Three Ptolemaic tombs uncovered in Egypt's Minya, contents suggest a 'large cemetery'

Three new discoveries in El-Kamin El-Sahrawi point to a large cemetery spanning the 27th Dynasty and the Graeco-Roman era

By Nevine El-Aref , Tuesday 15 Aug 2017

Three rock-hewn tombs from the Ptolemaic era have been discovered during excavation work in the El-Kamin El-Sahrawi area of Minya governorate, the Ministry of Antiquities announced on Tuesday.

The discovery was made by an Egyptian archaeological mission from the Ministry of Antiquities working in the lesser-known area to the south-east of the town of Samalout.

The tombs contain a number of sarcophagi of different shapes and sizes, as well as a collection of clay fragments, according to ministry officials.

Ayman Ashmawy, head of the ministry's Ancient Egyptian Sector, said that studies carried out on the clay fragments suggest the tombs are from the 27th Dynasty and the Graeco-Roman era.

"This fact suggests that the area was a large cemetery over a long period of time," said Ashmawy.

Ashmawy describes the discovery as "very important" because it reveals more secrets from the El-Kamil El-Sahrawi archaeological site.

During previous excavation work, the mission uncovered about 20 tombs built in the catacomb architectural style, which was widespread during the 27th Dynasty and the Graeco-Roman era.

4th century imperial bath complex inaugurated in Egypt's Alexandria

By Nevine El-Aref , Saturday 1 Apr 2017

Egyptian Minister of Antiquities Khaled El-Enany and members of parliment inaugurated Alexandria's cistern and imperial bathing complex area in the Kom El-Dikka archaeological site.

The area had been undergoing excavation and restoration since 1960 by an Egyptian-Polish mission from Warsaw University.

Mahmoud Afifi, head of the ministry's Ancient Egyptian Antiquities Department, said that the newly inaugurated area will be included within the Kom Al-Dikka tourist path, which includes the Roman amphitheater, the bird villa and residential houses from the Hellenistic period until the Islamic era.

El-Enany describes the bathing complex as "one of the finest edifices of its time," and that the bathing halls had welcomed hundreds of bathers at a time.

The complex also includes palestrae for physical exercises, colonnade passages and amenities such as public latrines.

Water was supplied to the complex using huge cisterns and heated by a complex system of furnaces and pipes.

The minister and the parlimentary delegates also paid a visit to the planned Mosaic museum in downtown Alexandria to inspect the ongoing work and address any obstacles to its completion.

During the tour, Mohamed Abdelmaguid, director-general of the Underwater Archaeological Department, introduced a three-phase plan to develop the Qayet Bey Citadel and its surroundings.

Abdelmaguid also reviewed a plan for the construction of the first underwater museum beneath the city's eastern harbour, which once was the ancient Alexandria royal area.

Abdelmaguid suggests the building of an underwater park to promote diving as well as the establishment of a training centre for underwater archaeology.

Source: http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/9/41/262047/Heritage/GrecoRoman/th-century-imperial-bath-complex-inaugurated-in-Eg.aspx

Statue of Amenhotep III, 66 of goddess Sekhmet unearthed in Luxor

The discoveries shed further light on what the eighteenth dynasty pharaoh's temple would have looked like

By Nevine El-Aref , Wednesday 8 Mar 2017

The Colossi of Memnon and Amenhotep III Temple Conservation Project has discovered a magnificent statue in black granite representing king Amenhotep III seated on the throne.
Project director Hourig Sourouzian told Ahram Online that the statue is 248 cm high, 61 cm wide and 110cm deep.

It was found in the great court of the temple of Amenhotep III on Luxor's West Bank.

"It is a masterpiece of ancient Egyptian sculpture: extremely well carved and perfectly polished," Sourouzian said, adding that the statue shows the king with very juvenile facial features, which indicates that it was probably commissioned early in his reign.

A similar statue was discovered by the same team in 2009 and is now temporarily on display in the Luxor Museum of Ancient Egyptian Art.

When the site's restoration is complete, Sourouzian said, the pair of statues would be displayed again in the temple, in their original positions.

Mahmoud Afifi, head of the Ministry of Antiquities Ancient Egyptian antiquities department said the team has discovered up to 66 parts of statues of the goddess Sekhmet this archaeological season. These statues represent the goddess sitting or standing holding a papyrus sceptre and an ankh — the symbol of life.

Beni Sweif tombs to open

Two tombs and the remains of a Ptolemaic temple will soon be open to visitors near the Upper Egyptian town of Beni Sweif, reports Nevine El-Aref

To the west of Beni Sweif lies the Deshasha Cemetery with its rock-hewn tombs of Ancient Egyptian Old Kingdom officials cut into a cliff above the desert plain. The site was investigated in 1897 by British Egyptologist Flinders Petrie, who discovered several tombs from the Fifth Dynasty as well as others from the 18th Dynasty.

Egyptologist Naguib Qanawati later worked at the site for 15 years early in the 20th century. Among the best-preserved tombs at the site today are those belonging to the bartender Inty and the supervisor of the royal palace garden Shedu.

Omar Zaki, director of Beni Sweif antiquities, told Al-Ahram Weekly that Inty’s Tomb included two main halls, the first having three pillars and painted walls depicting the deceased in different positions with his family and deities as well as in hunting, cultivation and artisanal scenes including woodworking.

The second hall is perpendicular to the first and does not have any paintings or engravings. The burial shaft is eight metres below ground level. “There is a rare relief depicting a group of Egyptian military lancers invading a fortified town in Asia on one of the Inty tomb’s walls,” Zaki said, adding that according to the hieroglyphic text on the wall the town was in southern Palestine. Further studies might reveal its name, he said. 

The tomb of Shedu is similar to that of Inty but contains an important relief of two bulls fighting one another. The Ministry of Antiquities in collaboration with the Beni Sweif governorate is now developing the Deshasha site in order to make it more tourist friendly and to open it to visitors.

Work recognised in Luxor

Important work at different archaeological sites in Luxor was recognised by the Ministry of Antiquities this week, reports Nevine El-Aref

Minister of Antiquities Khaled Al-Enani embarked early this week on a tour of Luxor in order to inspect recent work at the Karnak Temples, inaugurate a number of archaeological sites, and attend the second round of the Thebes in the First Millennium BCE Conference.

Al-Enani started his tour with the inauguration of the Amun-Re Segmnaht Temple, the 11th of the Karnak Temples. The temple dates to the reign of the New Kingdom Pharaoh Ramses II, and its name means “Amun, listener of prayers.”

“The temple was in a very bad state of conservation when work started three months ago as it had not been restored since the 1970s,” Mustafa Waziri, director of Luxor Antiquities told Al-Ahram Weekly.

He said the restoration work had included removing unsuitable materials used in restoration work carried out in the last century and the use of better ones. Weak parts of the sandstone blocks of the temple’s walls were consolidated, the upper part of a colossal statue of Osiris found in the temple was restored, and the offering table at the temple’s west gate was reinstalled.

Al-Enani’s second stop was at the open-air museum where the barque shrine of the Pharaoh Tuthmosis III had been reconstructed and restored by the Centre franco-égyptien d’étude des temples de Karnak (CFEETK).

Egyptian Middle Kingdom tomb discovered at El-Lisht

The tomb of King Senosert I’s stamp bearer was discovered at the El-Lisht archaeological site in the Dahshur necropolis

By Nevine El-Aref , Tuesday 23 Feb 2016

(courtesy of the ministry of antiquities)

An Egyptian-American mission from Alabama University has stumbled upon a very well preserved tomb of King Senosert I’s stamp bearer while conducting cleaning work in an area south of King Senosert I’s pyramid.

Mohamed Youssef, director of the Dahshur archaeological site, told Ahram Online that the tomb is dated to the 12th dynasty during the reign of the Middle Kingdom King Senosert I.

The tomb is carved in the bedrock of the necropolis and has a mud brick ramp. The walls of the tomb are engraved with scenes depicting the deceased at work in front of deities and in different position with his family. Excavation work is now in full swing to know more about the tomb and the deceased.

Sarah Parcak, director of the archaeological mission from Alabama University, said that the mission is now training a number of Egyptian archaeologists on the new techniques and methods used in the documentation and preservation of antiquities, as well as using satellites in safeguarding the archaeological sites.

El-Lisht is the site of the Middle Kingdom necropolis for royals and elites. It includes the two pyramids of kings Amenemhat I and Senusret I, which are surrounded with smaller pyramids of members of the royal family, as well as many mastaba tombs of top governmental officials.

Source: http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/9/40/188325/Heritage/Ancient-Egypt/Egyptian-Middle-Kingdom-tomb-discovered-at-ElLisht.aspx

New discovery in Qantara West highlights exact date of Tel Al-Dafna site

Lava remains of San Turin volcano unearthed in Tel Al-Dafna archaeological site, west of Al-Ismailiya governorate

By Nevine El-Aref , Wednesday 30 Dec 2015

During excavation work carried out at Tel Al-Dafna archaeological site located at Al-Qantara west area, 11 kilometres west of the Suez Canal, an Egyptian archaeological mission led by Egyptologist Mohamed Abdel Maqsoud stumbled upon what is believed to be Lava remains of San Turin volcano.
The volcano is considered to be the first destructive environmental phenomena from the Mediterranean in antiquity to hit Cyprus.

Minister of Antiquities Mamdouh Eldamaty described the discovery as “very important” because it would help in uncovering more history from the Tel Al-Dafna site.

The oldest archaeological evidence discovered in Tel Al-Dafna dates back to the ancient Egyptian 26th dynasty although the lava remains can be dated to an era before the 26th dynasty.

At the same site, Abdel Maqsoud told Ahram Online that the mission has also uncovered a part of a fortified island surrounded with mud and brick shields used as wave breakers as well as protecting the west side of King Psamtiak I’s citadel from floods.

Maqsoud continued to say that the citadel was built in such an area to protect the country’s eastern gate from any invasion. Its fence area is 20 metres thick and inside it houses a collection of fortified residential houses.

New Suez Canal exhibition at Egyptian Museum

Exhibition to mark the opening of the New Suez Canal will take place at the Egyptian Museum

By Nevine El-Aref , Tuesday 28 Jul 2015

On Sunday, Minister of Antiquities Mamdouh Eldamaty is to open the "Discoveries of Egypt's eastern gate,"  an exhibition at the Egyptian Museum, as part of the ministry's celebration of the opening of the New Suez Canal.

The exhibition, Eldamaty pointed out, is to highlight the history of the area around the Suez Canal and its military importance since the ancient era until modern times.

He went on saying that the exhibition is to put on display a collection of artefacts that have been unearthed at ten archaeological sites located on the eastern and western banks of the Suez Canal,  including Pelusium, Tel Habuwa, Tel Abu Seifi, Tel Kedwa and Tel Al-Heir. Photos showing excavation works in these sites are to be also exhibited.

Mohamed Abdel-Maqsoud, General Coordinator for the development of archaeological sites around the New Suez Canal, told Ahram Online that the exhibition is one of three temporary exhibitions established  in Ismailia Suez Museums.

He explained that the exhibition displays the most important discoveries carried out by foreign and Egyptian excavation missions in the sites surrounding the Suez Canal, including a limestone painted relief depicting the different titles of King Ramses II, a stone block depicting King Tuthmosis II before the god Montu, the lord of Thebes, as well as a stelae from the reign of King Ramses I before the god Set of Avaris town. A collection of engraved lintels are also on display as well as photos showing the New Kingdom military fortresses uncovered in situ, royal palaces from Tuthmosis III and Ramses II's reigns as well as remains of a 26th dynasty temple. A storage cellos, and an industrial zone were also uncovered in Tel Dafna on the Suez Canal's western bank and a Roman structure in Pelusium.

Abdel-Maqsoud announced that for the first time since its discovery, the relief of King Ibres discovered at Tel Dafna in Al-Ismailia is to be exhibited. The relief dates to the 26th dynasty and is carved in sandstone. It shows one of the military expedition launched by Ibres across Egypt's borders through Sinai and Horus Military Road. This stelae was discovered by the army during the 2011 revolution.

Source: http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/9/44/136426/Heritage/Museums/New-Suez-Canal-exhibition-at-Egyptian-Museum.aspx

Ramesside period storerooms excavated at Sais

Antiquities Minister, Dr. Mamdouh Eldamaty declared the The Durham/Egypt Exploration Society /Ministry of Antiquities team working at Sais - Nile Delta, excavated part of the magazine storerooms of the late Ramesside period. 

They discovered a complete assemblage of pottery food storage and preparation vessels within a large magazine of around 6m by 6m and a similar set of vessels in a neighbouring magazine, which still remain to be excavated.

Eldamaty added that outside this domestic area a series of circular mud features were noted, perhaps the bases of storage silos for grain or perhaps tree-pits for special kinds of fruit tree or plants.

On the other hand, Head of Ancient Egyptian Archaeology Sector Dr. Mahmoud Afify said that the discovered pottery jars were all in fragments but included globular cooking vessels, Canaanite amphora, ‘meat-jars’ and large Red Egyptian amphorae dating to the late 20th Dynasty.

Mission’s Director, Penny Wilson elaborated that The ceiling of the magazine had collapsed on top of the magazine in a catastrophic event which may have affected the whole Ramesside city, burying it under rubble. Late in the Third Intermediate Period a large walled structure was built upon the rubble and several phases of domestic activity were recorded either within or outside this large mud-brick wall. Large hearths associated with the houses were used for some time, being refurbished and reused when they became too full of ash. 

Throughout the material, some earlier broken fragments from the Old Kingdom can be found in the rubble attesting to the long time period of settlement at Sais.
 
Adding that, although the glorious city of Dynasty 26 is almost completely destroyed, the finds in the northern part of the Sais site confirm that there are two earlier cities preserved, complete but in many fragments. They could represent the powerful New Kingdom temple centre and the early Third Intermediate settlement of the Great Kingdom of the West. Further work on the pottery will enable more precise dating to be confirmed.

Press Office - Ministry of Antiquities

Rare 3rd Dynasty Mastaba Found in Quesna

The site of Quesna situated on a large sand gezira in the Central Nile Delta was until recently best known for its Late Period to Roman remains. It is the location of a Late Period to Ptolemaic Mausoleum, as well as a contemporary sacred falcon necropolis, with an extensive Roman cemetery, some of the burials of which are dug into the walls of the mausoleum. A team of archaeologists under the auspices of the Egypt Exploration Society, led by Dr Joanne Rowland (Free University of Berlin) has been conducting research and holding fieldschools at the site since 2006. The team has been conducting geophysical surveys and examining the human remains in this vast cemetery (the gezira was once much larger, with burials being found up to 2 km from today’s central point). During these later periods the site seems to have been one of the burial grounds for the community living at Athribis, which is located 7 km to the southwest of Quesna.

However, in 2010 a mud-brick monument was located in the north of the site along with beer jars dating to the early Old Kingdom. The shape of this monument suggested that it was a mastaba, but further investigations were needed to fully understand the architecture and its exact date. In summer 2014 the team once again turned their attention to this enigmatic monument. The excavations revealed the tomb to be 14.1 m long north-south, by 6.0 m wide east-west, with a corridor chapel 3.0 m wide nearly running the length of its east side. It is a tripartite tomb, with the southern section having a rubble fill representing the primordial mound of creation, the northern section containing the burial shaft and the serdab, with the central section holding the double burial chamber.

Although the tomb had been severely looted in antiquity, enough pottery and stone vessels remained to place the tomb between the end of the 3rd Dynasty and the beginning of the 4th Dynasty. Other objects found included hundreds of beads from the jewellery that once adorned the occupants of the tomb. Unfortunately none of the inscribed elements of the tomb had survived to inform the team as to the identity of the tomb-owner. However, in the last few days of the excavation an extraordinary artefact was found in one of the two burial niches, a seal impression bearing the name of King Khaba within a serekh. This little known king of the 3rd Dynasty, who probably reigned for only six years, is best known from the stone vessels bearing an inscription of his serekh from mastaba Z500 at Zawiyet el-Aryan (ZeA). The unfinished Layer Pyramid at ZeA was probably built for this king, although no remains of his burial were found.

This is the first tomb excavated in over 100 years that can be assigned to the reign of King Khaba with any certainty. Its placement in the central Delta raises several questions about the provincial administration of Egypt during the 3rd Dynasty, as well as the identity of the individuals that were buried in the Quesna mastaba. The team will continue their work next year and hope to answer some of these questions.

Source: http://www.drhawass.com/wp/rare-3rd-dynasty-mastaba-found-in-quesna/

Merimde Beni Salama site in Delta is larger than was thought

The Merimde Beni Salama site is about 60km north-west of Cairo and is considered to be the oldest evidence of civilisation on the Delta

By Nevine El-Aref , Thursday 9 Apr 2015

During the recent archaeological season which ends in April, the mission of the Egypt Exploration Society uncovered new scientific evidence revealing that the borders of the major Neolithic settlement site of Merimde Beni Salama on the western margin of the Delta, extends a further 200 metres to the south-west.

Joanne Rowland, head of the mission, explained that they started the work to know about such extensions in the summer of 2014, after test trenches had been dug by the ministry of antiquities prior to the laying of a gas pipeline. It was then possible to examine the area just to the west of the modern asphalt road and it was also confirmed by the ministry investigations, as well as in test trenches worked on by the the current mission, that ceramics of the Neolithic era were present.

“This means that the settlement extents at least 200m south-west of what was formerly considered to be the boundary of the settlement,”  Rowland told Ahram Online. She continued to say that the forthcoming investigations and post-excavation analysis would be able to confirm whether this newly discovered area was occupied during the latest periods of occupation of the settlement as anticipated, or whether it is from earlier times.

Rowland and her team will reconsider the site within its wider geographic and environmental context.

Minister of Antiquities Mamdouh Eldamaty said that the team also unearthed a collection of ceramics and lithics of Neolithic dates and that more investigations will present much information about the various roads and means of living during this era.

Ancient Egyptian brewery found in downtown Tel Aviv

Potsherds used for producing beer discovered at site believed to be northernmost Egyptian settlement in Early Bronze Age, 5,000 years ago

By Ilan Ben Zion

Nothing beats a cold one on a hot Tel Aviv summer evening, a sentiment it seems was shared by the ancient Egyptians.

Archaeological excavations at a construction site in the White City found remains of a 5,000-year-old brewery belonging to a Bronze Age Egyptian settlement, Israel’s Antiquities Authority announced Sunday.

The site, located in the heart of Tel Aviv, is the northernmost Egyptian site from the Early Bronze Age.

It was excavated by IAA archaeologists as part of a salvage dig before the construction of a new tower on Hamasger Street.

The excavation also yielded 6,000-year-old artifacts, including a bronze dagger and flint tools.

“We found seventeen pits in the excavations, which were used to store agricultural produce in the Early Bronze Age I (3500-3000-BCE),” dig director Diego Barkan said in a statement.

“Among the hundreds of pottery sherds that characterize the local culture, a number of fragments of large ceramic basins were discovered that were made in an Egyptian tradition and were used to prepare beer.”

Beer was a staple of the ancient Egyptian diet, a convenient means of converting grains into storable calories, and the alcohol content, while low, made contaminated water potable. “The Egyptians drank beer morning, noon and night,” said Barkan.

Workers building the Pyramids at Giza were given a daily ration of several liters of beer each day in addition to bread.

The ancients praised its value, as one inscription from the third millennium BCE stated: “The mouth of a perfectly contented man is filled with beer.”

The beer vessels, Barkan said, were made in a fashion not usual in the local ceramic industry, and of a type similar to those found at an Egyptian administrative building at ‘En Besor, in the northwestern Negev Desert. He said that the excavation was the first evidence of Egyptian presence from the Early Bronze Age in what’s today Tel Aviv.

“Until now we were only aware of an Egyptian presence in the northern Negev and southern coastal plain, whereby the northernmost point of Egyptian occupation occurred in Azor,” Barkan said.

“Now we know that they also appreciated what the Tel Aviv region had to offer and that they too knew how to enjoy a glass of beer, just as Tel Avivians do today.”

Source: http://www.timesofisrael.com/ancient-egyptian-brewery-found-in-downtown-tel-aviv/

The layout of Al-Amarna ancient city revealed

A Belgium archaeological mission reveals the layout of the ancient Egyptian city of Al-Amarna, the capital of the monotheistic king Akhenaten

by Nevine El-Aref , Sunday 8 Mar 2015

A Belgium archaeological mission working at Tel Al-Amarna area in Al-Minya governorate, 300 km south of Cairo, revealed through satellite imagery how the ancient Egyptians built such a historically controversial and mysterious city.

Tel Al-Amarna  was the short-lived capital built by the henotheistic 18th dynasty Pharaoh Akhenaten after he abandoned the traditional Egyptian polytheism and introduced the worship of one deity, the power of the sun God- Aten.

The city was deserted shortly after Akhenaten's death in 1332 BCE.

Tel Al-Amarna is historically interesting as it remains the largest readily accessible site dating from ancient Egypt. It is thus simultaneously the key to a chapter in the history of religious experience and to a fuller understanding of what it was like to be an ancient Egyptian. 

Though long periods of excavation work have previously unearthed remains of temples, chapels and tombs, no one had uncovered the details of the city until this week when the Belgium archaeological mission revealed its layout.

Minister of antiquities Mamdouh Eldamaty described the discovery as " great" and asserted that it will not only reveal how the ancient Egyptians built their monotheistic capital but it will also help in discovering more edifices of the city.

He explained that the satellite images show that the northern side of the city was an industrial province which extended 12 kilometres and also included a large collection of mines.

Harco Willems, head of the Belgium mission, told Ahram Online that their work succeeded in determining the location of several ancient corridors and roads of the ancient city which were too hard to discover through normal material used in excavation because the surface of the land is very solid.

Ramps and transportation paths from the mines to the city's main road were also discovered as well as others leading to the Nile Valley.

Willems said that a harbour was found close to the river. The harbour was constructed to transport Talatat blocks to the eastern side of Al-Amarna to be used in the construction of temples and other edifices.

Eldamaty told Ahram Online that more studies are now taking place in order to understand these images in more detail which could lead to further major discoveries in the future.

Source: http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/9/40/124733/Heritage/Ancient-Egypt/The-layout-of-AlAmarna-ancient-city-revealed.aspx

News this week

By Rany Mostafa

Tomb of ‘gatekeeper of God Amun’ unearthed in Luxor

A 3,500-year-old tomb of “the gatekeeper of God Amun” has been unearthed in the west bank of Luxor, Antiquities Minister Mamdouh el-Damaty announced Tuesday.

The tomb was accidentally discovered during cleaning and restoration work carried out by the archaeology mission of the American Research Center in Egypt (ARCE) in a nearby tomb in the archaeological site of Sheikh Abd el Qurna on the west bank of Luxor, according to Damaty.

“The gatekeeper of Amun, one of several titles that were found carved at the tomb’s door lintel, is strongly believed to be a job description of an 18th Dynasty (1580 B.C.- 1292 B.C.) high official. Amenhotep is the real name of the tomb owner that was found carved at the walls of the tomb,” he added.

According to Damaty, the tomb measures 5 meters long by 1.5 meters wide and takes a T-shape. A small side chamber of 4 square meters with a burial shaft in the middle is to be found inside the tomb.

Sultan Eid, Director of Upper Egypt Antiquities Department told The Cairo Post Tuesday that some parts of the tombs are well preserved with “dazzling scenes showing Amenhotep, along with his wife, depicted standing making an offering before several ancient Egyptian deities.”

Cedar timbers, rope point to historic Egyptian find

By Molly Murray, The News Journal

No one is certain why the Romans abandoned their port city of Berenike along the Red Sea.

It could have been disease, said Steven Sidebotham, a University of Delaware history professor and archaeologist who is studying the site.

"It wasn't sacked or burned or wrecked by an earthquake," he said.

But one thing is clear: where boats use to arrive in port is now high ground.

Sidebotham said that when it rains in the desert, it is a downpour and sand washes across the land. It is likely, he said, that the port simply silted in.

The Romans would have had the technology to dredge it but Sidebotham said it is possible they were losing control over the maritime trade route in the area.

In this hot, dry environment along the Egyptian coast, this once vital city is so well preserved that even cloth woven in the time before and after Jesus' death, survived.

The ancient city is about 500 miles south of the modern Suez Canal. In its heyday, it was a link in an important maritime route between the Red Sea and Indian Ocean.

Meidum Pyramid site under restoration in Upper Egypt

The Meidum Pyramid’s archaeological site in Beni Suef is being restored by the government in an attempt to attract tourists to Egypt

By Nevine El-Aref , Thursday 16 Oct 2014

Antiquities minister Mamdouh El-Damaty embarked on Thursday on an inspection tour around the different archaeological sites and monuments in the upper Egyptian city of Beni Suef escorted by the city’s governor Magdi El-Batiti and Youssef Khalifa, head of the ancient Egyptian section.

The area of Meidum Pyramid was the first site to be visited. During the tour, El-Damaty announced that a comprehensive restoration project is to begin immediately to make the site more tourist friendly.

The development project will include the establishment of a sound and light show on the ancient history of Beni Suef and the construction work of Meidum pyramid.

A new lighting system powered by solar energy is to be installed as well as a visitor’s centre equipped with a cinema, bookstore, gift shops and cafeteria.

El-Damaty also gave the go ahead for the ministry’s excavation works at Ehnasia site to conduct further exploration in addition to the restoration project that is already underway. The site is to be developed into an open-air museum.

The Meidum pyramid consists of large mud-break mastabas which were originally built for the last third dynasty king Huni. Construction continued during the reign of his successor King Senefru.

The architect who continued Meidum construction was the successor to well-known ancient Egyptian architect Imotep, who built the Djoser step pyramid. However, the modification made Imotep’s design and attempts to extend the structure led to its partial collapse.

Al-Alamein site to re-open

Following an extensive restoration, an important archaeological site on the Mediterranean coast is to open next April, writes Nevine El-Aref

Holidaymakers to Egypt’s north coast will have more to entertain them than sun, sand and sea next summer: they will also be able to explore the archaeological site of Marina Al-Alamein, known 2,000 years ago as the town of Leucaspis.

Minister of Antiquities Mamdouh Eldamaty, following a tour of the archaeological site, this week gave the go-ahead for a resumption of restoration work, suspended in the aftermath of the 2011 revolution. Part of the site will be open to tourists next April.

The work is being carried out by a Polish-Egyptian team, led by archaeologist Erysztof Jakubiak from the Institute of Archaeology at Warsaw University. The aim of the project, said Mohamed Al-Sheikha, head of the projects section at the ministry, is not only to preserve the existing site, but also to develop it as a new attraction on the north coast.

The Taposiris Magna site, known as Abusir, is already a popular site with tourists. It is located on the shore of Lake Mariout, about 48 km southwest of Alexandria on the Alexandria-Matrouh road. The site includes the ruins of an ancient temple, a small lighthouse and a series of tombs.

The Marina Al-Alamein site is l96 km west of Alexandra and six km east of Al-Alamein, not far from the World War II memorial. The ancient town stretches over an area one km long and 0.5 km wide, making it the largest archaeological site on Egypt’s north coast.
Although there were historical records for the ancient site of Leucaspis, as well as rudimentary plans of its layout, these had been forgotten by the 1990s, when construction began on the giant Marina holiday resort that today stands near the site. Early construction work soon revealed marble columns and other debris, and archaeologists stepped in to preserve the ruins.

Developments in Qantara

A new rehabilitation project is shaking the dust off ruins that reveal Egypt’s great military history, writes Nevine El-Aref

Two weeks ago, archaeologists and heritage officials applauded when President Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi gave the go-ahead for the Suez Canal Corridor Development Project (SCCDP).

The project will widen parts of the existing waterway and create a second, parallel canal. The scheme will not only develop Egypt’s economy and provide jobs, but it will also open up new tourist destinations.

The new waterway is ten km south of Qantara, the eastern gateway to Palestine and Syria in ancient times and the starting point of the famous Horus Road, the longest military road in Egypt and the only one to have retained physical evidence of its ancient fortresses and military structures.

Horus Road was a vital commercial and military link between Egypt and Asia and has borne the marching feet of no fewer than 50 armies. From west to east, the pharaohs Thutmose III and Ramses II crossed Sinai with their military forces. From east to west came the Assyrian hordes, the Persian army of Cambyses, Alexander the Great and his mercenaries, Antiochus and the Roman legions, and Arab conquerors led by Amr Ibn Al-As.

“Digging a parallel canal, ten km from one of Egypt’s most important archaeological sites, is certainly good news for archaeology,” Minister of Antiquities Mamdouh Al-Damati told the Al-Ahram Weekly. He added that the project is a good opportunity to spruce up a planned development project for archaeological sites located within the vicinity of the Suez Canal, especially at Qantara.

“The chequered history of Qantara is a reminder of military battles from Pharaonic times to the early 1970s,” Al-Damati said.

Polish archaeologists found tombs dating back four thousand years in Egypt

A team of Polish archaeologists discovered tombs from the early second millennium BC and unknown pharaonic carvings in Gebelein in Upper Egypt. It was a part of rescue studies associated with the devastation caused by the widening range of fields and settlements.

Gebelein is a complex of archaeological sites approximately 30 km south-west of Luxor. More than 5 thousand years ago it was a capital of one of the proto-states, which preceded the state of the pharaohs. The first European archaeologists came here at the end of the nineteenth century, but over the last few decades scientists seldom studied this area and did not publish the results of their research. Therefore, it is not well recognized. The name "Gebelein" means "two hills" in Arabic. It comes from the characteristic element of the local landscape - two hills. On the east hill there once was a temple of the goddess Hathor and a fortress.

Photocredit:  W. Ejsmond

"At the foot of the rocky hill we tracked down another place of worship of the goddess Hathor - sanctuary carved into the rock, with reliefs preserved on the walls. So far, the site has only been mentioned in the scientific literature and basically no one knows anything about it" - explained Wojciech Ejsmond, leader of the expedition.

Hathor was the goddess the ancient Egyptians usually associated with singing, dancing, love, and death. However, scientists know little about the cult of Hathor in Gebelein, the location of the oldest known temple of the goddess.

"We hope that the research that we want to carry out next year, especially reading the texts carved on the walls of the sanctuary, will provide us with more information on this topic" - added Ejsmond.

Ptolemy in Beni Sweif

The recently discovered temple of Ptolemy II in Beni Sweif is set to rewrite the ancient history of the area, writes Nevine El-Aref

Late last week, Egyptian excavators working at the Gabal Al-Nour archaeological site in Beni Sweif stumbled upon what is believed to be the first ever temple to be found dating from the reign of the Pharaoh Ptolemy II (282-246 BC).

The temple is a two-storey building made of sandstone 25 metres in height and 16.5 metres wide. The excavators have unearthed the temple’s first floor and part of the ground floor, the rest being still buried in sand.

Mansour Breik, head of the Central Administration of Middle Egypt Antiquities, told Al-Ahram Weekly that only two metres of the temple had been unearthed but that it was in a very good state of preservation. The temple’s ground floor consisted of several rooms that had not yet been excavated, he said.

The eastern wall of the temple had been revealed, showing it to be decorated with engravings featuring Ptolemy II wearing a white crown and presenting offerings to the goddess Isis who was worshipped in the temple with the Nile god Hapy.

A collection of sandstone blocks engraved with Ptolemy II’s cartouche has also been found, along with clay pots and a large limestone head of a cobra. Breik said that he expected the excavations would soon lead to the western wall of the temple, which may be engraved with the provinces of Lower and Upper Egypt.

“It is a very important discovery that could rewrite the ancient history of Beni Sweif and that of Ptolemy II’s reign. We know little about this although he ruled Egypt for 32 years,” Breik told the Weekly.

He said that the newly discovered temple was the first ever monument from the reign of Ptolemy II to be found in Beni Sweif. The 20 architectural monuments from his reign that have been found are spread across different provinces, such as Fayoum, Dendara and Kom Ombo, but never Beni Sweif. Most of these monuments consist of rooms and a portico but never a complete temple.