new discoveries 2018
Cat, Cobra and Scarab Mummies Discovered in Saqqara Tombs
An Egyptian archaeological mission uncovered seven ancient Egyptian tombs, replete with animal mummies, in the Saqqara necropolis.
The tombs belong to the New Kingdom tombs re-used in the Late period
They are located near King Userkaf’s (fifth dynasty) pyramid in Saqqara.
Among the discoveries, the Ministry announced the particularly intriguing retrieval of several cat mummies, the first ever scarab mummies in the necropolis, amulets, canopic jars and statuettes.
stated that the two large mummies, which were preserved in their linen wrapping in good condition, were found in a rectangular limestone sarcophagus adorned with painted scarabs.
Over 100 wooden statues of cats were found, one of which having been dedicated to the feline goddess Bastet, along with several cat mummies.
There were also cobra mummies tucked in their own sarcophagi, as well as crocodiles.
Mummification refers to the artificial preservation of a human being or animal. Ancient Egyptians believed that the soul of the deceased in the afterlife, accordingly, loved ones, including pets, were mummified.
There were different reasons to mummify animals, including as food offerings to the gods, the mummification of sacred creatures, preservation of pets, and as votive offerings.
The mission also retrieved approximately faience amulets depicting various gods such as Anubis, Khum and Tawsret among others.
Amulets were little jewelry objects placed on the mummies to, in accordance with ancient Egyptian belief, protect the dead in the afterlife or heal certain body parts.
A 5000 years old cheese
A few years ago, a team of archaeologists cleaning sand from an ancient Egyptian tomb discovered a group of broken jars, one of them containing a mysterious white substance. The team had guesses as to what the material might be, but a new analysis published in the journal Analytical Chemistry offers an answer: What they found during that excavation was an approximately 3,200-year-old piece of cheese, one of the oldest solid specimens discovered. “The archaeologists suspected it was food, according to the conservation method and the position of the finding inside the tomb, but we discovered it was cheese after the first tests,” Enrico Greco
The tomb in which the cheese was found belonged to Ptahmes, a high-ranking Egyptian official in the 13th century B.C. and the former mayor of the ancient city of Memphis, according to the paper. His burial site was first unearthed in 1885, but was lost to shifting sands until its rediscovery in 2010.
The ancient cheese, which was sometimes included in the feasts buried alongside wealthy Egyptians, was probably similar in consistency to chevre, but with a “really, really acidy” bite, according to Paul Kindstedt, a professor at the University of Vermont who studies the chemistry and history of cheese. “It would be high in moisture; it would be spreadable,” he said. “It would not last long; it would spoil very quickly.”
And while the sample retrieved by Dr. Greco’s colleagues may be old, others have discovered traces of ancient cheese or yogurt (the two can be difficult to distinguish) that long predate even the recent finding, Dr. Kindstedt said.
“Other groups have done a lot of work with extracting lipid residues, fat residues, from ancient pots going back as far as 7000 B.C.,” he said. In fact, in 1942, a team of researchers reported a finding not dissimilar to that of Dr. Greco and his colleagues, Dr. Kindstedt pointed out. In a journal article, they described finding a substance in ancient Egyptian jars that they suspected to be cheese dating back to 3200 B.C. The samples, they wrote, had “no smell and only a dusty taste.” But even if the cheese Dr. Greco tested isn’t the oldest ever found, the findings stand out for another reason: the application of a state-of-the-art protein analysis. “As I say to my students every year when I get to Egypt, someone has to go ahead and analyze these residues with modern capabilities,” said Dr. Kindstedt, who added that he plans to use Dr. Greco’s paper in his teachings this fall. “This is a logical next step and I think you’re going to see a lot more of this.
In their analysis, Dr. Greco and his colleagues found hundreds of peptides, or chains of amino acids. Most were human and represented skin and saliva contamination, but, crucially, nine were linked to bovine or ovine milk.
black granite sarcophagus in Alexandria
The sarcophagus caused controversy in the media since the announcement of its discovery.
What was found inside was certainly not expected after all the anticipation.
It was filled with sewer water and contains 3 skeletons.
Shaban Abd Monem, specialist in mummies at the Ministry said “Preliminary examination suggests the skeletons belong to 3 army officers, one of them his skull shows an injury of an arrow.
The skeletons will be taken to the storerooms of Alexandria National Museum for further studies and dating. As for the sarcophagus, after initial restoration, it will be moved to the storerooms.
July A mummification workeshop was found near Cairo
Egyptian archaeologists have discovered an ancient mummification workshop dating back to more than 2,500 years.
Specialist stumbled across the find near Egypt's famed pyramids at an ancient necropolis south of Cairo.
The discovery includes a mummification workshop and a shaft, which was used as a communal burial place, and is located at the Saqqara necropolis of Memphis - the first capital of ancient Egypt.
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The site, which lies south of the Unas pyramid, was last excavated more than 100 years ago, in 1900.
In the mummification workshop, which belongs to the Saite-Persian Period, from 664-404 B.C , an embalmer's cachette holding a large collection of pottery vessels, bowls and measuring cups were found.
Some of these are believed to be canopic jars - which were used to store and dry bodily organs after they had been removed from the corpse.
Other cups may have been used to hold the embalming fluid used to preserve the body.
A number of mummies were discovered inside the workshop, one of which was wearing the gilded death mask
Archaeologists believe the findings could reveal what kind of oils were used in the mummification process in the 26th Dynasty.
'We are in front of a goldmine of information about the chemical composition of these oils,' said Ramadan Hussein, the head of the German-Egyptian mission, at the press conference.
Among the artifacts found were fragments of mummy cartonnages, canopic cylindrical jars and marl clay and faience cups.
Archaeologists hope the find will reveal more about the secrets of mummification, including what kinds of oils were used to preserve the bodies
Reporters gather around the recently discovered gilded mummy death mask mask found inside the workshop
Archaeologists also found a gilded silver mask on the face of a mummy in a badly-damaged wooden coffin.
The mask, the first to be discovered since 1939, belongs to a priest.
'The finding of this mask could be called a sensation,' Hussein said.
'Very few masks of precious metals have been preserved to the present day, because the tombs of most Ancient Egyptian dignitaries were looted in ancient times.'
Down the 30-meter-deep shaft is a host of burial chambers carved into the bedrock lining the sides of two hallways. There lie several mummies, wooden coffins and sarcophagi.
may
an excavation mission from Cairo University uncovered the tomb of top army commander Urkhya during the period of King Ramsses II.
The head of the Mission Ola al-Aguizy said in a statement that the tomb is large in size and has retained many important inscriptions indicating the seniority of its owner.
It displays on its walls a scene depicting an army of infantry and cavalry in a military campaign heading to outside the borders of eastern Egypt through the borders of a fortified city.
The statement said that the tomb included the names of some members of the Urkhya family, including his son and grandchildren, who were also holding important military titles, indicating that they all belonged to a family of the military class in the modern state.
Aguizy said that the mission also found a large number of carved stone blocks, which were detached from the walls of the tomb, probably through theft attempts in the 19th century, or by influences of climate change.
She pointed out that Urkhya, owner of the tomb, began his military career in the reign of King kings Sethi I, the father of King Ramsses II, and held the highest military positions in the reign of King Ramsses II; one of these positions was the supervisor of the property of King Ramsses II in his temple known as the Ramesseum, located in the Theban necropolis in Upper Egypt, across the River Nile from the modern city of Luxor.
April
A Greaco-Roman Temple in Siwa
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.
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 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.
Feb.
an Old Kingdom tomb of a lady called “Hetpet” a priestess of the Goddess Hathor Goddess of motherhood , beauty and music . who was a high official in the royal palace during the end of the fifth Dynasty 2490 B.C. . has been found near Giza .
The tomb has very distinguished wall paintings in a very good conservation condition depicting “Hetpet” standing in different hunting and fishing scenes or sitting before a large offering table receiving offerings from her children.
Scenes of reaping fruits, melting metals and the fabrication of leather and papyri boats as well as musical and dancing performances are also shown on walls.
Among the most distinguished paintings in the tomb are those depicting two monkeys in two different positions. The first scene shows a monkey reaping fruits while the second displays a monkey dancing in front of an orchestra.
