Labor Day is a holiday in the United States, and one most of us look forward to celebrating. (Who doesn't like a day off work?) This link is to a post from Labor Day 2015 about what was it like to be a working man or woman in ancient Egypt.
Throughout this workshop, you will learn about the smells that defined the mummification chambers and tombs, and the scents that the ancient Egyptians themselves wished to be surrounded by in their life after death. In the first hour, Dora will teach you about the olfactory motivation for mummification and the substances employed during the process. In the second hour, she will give you a detailed insight into the materials. You will be able to smell each ingredient and you will learn about their significance for the Egyptians and the reasons behind their use. In the third and last hour, you will recreate the essence of mummification in a bottle by using the very same ingredients the ancient Egyptians employed for embalming their dead. Don’t worry, you will end up with an exceedingly pleasant smell.
On August 30th, National Toasted Marshmallow Day celebrates one of America’s favorite fire-roasted treats. Be sure to stock up on marshmallows so you can celebrate!
- Believe it or not, marshmallows date back to Ancient Egypt. The mallow plant provided a sap that the Egyptians used to create a candy with nuts and honey.
- Ligonier, Indiana holds an annual Marshmallow Festival (Labor Day Weekend) and is the marshmallow capital of the world.
For more tidbits on marshmallows and ancient Egypt, see:
History of Marshmallow
The Long, Sweet History of Marshmallows
The new slot game launched by Play’n GO promises to position itself as a favorite of online casino players. This is Rise of Dead, a fun 5-reel game set in Ancient Egypt, which is based on the legendary Book of Thoth, a manuscript through which readers gain infinite knowledge.
The game is loaded with myths, spells and Egyptian traditions related to the pharaohs who ruled Egypt. Each of the symbols and figures of the game, represent real elements and characters found in the history of this ancient civilization.
Mummified hand of an ancient Egyptian lady donated to the museum by a later Peckover. Picture: WISBECH MUSEUM
Intriguing artefacts have been on display at Wisbech and Fenland Museum's Hudson Gallery throughout the summer holidays.
The exhibition will now continue to run until October 26.
In 1864 a group of men including the Barclay brothers took Lord Alexander Peckover on a tour of Egypt to ease his broken heart after the death of his young wife.
They boarded the riverboat Zuleika at Cairo to visit Luxor, Karnac, Thebes, Edfu and the Valley of the Kings.
The new game features an Egyptian theme, transporting gamers to an ancient pyramid where expeditions are underway. As an ALLPAY slot, the game does not have win lines but uses symbols combinations to provide 243 ways to win on 5 reels!
On Aug. 27, Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly presided the first meeting of the Higher Committee, formed under the supervision of President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi to set scenarios of the opening ceremony of the Grand Egyptian Museum.
The meeting was attended by Minister of Antiquities Khaled al-Anani, Minister of Culture Inas Abdel Dayem, Minister of Tourism Rania al-Mashat, Governor of Giza Ahmed Rashed, and officials of a number of concerned authorities.
A group of scientists from the University of Hawaii made international headlines last week when they claimed to have recreated the perfume of Cleopatra, Egypt’s legendary queen known for her allure. In Egypt, the local beauty sector has also been banking on “Pharaonic recipes” to compete with pricey international beauty brands.
The ancient Egyptian queens whose faces are seen on murals or well-known statues were not simply natural beauties — Cleopatra, Nefertari and Nefertiti had complex beauty routines that included honey, mud or goat's milk, and modern versions have been growing in popularity in Egypt over the last decade.
Media make images of the Egyptian mummy Nestawedjat, which dates to approximately 700 BC, at a press preview at the Museum of Fine Arts Wednesday, August 28, 2019 in Montreal. The museum will be showing the exhibition Egyptian Mummies: Exploring Ancient Lives this fall and winter. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ryan Remiorz
Nestawedjat, a wealthy, married “lady of the house,” died in the ancient Egyptian city of Thebes sometime around 700 BC.
Some 2,700 years too late to save her, she was brought to a British hospital to undergo a thoroughly modern medical procedure: a CT scan.
In recent years, medical technology has allowed researchers to learn intimate details of the lives of ancient Egyptian mummies that go far beyond the biographical details gleaned from their tombs.
The silver trumpet and its wooden core were found in King Tutankhamun’s burial chamber. Picture: Classic FM
This delicate silver instrument, retrieved from the tomb of the 14th-century B.C. pharaoh, is the oldest known metal trumpet in existence... but it has a dark history.
In 1922, British archaeologist Howard Carter would make one of the most important discoveries of the 20th century. . . In King Tut’s tomb, Carter and his team also discovered a pair of ancient trumpets, one of sterling silver and one of bronze or copper, which hadn’t seen the light of day for over 3,000 years.
A piece of papyrus fragment found at The Catholic University of American in Washington is a small piece of a larger scroll. COURTESY
Jacco Dieleman, a research associate professor in the department of Semitic and Egyptian languages, recently made a startling discovery while examining artifacts housed in The Catholic University of American in Washington’s Semitics/Institute of Christian Oriental Research collections. Dieleman identified a papyrus fragment from the university’s collection as a small piece of a larger papyrus scroll from the Tebtunis Temple Library, an important collection of ancient manuscripts that is shedding new light on the world of ancient Egypt.
In the spring term of 2018, a group of Drexel University students created a video game, Sons of Ra, for a group project. Exactly a year later, that same game won the E3 College Game Competition, one of the biggest game contest for college-level game designers.
The Ministry of Antiquities uncovered an ancient winding wall that extends about 60 meters to the east of Amenemhat II pyramid. This wall is considered an important architectural element that dates back to the Middle kingdom era.
A number of stone, pottery and wooden coffins were also found, some of which had mummies which were uncovered in good condition, in addition to a number of wooden masks some of them are incomplete and a set of tools that were used in cutting and polishing.
Every year in August, the constellation Orion returns to northern hemisphere skies at dawn, bearing with him the brightest star in our sky after the Sun ~ the star Sirius.
Sirius played a significant role in every aspect of Ancient Egypt culture, a role that carried on well into the 20th century, because its heliacal rising in mid-August each year was the signal from the natural world that the mighty river Nile was about to flood. At the heliacal rising of Sirius, people would move off the flood plain to make way for the river, which would rise up to 46 feet in some places!
Freud famously related the interpretation of dreams to the translation of hieroglyphs.
He provided an account of one of his own ‘hieroglyphic’ dreams in which nightmarish bird-headed figures are sexually-threatening hieroglyphic characters come to life. Freud’s willingness to address the sexual nature of Egyptian iconography was notably at odds with most contemporary Egyptologists.
Photo © Michalea Moore 2017
Zahi Hawass describes the discovery of the mummy of the ancient Egyptian queen Hatshepsut in the Valley of the Kings.
This article describes the adventure of the discovery of the mummy of queen Hatshepsut, who was from the same dynasty as our Egyptian star Tutankhamun.
She ruled before Tutankhamun was born, along with a young boy called Thutmose III who was her stepson from her husband Thutmose II. After the death of Thutmose II, his son became the king of Egypt, but Hatshepsut took over the throne and ruled the country for almost 20 years.
She built a beautiful temple on the west bank of the Nile at Luxor, which was designed by her architect Senenmut.
Former government archaeology official and world-renowned Egyptologist Zahi Hawwas is known for his passion for ancient Egypt and his eagerness to attract more tourists to his country.
However, Hawwas is also interested in the bridging of civilizations. So, it was no surprise to see Japan, another nation with a great ancient civilization, at the forefront of his endeavors while promoting tourism in Egypt.
Note: I could not find the film mentioned in the article, but I found a decidedly strange trailer for an animated Cleopatra film that is quite infamous (on the internet at least). Warning: it's x-rated!
Photo © Michalea Moore 2017
Actually, I bet most of you do know!
The pyramids of ancient Egypt are one of the many wonders of the world. The architectural achievements they managed to pull off were astounding for the era and their prowess shows as they continue to stand to this day. The pyramid of Giza is the only one of the seven great wonders of the world that are still standing, which is a feat of its own accord.
There is so much we still don't know about the pyramids, but we have come a long way in our discoveries since the first time modern man laid eyes on them. Investigations are still ongoing inside of these monstrosities and we cannot wait to see what is to be found in the years to come. Keep reading to learn about ten things you didn't know about the pyramids!
Cartoon of the Week
The Wall Street Journal Magazine August 2019
