2011

The coffin, believed to be crafted between 50 and 150 BC, was purchased by the Metropolitan Museum of Art two years ago — but was fooled by phony documentation. It appears to have been stolen from Egypt during the 2011 uprisings. NBC New York’s Gus Rosendale reports.

“Sun Shines” on New Exhibit Coming to The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art
Julián Zugazagoitia in Queen Nefertari’s tomb, 1993. He curated the exhibit “Nefertari: Light of Egypt,” which in 1994 opened in Rome. (Courtesy | Julián Zugazagoitia)

The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art has announced the “Queen Nefertari: Eternal Egypt” exhibition will be coming to Kansas City in November. The exhibition celebrates the mysterious queen and wife to Pharaoh Ramesses II, who referred to her as “The One For Whom The Sun Shines.”

The exhibit will not only focus on the queen herself, but also will feature the women of ancient Egypt. Emphasis will be put on royal life in palaces, everyday life of female artisans, and the strong underlying belief system of ancient Egypt. The exhibit is scheduled to run from Nov. 15 to March 29.

Inside One of Egypt’s Biggest Royal Weddings
The relief above the text shows Ramses II (left), enthroned, wearing the white crown of Upper Egypt. The gods Ptah (second from left) and Seth (seated at right) sit with him. Standing to the right is his bride, Queen Maathorneferure, and her father, King Hattusilis (far right), who did not accompany his daughter to Egypt.

When Ramses II married a Hittite princess, it strengthened the political alliance between the two former enemies. But the arrangements weren’t easy to make.

RAMSES II ENJOYED one of the longest reigns in Egyptian history. He spent more than 65 years on the throne during a period of military and cultural splendor which would win him the title Ramses the Great.

In 1249 B.C. Ramses II had been ruling for 30 years. To commemorate such a notable occasion, pharaohs held jubilee celebrations known as Heb Sed. Ramses chose his magnificent new capital city, Pi-Ramses, to stage a suitably lavish celebration for this milestone.

Pilgrim Gouges: Vandalism in Antiquity, Now Archaeological Curiosity
Pilgrim gouges on the buttocks of sphinxes on the Avenue of Sphinxes at Karnak. Photo by Cammyjams [Flickr].

When does vandalism become an archaeological feature? When it’s done in antiquity, of course.

In the featured image of this article above is a photo of a particular kind of vandalism commonly referred to as “pilgrim gouges.” I’ve noticed these peculiar scoops of stone in various photos of columns, ashlar blocks, monuments and so on, but never really stopped to think about what they were.

In hindsight, all the examples I can think of or locate on the net or in books, are within reach of people. Still, my first guesses included eroded palimpsests and some sort of vandalism in antiquity.

Check out Kat Luno's Art Work!
Book Cover painting for "The Union of Isis and Thoth" by Nicki Scully and Normandi Ellis; Inner Traditions Bear & Co. 9" x 12" Oil on Panel.

Kat is an oil painter & illustrator who loves working with color, symbolism, and portraiture. Her work is infused with a fascination for subjects such as world mythologies, psychology, science fiction & fantasy, as well as various mystical systems such as Tarot and Qabalah. Stylistically, she is influenced by a number of disparate artistic genres that all seem to coalesce into something cohesive in her mind. These include classical realism (particularly turn-of-the-century Russian realism), surrealism, visionary art, spiritual & religious iconography, as well as many kinds of illustration genres

Archaeologists Unpack Two Sarcophagi

A sarcophagus with a mummy inside is seen in the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization (NMEC), Cairo, Egypt, on Sept. 21, 2019. Egyptian Minister of Antiquities Khaled al-Anany witnessed on Saturday the unpacking process of two ancient sarcophagi ahead of their restoration and display in a new museum. The mummies in the two sarcophagi belong to a senior official of the New Kingdom of Egypt, and his wife, said Mostafa Waziri, secretary-general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities.

Inside Tutankhamun's Restored Sarcophagus, In A New Museum Exhibit
The Egyptian King's coffin was discovered in 1922. Photo: Associated Press

The golden coffin of the Egyptian Pharaoh Tutankhamun will be restored for the first time since its discovery, ahead of a new museum exhibit next year.
The three thousand year old Egyptian relic is in a fragile state and will require careful restoration before it goes on public display next year.

For more info, photos, and a video see

• Restoration of King Tut's coffin to take up to nine months 
• Incredible images: Tutankhamun's golden coffin as it is taken out of its sterilisation tent 
• Pictures show Tutankhamun sarchophagus after being taken out of tomb for first time

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 fr, Link

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.