Wednesday, July 18, 2018

New Discovery, Alexandria: Clues Point to Occupant of Ancient 'Mystery' Sarcophagus


A sealed black stone coffin discovered in Egypt has sparked the imagination of the Internet. But who's the likely—or unlikely—owner?

The discovery of this 30-ton sealed granite sarcophagus,
believed to be some 2,000 years old
Two weeks since its discovery, the sealed black granite sarcophagus uncovered at an Egyptian construction site—a find that has captured the attention of the Internet and sparked countless mummy jokes about the curse it may unleash—has yet to be opened.

Officials at Egypt's Ministry of Antiquities are reportedly exasperated from fielding countless global press inquiries regarding when and how the stone coffin will be unsealed, and so far they’ve refused, understandably, to speculate who its long-dead occupant may be.

But to narrow down the possibilities, local archaeologists, who are not being named since they are not authorized to speak to National Geographic on behalf of the ministry, share their ideas about whom the sarcophagus likely does not belong to.

The July 1 account of the discovery in Egypt's state-run newspaper, Al Ahram, was straightforward enough: A large stone sarcophagus—still sealed—was uncovered during a construction survey in the city of Alexandria on Egypt's Mediterranean coast. A worn alabaster head of a man, possibly the coffin's occupant, was found nearby, and the burial site was believed to date from the Ptolemaic period (ca. 323-30 B.C.).

The nearly nine-foot-long, five-foot-wide sarcophagus is the largest ancient coffin yet discovered in the city, according to an official statement. This has prompted speculation that it may be the resting place of a powerful or wealthy person—perhaps even that of Alexander the Great, who founded his namesake city in 331 B.C.

While some historical accounts claim that the great Macedonian conqueror was ultimately buried in Alexandria following his death in 323 B.C., his tomb has never been found.

Two archaeologists who work in Alexandria and have knowledge of the discovery spoke independently to National Geographic. They both suspect that the sarcophagus itself may date to an earlier pharaonic dynasty in Egypt's long history, due in part to its unusually large proportions.

One of the two archaeologists believes that, since Alexandria wasn't even founded until the fourth century B.C., the massive sarcophagus may have been brought to the city empty, from an earlier, dynastic-period site down the Nile—such as Memphis—and then re-used to bury someone in later years.


Saturday, July 14, 2018

New Discovery, Sakkara: New Saqqara Necropolis Discovery to Reveal Secrets of Mummification - Egypt Ministry of Antiquities

A mummification workshop was discovered in the Saqqara necropolis, along with a communal burial place consisting of several burial chambers, from the Saite-Persian Period. Written By/ Nevine El-Aref.

Just south of Unas Pyramid in Saqqara necropolis in Giza the air is buzzing with people who flocked to the site, trying to catch a glimpse of the new discovery to be announced at a press conference.

Minister of Antiquities Khaled El-Anany announces the beginning of the excavation of a mummification workshop discovered along with a communal burial place, consisting uniquely of several burial chambers and dating to the Saite-Persian Period (664-404 BC). The work is being carried out south of the King Unas Pyramid in Saqqara by an Egyptian-German mission from the Tübingen University.

“A collection of 35 mummies has been uncovered along with four sealed sarcophagi that are to be opened soon to explore what lies inside,” El-Anany said. He added that one of the most important items uncovered is a gilded sliver mummy mask found in a burial chamber off the main shaft attached to the mummification workshop.

Early studies show that the mask belongs to a person who held the titles ‘the second priest of Mut" and "the priest of Niut-Shaes". Preliminary microscopic examination suggests that it is made of gilded silver, and the eyes are inlayed with a black gemstone (possibly onyx), calcite and obsidian.

The wig is also inlayed with gemstones that were once embedded in coloured pastes. The mask measures 23 x 18.5 cm. A research and conservation project is currently being planned for the mask. Ramadan Badry Hussein, director of Saqqara Saite Tombs Project and professor at Tübingen University describes the discovery as rare.

Hussein told Ahram Online that the mummification workshop, a rectangular building constructed with mud bricks and irregular limestone blocks, was found 30 metres beneath the ground. On the south-western corner an entrance leads into an open area with two large basins and a mud brick ramp between them. The two basins are surrounded with mud brick walls.

It is believed that they were for the natron (a salt mixture used as a drying agent in embalming) and the preparation of linen bandages. He states that the mummification workshop includes also an embalming cachette with a 13.00 metre deep shaft, ending with a rectangular subterranean chamber, where a large corpus of pottery was found.

This pottery includes vessels, bowls and measuring cups inscribed with the names of oils and substances used in mummification. The mummification workshop has also a large shaft (K 24) in the middle, which is used as a communal burial place. It measures 3 x 3.35 x 30 m. Shaft K24 is unique in having several burial chambers, including a complex of burial chambers cut into the bedrock at a depth of 30.00 m.

They are arranged on the sides of two hallways. The first hallway has an intact burial chamber on the west, where three decayed wooden coffins were found on top of the western end of a large limestone sarcophagus.

A fourth mummy is found to the north of that sarcophagus. A large number of faience ushabti figurines were also found along the northern side of the sarcophagus.

Hussein pointed out that the middle wooden coffin, on top of the sarcophagus, is badly damaged, and the mummy inside it has a gilded mask that was found on top of the face of the mummy. The wooden coffin was once plastered and painted with an image of the goddess Nut, the mother of the god of the dead, Osiris.

The decoration also includes the titles of the owner of the mask along with his name. He is the second priest of the goddess Mut and the priest of the goddess Niut-Shaes, a serpent form of the goddess Mut. The theophoric name of the owner of the mask includes the name of the goddess Neith, the patron goddess of 26th Dynasty. Pieces of the painted plaster carrying the rest of his name are still missing, and the mission is collecting more of them in order to read the full name of the deceased.

Mostafa Waziri, the secretary general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, told Ahram Online that this discovery is the first to be found since the last excavation work carried out by Maspero in 1900 where he found a several burials. 

Waziri describes the discovery as important and unique, adding that German-Egyptian mission is very lucky to find such workshop. He pointed out that the discovery is still at its beginning and more finds are expected.

The Tübingen University's mission to Saqqara has witnessed the implementation of state of the art technology in the documentation and recording of monuments, particularly in laser scanning and photogrammetry techniques.

The mission’s digital documentation activities include the creation of 3D photogrammatic models and laser scans of the burial chambers of Padinist, director of the storage department of the royal palace, Psamtek, chief physician and commander of the libyan mercenaries, and Amentayefnakht, commander of the recruits. The mission also conducted a conservation project of the polychrome reliefs and inscriptions in these burial chambers.

Wednesday, July 4, 2018

Back Home, Italy: Italy Returns to Egypt Collection of Egyptian Artifacts Seized in Naples

Waziri inspects the carttonage mask
A collection of 195 artifacts and 21,660 coins were returned to Egypt on Friday after being seized while being smuggled into Italy in May. Written By/ Nevine El-Aref.

The artifacts were returned in collaboration with the Carabinieri Command for the Protection of Cultural Heritage in Rome and the Italian Public Prosecutor at the Court of Salerno. Secretary-General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA) Mostafa Waziri told Ahram Online that the recovered objects are dated from Ancient Egypt to the Islamic period.

The artifacts include 151 ushabti statuettes carved in faience, 11 pots, five cartonnage gilded mummy masks, a wooden sarcophagus, two symbolic wooden boats of the dead, two canopic jar lids and three porcelain tiles from the Islamic era. Waziri also thanked Italian authorities, the Egyptian prosecutor-general, Egypt's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Egyptian Embassy in Rome for their efforts in ensuring that the artifacts are returned.

“The return of the artifacts was executed in an unprecedentedly short period after Italian authorities reported the incident to Egyptian counterparts,” Waziri said, explaining that the usual repatriation process in such cases can take three to five years.
Waziri said that when the incident was reported to Egypt's antiquities ministry, Minister Khaled El-Enany formed an archaeological committee to inspect photos of the artifacts and called for an urgent meeting of the National Committee for Antiquities Repatriation to discuss the matter and take all the necessary procedures to return the artifacts to Egypt.

The committee is led by El-Enany, and its members are comprised of renowned Egyptian archaeologist Zahi Hawass, former Arab League Secretary-General Nabil El-Arabi, as well as representatives from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the prosecutor-general, and legal and security authorities.

In mid-June, Waziri and Mohamed Ezzat, senior coordinator at the International Cooperation Administration of the prosecutor-general's office, travelled to Salerno to inspect the artifacts and confirm their authenticity.

“According to the Ministry of Antiquities' records, the objects were not stolen from any museum or store gallery in Egypt,” Waziri asserted, adding that the artifacts are now undergoing restoration and will be put on display in a temporary exhibition at the Egyptian Museum in Tahrir. Over the past two years, Egypt has succeeded in repatriating 975 stolen artifacts from 10 countries.

New Discovery, Sakkara: Osiris Statuette Discovered Between Blocks of Saqqara Step Pyramid

During restoration work being carried out on the eastern side of the King Djoser Step Pyramid in Saqqara, archaeologists discovered a statuette of Osiris. Written By/ Nevine El-Aref.

Head of the Saqqara archaeological site Sabri Farag said that the statuette was discovered in a small crevasse between the huge blocks of the pyramid’s eastern façade.

The statuette depicts Osiris, the god of resurrection and eternity, with the double crown, holding a feather in one hand and a sceptre in the other.

“The statue was probably concealed in this area by a priest of Saqqara in antiquity,” Farag said, adding that the artefact is undergoing restoration.

Saturday, June 30, 2018

New Discovery, Luxor: 26th Dynasty Canopic Jars Discovered at Luxor's South Asasif Necropolis

The jars, found in a Kushite tomb, once held viscera. Excavators at a tomb in Luxor have found four canopic jars from the 26th Dynasty, dedicated to “the lady of the house Amenirdis.”. Written By/ Nevine El-Aref.

The discovery was made by an Egyptian-American mission led by Elena Pischikova and Fathy Yassin during conservation work carried out by the South Assasif Conservation Project in the Kushite tomb of Karabasken, a priest. The tomb is located in the south Asasif Necropolis on Luxor’s west bank.

Mostafa Waziri, the secretary-general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, told Ahram Online that the jars were found in situ in an intrusive burial compartment cut into the south wall of the pillared hall of the tomb (TT391). They were found in a 50cm-deep space in the floor.

“Although the jars are in situ in a very good conservation condition, they had fallen over the time under the pressure of flood water and one of them was broken into several fragments,” Waziri said, adding that emergency cleaning and consolidation were carried out by the ministry’s conservators.

Pischikova said that the jars are hollow inside and probably held viscera. “Although the contents of the jars were damaged by floodwater they still contain a large amount of resin,” she told Ahram Online.

The sizes of the lidded jars vary from 35.5 to 39.4cm and each one bears inscriptions to “the lady of the house Amenirdis,” arranged in two vertical columns and one horizontal line.

The formula is indicative of the 26th dynasty. The lids are in the shapes of a man, a baboon, a jackal and a falcon, and were skilfully carved by at least three different artists.

The South Asasif Conservation Project is an Egyptian-American mission working under the auspices of the Ministry of Antiquities.

The project was founded in 2006 with the aim of restoring and reconstructing the damaged and partially collapsed Late Period tombs of the South Asasif necropolis, Karabasaken (TT 391), Karakhamun (TT 223) and Irtieru (TT 390).

 During its 12 years of work the project has found thousands of fragments of tomb decoration and reconstructed the Second Pillared hall and part of the First Pillared hall in the tomb of Karakhamun.

"The restored tombs will feature sophisticated relief carving and painting of the 25th and 26th dynasties," Pischikova said.

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