Wednesday, September 12, 2018

New Discovery, Giza: More Than 800 Egyptian Tombs Revealed in Ancient Burial Ground


Described for the first time, the 4,000-year-old "rabbit's warren" represents one of the largest groupings of Middle Kingdom burials.

For thousands of years, a necropolis has been lurking under the desert near the village of Lisht in Egypt, just south of Al Ayyat. Located at the edge of the Sahara, the ancient cemetery is no secret; today, a pair of pyramids rises above the landscape in the north and south of the burial grounds.

But many of the site's ancient tombs have long been concealed under feet of sand—until now.

In just a single field season, a joint expedition between the University of Alabama-Birmingham and the Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities mapped out a whopping 802 tombs at Lisht. These newly described tombs date back roughly 4,000 years and were previously unknown to Egyptologists, according to an announcement from Khaled El-Enany, Minister of Antiquities, and Mostafa Waziry, Secretary General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities.

“What we have at the site is one of the largest corpuses of Middle Kingdom tombs in the entire country of Egypt,” says archaeologist Sarah Parcak, a National Geographic Explorer and professor at the University of Alabama at Birmingham who co-led the expedition with Adel Okasha, Director of the Pyramids Region.

While the tombs were largely looted before the expedition started work, they still offer many insights into the lives of the people who once bustled in the ancient city nearby, believed to have been the Middle Kingdom capital of Itj-Tawy.

Middle Kingdom Riches
Spanning from roughly 2030 to 1650 B.C., the Middle Kingdom is a period marked by flourishing art and culture. “You see this blossoming during the Middle Kingdom,” Parcak says.

Much of what we know so far about Lisht during this period comes from extensive excavations conducted since the early 1900s by researchers with the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Per museum policy, Met curator Adela Oppenheim declined to comment directly about the new research. But she notes that artifacts from this period seem to reflect a greater awareness of the human condition, which is part of what makes the Middle Kingdom so fascinating.

Met teams have primarily focused their efforts on documenting and mapping the two pyramids—built for the kings Amenemhat I and Senusret I—as well as the surrounding royal tombs. But there's still much more to learn from the rest of the site's resting places.

“From this area, there really aren't very many tombs that are known, except for the royal tombs there,” says Kathryn Bard, an archaeologist at Boston University who was not involved in the work. “That's why this cemetery is important.”

Underground Network
The latest work began in 2014 when Parcak and her colleagues noticed evidence of looting pits in high-resolution satellite images. From 2009 to 2013, the dark pockmarks multiplied in the images. But from the sky, Parcak notes, the team couldn't be sure where the holes led.
Since then, work on the ground that was partially funded by National Geographic revealed that most of these pits led to tombs. At each site, the team carefully documented features of the tombs, collecting images and GPS coordinates to assemble a database for the region.

Many shaft tombs had places for up to eight burials, which means the interlocking mortuary system likely housed at least 4,000 individuals in the afterlife.

“They used all the space they could get their hands on,” says Parcak, who compares the dense system of graves to the winding tunnels of a rabbit warren. “Many would have been reused by families or grandchildren, or great-grand children, or third cousins three times removed.”
Fragments of Information
 By the time the researchers arrived on the scene, looters had emptied most of the tombs. Parcak's work previously suggested that looting intensified in Egypt during the economic instability that followed the 2009 recession and the 2011 revolution. Lisht seemed to be no exception.

But Bard and other Egyptologists believe that there's still information to glean.

“I think it was a good first step,” Mark Lehner, director of Ancient Egypt Research Associates, says of the mapping and documentation efforts. Pottery shards, fragments of wall murals, human remains, and even the tomb structures themselves can help researchers learn more about the health, economic status, and mortuary practices of the people who once lived in the capital.

“This is really, to me, where the value is of this work,” says Parcak. She adds that these latest finds are limited to the southern part of the site, and the team hopes to continue work in the northern regions next season.

“Like all these other sites in Egypt,” she says, “there’s a lot left to map and discover.

Sunday, September 9, 2018

News, Sakkara: Egypt Inaugurates Tomb of Sixth Dynasty Vizier Mehu's in Saqqara Necropolis 8 Decades After Its Discovery


Minister of Antiquities El-Enany, Minister of Immigration Nabila Makram, Egyptologist Zahi Hawwas, and a number of foreign ambassadors to Cairo, toured the tomb and funery complexes in Saqqara. Written By/ Nevine El-Aref.

Minister of Antiquities Khaled El-Enany inaugurated on Saturday the tomb of the sixth Dynasty Vizier Mehu in Saqqara Necropolis, Giza, almost 80 years after its discovery in 1939 by an Egyptian mission led by Egyptologist Zaki Saad.

“The tomb is one of the most beautiful in the Saqqara Necropolis because it still keeps its vivid colours and distinguished scenes,” said El-Enany, adding that among the most peculiar scenes in the tomb is one depicting the marriage of crocodiles in the presence of a turtle.

Among the most important scenes shown on the walls are those featuring the owner of the tomb while hunting in the jungle or fishing, as well as those showing scenes of good harvests, cooking and acrobatic dancing – all of which has not been previously found in other discoveries in Saqqara before the sixth Dynasty.

Minister of Immigration and Egyptian Expatriate's Affairs Nabila Makram and renowned Egyptologist and former Minister of Antiquities Zahi Hawass, along with 12 ambassdors to Cairo, including the European Union, Brazilian, French and Belgian, attended the opening.

Hawwas said that he is very happy to witness such an opening as he studied the lintel and witnessed the tomb’s restoration.

Mostafa Waziri, the secretary general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, explains that the ministry is undertaking restoration work on the different scenes of the tomb by consolidating paintings, strengthening colours and developing the lighting system inside. Sabri Farag, the director-general of the Saqqara archaeological site, pointed out that the tomb does not only belong to Mehu himself but members of his family as well.

Mehu lived during the reign of King Pepsi I and he held 48 names and titles inscribed on the wall of his burial chambers, as well as his sarcophagus. Among these titles are the scribe of the royal documents, the vizier and head of the juries.

The tomb is six meters to the south of the southern wall of Djoser’s pyramid complex, and consists of burial chambers for his son Mery Re Ankh and grand-son Hetep Ka II. It has a long narrow corridor with six chambers. Inside Mehu’s burial chamber, a sarcophagus with a lid was uncovered.

Mery Re Ankh had 23 titles carved and inscribed on the walls of his burial chamber. He was the overseer of Buttu region. Meanwhile, Muni’ s grand son lived during the reign of king Pepsi II and painted his false door inside the pillars hall of Mehu. He held 10 titles among them, the holder of the Director of the palace.

King Djoser’s southern tomb renovations
After the Mehu’s tomb opening, El-Enany along with a group of foreign ambassadors to Egypt, including the Brazilian, Belgium and French envoys, embarked on an tour to inspect the latest work carried out at the southern tomb of King Djoser’s in Saqqara. The tomb is expected to open after the completion of the king’s funerary pyramid complex.

The minister pointed out that the southern tomb is one of the most important structures of the king Djoser’s funerary complex. It was discovered in 1928 and it is located in the south- western side of the funerary complex.

Waziri explains that the conservation works carried out inside the tomb included the consolidations of the faience tiles that once decorated the inner arches of the tombs well as the floors, walls and ceiling.

Farag explained that the tomb has an entrance from the southern side leading to a sloping staircase towards a 28 meter deep shaft where a small granite burial chamber is found beneath. The chamber is 1.6 metres long with corridors whose walls are decorated with scenes depicting king Djoser’s in the Hebset ritual.

The king was featured twice: one time while wearing the white crown, and the second with the red crown symbolizing that he is the king of the north and south. He pointed out that the function of this tomb has perplexed Egyptologists as some suggested that it is a symbolic tomb for King Djoser as the King of Upper Egypt, while others see that it is a place to preserve the king’s Canopic jars. A third group believe that it could be the beginning of the construction of side pyramids of other predecessor Kings.

Restorations at Tie's Tomb
El-Anany also visited Tie’s tomb in Saqqara, which is now under restoration. The minister said that conservation work carried out at Tie’s tomb would be completed within days and is scheduled to be open soon. Tie was the supervisor of the Fifth Dynasty royals’ pyramids. Though he was not a vizier, he was still able to construct a large tomb in Saqqara Necropolis.

The tomb was discovered by French archaeologist August Mariette in 1865. It is also considered as one of the most beautiful tombs in Saqqara. It is well-known for its coloured inscriptions and reliefs depicting scenes of baking bread and brewing beer.

Waziri pointed out that since its discovery the tomb, no restoration work has been carried out there until recently when an Egyptian-Czech mission in collaboration with Saqqara conservators team started the cleaning and conservation work for its walls. This process meant to remove dust and strength the colours of scenes depicted. Conservation work carried out at Tie’s tomb at the Saqqara Necropolis is scheduled to be open soon. Tie was the supervisor of the 5th Dynasty royals’ pyramids, and although he was not a vizier he was able to construct himself a large tomb in the Saqqara Necropolis.

Tuesday, September 4, 2018

New Discovery, Nile Delta: One of The Earliest Settlements of the Nile Delta Uncovered in Daqahliya Governorate


An Egyptian-French mission at the Tell el-Samara site in the Delta governorate of Daqahliya has recently uncovered one of the oldest villages ever discovered in the Nile Delta. Written By/ Nevine El-Aref.

The joint mission excavated the remains of a Neolithic settlement, whose occupation lasted until the 2nd dynasty (ca. 4200-2900 BC), at the bottom level of the El-Samara site.  “Discoveries from the Neolithic period are virtually unknown in this area, so this finding is of the upmost importance,” said Frederic Geyau, the head of the mission.

The only other settlement discovered so far from the Neolithic period is the town of Sais, which was excavated by the Egyptian Exploration Society. The significant amount of data collected at Tell el-Samara since 2015 provide a unique opportunity to gain a better knowledge of the prehistoric societies living in Lower Egypt a thousand years before the 1st dynasty. From the pottery and artefacts found at the site, researchers believe that communities settled in the wetlands of the Nile Delta as early as the end of the 5th millennium BC.

Ayman Ashmawi, the head of the ancient Egyptian antiquities sector, told Ahram Online that the mission has also discovered a dozen silos containing a sizable quantity of animal bones and botanical remains, which will allow for scientists to study the subsistence strategies of these populations.

He also said that the analyses of these organic remains will use cutting-edge technologies and, in conjunction with uncovering the unexcavated areas in the seasons to come, will definitely provide critical insights on the first populations of the Nile Delta, as well as providing insight into the origins of agriculture and husbandry in Egypt.

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