New Discovery, Luxor: Archaeologists Unearth Statue of Queen Tiye in Egypt's Luxor

The discovery of the statue was made by the European-Egyptian mission, working under the umbrella of the German Archaeological Institute. Written By/ Nevine El-Aref.

A unique statue, possibly of Queen Tiye, the wife of King Amenhotep III and grandmother of King Tutankhamun, has been unearthed at her husband's funerary temple in Kom El-Hittan on Luxor's west bank. 

The exciting find was made by the European-Egyptian mission, working under the umbrella of the German Archaeological Institute.

Minister of Antiquities Khaled El-Enany who visited the site to inspect the discovery, described the staute as "unique and distinghuised". 

He told Ahram Online that no alabaster statues of Queen Tiye have been found before now. 

"All previous statues of her unearthed in the temple were carved of quartzite," he said.

Hourig Sourouzian, head of the mission said that the statue is very well preserved and has kept is colours well. 

She said the statue was founded accidentally while archaeologists were lifting up the lower part of a statue of king Amenhotep III that was buried in the sand.

"The Queen Tiye statue appeared beside the left leg of the King Amenhotep III statue," Sourouzian said. She added that the statue will be the subject of restoration work.

Source: Ahram Online

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New Discovery, Aswan: Spanish Archaeologists Discover An Intact 4000 Years Old Tomb in Aswan

Dr. Mahmoud Afifi, Head of Ancient Egyptian Department announced the discovery of an intact burial in Aswan.

The Spanish Archaeological Mission in Qubbet el-Hawa, West Aswan, has discovered an intact burial chamber. The discovered burial belongs to the brother of one of the most important governors of the 12th Dynasty (middle Kingdom), Sarenput II.

Dr. Afifi said “The discovery is “important” because not only for the richness of the burial but it sheds light on those individuals who were shadowed by others in power. In fact, there is no much information about them.”

Nasr Salama, Director of Aswan Antiquities said that the present finding is unique because it has been located with all the funerary goods, which consist of pottery, two cedar coffins (outer and inner) and a set of wooden models, which represents funerary boats and scenes of the daily life.

Dr. Alejandro Jiménez-Serrano, Director of the Spanish mission of the University of Jaen, said that a mummy was also discovered but still under study. It is covered with a polychrome cartonnage with a beautiful mask and collars in good condition of preservation.

The inscriptions of the coffins bear the name of the defunct, Shemai followed respectively by his mother and father, Satethotep and Khema. The latter was governor of Elephantine under the reign of Amenemhat II.

Dr. Alejandro Jiménez-Serrano explained that Sarenput II, the eldest brother of Shemai, was one of the most powerful governors of Egypt under the reigns of Senwosret II and Senwosret III. Apart from his duties as governor of Elephantine, he was general of the Egyptian troops and was responsible of the cult of different gods.

The director of the mission added “This discovery, the University of Jaen Mission in Qubbet el-Hawa adds more data to previous discoveries of fourteen members of the ruling family of Elephantine during the 12th Dynasty. Such high number of individuals provides a unique opportunity to study the life conditions of the high class in Egypt more than 3800 years ago.

Source: Luxor Times Magazine

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News: Newport News Museum Receives Ancient Egyptian Artifact

NEWPORT NEWS, Va. – The Mariners’ Museum and Park has received the oldest artifact in the museum’s collection!

Ancient Egyptian Artifact – Oarsman

The ancient Egyptian artifact dates to the Middle Kingdom period (2040-1802 BC) and is a hand-carved, wooden figure depicting a boatman, a museum spokesperson said.

The 6½-inch tall figure displays classic Egyptian features with large, dark-outlined eyes, a cropped black haircut, and a white knee-length covering called a shendyt. 

The boatman is depicted sitting, knees pulled into his body, with long, articulated arms capable of holding an oar.

As one of the oldest maritime cultures in the world, Egypt’s development was primarily centered on the Nile River. The first boats were built around 6,000 BC, and the Egyptians were the first culture in recorded history to employ sails as a method of propulsion.

The Egyptians also built larger wooden vessels for extended riverine travel as well as sturdy craft used for long-distance sea voyages.

By the First Dynasty (3399-2900 BC), Egyptian boats got a greater cultural significance, which led to the development of a third river craft called papyriform used for religious pilgrimages and as funerary barges, a museum spokesperson said.

“The acquisition of this delicate, ancient figure helps further the Museum’s mission of preserving the world’s maritime history,” says Jeanne Willoz-Egnor, the Museum’s Director of Collections Management and Curator of Scientific Instruments. “It enables Museum curators and educators to discuss one of the oldest and most important maritime cultures in the world using an original object.”

The object is currently going through the accessioning process. Currently, there are not any specific plans to display the object, but Museum staff hope to use it for several purposes including educational outreach and general research.

Source: wtkr.com

Short Story: Unveiling A Pharaoh’s Torso

The discovery of the torso of an ancient Egyptian colossus stirs a debate on the real identity and the manner in which it was retrieved. Written By/ Nevine El Aref.

International attention this week turned to Matariya, a slum area of Ain Shams. The reason:  the removal of a seven-tonne quartzite torso, part of a colossal statue which was pulled out of a muddy pit. Hundreds of local and foreign journalists, TV reporters, government officials and foreign ambassadors to Egypt gathered in the gardens of the Egyptian Museum in Cairo on Friday to admire the newly discovered Matariya colossus.

During the event, Minister of Antiquities Khaled El-Enany announced that the colossus probably represented the 26thDynasty pharaoh Psammetick I and not Ramses II as had previously been thought. “There is a strong possibility that the colossus is of Psammetick I,” El-Enany told reporters, adding that there was a small possibility that the statue had originally been made for Ramses II but reused by Psammetick.

“Further studies of the hieroglyphics on the back of the torso will reveal more,” El-Enany told Al-Ahram Weekly, adding that “if the statue was originally carved for Psammetick I it would be very important as it would show how ancient Egyptian artisans had succeeded in revitalising sculpture in the Late Period.” “It would also be the largest colossus of the Late Period ever found in Egypt,” he said. The colossus is carved in quartzite and originally measured about nine metres tall. The two fragments of the colossus are now at the Egyptian Museum in Tahrir Square for restoration and temporary exhibition until they are transported to the Grand Egyptian Museum where they will be placed on show.

 Last week morning Souq Al-Khamis Al-Gadid, which neighbours the Matariya obelisk site, was a hive of activity as Egyptian and German archaeologists prepared to raise the newly discovered torso out of the pit where it has rested for thousands of years, many of them spent submerged in ground water. The torso was fastened with padded ropes attached to a hook lift crane. Beside the pit Upper Egyptian workers from Qift prepared a mat of sand for the torso.

Minister of Antiquities Khaled El-Enany was present, alongside members of parliament, ministry officials and Moushira Khattab, Egypt’s candidate for the post of UNESCO director-general. Hundreds of Egyptian and foreign journalists, photographers and TV cameras were positioned behind the pit. Residents of Souq Al-Khamis were hanging out of their windows, the better to catch a glimpse of the scene. Finally the gigantic ancient Egyptian royal torso emerged.

Local residents clapped and whistled as restorers dressed in white gowns, gloves and helmets approached the 3,000-year-old statue. “It is in a very good condition,” said Eissa Zidan, head of the Restoration Department at the Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM). There were no scratches or other damage and the statue, he added, was skillfully carved. The lifting of the part of the colossus’ head, however, provoked controversy, leading the Administrative Control Authority (ACA) to begin an investigation into the manner in which the fragment of the colossus had been raised.

The controversy was fuelled by some Egyptologists and concerned citizens taking to social media after they were shocked by images of the statue being lifted with a backhoe. Rumours soon spread that use of the heavy mechanical digger had broken the statue.

Criticism of the ministry grew as photographs were published showing part of the colossus’ head wrapped in a blanket emblazoned with the cartoon character Spiderman, and of children playing unsupervised next to the statue and taking selfies with it. “The Ministry of Antiquities raised the sections of the statue with great success,” El-Enany told Al-Ahram Weekly.

“The first part of the statue was not broken during removal. It was found in pieces,” said El-Enany. Unfortunately, the same applies to many Matariya monuments. The ancient city of Heliopolis, which is buried beneath the site, was destroyed in antiquity and subsequently used as a quarry, furnishing building materials for monuments in Alexandria and in Cairo. El-Enany was unhappy, however, with photographs “showing children playing beside the first part of the statue which was left on site without any supervision”. This was the reason, he told the Weekly, that he had ordered an administrative investigation.

“We accept any positive criticism,” El-Enany added before calling on Egyptians to work hard to present a positive image of the country in order to promote tourism.  “Unearthing the torso was not an easy task, the team was working in a very difficult condition,” Zidan told the Weekly. The colossus was embedded on its side in the muddy pit and within 30 minutes of the surrounding ground water being pumped out it had returned to depths of three metres. “We tried to lift the torso dozens of times before we succeeded,” he said... READ MORE.

Source: Al-Ahram Weekly

Recovered Artifacts, France: New Kingdom Mummy Mask Recovered From France

The Recovered Mummy Mask. 

Photo courtesy of the Ministry of Antiquities 

The mask was among items stolen and illegally smuggled out of the country in 2013. Written By/ Nevine El-Aref.

After four years out of Egypt, a stolen and illegally smuggled mummy mask has been returned from France.

Shabaan Abdel Gawad, the general supervisor of the Antiquities Repatriation Sector of the Ministry of Antiquities, told Ahram Online that the mask dates to the New Kingdsom and is carved in wood and depicts human facial features. It was stolen in 2013 along with other artefacts from the Elephantine Antiquities Galleries in Aswan, when it was subject to looting.

The mask was discovered in an auction hall in Paris in December 2016 and Egypt succeeded in recovering it after proving legal possession.

Abdel Gawad continued that the mask was sent to the Egyptian Embassy in Paris and arrived to Cairo two days ago.

He asserted that previously the antiquities ministry was able to recover two items stolen from the Elephantine Galleries and found in Britain and Germany in March 2015.

These objects, Abdel Gawad said, are an ivory statue and a wooden ushabti figurine.

Source: Ahram Online

All Previous Recovered Artifacts Posts Here 

Recent News, Cairo: Newly Discovered Matariya Colossus Is Probably of King Psammetich - Ministry

The newly discovered Matariya colossus most likely belongs to the 26 dynasty king Psammetich I, not King Ramses II as initially believed, says antiquities minister. Written By/ Nevine El-Aref.

Minister of Antiquities Khaled El-Enany said on Thursday that the royal colossus discovered last week in Matariya district, Cairo is probably a statue of 26 dynasty king Psammetich I not King Ramses II as believed earlier. Hieroglyphic signs and initial studies carried out on fragments of the colossus suggest that it belongs to king Psammetich I(664-610 BC)-26 Dynasty, El-Enany said.

The minister explains that the torso’s back-pillar has preserved one of the five names of king Psammetich I. "If it belongs to this king, then it is the largest statue of the Late Period that was ever discovered in Egypt," he said. This date explains the puzzling features of different ancient stylistic details since the Late Period, which is known for its archaizing art.

Dietrich Raue, the head of the German archaeological mission which participated in the discovery mission, pointed out that the colossal statue is carved in quartzite which was hailed from from Al-Gebel Al-Ahmar in what is now modern eastern Cairo. The statue originally measured about 9 meters in height. The two fragments of the statue were discovered under the water table, which made their location and extraction extremely difficult, Raue explains. The fragments were found adjacent to a heavily congested housing area, two to three meters beneath water levels.

Mahmoud Afifi, the head of the Ancient Egyptian Sector at the ministry, explains that both fragments were moved and successfully saved by a team of the ministry's restorers and archaeologists from Matariya Antiquities Inspectorate and skilled workmen from Qift.

Both parts and a collection of recently discovered artifacts in Matariya were transported today - with the help of the Transportation Department of Egypt’s Armed Forces - to the Egyptian Museum in Tahrir for restoration and temporary exhibition. It will be later tranferred to its permanent home at the Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM), which scheduled for a soft opening in mid-2018.

Aymen Ashmawi, the head of the Egyptian mission, said the artifact that is on show with the fragments of the royal colossus includes a relief of King Ramses II. It features King Ramses II with an extended right arm, performing the ritual of anointing the representation of the cult-statue of a goddess. The goddess can be identified by other blocks from this area as Mut.

This relief was found in the remains of a second temple of King Ramses II. The temple of Matariya is well known as one of the most important sites of pharaonic religion, since it was considered to be the place of the world`s creation by the sun-god. For about 2400 years, most kings erected their monuments in the temple.

Because of the vicinity's proximity to modern Cairo, the site was heavily destroyed in antiquity, from the Late Roman times onwards to the Mameluk era in medieval times.The blocks of the temple were used to build various monuments in Old Cairo such as Bab el-Nasr and others. More monuments could be found in Matariya.

Source: Ahram Online

Short Story: Princess Tomb

The recent discovery of the tomb of an ancient Egyptian princess from the Fifth Dynasty has opened a new chapter in the saga of the Abusir necropolis, says Nevine El-Aref.

An archaeological mission from the Czech Institute of Egyptology at the Charles University in Prague, who is carrying out routine excavations on the north side of the Abusir necropolis, 30km south of the Giza Plateau, has been taken by surprise with the discovery of an important rock-hewn tomb.

The tomb belonged to a Fifth-Dynasty princess named Sheretnebty, and alongside it were four tombs belonging to high–ranking officials. An era enclosed within a courtyard. The tombs had been robbed in antiquity and no mummies were found inside them.

According to the Czech mission’s archaeological report, a copy of which has been given to Al-Ahram Weekly, traces of the courtyard were first detected in 2010 while archaeologists were investigating a neighbouring mastaba (bench tomb). However, active exploration of the royal tomb was not undertaken until this year, when it was discovered that the ancient Egyptian builders used a natural depression in the bedrock to dig a four-metre-deep tomb almost hidden amidst the mastaba tombs constructed around it on higher ground. Four rock-hewn tombs were also unearthed within the courtyard surrounding the royal tomb.

The north and west walls of the princess’s tomb were cased with limestone blocks, while its south wall was cut in the bedrock. The east wall was also carved in limestone, along with the staircase and slabs descending from north to south. The courtyard of the tomb has four limestone pillars which originally supported architraves and roofing blocks. On the tomb’s south side are four pillars engraved with hieroglyphic inscriptions stating: “The king’s daughter of his body, his beloved, revered in front of the great god, Sheretnebty.”

Miroslav Barta, head of the Czech mission, says early investigations have revealed that the owner of the tomb was previously unknown, but that it most probably belonged to the family of a Fifth-Dynasty king. The preliminary date of the structure, based on the stratigraphy of the site and analysis of the name, Barta says, falls in the second half of the Fifth Dynasty. It is surprising that the tomb should not be located in Abusir south, among the tombs of non-royal officials, considering that most members of the Fifth-Dynasty royal family are buried 2km north of Abusir pyramid.

While digging inside Sheretnebty’s tomb, the Czech archaeologists found a corridor that contains the entrances to four rock-hewn tombs of top officials of the Fifth Dynasty. Barta says two tombs have been completely explored so far. The first belonged to the chief of justice of the great house, Shepespuptah, and the second to Duaptah, the inspector of the palace attendants. Both tombs probably date from the reign of King Djedkare Isesi.... READ MORE.

Source: Al-Ahram Weekly