Oldest Pharaoh Rock Art Rediscovered in Egypt

This ancient rock picture near Egypt's Nile River was first spotted by an explorer more than a century ago—and then almost completely forgotten.

Photograph courtesy Hendrickx/Darnell/Gatto, Antiquity

Scientists who rediscovered it now think it's the earliest known depiction of a pharaoh.

The royal figure at the center of the panel wears the "White Crown," the bowling pin-shaped headpiece that symbolized kingship of southern Egypt, and carries a long scepter. Two attendants bearing standards march ahead of him; behind him, an attendant waves a large fan to cool the royal head. A hound-like dog with pointed ears walks at the ruler's feet. Surrounding the king are large ships, symbols of dominance, towed by bearded men pulling on ropes.

The picture, which was engraved on a sheer cliff face in the desert northwest of the city of Aswan, was probably created between roughly 3200 and 3100 B.C., according to researchers who published their discovery in December's issue of the journal Antiquity.

At around the same time that the picture was crafted, northern and southern Egypt were united under the reign of a supreme monarch, or pharaoh. The pharaoh in the picture may be Narmer, the king who overcame the last vestiges of northern resistance to southern rule and is considered by many to be Egypt's founding pharaoh.

This rock art picture, known as tableau 7a, is nearly ten feet (three meters) wide. That makes it the largest of the pictures at the site, called Nag el-Hamdulab after the neighboring village.

Earlier Egyptian art tends to show not kings themselves, but emblems of royal or divine power, said Yale University's John Darnell, one of the paper's authors. An image of a bull or falcon, for example, was often used as a stand-in for the king. When human rulers were shown, they were small and peripheral, as if they didn't count for much.

But here, for the first time, the king is dominant. "It's an amazing depiction, artistically and textually, of the birth of dynastic Egypt," Darnell said.

The change in the king's depiction reflects changes in the nature of kingship at the time, said Yale University archaeologist Maria Gatto, another author of the paper.

"He's not just a regular man like everyone else," she said. "He's a god, someone special who can help you be in contact with the supernatural."

—Traci Watson

Published November 29, 2012

Source: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2012/11/pictures/121129-oldest-pharaoh-rock-art-egypt-science/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+ng/News/News_Main+(National+Geographic+News+-+Main)

Two Byzantine coins found in Beheira

Italian excavation mission discovers two well-preserved gold Byzantine coins in El-Baheira

Nevine El-Aref , Monday 26 Nov 2012

An Italian excavation mission headed by Dr. Loredana Sist from Milano University stumbled upon two well-preserved gold coins within the sand at the archaeological site Kom El-Ghoraf in El-Beheira governorate in Delta during routine excavations.

Each coin weighs 4,300 gr. The first coin depicts the figure of a Byzantine Emperor named Phocas (602-610 AD) holding in his right hand a cross. His name is on one side of the cross, while the other side shows the same emperor with a cane in one hand and a cross in the other.

The second coin shows the image of another Byzantine emperor named Heraclinus (610-641 AD) with his two sons, princes Konstantinos III and Heraclinus II, on one side while the other side features a large cross.

Mohamed Ibrahim, Minister of State of Antiquities, said the very important discovery gives Egyptologists a full and complete vision of the shapes, sizes and looks of coins during such an era. It also shows the high skills of craftsmen of the Byzantine period, he added.

Mostafa Roshdi, Director of El-Beheira Antiquities, told Ahram online that the area of Kom El-Ghoraf is a very important archaeological site located between Damanhur and Rosetta. It was previously a part of the seven Nomes of Lower Egypt, the district still little explored. In the Late Period this area was dominated by the city of Metelis, not yet identified.

The vast site was destroyed intensively since the late nineteenth century, as seen from topographical maps of different periods that record the progressive dismantling.

Dynasties Of Egypt Part II: Old Kingdom and First Intermediate Period

The Old Kingdom is the name commonly given to the period in the 3rd millennium BC when Egypt attained its first continuous peak of civilization in complexity and achievement – the first of three so-called "Kingdom" periods, which mark the high points of civilization in the lower Nile Valley (the others being Middle Kingdom and the New Kingdom).

The term Old Kingdom, coined during the nineteenth century, is somewhat arbitrary. Egyptians at that time would have seen no distinction between the Old Kingdom and the preceding Early Dynastic Period, since the last Early Dynastic king was related by blood to the first two kings of the Old Kingdom, and the Early Dynastic royal residence at Ineb-Hedj (translated as "The White Walls" for its majestic fortifications) remained unchanged except for the name. During the Old Kingdom, the capital was renamed Memphis. 

The basic justification for a separation between the Early Dynastic Period and the Old Kingdom is the revolutionary change in architecture accompanied and the effects that large-scale building projects had on Egyptian society and economy..

The Old Kingdom spanned the period from the Third Dynasty to the Sixth Dynasty (2,686 BC – 2,134 BC). Many Egyptologists also include the Memphite Seventh and Eighth Dynasties in the Old Kingdom as a continuation of the administration that had been firmly established at Memphis. Thereafter, the Old Kingdom was followed by a period of disunity and relative cultural decline (a "dark period that spanned the Seventh, Eighth, Ninth, Tenth, and part of the Eleventh Dynasties) referred to by Egyptologists as the First Intermediate Period.

Egypt celebrates 90 year anniversary of Tutankhamun’s tomb discovery

Ninety years ago on November 22 the tomb of the Pharaoh Tutankhamun was discovered in the Valley of the Kings near Luxor in Egypt.

After years of finding smaller archaeological hauls in the area Egyptologists Howard Carter and Lord Carnarvon, the 5th Earl of Carnarvon, opened the tomb and discovered an abundance of gold and fineries left with the king after his death and mummification.

On Thursday the great-grandson of the 5th Earl, the 8th Earl of Carnarvon, Lord Carnarvon attended an event to celebrate this anniversary at Howard Carter’s house which is now a museum a few miles from the Valley of the Kings.

Egypt's ministers of tourism and antiquities were present as were ambassadors to Egypt from the United States and Singapore amongst others.

The current Lord Carnarvon, George, explained the importance of the celebration.

“Well I’m here today in Luxor, indeed in Howard Carter’s house, Castle Carter as it’s known, because it's the 90th year following the first discovery of Tutankhamun's tomb. When my great-grandfather and Howard Carter actually broke through the outer sealed door with Tutankhamun’s cartouche and crest on it and when they first saw into the ante-chamber of the tomb. This amazing archaeological discovery that has never been surpassed,” he said.

Carnarvon is a big fan of his great-grandfather but readily admits his wife Fiona is more of an expert on Egyptology than he is, even translating a certain amount of hieroglyphics. He says opening the tomb was a very dramatic moment.

“My great-grandfather says to Howard Carter ‘What do you see?’ and Carter famously replies ‘Just wonderful things.’ And he's looking back at this, in a way perhaps, theatre set of ancient civilization 3,100 years ago, everywhere the glint of gold off those beautiful wooden objects and that's just the start,” said Carnarvon.

The 8th Earl funded Carter's excavation work in the Valley of the Kings for several years. The pair were in their last year of working together when they made by far their greatest discovery: the tomb of the young Pharaoh Tutankhamun in 1922. It is still the best preserved of the pharaonic tombs in the area.

By Reuters

Friday, 23 November 2012

Source: http://english.alarabiya.net/articles/2012/11/23/251316.html

Two Old Kingdom engraved blocks return home

A New Zealand citizen turned over two ancient Egyptian artefacts which had been in the possession of his late friend

Nevine El-Aref , Thursday 22 Nov 2012

On Thursday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs handed over two Old Kingdom sandstone engravings to the Ministry of State for Antiquities (MSA), which were for decades in the possession of a New Zealand photographer.

The blocks depict two scenes; one shows the lioness goddess of war Sekhmet wearing the Cobra crown, while the second is a hieroglyphic text uncovering a title of an Old Kingdom king saying: "King of Upper and Lower Egypt and the core of the two lands, Horus."

Osama El-Nahas, director of the retrieved antiquities section, relates that the story of these two blocks which were in the possession of a photographer from New Zealand who lived in Egypt during the 1940s and 1950s and died this year. Before his death, El-Nahas said, the photographer told his best friend Bruce Hall to hand over the two blocks to Egypt.

Antiquities minister Mohamed Ibrahim told Ahram Online that the two blocks are now at the Egyptian Museum for restoration, and will be put on show in a special exhibition along with other artefacts that were retrieved last year. He added that the blocks will be studied to determine their original position and location.

Source: http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/9/40/58901/Heritage/Ancient-Egypt/Two-Old-Kingdom-engraved-blocks-return-home.aspx

Monthu Temple reveals new pharaonic secrets

A royal statue of a yet unidentified New Kingdom king has been unearthed at Monthu Temple in Luxor

Nevine El-Aref , Wednesday 21 Nov 2012

A French archaeological mission from the French Institute for Archaeological Studies have unearthed a yet unidentified royal statue of a New Kingdom king during routine excavations at Monthu Temple, northeast of Karnak Temple in Luxor.

The statue is 125 centimetres tall and made of black granite and depicts a standing king wearing short dress with hands aside.

Christopher Tiers, head of the archaeological mission, said that early studies of the statue suggest that the artistic features of the depicted king confirm its royalty.

The statue is to be transferred to the storage facilities of the Ministry of State for Antiquities (MSA) for restoration and documentation. Tiers asserted that excavation at the site is in full swing in order to find any additional statues that may enable archaeologists to identify the New Kingdom king.

Monthu Temple is dedicated to the worship of the falcon-headed got of war Monthu. The temple is located five kilometres northeast of Karnak in an area called Armant on Luxor’s east bank.

Armant was excavated by French archaeologist Fernand Disson de la Roque from 1925 to the post-war period, when he revealed many buildings, including Monthu Temple. The temple replaced an older sanctuary from the Old Kingdom and consists of an open forum with a tower and enclosing two mounds that housed the chapels of worship.

The ruins of the last structure date to the reign of Ptolemy VIII, although decorations and additions continued to be added centuries later by the Romans. Along the span of time, Monthu Temple was a major centre of worshipping Apis bulls, that is why it contains many statues and reliefs of bulls. Most of these statues are now on display in various museums around the world.

Source: http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/9/40/58811/Heritage/Ancient-Egypt/Monthu-Temple-reveals-new-pharaonic-secrets.aspx

The Louvre: A Passion for Egypt

As the Louvre in Paris prepares for its 220th anniversary, Ahram Online explores the history and highlights of its impressive collection of Egyptian Art

by Mohammed Elrazzaz, Monday 19 Nov 2012

It should come as no surprise that, two hundred and twenty years after its inauguration, the Louvre boasts unparalleled collections of artifacts and masterpieces, with Egypt having more than its fair share of representation.

From ancient Egyptian and Hellenistic art, all the way to Coptic and Islamic art, the quality and scope of the Egyptian collections are everything you would expect from a legendary museum in a country that paved the way for the Egyptomania that swept across Europe following Napoleon’s Egyptian Campaign in 1798 and the publishing of the Description de l'Egypte a few years later.

A tour de force of Egyptian Art

While there are eight curatorial departments in the Grand Louvre, Egypt is the only country to have a full department dedicated exclusively to its art: The Egyptian Antiquities Department. Moreover, Hellenistic, Coptic and Islamic artifacts adorn the collections of other departments, and efforts are underway to inaugurate a ninth department that will feature many Egyptian artifacts: the Department of the East Mediterranean in the Roman Empire.

New permanent galleries have already been opened towards that purpose, exhibiting objects and artworks from the East Mediterranean (Egypt and around) from the period between the first century BC and the sixth century AD: Hellenistic funerary art, Coptic textiles, and Nubian artifacts.

In addition, the new Department of Islamic Art (opened last September) has some Egyptian masterpieces of international fame, like the magnificent eleventh-century Fatimid rock crystal ewer (previously displayed at the Department of Decorative Arts), originally part of the treasury of the Abbey of Saint-Denis. A fifteenth-century Mamluk vestibule reassembled in an epic effort to put together three hundred stones is yet another example.