Excerpt from one of the movies displayed in Aton-Num exhibition.
Akhenaton and Nefertiti: Digital story of a revolution.
Sunday, October 22, 2017
Saturday, October 21, 2017
News, Cairo: Attempt to Smuggle 19th Century Antiques to Lebanon Foiled By Egyptian Authorities
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The Collection Subjected to Smuggling
|
Ahmed
Al-Rawi, head of the Seized Antiquities Unit at the Ministry of Antiquities,
explained that the items were seized at Badr City's dry land port, confiscated,
and sent to the ministry because they fall under the legal category of Egyptian
antiquities, which are protected by the Antiquities Law 117 of 1983 and its
later amendment in law 3, 2010.
Ahmed
Fatouh, Director of the Antiquities Units in Dry Land Ports, said that the
collection includes a vase decorated with flora and fauna as well as a
rose-colored tea set of five cups, complete with plates and a sugar container,
which depict a European woman surrounded by plants.
Director
of the Badr Antiquities Unit, Mamdouh Abu Amar, said that also among the
confiscated lot were two metal jardinière bearing the monogram of Egypt's King
Farouk. Illegally
transported antiquities and heritage items are a common find at Egyptian ports.
El-Rawi
told Ahram Online that authorities at Cairo International Airport recently
seized original scripts for a well-known Egyptian radio program,
"Tasali," which aired in the 1970s and 1980s and was presented by
famous Egyptian anchor Inas Gohar.
Wednesday, October 18, 2017
New Discovery, Sakkara: Head of Queen Ankhnespepy II Statue Discovered in Giza's Saqqara
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The Discovered Head of The Queen
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A
French-Swiss archaeological team have unearthed the head of a wooden statute of
Queen Ankhnespepy II (6th Dynasty, Old Kingdom, around 2350 BC), near her
pyramid in the Saqqara area in Giza.
Mostafa
Waziri, secretary-general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, told Ahram
Online that the head is of almost-human proportions, and is around 30cm high.
The ears are decorated with wooden earrings.
Professor
Philippe Collombert, the head of the Geneva University mission, said that the
head was found in a disturbed layer to the east of the queen's pyramid near the
area where the pyramidion was uncovered early this week.
Over
the last two weeks, he said, the mission has uncovered the upper part of a
granite obelisk that may belong to the queen's funerary temple, as well as the
pyramidion of what may be an undiscovered satellite pyramid.
Collombert
said that the head is not in good condition and will be subjected to
restoration and documentation.
"It
is a promising area that could reveal more of its secrets soon," Waziri
told Ahram Online, adding that the mission is to continue its excavations in an
attempt to discover the satellite pyramid and the rest of her funerary complex
and collection.
Monday, October 16, 2017
New Discovery, Abu Sir: Parts of A Ramses II Temple Uncovered in Giza's Abusir
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Cartouche of Ramesse II. Courtesy of the Czech Institute of Egyptology
|
Parts
of a temple to King Ramses II (1213-1279 BC), along with reliefs of solar
deities, have been uncovered by an Egyptian-Czech mission during excavation
work in Abusir necropolis in the the governorate ofGiza
Mohamed
Megahed, deputy to the mission director, told Ahram Online that the temple is
located in an area that forms a natural transition between a terrace of the
Nile and the floodplain in Abusir. He
added that the temple is 32 by 52 metres and behind it was a large forecourt
along with two identical and considerably long storage buildings to the right
and left side of the complex.
Studies
carried out so far, Megahed explained, show that it can be assumed that stone
columns lined the side walls of the court, which was enclosed by mud brick
walls that were in at least some places painted blue. The
rear end of the court, a ramp or staircase leads to an elevated stone sanctuary
whose back part was divided into three parallel chambers.
“The
remains of this building, which constitutes the very core of the complex, were
covered with huge deposits of sand and chips of stone of which many bore
fragments of polychrome reliefs,” Professor Mirsolave Barta, director of the
Czech mission, told Ahram Online. He
pointed out that the fragments not only show the decorative scheme of the
sanctuary, but also function to help date the entire complex.
A
relief on which is engraved the different titles of King Ramses II was also
found, as well as another connected to the cult of solar deities such as Re,
Amun and Nekhbet.
“The
discovery of the Ramses II temple provides unique evidence on building and
religious activities of the king in Memphis area and at the same time shows the
permanent status of the cult of sun god Re who was venerated in Abusir since
the 5th Dynasty and onwards to the New Kingdom,” Barta asserted.
Sunday, October 15, 2017
News: Roma to Promote Tourism to Egypt
CAIRO
– An agreement has been signed between the Italian club AS
Roma and an Egyptian tourism office in Italy for launching a promotional
campaign for tourism in Egypt.
This
campaign will be the sponsor of the match between Napoli and Roma played on
Saturday, using the match as an excellent platform to internationally promote
tourism to Egypt.
The
Italian player of Egyptian origins, Stephan Sha'arawy, will be the featured
model of this campaign, as he will hand out the awards to the winners, giving
them the chance to travel to Sharm El-Sheikh, Luxor, Aswan, Marsa Alam and
Marsa Matrouh.
The
Italian promotional campaign is hanging banners all around the Italian stadium
about the best Egyptian cities, presenting a promotional video about Egypt on
the main four mega-screens in the stadium.
For
more publicity, promotional campaigns will be broadcasted on Italian television
channels, such as Sky Clacio, a channel that has more than 5 million
subscribers, and also on the official Italian club’s television Roma TV.
Friday, October 13, 2017
New Discovery, Sakkara: Old Kingdom Pyramid Peak Discovered in Sakkara
A
granite pyramid peak, probably belonging to Queen Ankhnespepy II, was unearthed
in Sakkara. Written By/ Nevine El-Aref.
 |
The Uncovered Pyramidion
|
A
Swiss-French archaeological mission directed by Professor Philippe Collombert
from the University of Geneva has unearthed a large granite pyramidion, or
pyramid peak, probably belonging Queen Ankhnespepy II, in the Sakkara
necropolis.
This
is the second discovery in a week by the Swiss-French mission, according to the
secretary-general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, Mostafa Waziri.
The
team previously unearthed the largest obelisk fragment ever discovered from the
Old Kingdom, measuring 2.5 meters tall. This
week's discovery measures 1.3 metres high and 1.1 metres wide on its sides. Its
upper part is partly destroyed, but shows that it had been covered by metal
foil, either gold or copper.
“The
surface of the pyramidion’s lower part is not clean, as if it had been reused,
or better, as if it had been left unfinished,” Collombert pointed out, adding
that the area under the pyramidion is clearly smooth, and also shows the usual
carved recesses that permit its fixation of top of the pyramid.
“We
think that it is the pyramidion of the satellite pyramid of Queen Ankhnespepy
II, as it was found near the place where we should expect the satellite pyramid
to have been located,” Collombert told Ahram Online. He
asserted that this fragment comrpised the only part of this secondary pyramid
yet to be found. The queen's main burial pyramid was discovered in Saqqara in
1998.
The
Head of the Ancient Egyptian Sector at Egypt's Ministry of Antiquities, Ayman
Ashmawy, said that the mission is progressing well this archaeological season,
and that the new discovery suggests the team will soon locate the queen's
complete funerary complex. Queen
Ankhnespepy II (ca. 2288-2224 BC) was a 6th Dynasty consort of King Pepy I and
the mother of King Pepy II.
Wednesday, October 11, 2017
News, Luxor: Free Visit to Tutankhamun's Tomb, 17 October
To
celebrate 200 years since the discovery of the King Seti I tomb, a free visit
to King Tutankhamun's tomb will be available to Seti tomb visitors 17 October.
Written By/ Nevine El-Aref.
The
Ministry of Antiquities is offering visitors to King Seti I tomb in the Valley
of the Kings on Luxor's west bank a free visit to the neighbouring King
Tutankhamun's tomb.
Mostafa
Waziri, secretary-general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, told Ahram
Online that the free visit would be only for one day, Wednesday, 17 October,
for King Seti I visitors. He explains that the free visit to the Tutankhamun
tomb comes within the framework of the ministry's celebration of the 200the
anniversary of the discovery of the King Seti I tomb.
King
Seti I ruled during the 19th Dynasty and his tomb is among the deepest and
longest of all tombs in the Valley of the Kings. It is 100 metres long and was
uncovered by Italian archaeologist Giovanni Belzoni in October 1817.
The
tomb later became known as the "Apis tomb" because a mummified bull
was unearthed in a side room off the burial chamber.
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