Travel News about Egypt for Archaeology Buffs
53 archaeological rock tombs found in Fayyoum
Culture Minister Farouq Hosni said that the Egyptian archaeological mission of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, SCA, working in southwestern El Lahun pyramid in Fayyoum discovered on Sunday 12/4/2009 a cemetery of 53 tons engraved inside rocks.
Farouq Hosni pointed out the tombs have different architectural designs. And the cemetery dates back to three different dynasties, he said.
The Supreme Council of Antiquities Secretary General Zahi Hawwas said that each tomb has a burial chamber with a colored wooden casket inside that protects a mummy covered with flax and cartonage with scriptures written on them.
Some of the tombs have more than one casket,he said, adding that one of the tombs has a group of wooden caskets stacked on top of each other that seemed to have caught fire during the Christian eras.
The mission also found 15 colored masks and a number of amulets and clay utensils, he added.
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Discovering 2nd face for Nefertiti encourages Egypt to restore 2 statues for the beautiful Queen
Secretary General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, Dr. Zahi Hawass, described on 1/4/2009 the discovery of a second hiding face for Queen Nefertiti behind the face of the famous statue of the beautiful Queen which is currently located in the Egyptian Museum in the German capital, Berlin as a major event that shows the creativity of the ancient Egyptian artist.
He said that it is a great thing for the modern science to discover that the statue of Nefertiti is made of the limestone, where it was thought that it was made of the gypsum.
It was discovered that there was a gypsum mask that hides another limestone face.
He said that this discovery would make Egypt urges the Germans to restore two statues for Nefertiti and not one statue as was in the past.
These statues of Nefertiti will join her husband King Akhnaton in his museum in Menia governorate.
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27 graves, gold mask of Mark Anthony detected
An Egyptian – Dominican archaeological mission has discovered new leads that could help in detecting the burial place of legendary Queen Cleopatra of Egypt and her Roman lover Mark Antony.
The mission has uncovered an alabaster head of the last Queen of Egypt in addition to 22 bronze coins bearing her face and a headless statue of the queen and another mask that could probably be that of Mark Antony, said Zahi Hawwas, The most important find made by the expedition was the discovery of a large graveyard outside a temple called Tabusiris Magna, which lies 30 kilometers from the port city of Alexandria in northern Egypt, he said.
So far 27 tombs have been unearthed in the area, besides burial chambers and 10 mummies, he added.
The place seems to have been a cemetery for nobility and senior employees during the Ptolemaic era in the history of ancient Egypt, he said.
New Kingdom Temple Discovered in the Sinai
An archaeological mission sponsored by Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA) has discovered the remains of a large New Kingdom temple in the area of Tell Hebua in the Sinai. Excavators have found inscriptions in the temple dating to the reign of Thutmose II (ca. 1516-1504 BC) through that of Ramesses II (1304-1237 BC).
Zahi Hawass, Secretary General of the SCA, described the discovery as one of the most important ever made in the Sinai. It is the largest temple known in the region. It is built of mud brick, and surrounded by a 4 meter-thick wall. It consists of four rectangular halls containing a total of 34 columns decorated with images of ancient Egyptian deities, including Horus, Hathor, Tefnut, Montu, and Renenutet. The temple also contains images of Thutmose II and Ramesses II.
Early studies of the temple indicate that it was an important religious center for Egypt’s eastern border region. Its walls were brightly painted, and it housed three limestone purification basins along with a number of chapels.
The team found two groups of storehouses consisting of 13 rooms each. These storehouses probably date to the reigns of kings Seti I (ca. 1314-1304 BC), Ramsess II and Seti II (ca. 1315-1215 BC).
May 11, 2009
Posted in: Egypt