News: Egyptian Expert Believes He Has Found Out How the Great Pyramid Was Built Without Modern Technology.

An archaeologist has stated that he has finally solved the mystery regarding the Great Pyramid's peculiar alignment after he spotted a 'flaw'.

The expert from Egypt believes that he has got the answer to how the ancient civilization was able to make such a complex structure without the help of modern technology, as per reports.

Researchers from the US-based Glen Dash Research Foundation and the Ancient Egypt Research Associates (AERA) had earlier identified the flaw in the alignment. 

A well-known theory suggests that the 4,500-year-old structure that is estimated to weigh more than six million tonnes got built after huge stones were moved from a nearby quarry, dragged, and also lifted into the place.

The researchers found that three sides of the base of the pyramid were once between 230.295 meters and 230.373 meters long, but the west side came in between 230.378 meters and also 230.436 meters, which means it was off by around 14.1 cm, as reported by the Express.

But, the sides fit properly despite the measurements along with the cardinal points of north, east, south, and west with all three of the largest pyramids of Egypt, two in Giza and one at the Dahshur, which are remarkably aligned.

Archaeologist and engineer Glen Dash stated, "All three pyramids exhibit the same manner of error, they are rotated slightly counterclockwise from the cardinal points," as reported by the Daily Star.

Many hypotheses exist as to how the workers from ancient times did this, which include using the pole star to align the pyramids or the shadow of the Sun, but Dash stated he had cracked the mystery.

His study that was published in The Journal of Ancient Egyptian Architecture, suggested that the people from Egypt made use of the autumnal equinox for achieving perfect alignment.

The Earth is tilted on the axis, which means that as it orbits the Sun, the star illuminates the northern or southern hemisphere more depending on the orbit.

However, at two points in the year, the Sun illuminates the northern and also the southern hemispheres equally, which is known as the equinox.

The researcher also showed the chances of error were similar to those discovered in the alignment of the Khufu and Khafre pyramids at Giza and the Red pyramid at Dahshur.

Despite the convincing argument, there is no proper evidence that it was the case. "The Egyptians, unfortunately, left us a few clues.

No engineering documents or architectural plans have been found that give technical explanations demonstrating how the ancient Egyptians aligned any of their temples or pyramids," Dash's report concluded. 

Source:ibtimes

New Discovery, Saqqara "1": Archaeologists finally peer inside Egyptian mummies first found in 1615.

Two ancient mummies discovered in a rock-cut tomb in Egypt more than 400 years ago are finally spilling their secrets, now that scientists have CT scanned their remains, a new study finds.
Both mummies, as well as a third on display in Egypt, represent the only known surviving "stucco-shrouded portrait mummies," from Saqqara, an ancient Egyptian necropolis. Unlike other mummies, who were buried in coffins, these individuals were placed on wooden boards, wrapped in a textile and a "beautiful mummy shroud," and decorated with 3D plaster, gold and a whole-body portrait, said study lead researcher Stephanie Zesch, a physical anthropologist and Egyptologist at the German Mummy Project at Reiss Engelhorn Museum in Mannheim, Germany.
Now, CT (computed tomography) scans reveal that at least one of these three stucco-shrouded portrait mummies was buried with organs (even the brain) and that the two females were interred with beautiful necklaces, the researchers found.

The CT scans also showed that after the deaths of these individuals — a man, woman and teenage girl dating to the late Roman period (30 B.C. to A.D. 395) — their mummies were interred with artifacts likely thought useful in the afterlife, including coins that were possibly meant to pay Charon, the Roman and Greek deity thought to carry souls across the River Styx.
The CT scans also revealed several medical problems, including arthritis in the woman. "The examination of the individuals yielded that they died at rather young ages … however, the cause of death of the individuals could not be determined," Zesch told Live Science.

Long journey
Two of these mummies have traveled far and wide. In 1615, Pietro Della Valle (1586−1652), an Italian composer, took a pilgrimage to the Holy Land and ended up traveling through Egypt. He learned about two stucco-shrouded portrait mummies — a man and woman — discovered by locals in Saqqara. Della Valle acquired these mummies and brought them to Rome, making them the "earliest examples of portrait mummies to have become known in Europe," the researchers wrote in the study.

After passing through several owners, and a little worse for wear, the mummies ended up in the Dresden State Art Collections in Germany, where they were X-rayed in the late 1980s. However, the CT scan revealed much more about their insides.

For instance, the CT scan revealed that the male died between the ages of 25 and 30. He stood about 5'4" inches (164 centimeters) tall, and had two unerupted permanent teeth and several cavities. Some of his bones were broken and jumbled, probably because someone unwrapped him shortly after the mummy's discovery, the researchers wrote in the study. 

While the man's brain was not   preserved, there's no evidence it  was removed through his nose. Nor were many embalming substances used.
Instead, he was wrapped up and painted. Two metal objects found during the CT scan are likely seals from the mummification workshop that handled his remains, Zesch said.
The woman's brain wasn't preserved either, but the teenager's was — it had shrunk, but the cerebrum and brainstem were still identifiable — and the teenager's other internal organs were also present. 
"We are quite sure there was no removing the brain or the internal organs" from these mummies, Zesch said.
"It's very probable that those mummies were only preserved because of a kind of dehydration with the use of [the desiccation mixture] natron, but there is not a huge amount of embalming liquids."

The woman, who died between the ages of 30 and 40, stood about 4'11" (151 cm) tall.
She had advanced arthritis in her left knee. The teenager, who wore a hairpin, according to the CT scan, died between the ages of 17 and 19, and stood about 5'1" (156 cm) tall. She had a benign tumor in her spine known as a vertebral hemangioma, which is more common in people over 40, the researchers said. 
Both women were buried with multiple necklaces. It's exciting to see these necklaces, but it's not unexpected, Zesch said.
"Because of these very precious shrouds, we are sure that those individuals have to be members of the higher socioeconomic class," meaning that they could have easily afforded jewelry, Zesch said. 

Zesch noted that she studied the three mummies with a multidisciplinary team from the German Mummy Project, the Dresden State Art Collections, the Institute for Mummy Studies at Eurac Research in Bolzano, Italy and the American-Egyptian Horus Study Group.
Their work informed a now-live interactive exhibit of the male and female mummy in Dresden.
The teenager's mummy is on display at the Museum of Egyptian Antiquities, Cairo, Egypt.

Source:livescience

New Discovery , Saqqara "4": Egypt to announce biggest archaeological discovery of 2020 soon.

Egypt’s Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities will announce the biggest archaeological discovery of 2020 at a press conference in the Saqqara necropolis in the next few days.
The Egyptian archaeological mission announced that, in the past few years, a number of important archaeological discoveries in Saqqara have been made. 

The last of these was the discovery of 59 well-preserved, painted coffins of top officials and priests from the 26th Dynasty, with mummies still inside.

The discovery was announced at an international press conference early last October.
The excavations of the Egyptian archaeological mission, which is working in the Saqqara necropolis, discovered new shafts filled with a huge number of intact, painted and anthropoid coffins buried inside.
Such is the size of the new discovery, that it exceeds even the huge number of coffins that were discovered and announced in early October. The shafts, which have been closed for over 2,500 years, include a number of gilded artefacts, including wooden statues and coloured and gilded masks.

Source:dailynewsegypt

News: Egypt's tourism & antiquities min. to open restoration project of Siwa Oasis village of Shali.

Tourism and Antiquities Minister Khaled Anani and EU Ambassador in Cairo Christian Berger will open on Friday a project on renovating and reviving the archaeological village of Shali in Siwa Oasis of the Mediterranean governorate of Matrouh. 

Matrouh Governor Khaled Showeib will also attend the event which comes two years after the commencement of the restoration operation which was backed by the European Union. 

This coincides with directives of President Abdel Fattah El Sisi to develop Siwa Oasis while maintaining its distinctive heritage.

The development is meant to promote the economic and investment position of the oasis and promote it as a unique tourist destination.

In statements to MENA, Head of the Shali restoration project Emad Farid said Shali is one of the most important Islamic archaeological sites in the Western Desert. 

He noted that Egypt and the EU renovated Shali's ancient fortress to be placed on the UNESCO's World Heritage List. 

He referred to the restoration of Tetnady Mosque which was opened in 2018. 

He added that the Shali Castle which was built of kershif - a traditional Siwan building technique using natural materials - was about to vanish due to climate factors, therefore this massive restoration project was launched with an EU financial support estimated at 0.5 million euros.

Source: egypttoday

News, Esna "2":Egypt-German archaeological mission resumes conservation and documentation of Temple of Esna.

A joint Egyptian-German archaeological mission is resuming the conservation and photographic documentation work on the Temple of Esna, on the west bank of the Nile some 55km south of Luxor.

The mission's work began in 2018, but was disrupted due to the coronavirus outbreak, and resumed in September.
Over the centuries, the temple suffered from the accumulation of thick layers of soot, dust and dirt.

Bird droppings and wasp nests covered the temple's Inscriptions and salt crystals affected the colors of the temple and caused some flaking of the reliefs.
Hisham El-Leithy, head of the Documentation Centre, said that "since December 2018, the mission has conducted five conservation and documentation campaigns.
The conservation team cleaned mechanically layers of soot, dust and dirt, and the bright colours of the inscriptions can now be appreciated, especially the astronomical decoration of the ceiling of the temple.

"The mission expects the current campaign to conclude its task in the early months of 2021.
The Temple of Esna dates back to the Roman period.
 Construction began during the reign of the Roman Emperor Claudius, and its decoration was finished during the time of Emperor Decius, between 249-251 CE.
The temple is dedicated to the ram god Khnum and his divine consorts.
During the 19th and 20th centuries the Temple of Esna suffered from urban encroachment, and houses of the villagers were built all around it.

The temple was in fact accessed through one of the houses.The temple was reported to have been used as a storage facility for the villagers’ cotton crop during the reign of Mohamed Ali Pasha.

Source:english.ahram

News Egypt "2" :Egypt: Three museums open.

During a ceremony held in Sharm El-Sheikh this week, President Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi inaugurated a raft of educational, cultural, and infrastructure projects, among them three museums in different governorates: the Sharm El-Sheikh Museum in South Sinai, the Kafr Al-Sheikh Museum in Kafr Al-Sheikh, and the Royal Carriage Museums in Cairo.

Minister of Tourism and Antiquities Khaled El-Enany described the openings as an exceptional event in the history of tourism and antiquities in Egypt, particularly as the three museums, with a cumulative budget of almost LE1 billion, were officially inaugurated in one day.

They highlighted the support of the political leadership for Egypt’s tourism and antiquities sectors and its support to protect and preserve the country’s history, monuments, and distinguished past civilisations, he said.

The Sharm El-Sheikh Museum is the first antiquities museum to be built in Sinai. The idea of building a museum in Sharm El-Sheikh started in 1999, and actual construction work began in 2003, though it stopped in 2011 in the aftermath of the 25 January Revolution.

Work resumed in early 2018, and it has now been completed to a budget of LE812 million. The museum puts on display around 5,200 artefacts, ranging from the pre-historic period to modern times, as well as showing the rich urban and tribal culture of Sinai inhabitants.

It is a cultural hub for all civilisations and a new tourist attraction in this coastal city that now combines cultural with leisure tourism.

The museum aims to shed light on the role played by Egyptian civilisation across different historical periods, as well as highlighting the relationship between the Egyptian people and their surrounding environment and their cultural interactions with other civilisations.

Mahmoud Mabrouk, the designer of the museum’s displays, said that he had aimed to provide a “light cultural meal” for visitors to the area who had come to enjoy the warm sun and beaches. He said the artefacts on show had been carefully selected according to the highest standards in order to reflect the ways in which the ancient Egyptians had lived thousands of years ago.

“Wildlife and how the ancient Egyptians respected animals are also shown through a collection of animal statues and mummies,” Mabrouk told Al-Ahram Weekly, explaining that the ancient Egyptians had rendered homage to various creatures by capturing their nature, adopting them as symbols of deities, and integrating them within their beliefs and myths.

This had encouraged the ancient Egyptians to care for and venerate animals during life as well as death, something that can be witnessed by the large number of mummified animals produced in order to perpetuate the link with the deities and the afterlife. A collection of mummified cats, hawks, eagles, rams, crocodiles, rats and cobras is on show in the museum, along with statues of baboons and mummified crocodiles.

Mabrouk said that tourists visiting the new museum would have a good idea of how the ancient Egyptians had lived and how life had developed through the different ages. The second hall of the museum displays items from all the civilisations that Egypt has hosted through its long history, for example, and is called the “Hall of Civilisations”.

This presents artefacts from the Graeco-Roman, Byzantine, and Ottoman periods, in addition to objects from civilisations that did not settle in Egypt, but passed through on the ancient Silk Roads between Asia and Europe, such as a collection of porcelain vases and plates.

A complete Roman bath is on display. When the Romans came to Egypt in the first century BCE, Mabrouk said, they had set up popular baths, including steam rooms, discussion rooms, and bathing areas, and these had survived into the later Islamic era.

Part of the magnificent bedroom of princess Shewikar, a member for the former royal family of Egypt, is on display, its green colour decorated with golden foliage motifs setting off chandeliers and showcases displaying jewelry and cosmetics once belonging to this member of the former ruling Mohamed Ali family.

Desert life, such as tents from Sinai and the Siwa Oasis equipped with daily life objects, is also illustrated in the gallery.

Ten items from the collection of ancient Egyptian boy-king Tutankhamun are also on display before they are moved to the new Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM) on the Pyramids Plateau. A statue of Ka, a consort of Tutankhamun, is among the most important of these.

Moemen Othman, head of the ministry’s Museums Sector, said that the new museum had dedicated a hall to the ancient Egyptian afterlife where a complete example of an ancient tomb with its funerary collection was on show to explain ideas of the afterlife and what it represented to the ancient Egyptians.

As the River Nile crosses the country from south to north, Mabrouk said, it was little wonder that the main means of transportation in ancient Egypt was by boat. Boats played a major role in commercial links and cultural communication between Egypt and the Eastern Mediterranean Basin, and their importance is also reflected in the religious ceremonies and funerary processions of the ancient Egyptian kings in order to allow the souls of the deceased to accompany the sun god Ra on the voyage into the afterlife.

For this reason, two ancient Egyptian boats from Dahshour were on show in the Sharm El-Sheikh collection, he concluded.

THE KAFR AL-SHEIKH MUSEUM: The Kafr Al-Sheikh Museum, also opened this week, displays a collection of distinguished artefacts showing the diversity of Egyptian civilisation through different ages.

The idea to build a museum in Kafr Al-Sheikh started as early as 1992 when the governorate allocated a plot of land to host it. Work started in 2003, but stopped in 2011, and then resumed in 2018 with a budget of LE62 million.

The new museum is located in the Sanaa Gardens next to Kafr Al-Sheikh University and reflects the role that the city played in different periods, focusing on its position as a capital of Egypt during the ancient period.

The governorate once included the ancient towns of Buto and Sakha, the oldest political capitals in human history. Both towns were not only associated with the ancient Egyptian monarchy as capitals of Egypt, but were also associated with the goddess Isis during the conflict between the deities Horus and Seth.

Sakha is one of the stops that the Holy Family made during their flight into Egypt following king Herod’s edict on the birth of Jesus.

The new museum displays antiquities discovered in the Kafr Al-Sheikh governorate, especially antiquities from Tel Al-Faraeen and Buto. The Kafr Al-Sheikh governorate is one of the governorates of the Delta, and it includes a number of archaeological sites dating back to the ancient Egyptian, Roman, Coptic and Islamic eras.

There are more than 50 archaeological mounds in the governorate, and the most famous remains in the province are from Buto, the capital of Lower Egypt in ancient times before unification, in the shape of statues made of basalt of a sphinx and of the god Horus. There is also a black granite plate from the reign of king Thutmose III.

The city of Sakha includes the Church of the Virgin, and there is also a slab said to bear the footprint of Jesus. The city of Fuwah, located on the Nile, is famous for its handmade carpets and includes a group of mosques and archaeological settlements.

The new museum exhibition tells the story of the ancient gods Isis and Osiris, and the conflict between Horus and Seth, and visitors can learn about the history of the area and see objects that recount the history of science in ancient Egypt, especially regarding medicine, pharmacy, veterinary medicine, engineering, astronomy, agriculture, trade and hunting.

THE ROYAL CARRIAGES MUSEUMS: This museum, located on 26 July Street in Boulaq in Cairo, was inaugurated this week after years of closure for restoration and development with a budget of LE63 million.

Its distinguished early 20th-century architecture and its beautiful entrance now add elegance to this crowded area of Cairo, with the museum reopening its doors to enable visitors to admire the exquisite royal carriages of members of the former ruling Mohamed Ali family.

Restoration work on the museum was started in 2001, but was halted in 2011 and only resumed in 2017. The museum building, in poor condition, has been rehabilitated, the walls and foundations consolidated, and facades and decorative elements restored. New lighting and security systems have been installed.

Othman said the museum put on show a collection of royal carriages along with accessories and horse-guard uniforms. The items are distributed across five halls. The first holds the carriage that the French empress Eugenie gifted to the khedive Ismail on the occasion of the official opening of the Suez Canal in the late 19th century, while the second displays rare carriages whose designs are known as alay and half-alay.

The third hall is the core of the museum and displays ceremonial carriages once used by members of the former royal family for weddings, funerary occasions, and promenades. Portraits depicting members of the royal family are also exhibited. The fourth hall is dedicated to the uniforms of the chevaliers and riders who accompanied the carriages, while the fifth and last hall shows accessories used to decorate the carriages and horses, such as horseshoes, bridles and saddles.

The museum was established during the reign of the khedive Ismail in the late 19th century and was at first called the Department of the Khedival Carriages before being changed to the Management of the Royal Stables. After the 1952 Revolution, the building was named the Royal Carriages Museum.

The museum was originally created not only to display royal carriages, but also the horses of the khedive Ismail and those owned by members of the royal family. Experts and veterinarians were brought from across the world to take care of the horses, and valuable cars from world-class brands were also exhibited.

In 1969, the Cairo governorate took over three-quarters of the museum and transformed it into a garage. This work has now been reversed, allowing visitors to see the museum once again in its former splendour.

Source:ahram.Online

News, Giza : Giza Plateau massive development: tourism, mass transportation, and housing.

In the midst of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, Egypt’s Giza Plateau development project is showing no signs of slowing. The country is pushing forward to improve the area within a number of sectors, including tourism, transportation, and real estate.
The state-backed project aims to develop the area and restore it to its original splendor, as it is one of if not the most important archaeological sites in the country.
Egypt’s Saib Bank signed in October a long-term, LE230 million financing contract with Orascom Pyramids, a subsidiary of the multinational corporation Orascom, to develop the plateau.
Egypt’s Tourism and Antiquities Minister, Khaled al-Anani recently announced a large number of projects currently underway in the archaeological area.
With help from a Orascom, the formerly sparse area will soon be home to an electric bus station, luxury restaurants and cafes, hotels, a helipad for VIPs, expanded bazaars, cinemas, and an information center.
Anani inaugurated in October the “Nine Pyramids Lounge,” the first restaurant and lounge within the Giza pyramids area.
The lounge overlooks nine pyramids, providing a unique, scenic view. The restaurant and lounge total 1,341 square meters divided into several covered and uncovered seating areas.

The area is also home to the new Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM), which is slated to open in 2021, and the Sphinx International Airport.
The dream of transforming West Giza into the African capital of tourism does not stop here, as the government has undertaken a number of transportation and accessibility projects to benefit tourism in the area.
Among these projects are a cable car and pedestrian walkway connecting the new museum with the pyramids, a new 40 km-long metro line connecting New Cairo to the plateau, and a high-speed train running from the Red Sea’s Ain Sokhna to the Mediterranean’s Alamein City, passing through Cairo’s New Administrative Capital and 6th of October City.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Housing is racing against time to complete a residential neighborhood that includes 2,500 housing units, in preparation for the demolition of the informal settlements built around the pyramids. Residents living in the illegal units will be transferred to the new units.

Source:egyptindependent