From lost statues of kings found in pits, to mysterious hidden chambers, here are 9
amazing recent discoveries from ancient Egypt.
9.
Egypt’s Most Influential Pharaoh Last year, in 2017, National Geographic reported
that archaeologists from Egypt and Germany had discovered a huge eight-metre statue submerged
in ground water in Cairo.
The statue at first was believed to depict Pharaoh Ramses II, who ruled Egypt over 3,000
years ago and was one of the country’s most powerful leaders.
It is being praised as one of the most important historical findings in Egypt to date because
it depicts one of the most famous rulers in history and the archaeologists believed that
it was similar to other statues of Ramses.
The discovery was made near the ruins of Ramses II's temple in the ancient city of Heliopolis,
in the eastern part of modern-day Cairo.
The problem is that industrial waste, rubble, and sewage is making excavation of the site
difficult.
Pharaoh Ramses II ruled Egypt from 1279 to 1213 B.C., making his 60-year-long-rule one
of the longest in ancient Egypt.
His military exploits expanded Egypt's reach as far east as modern Syria and as far south
as modern Sudan.
As Egypt saw a flood of prosperity during his ruling, he was given the title ‘Ramses
the Great’.
At the same time, architects also found the upper part of a life-sized limestone statue
of Pharaoh Seti II, Ramses II's grandson.
Ancient Egyptians believed Heliopolis was the place where the sun god lives, and all
statues were built here.
Now, visitors can see the statue of Pharaoh Ramses II in the Grand Egyptian Museum which
opened in 2018.
But, here’s the catch- as scientists have studied the statue more, Egyptian antiquities
officials now believe it is of King Psammetich I, who ruled Egypt from 664 to 610 BC.
This would place it in the late period, but don’t be too disappointed.
Because that means it is the largest statue from the Late Period to ever be discovered.
8.
Elite Tombs in Luxor The discovery of two ancient tombs in the
southern city of Luxor surprised the world and brought new buzz to Egypt in 2017.
Located in the the Draa Abul Naga necropolis, this area is famous for its temples and burial
grounds.
It is close to the Valley of the Kings where many of ancient Egypt's pharaohs were buried.
Archaeologists discovered the tombs in the 1990’s but kept them sealed until now!
They were found to be 3,500 years old.
Inside, one tomb had a courtyard with mud and stone walls as well as a tunnel connected
to four additional chambers.
The decorations on the walls suggested that the elite Egyptian was buried there during
the 18th dynasty, either during the rule of King Amenhotep II or King Thutmose IV.
The second tomb had five entrances, with each leading to the same rectangular room.
The grave a bandaged mummy whose identity is yet to be officially announced.
Experts say it could be a person named Djehuty Mes, whose name is engraved on one of the
walls, or it could be a scribe called Maati whose name is written on funerary cones.
It is also believed the mummy could have been a senior official from Egypt's "New Kingdom".
. Alongside the mummy, the tombs were crammed
with ceramics, including 450 statues.
The name of King Thutmose I was also engraved on the ceiling.
The other tomb is still being excavated.
7.
A Nubian King In 2008, the remains of a mysterious 2,600-year-old
statue were discovered in a temple at Dangeil, along the Nile River in Sudan.
However, archeologists found only parts of the statue, which meant they could not identify
who it was until years later.
The temple where the remains were found are believed to have once been dedicated to the
Egyptian god Amun.
Along with this, other items found in the tomb included figurines, wooden masks and
richly coloured wall paintings.
In 2017, though, archaeologists made a breakthrough!!
After 11 years of digging, more pieces of the statue were found with hieroglyphic inscriptions.
These clues revealed that the statue depicted Aspelta, a ruler of the Kush kingdom between
593 BC and 568 BC.
Aspelta is one of the best known kings of Kush, an ancient kingdom in Nubia, which ruled
over Egypt from 744 to 656 BC.
It is believed Aspelta had several wives, but I am not even going to try to pronounce
their names.
He may have also been married to his sister Madiqen, because as you know by now, that’s
what pharaohs did.
When translated, the inscription on his statue revealed he was “beloved of a god” and
“given all life stability and dominion forever.”
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6.
The Ankhesenpepi Pyramid Archaeologists have discovered the first evidence
of a long-lost satellite pyramid for the ancient Egyptian Queen Ankhesenpepi II.
She was considered the most important Egyptian queen of the 6th Dynasty around 2,350 BC.
She and her sister Ankhesenpepi I were both married to Pharaoh Pepi I.
While the names might seem like a huge coincidence, it is most likely that they both took on the
same name when they married.
Ankhesenpepi the second’s son Pepi II became ruler at 6 years old, she became the guardian
of the throne.
According to an ancient historian, Pepi II ruled for 94 years!
The upper tier of the ancient granite pyramidion was discovered in 2017 by Swiss-French archaeologists
from the University of Geneva, who were excavating near the Saqqara necropolis, a vast ancient
burial ground about 20 miles south of Cairo.
The Queen’s burial chamber was uncovered in 1963, followed by her pyramid in 1998,
However, archaeologists were still searching for evidence of the smaller satellite pyramids
normally built nearby.
It is believed it was once covered in gold or copper, a technique used to allow the top
of the structure to glint in the sun.
The same team discovered a gigantic obelisk with her name on it, and get this, a 4,000-year-old
statue of her head made of wood.
The statue of the Queen’s head was carved to about human-size proportions, although
with an extremely long neck that stretched about 30 centimeters!
The ears are decorated with wooden earrings but of course, since it is made of wood, it
is in pretty rough shape and will need to be reconstructed.
Finding statues made of wood that are over 4,000 years old are pretty rare!!
5.
Remains of a Musician In Timna, Israel, archaeologists discovered
the mysterious remains of a pregnant woman from 3,200 years ago.
This biblical-era site supposedly never had any female visitors and during the time of
her death the place was controlled by Egypt.
This discovery last year challenged the historical understanding of experts.
When uncovered, the young mother’s torso, arms, and head were all missing, likely the
result of looting.
It was the Egyptian glass beads found with the bottom half of her body that helped to
establish her origin.
Timna was a copper mine for thousands of years and archaeologists haven’t found human remains
there in decades.
There are ancient Egyptian temples at the mines but it was considered an inhospitable
area since there was no water.
These are the first female remains found in Timna, and it was believed that women never
took the long journey to the mine so everyone was very surprised.
It is still a mystery as to why this young female was in Timna at the time of death,
however It has been suggested that she could have been a musician or a singer, performing
in the temples.
Her grave was found close to a temple dedicated to Hathor, the Egyptian goddess of mining,
women, and music and only people of importance were buried there.
Sadly, her story of how she died so young and with child remains a mystery that is unlikely
to be solved.
4.
The Statue of Ptah In 2014, archaeologists discovered a pit full
of ancient goodies!
Among them, a statue of the Egyptian God Ptah, alongside a beautiful carved cat, a sphinx,
and a Baboon.
Ptah was the god of craftsmen and sculptors and was worshipped in a temple at Karnak.
The archeologists first discovered a pit, then realized there were objects buried in
a certain order, meaning that it was a burial ground for sacred objects that were no longer
in use.
The lower part of Ptah’s limestone statue would have needed 2 or 3 people to carry it
since it was so large.
This statue was buried with other revered statues once they had been too damaged by
use and food and other offerings that were placed on them in the temple.
At the end of their respected lifetime these objects would be given a respectful burial
too once they were no longer used by the ancient Egyptians.
Dozens of smaller statues of other Egyptian Gods were also found amongst the items, including
Mut and Osiris.
Osiris was the God of rebirth, while Mut was the Goddess of the Sky, the divine mother
goddess and Queen of the Goddesses.
The statue of Ptah had likely sat in the temple for years, but once it was damaged, it was
placed with all of these companions to prepare the pit for the Ptah statue’s rebirth.
3.
Tutankhamen’s Camping Bed When famous archaeologist Howard Carter discovered
King Tut’s tomb in 1922, he also discovered some furniture in his treasury.
While this might not sound that exciting compared to everything that was found, it definitely
deserves its own mention.
He found 5 beds but one was very unique, and had never been seen before.
It was comfortable and elegant with sophisticated technology.
It was a fold-up cot.
In 2017, the mysterious artifact underwent its first scientific analysis in Tokyo, (as
you know it wasn’t the priority in 1922!!
).
The king’s camping bed folded in three ways, contracting into a tight Z shape – making
this piece of furniture the first folding mechanism of its kind.
No other pharaoh has been found to have this kind of bed.
One of the researchers Naoko Nishimoto, from the University in Tokyo described the bed
as an ingenious feat, with hinges over the legs and they could see the trial and error
process King Tut’s designers had gone through.
Pretty amazing for being over 3,000 years old!!
Researchers believe that Tutankhamen’s frail body usually prevented him from going on extremely
long journeys or hunts but that he must have loved doing it so much that someone made this
special camping bed for him so he could still travel and stay outside.
2.
A Hidden Chamber After years of analysis and exploration, researchers
believed they had uncovered every secret hidden inside the pyramid of Giza, however in 2017
a new chamber was revealed!
This 4500-year-old monument and wonder of the world has much more to share.
Researchers used muon detectors, the by-product of cosmic rays to reveal the unidentified
chamber.
Previously, findings showed that there were three major areas within the pyramid.
These are the King’s chamber, the Queen’s chamber, and the Grand Gallery.
Yet, this new breakthrough chamber was discovered after scanning through the rocks with subatomic
particles.
While researchers are unsure of the exact size of the newly found space, they have concluded
that it is similar to the size of the Grand Gallery (which has a length of 154 feet and
a height of 28 feet) and around 68 feet above the ground level.
However, they are still unsure of what the chamber was used for.
This discovery also leads to the question of whether there are other things still hidden
in the pyramid.
The priority for everyone is to use non-invasive techniques to learn even more.
It is the first major discovery in the pyramids since the 19th century.
Now French researchers from the ScanPyramids project are building an exploration robot
that will squeeze into a long narrow passage and then inflate like a blimp.
Finally thanks to the Heritage Innovation Preservation Institute, we will be able to
see what’s inside!!
1.
The Two Brothers In 1907, the findings of two mystery mummies
left researchers perplexed for decades, but now, thanks to DNA sequencing, scientist have
finally solved the mystery!!
The pair’s burial site was discovered in, a village 250 miles south of Cairo.
They were found by Egyptian workmen directed by early 20th century Egyptologists, Flinders
Petrie and Ernest Mackay.
The mummies lay side by side for 4,000 years in richly decorated tombs, suggesting they
were noblemen but everyone was debating whether or not they were related.
Historians discovered their names to be Khnum-Nakht and Nakht-Ankh, and the pair became known
as the Two Brothers.
When the two brothers were shipped to Manchester, England in 1908 they were unwrapped by the
first female professional Egyptologist, Dr. Margaret Murray.
She concluded that the skeletons were quite different and were most likely not related.
100 years after the original finding, scientists from the University of Manchester extracted
genetic material from the molars.
Thanks to DNA they were finally able to determine that the men in fact did share a mother, however
they had different fathers.
Dr. Konstantina Drosou who conducted the DNA sequencing said that she was grateful to add
a small but important piece to the big history puzzle and that the brothers would be proud!