Short Story: Ancient Egyptians in Japan

The Japanese city of Shizuoka is celebrating Easter the ancient Egyptian way with a major exhibition of antiquities, reports Nevine El-Aref.

It seems that ancient Egyptian artifacts are hogging the attention of the Japanese city of Shizuoka this Easter, taking away attention from traditional bunnies and coloured eggs. 

Pictures of the Great Pyramids at Giza, the Pharaoh Khufu’s solar boat, a golden mask of Amenemopet, a limestone pyramidion of Ry and Maya, a black basalt statue of Khafre and jewellery embellished with precious stones have been decorating the walls of the city’s train station, shops, hotels and streets instead of the usual Easter decorations.

Last Saturday a gala ceremony was organised at the Shizuoka Prefectural Museum of Art to celebrate the opening of “The Golden Pharaohs and Pyramid Builders” exhibition on the seventh leg of its tour, with Japanese officials, Egyptologists and curators gathering to attend the inauguration.

The exhibition was originally opened in October 2015 in the Japanese capital Tokyo and was scheduled to tour seven other cities in Japan over a 25-month period, including Matsuyama, Sendai, Kagoshima, Kyoto, Toyama, Shizuoka and Fukuoka. 

“The exhibition at its sixth stop in Toyama attracted 80,000 visitors, and we are expecting around 110,000 people to visit the exhibition in Shizuoka,” Naomi Kudo, the exhibition coordinator, told Al-Ahram Weekly. She said that all the tickets for the first day had been sold.

“The exhibition not only sheds light on the Old Kingdom and the age of the Pyramid Builders, but also highlights the strong relationship between Egypt and Japan,” Mahmoud Afifi, head of the Ancient Egyptian Antiquities Department at the Ministry of Antiquities, told the Weekly. He added that the exhibition was a good opportunity to promote tourism and to encourage Japanese tourists to return to Egypt.

Afifi said that Egyptian-Japanese cooperation in the cultural field was being seen in many current projects. Among the most important was the Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM) overlooking the Giza Plateau, which will put on display 100,000 artefacts and welcome millions of visitors every year. 

“This is thanks to the Japanese government and the Japan International Cooperation Agency [JICA] for their continuous efforts and support in offering two soft loans to complete one of the most important cultural projects in the world,” Afifi said.

In addition, Japan has provided technical and scientific support through the provision of scientific equipment and materials to the GEM’s conservation centre. 

There are many joint Egyptian-Japanese missions at various archaeological sites in Egypt that have yielded important results. Waseda University, for example, has been excavating in Egypt since 1966, and it was among the first foreign institutions to introduce advanced technological tools to better understand Egypt’s archaeology.

One of the university’s recent projects is the exploration of Khufu’s second solar boat in its pit on the Giza Plateau. “The exhibition is the first of its kind in Japan,” Sakuhi Yoshimura, president of the Higashi Nippon International University and the exhibition’s supervisor, told the Weekly, adding that exhibitions featuring the Pyramids were currently rare internationally.

He explained that the aim of the exhibition was to use a variety of exhibits to decipher the truth behind the construction of the Pyramids in order to discard fantasies and present only established facts. “This is the first comprehensive exhibition dealing with the Pyramids to be held anywhere in the world, and the artifacts it presents are amazing for their quality,” Yoshimura said.

The exhibition has five sections. The first features the construction of the Pyramids and the techniques employed, displaying a pyramidion, a hammer that was used to work the square stone blocks, surveying tools and other items....  READ MORE.

Source: Al Ahram Weekly

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News, Luxor: Mummies, Thousand Statues Discovered in Ancient Egyptian Tomb

During excavations of a 3,500-year-old tomb near the city of Luxor, Egyptian archaeologists made what is being hailed as a major discovery. Written By/ Sarah Gibbens.

Entering a tomb near the famed Valley of the Kings for the first time, a team of Egyptian archaeologists has made what they are labeling an "important discovery."

Several mummies, 10 wooden sarcophagi, and more than 1,000 funerary statues were discovered inside a 3,500-year-old tomb. Erected during Egypt's 18th Dynasty, the tomb is thought to have belonged to an ancient Egyptian magistrate named Userhat, who belonged to Egypt's noble class.

The find was made by Egypt's Ministry of Antiquities during a dig and was the first time the tomb has been examined.

Speaking to the Luxor Times about the discovery, Minister of Antiquities Khaled El-Enany noted that the find was significant for the numbers of items found and the intact condition in which they were discovered.

"This tomb was known from the outside, but we have never been inside," he said during a press conference with reporters.

During the coming weeks, the team plans to continue excavation and hopes to find more artifacts.

The tomb is arranged in a "T" shape that opens with a courtyard, before narrowing into a long hall with a corridor that leads to an inner chamber. Nearly 16,000 cubic feet of debris had to be removed to expose the tomb's opening.

During the dig, a shaft extending from the main burial hall was found, revealing two small rooms. The first held a collection of ushabti figurines, and the second was home to sarcophagi and linen-wrapped mummies from what the research team believes to be the 21st Dynasty.

In an interview with reporters, El-Enany explained that the tomb might have been used as a possible cachette, or hideout, after its initial construction.

The tomb was located near the Draa Abul Nagaa necropolis on the Nile's west bank, which is situated near Ancient Egypt's famed Valley of the Kings. Located near the ancient capital of Luxor, the Valley of the Kings was the final resting place of some of Egypt's most famed rulers, including the young King Tutankhamen. Luxor, which sat to the east of the Nile, was the epicenter of life during Egypt's 18th Dynasty.

Egyptians from the ruling and upper classes were buried to the west of the Nile as a sign of reverence.

The Ministry of Antiquities in Egypt is optimistic that the find will increase tourism in the region. Following a wave of protests that removed former military and political leader Hosni Mubarak from power, tourism, a major economic driver in Egypt, has significantly declined.

Two adjacent tombs are currently being excavated in an effort to unearth their ancient artifacts.

Source: National Geographic

News, Luxor: 3,000-Year-Old Nobleman's Tomb Discovered by Egyptian Archeologists

Eight mummies, along with sarcophagi, figurines and other artifacts, were uncovered in the vault.

Egyptian archaeologists have unearthed the 3,000-year-old tomb of a nobleman - the latest in a series of major discoveries of ancient relics. 

Discovered near the Nile city of Luxor, it contains the remains of Userhat, who worked as a judge in the New Kingdom from roughly 1,500 to 1,000 B.C.

The vault consists of an open court leading into a rectangular hall, a corridor and inner chamber, according to the country's Ministry of Antiquities.

In one of the rooms in the tomb, archaeologists found a collection of figurines, wooden masks and a handle of a sarcophagus lid. Excavation is continuing in a second chamber.

Earlier this year, Swedish archaeologists discovered 12 ancient Egyptian cemeteries near the southern city of Aswan that date back almost 3,500 years. In March, an eight-metre statue that is believed to be King Psammetich 1, who ruled from 664 to 610 BC, was discovered in a Cairo slum.

Hisham El Demery, chief of Egypt's Tourism Development Authority, said tourism was picking up and discoveries like the one at Luxor would encourage the sector. "These discoveries are positive news from Egypt's tourism industry, which is something we all really need," he said.

Tourism in Egypt has suffered in the aftermath of the mass protests that toppled former president Hosni Mubarak in 2011. Militant bomb attacks have also deterred foreign visitors.

Source: Independent UK

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News, Luxor: History In The making, Luxor Temple Gets A Face Lift

For the first time in hundreds of years if not thousands, Luxor temple facade gets an addition. Ramses II statue which was broken into pieces.

An Egyptian team of restorers and conservators managed to assemble the statue and re-erect it where it used to be.

The video below shows the different stages of work.

Source: Luxor Times Magazine

New Discovery, Luxor: Big Discovery of A New Tomb in Luxor

Rumours has it that the minister of antiquities will announce this morning a discovery of a new tomb but the truth is; it is actually a previously known tomb that is now rediscovered.

Do you remember Spring 1995 when Dr. Kent Weeks was working on documenting the Theban tombs as a part of Theban Mapping Project.

Dr. Weeks was in KV5 which was known before as a small undecorated room but when Dr. Weeks noticed a small inscription, he decided to start working on clearing the debris and rediscovered the tomb as one of the largest tombs with more than 120 rooms and corridors cleaned so far.

Similar story here, the tomb which is supposed to be announced by the minister is tomb (-157-) in Dra Abu El-Naga.

Not TT157 though but (-157-) according to Friederike Kampp "Die Thabanische Nekropole" page number 708.

The tomb is located to the south of Tomb TT255 of Roy and it has a typical T-shape. A wide room then a corridor ends with a niche.

The Egyptian team of the ministry of antiquities has been working recently in the tomb which belong to a New Kingdom official called "Userhat" has discovered a large number of ushabtis, pottery and a number of wooden coffins as well as remains of a stelae and human remains.

More details and exclusive footage will be posted later.

Source: Luxor Times Magazine

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New Discovery, Luxor: Egyptian Archaeologists Unearth Tomb of 18th Dynasty Magistrate in West Luxor

An Egyptian archaeological mission in Luxor has announced the discovery of a major tomb in the city's west bank area dating back to the 18th Dynasty and containing priceless artifacts. Written By/ Ahram Online

The tomb of Judge Ou Sarhat of the 18th Dynasty in west Luxor

Mostafa Waziry, Director General of Luxor Antiquities, told reporters on Tuesday that the tomb, which was unearthed in the Zeraa Abu El-Nagaa necropolis, most likely belonged to the city's magistrate Ou Sarhat.

The New Kingdom funerary collection includes dozens of statues, coffins and mummies.

Minister of Antiquities Khaled El-Enany told Ahram Online that, despite the tomb's small size, it represents an important discovery due to the funery collection being largely in tact.

Waziry, who heads the Luxor archaeological mission, told Ahram Online that the tomb was first mentioned in the early 20th century but it had never been excavated before because its entrance was only located in March.

He said that, despite having been reused in the Late Period, the tomb still contains most of its original funery collection.

The contents include well-preserved wooden coffins decorated with coloured scenes, as well as wooden funerary masks and almost 1,000 ushabti figurines carved in faience, terra-cotta and wood. Also found was a collection of clay pots of different shapes and sizes.

The tomb is a typical example of a nobleman's resting place, Waziry said, with a t-shaped structure consisting of an open court leading into a rectangular hall, a corridor and an inner chamber.

Excavations continue to reveal the tomb's secrets, with an inner chamber containing a cachette of sarcophagi from the 21st Dynasty with mummies wrapped in linen. Experts are examining the mummies to discover the identities of the dead and the reasons for their deaths.

A nine-metre-deep shaft was also uncovered, connected to two rooms.

Source: Ahram Online

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New Discovery, Alexandria: Graeco-Roman Artifacts Discovered at Future Alexandria Residential Site

Clay pot discovered in Alexandria

Excavators from Egypt’s Ministry of Antiquities have discovered a collection of Graeco-Roman artifacts during excavation work carried out in Alexandria’s Babour El-Maya area. Written By/ Nevine El-Aref.

Mahmoud Afifi, head of the Ancient Egyptian Department at the Ministry of Antiquities, told Ahram Online that the excavation work, undertaken upon the request of an Alexandria resident, was carried out on a piece of land called Villa Agion in preparation for the erection of a residential building.

Afifi says that according to Egyptian law, the Ministry of Antiquities must inspect any piece of land slated for development to ensure it holds no archaeological items.

Clay jar & Clay oil lamp & Clay red pot discovered in Alexandria

If the land is found to have artifacts that can be removed, the land is returned to its owner. However, if the land holds monuments that cannot be moved, the land is seized and declared an archaeological site, with the landowner receiving compensation.

Mostafa Roshdi, director-general of Alexandria Antiquities, said that excavators unearthed a collection of clay pots, coins, ovens, bones, and clay lamps dating from the Hellenistic and Byzantine eras.

Graeco-Roman pavement, black granite floors, and plaster-covered limestone walls were also discovered. Roshdi said excavation work at the site is still ongoing.

Source: Ahram Online

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