Egyptian Archaeologists Discover Stela of Liberation Queens in Aswan

Egyptian Archaeologists discovered a limestone stela in Kom Ombo temple area dated back to Early 18^th Dynasty or the Liberation war period.  

Dr. Mostafa Waziry (Secretary-General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities) said that the stela has a scene in the upper lunette shows two persons making an offering to Queen Tetisheri and Queen Ahmos-Nefertari. The stele shows Queen Tetisheri titles as “Mother of the King” and “Lady of the Two Lands”.  

The importance of this discovery that it shows the activities of the Kings in Upper Egypt to secure their territories during their way with the Hyksos. This discovery is a part of the series of discoveries that could re-date the temple to an older date than it was previously known.

Mohamed AbdBadie said “It is known that Queen Tetisheri is the mother of King Seqenenre and the grandmonth of King Ahmose I and she is the one who inspired them the liberation spirit. Tetisheri was very well respected and dignified by the Egyptians for her great role in the Egyptian history.”

Mr. Abd El-Monem Said, Director of Aswan Antiquities said “The two Queens are of the most important female figures in the history of ruling familes in Egypt and had many stelae and chapels dedicated to them all over Egypt.”

#Egypt #Egyptology #Archaeology #Aswan #KomOmbo #Stela #Tetisheri #discovery

Egypt repatriates a large collection of smuggled antiquities from Italy

Dr. Mostafa Waziry, announced that the smuggled antiquities were received in Egypt late on Friday night after the legal procedures were taken by the Ministry of Antiquities in cooperation with the Italian 
authorities.  

The repatriated antiquities are 21660 coins, 151 faience ushabti, 11 pottery pots, 5 mummies masks some of which are gold plated, wooden sarcophagus, 2 small funerary wooden boats, 2 canopic jars heads and 3 Islamic coloured tiles. 

The patriots antiquities will go through restoration at the Egyptian Museum labs in Tahrir before they will be display in a temporary exhibition soon.

#Egypt #Antiquities #Repatriated #Cairo #Archaeology #Egyptology

Fully discovered by Carter. No more to King Tutankhamun’s tomb.

High-level geophysics research provides conclusive evidence on the non-existence of hidden chambers adjacent to or inside Tutankhamun’s tomb (KV62).

Dr. Mostaf Waziri, Secretary General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities announced that the Head of the Italian scientific team Dr. Francesco Porcelli of the Polytechnic University of Turin is to provide all details of the Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) studies and analysis during a speech he would deliver later today at the current Fourth Tutankhamun International Conference.

The team also include experts from the nearby University of Turin and from two private geophysics companies, Geostudi Astier (Leghorn) and 3DGeoimaging (Turin), who have completed the analysis of the GPR data collected from the inside of Tutankhamun’s tomb (code name KV62) last February 2018.
Dr. Waziri pointed out that Dr. Porcelli has submitted a scientific report to the Permanent Committee for Ancient Egyptian Antiquities at the Ministry of Antiquities with all the results of the GPR data analyses, revealing that the GPR scans were performed along vertical and horizontal directions with very dense spatial sampling. Double antenna polarizations where also employed, with transmitting and receiving dipoles both orthogonal and parallel to the scanning direction. 

Dr. Porcelli asserted that the main findings are as follows: No marked discontinuities due to the passage from natural rock to man-made blocking walls are evidenced by the GPR radargrams, nor there is any evidence of the jambs or the lintel of a doorway. Similarly, the radargrams do not show any indication of plane reflectors, which could be interpreted as chamber walls or void areas behind the paintings of KV62 funerary chamber. 

It is concluded, with a very high degree of confidence, said Dr. Porcelli, the hypothesis concerning the existence of hidden chambers or corridors adjacent to Tutankhamun’s tomb is not supported by the GPR data. 

This is the third GPR survey to be conducted. It was designed to stop the controversy aroused after the contradictive results of two previous radar surveys carried out by a scientific Japanese and American teams, to inspect the accuracy of a theory launched in 2015 by British Egyptologist Nicholas Reeves who suggested the existence of queen Nefertiti’s tomb concealed behind the north and west wall paintings of king Tutankhamun’s burial chamber. 

To solve the difficulties encountered by the two preceding surveys and provide a conclusive response, the Ministry of Antiquities in early 2016, decided to discuss the matter in the second International Tutankhamun Conference held in May 2016 and attended by a group of pioneer scholars, archaeologists and Egyptologists who on their turn asserted to conduct a third GPR systems with different technology to put an end to such debate.

#Egypt #Luxor #Thebes #ValleyoftheKings #Egyptology #Archaeology

Egyptian Archaeologists discover Greaco-Roman temple in Siwa Oasis

The Egyptian archaeological mission of the Ministry of Antiquities uncovered the remains of a Greaco-Roman Temple during excavations at Al-Salam archaeological site located about 50 km east of Siwa Oasis.

Dr. Ayman Ashmawi, Head of Egyptian Antiquities sector at the Ministry of Antiquities said that the mission uncovered the front part of the temple as well as parts of the temple’s foundations, main entrance and remains of its one meter deep enclosure wall.

The wall leads to a front courtyard and on its both sides found entrances to other chambers. 

Dr. Ashmawi expects to uncover the other remains of the temple with more excavations to be carried out this year.

Dr Abdel Aziz El-Demery "Head of the archaeological mission" said that during the removal of the debris from the site, the mission has found many of the stones and architectural elements of the temple’s walls, including the upper lintels decorated with scenes as well as parts of corner pillars decorated with egg, arrow and tongue, which were well known in the Greco-Roman era. 

Dr. El-Demery added that the mission discovered also remains of pots, coins, and a statue of a man with Greek facial features, as well as two limestone statues of two lions one of them is headless. 

#Egypt #Archaeology #Siwa #Egyptology #Roman 

Roman temple remains discovered in Aswan by Egyptian archaeologists

During the field school organised by the Ministry of Antiquities at the site of Kom Rasras in Kom Ombo,Aswan, a group of archaeologists discovered the remains of a sandstone Roman temple according to Dr. Ayman Ashmawy (Head of Egyptian Antiquities sector).

The temple dated back to the 2nd century A.D as the names found of different Roman emperors including Domitian (81-96 A.D), Hadrian (117-138 A.D) and Antoninus Pius (138-161 A.D).

According to Dr. Ashmawy, the temple is linked to Gebel Silsila area as it is possible that it is a part of the residential area for the workers at Silsila quarries. 

The field school which started its first season in January 2018 for 6 weeks, will continue excavating the site in the next seasons. 

#Aswan #Egypt #Egyptology #Archaeology #friendsofsilsila #Romantemple 

Intact child burials reveal new clues discovered at Gebel el-Silsila

Dr. Mostafa Waziry (Secretary-General of the supreme Council of Antiquities) announced that during their ongoing excavations, the Swedish-Egyptian archaeological mission (Lund University), headed by Dr. Maria Nilsson and John Ward in co-operation with the Ministry of Antiquities represented by Mr. Abdel Manem Saed (Director of Aswan Antiquities), discovered several intact child burials as well as crypts and chambers for adults in the 18th Dynasty Necropolis at Gebel el-Silsila in the Aswan region. 

The best-preserved child burials include: 1) An eroded wooden sarcophagus/coffin, partially sealed with mud, containing inhumation of a child (ST63), c. 6-9 years, oriented with head in the east, facing north. Poorly preserved coffin, heavily eroded by annual flooding, salt, and destroyed by beetles. 

 The grave contained several burial goods, including 10 ceramic items (intact beer jars, wine vessels, plates, and bowls), bronze bracelets, a bronze razor, four scarabs attached to the child’s left wrist, and a nefer-amulet found in the chest-area (moved from its original location by beetles).

 2) A rock cut crypt (ST59) containing young child (2-3 years), wrapped in linen and surrounded by organic material (possibly wooden coffin) destroyed by termites, covered with poorly preserved, crumbled sandstone lid, once sealed with plaster. Head in the south, facing west. Preliminary osteological studies show no obvious cause of death. No associated burial goods. 

3) Inhumation of a child (ST64), c. 5-8 years, oriented with head in the east, unknown facial direction due to later disturbance of the head, possibly caused when burying the child of ST63. Body wrapped in linen and laid on reed matting. Burial goods included three scarabs, one of which contained a royal name of Thutmosid period, and a single ceramic vessel not in its original location.

4) Inhumation of child (ST69), c-5-8 years, oriented with head to the north, facing east. Buried without any obvious care in quarried area, and covered with quarry spoil. No immediate relation with surrounding tombs. Several intriguing pathological indications of sickness. Further studies required. In addition to the intact child burials, the team has discovered several new crypts and burial chambers, mainly looted during or since antiquity. 

The archaeological material includes bones, ceramic vessels, jewellery, textile, ‘plaster’, and wood.  The intact child burials – some unique and others first of their kind at Gebel el-Silsila with their burial goods in situ, adds important insights into the local and contemporaneous funerary customs, pathological information (general health and injuries of the entombed) and add clues into the social and economic organisation of the site during the Thutmosid period, supporting the theory of individuals and entire families involved with quarry work states assistant director John Ward. 

Mission Director, Dr. Maria Nilsson adds that the finds follow a line of recent discoveries made by the team, all which date to the Thutmosid period, including

1) An usurped relief scene in the Speos of Horemheb, showing a large ship carrying an obelisk, comparable with the scene of Hatshepsut in Deir el-Bahari;

2) six statues and relief scenes within shrines 30-31 from the reigns of Hatshepsut and Thutmosis III; and 3) decoration and architectural details in limestone from the initial building activity of the Temple of Sobek on the East Bank. Together with the most recent discoveries in the Necropolis, all these finds reveal the importance of Gebel el-Silsila during the Thutmosid period, blooming with socio-political and religious activity.

Funding for this fieldwork has been provided by a grant from the National Geographic Society (grant # HJ-103R-17), Gerda Henkel Stiftung, and the Royal Swedish Academy of Letters, History and Antiquities. 

#Egypt #Egyptology #Archaeology #LundUniversity #Friendsofsilsila #Discovery #Aswan #Mummies 

Exclusive: Egyptian archaeologists discover 3500 years old tomb contains many mummies

 The world has been waiting for the announcement of the new discovery of a new tomb in Luxor according to the Minister of Antiquities invitation to the media to cover the press conference scheduled on Saturday the 9th of September.

The discovery of the tomb itself was announced in April between the lines.

On April 18th when a press conference was held at Dra Abu El-Naga on the West Bank of the Nile in Luxor, Dr. Mostafa Waziry said the following in the video below.

The links HERE and HERE shows you the exclusive videos and photos of the discovery of Userhat tomb in April and the exhibition at Luxor Museum for the finds of the tomb in May.  

Then, we knew there are already two tombs discovered sharing the same courtyard with Userhat tomb which were revealed after removing about 450 cubic meters of debris is a few weeks of work. "Hurray ... The spirit of Petri was around then."

So what we know about the new discovery so far:

1.               A new tomb of the 18th Dynasty.

2.               The tomb was previously unknown.

3.               The tomb is of a small size, probably one square room with a niche in the middle of the northern wall.

4.               The tomb owner is a high official “Probably a Priest served at a nearby mortuary temple” of the 18th Dynasty whose name was previously unknown.

5.               The location is to the south of tomb of Userhat at a higher level of Userhat tomb and the entrance was under the steps leading to TT148.

6.               The tomb shares the courtyard with the tomb TT300.

7.               The tomb was reused as a group burial for the poor ancient Egyptian people probably by 21^st and 22^nd Dynasty. Many family mummies and remains. 

8.               A large number of Ushabtis, Coffins, human remains, pottery, faience figurines and wooden masks were discovered so far. 

9.               Burial shaft filled with human remains. Excavation still ongoing.

10.           A burial shaft was discovered to the east of the entrance to the tomb contains many humans remains to family members. This shaft is not connected to the tomb as far as we know.

11.           The glass displays are being set to exhibit the new finds at the site for the media. 

Tune in Luxor Times Facebook page for the live stream of the press conference tomorrow morning between 7:30am and 8am GMT to find out all the details with exclusive coverage, interviews and footage of the new finds. 

#Egypt #Luxor #Discovery #History #LuxorTimes #ThisIsEgypt  

Spanish archaeologists discovered 4000 years old red granite lintel and more constructions

The Spanish Archaeological Mission of the National Archaeological Museum in Madrid, has discovered a large block of red granite during the excavations work in the temple of Heryshef in Herakleopolis Magna archaeological site, in Ihnasya el-Medina in Beni Suef governorate.

Dr. Mahmoud Afifi, Head of the Ancient Egyptian Antiquities Sector at the Ministry of Antiquities announced the discovery at the site which the work started since February 1966. Dr. Carmen Perez Die has been the director of the mission since 1984.

 

Dr. Afifi said that the discovery is very important because the lintel is engraved with two cartouches containing the name of the Middle Kingdom King Sesostris II, (ca. 1895 – 1889 B.C.), who built the Lahun, pyramid located 10 km away from Ihnasya. The presence of the lintel in the Heryshef temple proves the interest of Sesostris II in this site, and the Fayoum area in general.

Dr. Maria Carmen Perez Die, the director of the Spanish Mission said the mission continued excavations in the temple of Heryshef and uncovered several constructions levels which one of them dating to the early 18th Dynasty (The reign of Thutmosis III (ca. 1479 – 1425 B.C.) and another to that of Ramses II (ca. 1279 – 1213 B.C.)

#Egypt #Egyptology #Archaeology 

The burial chamber of 13th Dynasty pyramid revealed

The Egyptian archaeological mission from the ministry of antiquities uncovered the burial chamber of a 13th Dynasty Pyramid discovered last month in Dahshur archaeological site.

Adel Okasha the head of the Mission and the General Director of the Dahshur site explained that after removing the stones that covered the burial chamber, the mission discovered a wooden box (canopic jars box) engraved with three lines of hieroglyphics. These lines are rituals to protect the deceased and the name of its owner.

Dr. Sherif Abdel Moneim, Assistant of the minister of antiquities, reveals that the box was used to store the four canopic jars of the deceased and the name engraved on it would be for the daughter of the 13th Dynasty king Ameny Qemau whose pyramid is located 600 meters away.

Dr. Sherif also said that the mission also discovered last month a relief with 10 lines of hieroglyphics bearing the Cartouche of King Ameny Qemau. Hence the box may belong to the King’s daughter or one of his family.

Inside the box, the mission has found wrappings of the deceased's liver, intestine, stomach and lungs. Remains of an anthropoid sarcophagus has been found but in a very bas conservation condition. Excavation works would continue to uncover more of the pyramid's secrets.

Dr. Khaled El Enany, Minister of Antiquities visited the site this morning to inspect the excavation works accompanied by Dr. Mahmoud Afifi, Head of the ancient Egyptian antiquities sector and Alaa Al-Shahat, head of the central administration of Antiquities of Cairo and Giza.

#Egypt #Egyptology #Archaeology #Pyramids #Dahshur