News, Sakkara: Egypt Police Foil Attempt to Sell Stolen Sarcophagus

The sarcophagus houses a mummy and dates back to the Ptolemaic era or the Late Period. Written By/ Nevine El-Aref.

The Tourism and Antiquities Police in Saqqara caught four criminals red-handed as they attempted to sell a sarcophagus. Ayman Ashmawi, head of the Ancient Egyptian antiquities department at the ministry, said that the criminals were trying to sell the sarcophagus for EGP 250,000.

An archaeological committee from the Ministry of Antiquities was then formed to examine the sarcophagus and inspect its authenticity, he said Ashmawi said that the committee confirmed that the sarcophagus housed a mummy and it could be dated back to the Ptolemaic era or the Late Period, and it had not been stolen from the ministry’s storage or museums.

It has an anthropoid lid with the face of a woman wearing a wig and its lower part is painted with different ancient Egyptian scenes depicting the winged god Horus and the mummification process.

A hieroglyphic text is also carved on the lid, while both sides of the sarcophagus itself are adorned: a snake wearing the crown of Lower Egypt on the right side, and the crown of Upper Egypt on the left side, as a symbol of protection. The sarcophagus is now being held for research and restoration.

Source: Ahram Online

News, Cairo: China Signs Its First MoU with Egypt in the Archaeology Field

China's vice-president also visited Luxor and the Giza Plateau. Written By/ Nevine El-Aref.

Amid his short visit to Egypt, China's Vice-President Wang Qishan witnessed the signing, along with Egypt's Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly, of the first Memorandum of Understanding between the Ministry of Antiquities and the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in the archaeological field.

Minister of Antiquities Khaled El-Enany signed the MoU with Chen Xingcan, director of the Institute of Archaeology at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, in order to strengthen cooperation in the archaeological field, the training of archeologists and museologists, as well as increasing archaeological awareness among both Egyptian and Chinese citizens.

Starting November, the first Chinese archaeological mission will start work in an archaeological site in Egypt, including conducting an archaeological survey, excavation, and restoration and documentation works. Accompained with El-Enany, Qishan also embarked on tours at Luxor and the Giza Plateau where he admired the beauty of the ancient Egyptian civilisation.

In Luxor, he visited Luxor and Karnak Temples as well as the tomb of King Tutankhamun in the Valley of the Kings. At the Giza Plateau, he visited King Khufu’s pyramid and the Sphinx. Minister of Antiquities El-Enany accompanied the China vice-president at both sites.

Source: Ahram Online

New Discovery, Luxor: 3,000-Year Old Tattooed Mummy Belonged to Top Official or Elite Woman, Studies Reveal

Four years after its discovery in Deir El-Madina on Luxor’s west bank, it has been revealed that a unique tattooed 3,000-year-old mummy belonged to an elite woman or a top official. Written By/ Nevine El-Aref.

Mostafa Waziri, secretary-general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, says the discovery is important because this is the first time an Egyptian mummy has been found to have figurative tattoos.

Waziri said that previous tattoos found on mummies were only a line or a dot, not whole scenes like the ones on this mummy and not drawn on several parts of the body.The mummy, Waziri said, has 30 tattoos depicting a wild bull, a Barbary sheep, a lotus flower, a baboon and the udjat eye. They are drawn on the mummy’s upper arm, shoulders, back, and neck.

The nature of the tattoos suggest that the mummy, discovered in 2014 by a mission from the French Institute for Oriental Studies, belonged to a member of the elite. Using state of the art techniques and x-rays, the scientific and archaeological studies carried out on the mummy showed that it belongs to a 25 to 34-year-old woman who lived between 1,300 and 1,070 BC. The studies have also revealed that the large number of tattoos on her body may have been indented to signal prestige or indicate an important religious role.

The mummy is currently stored in tomb TT 291 in Luxor so it can be maintained in an environment similar to which it had been stored for millennia. More studies and research will be carried out in an attempt to reveal the name and position of the tattooed mummy.

Source: Ahram Online

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