Colossal Statue of Egyptian Pharaoh Discovered in Mud Pit

By Rossella Lorenzi, Live Science Contributor | March 9, 2017

Archaeologists have discovered a colossal statue, possibly depicting Egyptian pharaoh Ramesses the Great, in a muddy pit in a Cairo suburb, Egypt's antiquities ministry announced today (March 9).

Split in fragments, the quartzite statue was found by Egyptian and German archaeologists in the heavily populated Ain Shams and Matariya districts, where the ancient city of Heliopolis — the cult center for sun-god worship — once stood.

Indeed, the statue was found in a courtyard near the ruins of the sun temple founded by Ramses II, better known as Ramesses the Great.

"We found two big fragments so far, covering the head and the chest," said Dietrich Raue, head of the German archaeological team that discovered the statue. "As of yet, we do not have the base and the legs as well as the kilt," Raue told Live Science.

Raue, a curator at the Egyptian Museum of the University of Leipzig, estimates that the statue is about 26 feet (8 meters) tall. Although his team did not find any artifacts or engravings that could identify the subject of the colossal sculpture, its location in front of Ramesses II's temple suggests that it could have belonged to the pharaoh.

Egypt recovers Stolen relief of King Seti I from London

A New Kingdom relief illegally smuggled out of the country has been retrieved from England

By Nevine El-Aref , Sunday 4 Oct 2015

Photocredit: Ahram Online

A limestone relief dating back to the New Kingdom period, between the 16th and 11th centuries BC, was recovered Sunday from an auction hall in London after two weeks of negotiations.

Minister of Antiquities Mamdouh Eldamaty told Ahram Online that the ministry was informed about the relief by the curator at the British Museum, Marcel Mary.

Mary sent a photograph of the piece to the ministry asking for its authenticity, as the piece was put on display in an auction hall in London.

Eldamaty assigned an archeological committee to inspect the relief. The committee later confirmed its authenticity. 

A report was then filed at Egypt’s Tourism and Antiquities police and a similar one was sent to Interpol in order to stop the sale of the relief.

Ali Ahmed, Director of the Recuperation Antiquities Department, explained that the relief was then confiscated by the British police and is due to come home next week.

He explained that the relief was stolen due to illegal excavations. The relief is engraved with a scene depicting the 19th dynasty King Seti I before goddess Hathor and god Web Wawat. It also bears hieroglyphic text and the names of several ancient Egyptian deities of Assiut governorate in Upper Egypt.

“It is a very important relief as it depicts a not yet discovered temple of king Seti I in Assiut,” Ahmed pointed out.

Source: http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/9/40/152042/Heritage/Ancient-Egypt/Egypt-recovers-Stolen-relief-of-King-Seti-I-from-L.aspx

Stanford archaeologist leads the first detailed study of human remains at the ancient Egyptian site of Deir el-Medina

By combining an analysis of written artifacts with a study of skeletal remains, Stanford postdoctoral scholar Anne Austin is creating a detailed picture of care and medicine in the ancient world.

By Barbara Wilcox 

Ancient Egyptian workers in a village that's now called Deir el-Medina were beneficiaries of what Stanford Egyptologist Anne Austin calls "the earliest documented governmental health care plan."

The craftsmen who built Egyptian pharaohs' royal tombs across the Nile from the modern city of Luxor worked under grueling conditions, but they could also take a paid sick day or visit a "clinic" for a free checkup.

For decades, Egyptologists have seen evidence of these health care benefits in the well preserved written records from the site, but Austin, a specialist in osteo-archaeology (the study of ancient bones), led the first detailed study of human remains at the site.

A postdoctoral scholar in the Department of History, Austin compared Deir el-Medina's well-known textual artifacts to physical evidence of health and disease to create a newly comprehensive picture of how Egyptian workers lived. Austin is continuing her research during her tenure as a fellow in the Andrew W. Mellon Fellowship of Scholars in the Humanities.

In skeletal remains that she found in the village's cemeteries, Austin saw "evidence for state-subsidized health care among these workers, but also significant occupational stress fueled by pressure from the state to work."

Museum Pieces - Vase dedicated to Osiris

Vase dedicated to Osiris

This vessel of red terracotta was found in the tomb of king Djer of the 1st Dynasty at Abydos; it dates from the Ramesside Period and its shape, that of the hieroglyph for 'heart', is very striking. In the centre a mummiform figure of the god Osiris, squatting on a platform, is shown. He wears the white crown, and holds the sign for 'life' (ankh) on his knees. The vertical inscriptions on either side of the god give the names and titles of the two members of the Abydos priesthood who dedicated this vase to Osiris.

Photocredit: The Global Egyptian Museum

Present location: BRUSSELS
Inventory number: E.0579
Dating: 19TH DYNASTY
Archaeological Site: UMM EL-GA`AB/UMM EL-QA`AB
Category: VASE
Material: POTTERY
Technique: FORMED BY HAND; ENGRAVED; ENGRAVED
Height: 34 cm

Translation:

High priest of Osiris, Sawypaankh
Osiris, lord of the necropolis
Godsfather, priest of Osiris and scribe of the army, Wenennefer.

Bibliography:

L. Speleers, Recueil des inscriptions égyptiennes des Musées Royaux du Cinquantenaire à Bruxelles, Bruxelles 1923, 60 nº 251
L. Limme, in Schrijfkunst uit het Oude Egypte - Écritures de l'Égypte ancienne, Bruxelles 1992, 34-35


The tomb of "Osiris"

It is sometimes difficult for us to completely comprehend the great antiquity of Egypt. Consider the fact that by Egypt's 12th Dynasty, some of the tombs of the 1st Dynasty (and earlier) kings of Egypt at Abydos were already over one thousand years old. Yet the Egyptians of that later period in the Middle Kingdom knew that Umm el Ga'ab held the gravesites of Egypt's first kings and thus, they believed, of Osiris himself. These Egyptians investigated this necropolis around the 11th Dynasty, and though we do not know what sort of evidence they used to make their selection, chose the Tomb of Djer as that of Osiris.

At first, the attention given to the tomb was limited, though we see some limited dedications such as an offering table attributable to the 11th Dynasty king Montuhotep III, and a stela fragment we believe may have been contributed by Amenemhet II. However, by the 13th Dynasty, actually as Egypt sank into the Second Intermediate Period, the site began to receive monumental attention, and even as early as the end of the 12th Dynasty, many Egyptians desired to be buried at Umm el Ga'ab. Those who could not be buried there at least wanted to leave some memorial at the site, from a simple votive stela to a full scale cenotaph tomb.

So predominant was the desire to build in this area that eventually, a King Wagaf who presumably was the founder of the 13th Dynasty, erected four stelae in order to mark the sacred area, which was the key part of the wadi leading towards the Tomb of Djer (now the Tomb of Osiris). These stelae, of which one was preserved and placed in the Egyptian Antiquity Museum in Cairo, warned against trespassing and any attempt to build in the area under penalty of death by burning. Hence, we know that people were encroaching on the sacred ground itself with their building projects. Many people came to watch an enactment of a play surrounding Osiris which is referred to as the "Passion Play", and while visiting for this purpose, attempted to obtain preferable lots of land.

From this point onward, the "Tomb of Osiris" grew in importance. Hence, King Khendjer, who ruled soon after King Wagaf, adorned the tomb with the fine basalt image of the recumbent god discovered by Emile Amelineau and Neferhotep I, who was Khendjer's fourth successor to the throne and a fairly prominent ruler for the 13th Dynasty, usurped the four Stelae erected by King Wagaf. He also left behind a sandstone stela that was unearthed by Auguste Mariette near the entrance of the Osiris temple. It describes how Neferhotep I went to the Temple of Re-Atum at Iunu (Heliopolis) to research the correct forms due to Osiris, and afterwards, made renovations deemed necessary and exhorted the Osiris priesthood to maintain them.

The popularity of Umm el Ga'ab and the "Tomb of Osiris" continued into Egypt's late antiquity, only ending with the Persian invasion, though some offerings continued to be placed here even as late as the Roman period.

Sources:
http://www.globalegyptianmuseum.org/detail.aspx?id=133
http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/djertomb.htm

Museum Pieces - Relief fragment with the head of a lady

Relief fragment with the head of a lady

Egyptian 
New Kingdom 
19th Dynasty, early 13th century BC 
Location: Location unknown

Limestone

H 22.6 cm, W 25.6 cm, D 4.4 cm 

This relief fragment probably originates from the wall of a private tomb. It shows a left-turned head of a woman. She wears a wig made of strands and braids, which partially obscure the disc-shaped earrings. To the woman's head a decorated band is wound. At the woman's forehead is a lotus flower. On the eye and brow makeup lines are attached. Under the eye with fine lines are well reproduced tears. Typical for the period of the relief is the representation of wrinkles on the neck.

Kunsthistorisches Museum Vienna, Egyptian - Oriental Collection

Inv.-Nr. AE_INV_73
Provenance: 
1821 purchase by EA Burghart in Egypt

Source: http://bilddatenbank.khm.at/viewArtefact?id=324215&image=AE_INV_73.jpg

Writing historical fiction in New Kingdom Egypt

By Colleen Manassa

The origins of Egyptian literary fiction can be found in the rollicking adventure tales and sober instructional texts of the early second millennium BCE. Tales such as the Story of Sinuhe, one of the classics of Egyptian literature, enjoyed a robust readership throughout the second millennium BCE as Egypt transitioned politically from the strongly centralized state of the Middle Kingdom and through the political changes, population movements, and strife of the Second Intermediate Period into the imperial glories of the New Kingdom (1550-1070 BCE). During the New Kingdom, particularly the Nineteenth and Twentieth Dynasties, the “Ramesside Period,” another literary efflorescence occurred. Among the genres of this new corpus of literary productions are stories that can be most properly described as works of “historical fiction.” Set in the past with attested historical characters, these works of historical fiction are an ancient Egyptian counterpart, albeit ultimately unrelated, to the mammoth corpus of modern historical fiction from Sir Walter Scott, Patrick O’Brien, and George McDonald Frasier to Ken Follett and Philippa Gregory.

Historical fiction in New Kingdom Egypt has never been identified as its own genre, but in identifying it as such, stories that represent this period in history are brought to life. Ancient evidence used to resurrect the plots and characters range from straightforward archaeological excavation to a diverse array of historical texts to an actual royal mummy, whose violent death portends the ending of one tale.

Life-size statue of king Ramses II found in Sharkiya

Newly unearthed statue of king Ramsess II in Tel-Basta suggests that Nile Delta town was home to great nineteenth dynasty temple

by Nevine El-Aref , Thursday 3 Oct 2013

Photocredit: http://english.ahram.org.eg/

A German-Egyptian excavation mission in the Nile Delta town of Tel-Basta unearthed today a life-size statue of the nineteenth dynasty king Ramses II carved in red granite.

The statue, at 195cm high and 160cm wide, was found accidently during a routine excavation carried out by the joint mission.  It was discovered in the so-called Great Temple area's eastern side, inside the temple of cat goddess Bastet in Sharkiya's Tel-Basta.

Antiquities minister Mohamed Ibrahim explained that the newly-discovered statue depicts king Ramses II standing between the goddess Hathor and the god Petah. On its back, Ibrahim continued, a hieroglyphic text and the cartouche of the king are engraved.

Mohamed Abdel Maqsoud, head of the Ministry of State of Antiquities' (MSA) Ancient Egyptian department, added that the mission uncovered another statue carved in sand stone which depicts a yet-unidentified New Kingdom top official. A hieroglyphic text offering the statue to the goddesses bastet and sekhmet and the god horakhti is engraved on its back. This statue is 35cm in height and 25cm in width, according to Abdel Maqsoud.

"This is a very important discovery that sheds light on the history of Tel-Basta in general and on this area in particular," Abdel Maqsoud told Ahram Online. He added that the discovery, in addition to previous finds in the area, suggests that Tel-Basta was once home to a New Kingdom temple dedicated to King Ramses II, which might be uncovered in the future.

Source: http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/9/40/83133/Heritage/Ancient-Egypt/Lifesize-statue-of-king-Ramses-II-found-in-Sharkiy.aspx

A Forgotten Female Pharaoh Comes to Life

by Margaret Regan

If Richard Wilkinson has his way, one day the Egyptian Queen Tausert will be as well-known as Nefertiti.

For the last six years, Wilkinson and the other archaeologists in his University of Arizona Egyptian expedition have been excavating Tausert’s mortuary temple in Egypt’s Valley of the Kings.

Unlike Nefertiti, who was the queen consort of the Pharaoh Akhenaten, Tausert was herself a pharaoh. It was extremely rare for a woman to rule in Ancient Egypt — only a handful reigned during the 4,000 years the civilization lasted — but Tausert was king in the 19th dynasty, around 1200 B.C. Knowledge of her largely disappeared after her death, and her story has long been buried in the Egyptian sands.

“We’re bringing the queen back,” Wilkinson says animatedly in his office in the UA Department of Classics. “It’s important we bring her back from oblivion. We’re bringing her back into history.”

Named a Regents’ professor in 2008, the renowned Egyptologist has been at the UA for 21 years, first in the former humanities program, then in classics, and now in the new School of Anthropology. He also has an affiliation with the Department of Near Eastern Studies.

Wilkinson is known as a charismatic teacher — his classics colleague and fellow Regents’ Professor David Soren calls him a Pied Piper — and ever since he arrived at the UA in 1989, he’s led his students on his excavations in Egypt’s Valley of the Kings. For more than two decades, he’s spent winter breaks and scorching summers digging in the valley, across the Nile River from Luxor, known as Thebes in ancient days.

The drama of Ancient Egypt’s 19th dynasty

by Thoraia Abou Bakr  /   April 4, 2013

Lecture explores the drama of Ancient Egypt’s New Kingdom and the convoluted schemes for the throne


Most people are aware of Ancient Egypt’s rich, compelling history and culture, but have no knowledge of the period’s fascinating political dramas. On Tuesday 2 April, Dr Aidan Dodson gave a lecture at the American University in Cairo on the royal family after the death of Ramses II. Therein lies a drama worthy of an Emmy and better than any soap opera.

Dr Dodson points out that before the 19th Dynasty little focus was put on members of the royal family other than the king and queen. Even their offspring did not appear on tomb and temple carvings. However, starting from the 19th Dynasty, Ramses II appeared with his sons in battle on the walls of Beit-Al-Wali.

After the death of Ramses II, his thirteenth son Merneptah ruled briefly, as all his elder brothers had died. He was followed by his son Seti II, who reportedly had two wives, Takhat and Twosret, whom he married before being overthrown.  It was then that particularly intense competition over the throne began. The competition was between Seti II and Amenmesse, believed to be the son of Merneptah and Takhat.

The only existing statue, a bust of Amenmesse, is in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. The rest of the statue is believed to be at Karnak. The name of Takhat is engraved on it, accompanied by a symbol of a vulture, meaning mother. It is believed that Amenmesse was the viceroy of Nubia. The symbol was then altered to read “wife” when Seti II reinstated himself as king.

Dynasties Of Egypt Part IV: New Kingdom and Third Intermediate Period

The New Kingdom, sometimes referred to as the Egyptian Empire, is the period in ancient Egyptian history between the 16th century BC and the 11th century BC, covering the Eighteenth, Nineteenth, and Twentieth Dynasties of Egypt. 

The New Kingdom (1570–1070 BC) followed the Second Intermediate Period and was succeeded by the Third Intermediate Period. It was Egypt’s most prosperous time and marked the zenith of its power.

Possibly as a result of the foreign rule of the Hyksos during the Second Intermediate Period, the New Kingdom saw Egypt attempt to create a buffer between the Levant and Egypt, and attained its greatest territorial extent. It expanded far south into Nubia and held wide territories in the Near East. Egyptian armies fought Hittite armies for control of modern-day Syria.

The Eighteenth Dynasty contained some of Egypt's most famous pharaohs including Ahmose I, Hatshepsut, Thutmose III, Amunhotep III, Akhenaten and Tutankhamun.

The founder of the Eighteenth Dynasty, Ahmose I (reign 1550-1525 BC) had a turbulent childhood. At the age of seven, his father Seqenenre Tao II was killed, probably while putting down members of the Asiatic tribe known as Hyskos, who were rebelling against the Thebean Royal House in Lower Egypt. At the age of ten, he saw his brother Kamose die of unknown causes after reigning for only three years. 

The 19th Dynasty (1295 - 1186 BC)

After the recovery from the religious revolution, Egypt was a changed world. It is not easy to define the exact nature of the changes, since there are many exceptions. Yet, it is impossible not to notice the marked deterioration of the art, the literature, and indeed the general culture of the people. The language which they wrote approximates more

 closely to the vernacular and incorporates many foreign words. The copies of ancient texts are incredibly careless, as if the scribes utterly failed to understand their meaning. At Thebes the tombs no longer display the bright and happy scenes of everyday life which characterized Dyn. XVIII, but concentrate rather upon the perils to be faced in the hereafter. The judgment of the heart before Osiris is a favorite theme, and the Book of Gates illustrates the obstacles to be encountered during the nightly journey through the Netherworld. The less frequent remains from Memphis show reliefs of only slightly greater elegance. The temples elsewhere depict upon their walls many vivid representations of warfare, but the workmanship is relatively coarse and the explanatory legends are often more adulatory that informative. In spite of all, Egypt still presents an aspect of wonderful grandeur, which the greater abundance of this period's monuments makes better known to the present-day tourist than the far finer products of earlier times.

Ancient Egyptian limestone relief found at Cairo home

A limestone relief from the era of Ramses II has been found at a residential home in the Matariya area of Cairo


Nevine El-Aref , Saturday 14 Jul 2012

A rectangular shaped limestone relief from the era of 19th Dynasty King Ramses II was found by chance at a residential home at Hesn Al-Arab district in Matariya area in Cairo.

The relief is broken in two pieces and engraved with hieroglyphic text saying, “King of Upper and Lower Egypt, the master of both lands, Ramses II.”

Youssef Khalifa, head of confiscated antiquities at the Ministry of State for Antiquities (MSA), said the story started three days ago when a home owner in Hesn Al-Arab complained to the Matariya local government that his home was deteriorating and that he need help with its renovation.

Police embarked on an inspection, to verify the deterioration, but turned their attention to a neighbouring house when they found evidence of illicit excavation by its owner. While searching, officers found the relief along with digging tools and geographical measuring equipment. The police confiscated the instruments and the relief and apprehended the home's owner.

Khalifa told Ahram Online that an archaeological committee has verified the authenticity of the relief and early studies on it reveal that it could be part of the lintel of a false door to a tomb.

The relief is now at the Egyptian Museum for restoration before being put on display.

Source: http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/9/40/47659/Heritage/Ancient-Egypt/Ancient-Egyptian-limestone-relief-found-at-Cairo-h.aspx

From the Sands of Egypt

By Michael Gordon   Fri, Apr 13, 2012

The discovery of the world's largest trove of ancient writings has opened an unparalleled window on a vanished world.

El-Behnesa, Egypt, 1896. There was little to see. It was a landscape of windblown sand surrounding a sleepy arab village. But for Bernard P. Grenfell and Arthur S. Hunt, young English scholars of classicism from the Queen's College in Oxford, there was something about the place that screamed at them. Set astride a small river that anciently served as a canal of the Nile, they knew it was the location of two ancient cities, the more ancient called Per-Medjed, a capital of the Egyptian 19th Dynasty, and the younger called Oxyrhynchus Polis (meaning "City of the Sharp-Nosed Fish"), a Greco-Roman town initially under the Ptolemaic rulership of 3rd-1st century B.C. Egypt. Now, only a lone well-weathered Greek column, a few traces of stone and banks of sand hinted at an ancient presence. This place was nothing like the visual splendor that greeted explorers and adventurers at sites like Luxor, Giza, and Abu Simbel.

  

But Grenfell and Hunt were not interested in architecture. They were interested in researching ancient papyri, and having recently excavated in the Fayum area, the region surrounding the well-known ancient Egyptian site of Crocodilios, they had hopes that this new, relatively obscure site might yield something significant. 

Rare Find in Jerusalem Reflects Ancient Connections with Egypt

Discovery of a rare ancient Egyptian scarab during excavations in Jerusalem provides a glimpse into the Late Bronze Age city.

For archaeologists and students of archaeology, hearing the name "Jerusalem" conjures up images of ancient artifacts that can be found in few other places in the world. But recent archaeological excavations there have uncovered something that has not been commonly found.

Directed by Israeli archaeologists Eli Shukron and Joe Uziel under the sponsorship of the Israel Antiquities Authority, excavations have recovered an ancient Egyptian scarab dated to the 13th century B.C.E. (the Late Bronze Age). Found within the City of David National Park, which is situated within the most ancient part of Jerusalem, the scarab is attributed to Egypt's 19th Dynasty, a period of Egyptian hegemony over the city that was actually a Jebusite settlement at the time. The Jebusites were a tribe of Canaanites that built and developed Jerusalem before its conquest by King David during the 10th century, according to the Biblical account.  

Detail view of the scarab. Photo credit Vladimir Neihin

"This is the first time we've found a scarab of this kind in the City of David," said Shukron. "The seal is from the late Bronze period, during which time the land of Israel was under Egyptian rule. It's exciting and interesting to have discovered this unique artifact, and it gives us a glimpse into Jerusalem during that era." 

A scarab is a small, usually oval-shaped Egyptian gem-like amulet or miniature seal. The scarab found during these excavations served as a seal and was used to stamp documents. A centimeter and a half in length and made of soft gray stone, It bears the name, in Egyptian hieroglyphic writing, of the sun god Amon-Ra, one of Egypt's most important deities. It also bears the image of a duck, interpreted to be one of the sun god's symbols. 

The scarab is dated to a time that some scholars suggest corresponds to the time of the Hebrew Exodus from Egypt. The 13th century was also a time when Egypt ruled or controlled most of the (present-day Israel, Gaza, and West Bank) land that was occupied by the ancient Canaanites. 

The find was reported in an April 6, 2012 article published in the news venue, Israel Hayom.

Source: http://popular-archaeology.com/issue/march-2012/article/rare-find-in-jerusalem-reflects-ancient-connections-with-egypt

Reign of Pharaoh Thutmose II suggests crisis

Harvard University educated archaeologist and president of the Paleontological Research Corporation, Dr. Joel Klenck, states an array of archaeological discoveries evidence a crisis during the reign of the Egyptian Pharaoh Thutmose II (ca. 1,492-1,479 B.C.) in the Eighteenth Dynasty.
An inscription by the succeeding Pharaoh Hatshepsut (ca. 1,479-1,457 B.C.) in her Underground Temple at Speos Artemidos states that Egypt was “ruined” and “had gone to pieces” before the beginning of her reign. Hatshepsut’s inscription also states that a population of “vagabonds” emerged from former Asiatic populations that once controlled northern Egypt and caused this ruination. Hatshepsut notes these vagabonds were responsible for “overthrowing that which had been made”.

Klenck comments, “The reign of Thutmose II ended between 79 and 86 years after Seqenenre Tao II (ca. 1,560-1,555 B.C.) began to reconquer northern Egypt from foreign Hyksos populations, who controlled Egypt during the Second Intermediate Period (ca. 1,650-1,550 B.C.). Egyptian texts are clear that the son of Tao II, Ahmose I, conquered the Hyksos and captured their capital at Avaris around 1,550 B.C. Yet, this inscription by Hatshepsut notes another population remained in Egypt from ‘the midst’ of the ‘Asiatics’ and ruined Egypt ‘down to my majesty’ or before the beginning of her reign.”

Further, there is evidence that disease affected the royal court before the reign of Hatshepsut. The mummy of Thutmose II is the only corpse of a pharaoh during the Eighteenth Dynasty covered with cysts from an unknown malady. These lesions coat the back, waist, arms and legs of Thutmose II and exhibit a mixture of papules, scabs and scars up to several centimeters in length. These cysts also cover the corpse of the wet-nurse Sitre-In, who was probably unrelated to the royal lineage. In addition, Hatshepsut and her successor, Thutmose III (ca. 1,457-1,425 B.C.), bear traces of the disease suggesting their skin healed after a period of time. Recent DNA evidence suggests that Thutmose III might not be related to Thutmose II. That Sitre-In and Thutmose III show evidence of this disease suggests the disease was not hereditary but widely affected Thutmose II and his court.