Egyptian Archaeologists Unearth More of Re Temple in Old Heliopolis

The Egyptian archaeological mission of Ain Shams university directed by Dr. Mamdouh ElDamaty successfully discovered two limestone blocks at the northern part at the site of Arab El-Hisn in old Heliopolis, modern Matariya.

Dr. Mamdouh El-Damaty said “The discovered blocks bear the inscriptions of Ramses II’s architect who is called “Amen-Mapet””

The architect was one of most famous architects of Ramses II’s reign and he is the father of architect who overseen the building of Luxor temple. 

Dr. ElDamaty added “The text discovered shows the this architect was the overseer of building of the festival palace and Ramses II chapel which the mission discovered earlier this season. The inscriptions also mention the titles of the architect including “Overseer of all of King Ramses II work” and “Chief of police or Medhay in the south”.

According to Dr. ElDamaty, Architect “Amen-Mapet” overseen the  building of northern stature of Ramses II where the blocks were discovered as well as a limestone wall with an entrance in the middle of it leading to a mud brick floor. 

The wall was separating two court yards behind the statues which not all their features are discovered yet. What was discovered so far reveals an important part of the temple of Re in old Heliopolis and the mission will continue their work in March and April 2019 to reveal more of the site’s architecture elements. 

#Egypt #Archaeology #Egyptology 

German-Egyptian team discovers thousands of fragments in old Heliopolis

The Egyptian-German-Mission at Matariya/Heliopolis, uncovered a collection of 4500 fragments from King Psamtek I colossus discovered last year and now at the Egyptian Museum in Tahrir.

Dr. Aiman Ashmawy (Head of the ancient Egyptian Antiquities) and head of the mission from the Egyptian side, said that at Souq el-Khamis area in Matariya, the mission succeeded to uncover a collection of 4500 fragments of the quartzite colossus of king Psamtek I. The He explains that these fragments along with those found last season have reached a total number of 6400 fragments which allow the visualization of the original form of the colossus before its destruction in antiquity.

Dr. Ashmawi added that the new fragments confirmed that the colossus depicted a standing king but with the unusual feature of the left arm in front of the body. A very carefully carved scene on the back-pillar shows the kneeling King Psamtek I in front of the creator-god Atum of Heliopolis. The majority of the fragments were found in a pit south of the pedestal of the statue, that have been left open probably during the Fatimid era when the temple walls were dismantled to be used in other buildings. As Dr. Aiman Ashmawy explained, the colossus statue’s fragments will be brought to the Egyptian Museum.

Dr. Dietrich Raue, Head of the German mission said the mission continued its work at the site of the temple of Nektanebo I (380-363 BC). A large number of fragments that belong to a quartzite gate of Ramses II (1279-1213) and Nektanebo I were found. The geophysical survey had indicated a number of areas with a large number of fragments of the former temple.

In this area, according to Dr Raue, some exceptional fragments were found, among them: a frieze of falcons, a part of a gate of Merenptah (1213-1201 BC) as well as parts of a colossal Ramesside sphinx of red granite. It seems evident that Nektanebo I added his building to a major temple of earlier date.

The excavation work in the Ptolemaic workshop area was continued and led to the discovery of new room units of the mid-ptolemaic area. Some fragments point again to the reuse of pharaonic temple equipment of the 2nd and 1st millennium BC. This season’s work included archaeobotanical and archaeozoological studies.

#Egypt #Cairo #Heliopolis #DietrichRaue #LuxorTimes #Nekhtanebo #PsamtikI

Czech archaeologists discover Ramses II temple remains south of Cairo

The Egyptian-Czech Archaeological Mission uncovered remains of King Ramses II Temple during the excavation works carried out at Abusir.

Dr.   Mostafa   Waziry, Secretary-General   of the Supreme Council of Antiquities announced the discovery. 

Dr. Waziry explains that the discovery comes after the mission had found in 2012 archaeological evidences that shows the existence of a temple in this area, a fact that encourages the mission to resume its excavations in this area and the neighborhood along the last four years.

Dr. Mohammed Megahed, Deputy director of the mission, said that the  temple is 32 x 51 meters wide and consists of mud brick foundations of one of its pylons, a large forecourt that leads to the pillars hall which parts of its halls are painted in blue.

At the rear end of the court, the mission found a staircase or a ramp leading to a sanctuary whose back part is divided into three parallel chambers. The remains of this building were covered with by huge deposits of sand and chips of stones of which may bore fragments of polychrome reliefs.

Dr. Miroslav Barta, The head of the Czech mission explains that the different titles of King Ramses II were found engraved on a relief fragments which is connected to the cult of the solar deities.

In addition, relief fragments depicting scenes of the solar gods ”Amun”, "Ra and Nekhbet”

He continues that this temple is the only evidence of the  King Ramses II presence in Memphis necropolis and confirms at the same time the continuation of the worshiping of the sun god "Ra" in the region of Abu Sir, which began since the 5th dynasty and continued until the era of the New Kingdom. 

#Egypt #Discovery #Antiquities #Egyptology #Archaeology 

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 

History in the making, Luxor Temple gets a face lift

For the first time in hundreds of years if not thousands, Luxor temple facade gets an addition. Ramses II statue which was broken into pieces.

An Egyptian team of restorers and conservators managed to assemble the statue and re-erect it where it used to be.

The video below shows the different stages of work.

The video below shows the moment when the statue was revealed.

#Egypt #Luxor #Egyptology #WorldHeritageDay #Egyptology #RamsesII #LuxorTemple

Zahi Hawass fires back at criticism of colossus' salvation

 M By Sara Ahmed

Since the discovery of the colossal statue of Ramses II in Mataria by a German mission on Thursday, photos circulating online and on social media raised controversy regarding the using of a backhoe loader to extract the artefacts from the earth.

Some reactions have went as far as accusing the means of transportation to cause damage to the statue and others have accused the mission as well as the Ministry of Antiquities of neglect.

Zahi Hawass Fires Back at Criticism of Ramses II Statue ‘Crane’ Neglect

Accordingly, archaeologist and former Minister of Antiquities, Dr. Zahi Hawass issued the statement about the discovery and its transportation process. The statement reads:

‘‘Souq Al- Khamis is a very important archaeological site where I personally begun excavation work and in which we found the remains of the temples of King Akhenaten and King Thutmose III and Ramses II.

The Mataria area suffers from ​​a very big problem which is that all the houses and modern buildings are built over the remains of temples and ancient tombs. Additionally, most of the artefacts there, whether statues or temples, are found below the ground water ranging from two to four meters deep. It is difficult to transfer the artefacts from below the groundwater to the ground surface. In the past, I had discovered two tombs, one of which was located below the ground water as well.

I would like to confirm that out of all the artefacts and statues that were found in Mataria, none has ever been found complete. These statuses were destroyed and broken during the Coptic era; this was a time where the Copts considered them as pagan buildings and temples. In accordance to that, they had them closed off, destroyed all of the statues and temples as well as re-used the blocks in buildings churches, houses and private buildings. Accordingly, there has never been the discovery of a complete statue in Mataria.

I have also contacted the German archeologist Dietrich Raue, director of the German excavation in Mataria in order to the extent of the discovery. He sent me a video-statement which showed the excavation work and he sent me photographs of all the taken steps during the transportation of the artifacts.

I would also like to clarify that the process of transporting any statue of a large size, such as the discovered statue in Mataria, was assisted by heads of workers from the city of Qeft. They are trained to the highest level for transporting heavy statues such as through the example having done this work in Saqqara with the El Kereti family. The workers transported various statues and sarcophagi, some of which weighing 20 tons. As to what occurred during the Coptic Era, the discovered statue in Mataria was broken to various pieces. 

In regards to the immensity of the statue, I confirm that it belonged to Ramses II and not to any other king seeing as the temple belonging to this king was found at the same location.

The mission found two pieces of the statue: the first piece is a part of the crown and the second piece is a large part of the body of the statue, which weighs 7 tons. It became clear that the crown represents a large part of the head and it is largely comprised of the crown, a wonderful and complete right ear and part of the right eye. The mission used a hoeback loader to extract it from the earth and this was a 100% rightful act since the hoeback loader is used in all archeological areas.

The head of mission, Dietrich Raue, assured me that the process of lifting the part of the head had done in extreme professionalism and the statue didn’t suffer from a single scratch but that the damage done to the face had occurred in the Coptic era. And so, this small piece was moved easily but the rest of the statue, which represents a part of the statue, is located at the site now. It will be transferred next Monday also using a crane because there is no substitute since it is below the ground water. The piece will be supported by a wooden panel as had been done with part of the head.

If it isn’t transported in this way, then it will never be transported. This is the method used in all countries of the world in order to move any archeological artefacts of this size, located two meters deep below the underground water. Therefore, I assure that what was done by the mission was an integrated scientific work in saving the discovered statue and that is no any other way for the mission but to use these machines that preserved the statue.

I am very happy with the transportation of this statue and its discovery because it has generated great publicity before the whole world.

Dr. Zahi Hawass’’

Egypt has had the good fortune of having witnessed two major Egyptological discoveries in this last week alone, one of which was done by Dr. Hourig Sourouzian in Luxor and the other being of this colossal albeit fragmented statue of king Ramses II near the ruins of Ramses II’s temple in the ancient city of Heliopolis with Seti II statue which not many media outlets even mentioned.

#Egypt #Cairo #Archaeology #Egyptology #Mataria

Ramesses II colossus discovered in old Heliopolis

The Egyptian-German mission working at Matariya, old Heliopolis, unearthed two Ramesside statues during the ongoing Spring season at Suq el-Khamis temple.

The mission of University of Leipzig in cooperation with Ministry of Antiquities is co-directed by Dr.Aiman Ashmawi and Dr.Dietrich Raue.

The statues are; one of the upper part of a limestone statue of Seti II measures about 80 cm high. 

Seti II cartouche 

 

Seti II upper statue part with inscriptions on the back reads "Mri.(f?)   Di.f snb n (hr).f  mr.f" Also the cartouche of Seti II appears on the shoulder.

The second statue is quartzite probably for Ramesses II. The statue parts were discovered so far doesn't have any inscriptions to indicate who does it belong to but it was discovered in the front of Ramesses II temple gate. The unearthed statue blocs show that it measures approx. 8 meters height including the base.

The discovered statues were submerged a meter deep in underground water.   

This morning, Dr. Khalid El=Enany attended the lifting of the parts of the colossus of Ramses II.

Dr. Khalid El-Enany, Minister of Antiquities, told Luxor Times that the one the statue is completely lifted, it will be moved to the Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM) to be included in the museum which is expected to open partially during 2018.

The minister also said that there will be a temporary exhibition at the Egyptian Museum in Tahrir very soon to show the antiquities which were discovered recently at the site of Suq el-Khamis.

#Egypt #Cairo #Archaeology #Egyptology #GEM