Polish archaeologists studied a unique necropolis in Egypt

Polish scientists studied a cemetery from the times of the reign XXIII and XXV Dynasty (VIII - VII century BC) in Egypt. The royal necropolis is located in the ... temple of Hatshepsut.

Archaeologists have summed up the 10-year study of an unusual cemetery, which was founded in the times of unrest in Egypt - the so-called Third Intermediate Period, when the power in Egypt was taken over by the kings who came from Libya, and then from the Nubian kingdom of Kush, which is today's Sudan. The latter were described as "black pharaohs".

Even before the year 900 BC, Hatshepsut temple was destroyed by great cataclysm. Probably as a result of an earthquake, hundreds of tons of debris fell on the sanctuary from the surrounding hills. The famous temples of Karnak and Luxor located on the east bank of the Nile also sustained serious damage.

"Members of the royal family - XXIII and XXV dynasty - took advantage of the situation. They consciously decided to build tombs on the upper terrace of the ruins of the Temple of Hatshepsut" - told PAP Dr. Zbigniew Szafrański, leader of the Polish-Egyptian restoration and archaeological mission in the temple of the famous queen. According to the researcher, even after its destruction the temple considered a sacred place.

In total, scientists have discovered nearly 20 tombs. The entrance in the form of several meters deep shaft carved into the rock, ending in a single, undecorated burial chamber, was located in the floor of the temple.

Museum Pieces - Wooden Panel on behalf of Pharaoh Sehibra

Wooden panel on behalf of Sehibra

This wooden panel, enriched by including glass paste and / or other valuable material, belonged to a small temple.

The scene that appears, plays a ceremony officiated in a temple by the pharaoh Sehibra, identifiable thanks to the cartouche with his name which is above his knees. The sovereign, protected by the great wings of the goddess Isis, is holding a neb sign in his hands with the udjat eye and the sign nefer, the adjective which means "beautiful" or "good", to be offered to the deity .

Additional Information

This type of ritual is repeated every morning inside the numerous Egyptian temples, and it was the king, as supreme guarantor in the land of Maat (truth, justice, and cosmic order), as a privileged intermediary between the human world and the divine world, to having to celebrate; unable to perform this function at the same time across the country, the pharaoh was replaced in each sanctuary by the high priest. 
His participation in the rite was guaranteed by the wall reliefs, sculptures, decorative elements, which are present within the sacred , which depicted the presence of divinity.

Origin: Egypt undisclosed location. Collection Palagi (Nizzoli) Date: Third Intermediate Period: Dynasty XXIII, Sehibra reign (823-716 BC) Material: wood Size: 25.5 x 15 x 1 cm Inventory number: KS 289

Source: http://www.comune.bologna.it/archeologico/percorsi/47679/id/50804/oggetto/48622/

Egypt: The End of a Civilisation

By Dr Aidan Dodson

Defining the end point

The civilisation of ancient Egypt can be traced back in recognisable form to around 3000 BC. It was to endure for over three millennia and it is perhaps the most instantly recognisable of all ancient cultures today. The question of how it came to an end is a perennially popular one, but actually quite difficult to answer, as it is by no means agreed as to what constitutes 'the end' of Egypt as an ancient civilisation.

...the demise of the hieroglyphs was a manifestation of the decline and fall of the ancient religion...

Is it the definitive end of native Egyptian rule (at least until the 20th century)? In this case the answer would be the flight of King Nectanebo II in 342 BC. Is it Egypt's absorption into the Roman Empire in 30 BC? Or the last appearance of the ancient hieroglyphic script just before AD 400? Or the closure of the last pagan temples in the sixth century?

In many ways the last suggestion is perhaps the most appropriate, as in all the other cases, the core religious and artistic values of the country continued on, albeit increasingly debased and under pressure. However, the demise of the hieroglyphs was a manifestation of the decline and fall of the ancient religion in the face of Christianity, itself ultimately to be supplanted by Islam.