Pharaonic Rock Carvings Found in Egypt

JAN 7, 2015 06:30 PM ET // BY ROSSELLA LORENZI

A rare wall relief showing an unidentified pharaoh has been discovered within the sandstone quarries of Gebel el Silsila, north of Aswan.

Carved into the vertical face of the quarry wall, some 5 feet above the ground, the stela depicts the pharaoh presenting offerings to Thoth, the ancient god of wisdom, and Amun-Ra, the king among gods.

“It’s particularly rare for these two deities to be portrayed together,” Lund University archaeologist Maria Nilsson, director of the Gebel el Silsila Survey Project, told Discovery News.

She added the three figures are rather poorly preserved, although some details can be made out.

“We can see the characteristic double feather crown of Amun-Ra, and the moon disc of the ibis-headed Thoth,” Nilsson said. “Unfortunately, the item presented by the pharaoh is no longer discernible.”

Preliminary study suggests the stela dates to the late dynastic period, perhaps the Third Intermediate Period, which began with the death of pharaoh Ramesses XI in 1070 B.C. and ended with the foundation of the Twenty-Sixth Dynasty by Psamtik I in 664 BC.

Readable inscriptions on the stela are merely titles of the gods, “Amun-Ra, King of the Gods, Lord of (-)”, and “Thoth, Twice Great, Lord of (-)”.

Wednesday Weekly # 60

Welcome to the Wednesday Weekly, your weekly dose of links to Egyptology news, articles, blogs, events and more!

Tomb of Queen Khentakawess III

THE TELEGRAPH

The online battle for papyrus texts
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/11314702/The-online-battle-for-papyrus-texts.html

HUFFINGTONPOST

Tomb Of Egyptian Queen Khentakawess III Discovered In Abusir
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/01/05/egyptian-queen-khentakawess-iii_n_6415000.html

THE ANCIENT WORLD ONLINE

Open Access Monograph Series: Les Cahiers «Égypte Nilotique et Méditérranéenne»
http://ancientworldonline.blogspot.nl/2011/07/open-access-monographs-les-cahiers.html

Digital Papyri at Houghton Library
http://ancientworldonline.blogspot.nl/2014/12/digital-papyri-at-houghton-library.html

Egyptology Books and Articles in PDF Online
http://ancientworldonline.blogspot.nl/2013/12/egyptology-books-and-articles-in-pdf.html

P.Hawara: The Hawara Papyri
http://ancientworldonline.blogspot.nl/2014/12/phawara-hawara-papyri.html

System zur Erfassung von Ritualszenen in Altägyptischen Tempeln (SERaT)
http://ancientworldonline.blogspot.nl/2014/12/system-zur-erfassung-von-ritualszenen.html

Virtual Library on Ancient and Modern Egypt
http://ancientworldonline.blogspot.nl/2010/11/virtual-library-on-ancient-and-modern.html

The Animal Mummy Database
http://ancientworldonline.blogspot.nl/2012/01/animal-mummy-database.html

LUXOR TIMES

British Consul visits Amenhotep III colossi and hopes for more British tourists to come back to Luxor
http://luxortimesmagazine.blogspot.nl/2014/12/british-consul-visits-amenhotep-iii.html

God's tomb discovered in Qurna
http://luxortimesmagazine.blogspot.nl/2015/01/god-tomb-discovered-in-qurna.html

4500 years old tomb of unknown Ancient Egyptian Queen discovered
http://luxortimesmagazine.blogspot.nl/2015/01/4500-years-old-tomb-of-unknown-ancient.html

Rock inscriptions and Sphinx discovered at Gebel El Silsila
http://luxortimesmagazine.blogspot.nl/2015/01/rock-inscriptions-and-sphinx-discovered.html

EGYPTIANS

New post by Timothy Reid:

Egyptian Art
http://tim-theegyptians.blogspot.nl/2015/01/egyptian-art.html

IN THE ARTIFACT LAB

New posts by Molly Gleeson:

Analysis of the shabti box varnish
http://www.penn.museum/sites/artifactlab/2014/12/20/analysis-of-the-shabti-box-varnish/

Another new mummy in the lab
http://www.penn.museum/sites/artifactlab/2014/12/24/another-new-mummy-in-the-lab/

EGYPT AT THE MANCHESTER MUSEUM

Texts in Translation # 14: The stela of Ramose (Acc. no. 1759)
https://egyptmanchester.wordpress.com/2014/12/22/texts-in-translation-14-the-stela-of-ramose-acc-no-1759/

AHRAM ONLINE

Osiris tomb discovered in Luxor
http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/9/40/119421/Heritage/Ancient-Egypt/Osiris-tomb-discovered-in-Luxor.aspx

Tomb of previously unknown pharaonic queen found in Egypt
http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/9/40/119476/Heritage/Ancient-Egypt/Tomb-of-previously-unknown-pharaonic-queen-found-i.aspx

POPULAR ARCHAEOLOGY

Smithsonian Galleries Launch First Complete Digitized Collection for Public View
http://popular-archaeology.com/issue/winter-01012015/article/smithsonian-galleries-launch-first-complete-digitized-collection-for-public-view

Archaeologists Investigate Early Urban Center Near Sea of Galilee
http://popular-archaeology.com/issue/winter-01012015/article/archaeologists-investigate-early-urban-center-near-sea-of-galilee

THE EGYPTIAN HISTORY PODCAST

Episode 41: The Oasis

The Faiyum Oasis and Senuseret II.
http://egyptianhistorypodcast.com/episode-41-the-oasis

ANCIENT EGYPTIAN ANIMAL BIO BANK

That’s all for this year!
https://ancientegyptbiobank.wordpress.com/2014/12/23/thats-all-for-this-year/

ACROSSBORDERS

AcrossBorders 2015: the fieldwork season approaches
http://acrossborders.oeaw.ac.at/acrossborders-2015-the-fieldwork-season-approaches/

Season 2015 in the Pharaonic town of Sai Island
http://acrossborders.oeaw.ac.at/season-2015-in-the-pharaonic-town-of-sai-island/

Back at SAV1 West: more mud bricks!
http://acrossborders.oeaw.ac.at/back-at-sav1-west-more-mud-bricks/

Negative walls and foundation trenches of Building A
http://acrossborders.oeaw.ac.at/negative-walls-and-foundation-trenches-of-building-a/

AMARA WEST PROJECT BLOG

By Neal Spencer, Keeper of Ancient Egypt and Sudan, British Museum:

Amara West 2015: the season approaches
http://blog.amarawest.britishmuseum.org/2015/01/01/amara-west-2015-the-season-approaches/

Amara West 2015: how does a digging season start?
http://blog.amarawest.britishmuseum.org/2015/01/04/amara-west-2015-how-does-a-digging-season-start/

THE CAIRO POST

New sound and light show debuts at Egyptian Museum
http://www.thecairopost.com/news/131171/travel-antiquities/new-sound-and-light-show-debuts-at-egyptian-museum

Bronze Age beads found in Denmark linked to Tutankhamen’s golden mask
http://www.thecairopost.com/news/131356/travel-antiquities/bronze-age-beads-found-in-denmark-linked-to-tutankhamens-golden-mask

Pharaonic rock carving of obelisks found in Gebel el Silsila quarry
http://www.thecairopost.com/news/132316/news/pharaonic-rock-carving-of-obelisks-found-in-gebel-el-silsila-quarry

NICKY VAN DE BEEK

Luxor survival guide
http://nickyvandebeek.com/2015/01/luxor-survival-guide/

ANCIENT AVARIS

Deal or no deal?
https://ancientavaris.wordpress.com/2014/12/26/deal-or-no-deal/

HARMAKIS

God's tomb discovered in Qurna
http://harmakis.net/en/archives/3316

Egyptian calendar
http://harmakis.net/en/archives/3325

The cement of Imhotep
http://harmakis.net/en/archives/3333

The Book of the Mummy of Zagreb
http://harmakis.net/en/archives/3343

The return Egyptologist: "I will do research in Italy"
http://harmakis.net/en/archives/3348

The letters of El-Amarna
http://harmakis.net/en/archives/3357

LIVESCIENCE

Tomb of Unknown Queen Discovered in Egypt
http://www.livescience.com/49317-unknown-egyptian-queen-tomb.html

ANCIENT ORIGINS

After Decades of Searching, the Causeway for the Great Pyramid of Egypt has been Found
http://www.ancient-origins.net/news-history-archaeology/after-decades-searching-causeway-great-pyramid-egypt-has-been-found-002530

AL ARABIYA NEWS

Swedish diggers find rare Pharaonic relief in Egypt
http://english.alarabiya.net/en/life-style/art-and-culture/2015/01/06/Swedish-diggers-find-rare-Pharaonic-relief-in-Egypt.html

Tomb Of Egyptian Queen Khentakawess III Discovered In Abusir

The Huffington Post |  By Ed Mazza

A long-forgotten queen of Egypt has been rediscovered by Czech archaeologists, who unearthed her 4,500-year-old tomb at the Abusir necropolis just outside of Cairo.

Inscriptions on the tomb indicate her name was Khentakawess, or Khentkaus, and that she was married to the Pharaoh Neferefre, also known as King Raneferef, who ruled briefly during the 5th Dynasty of the Old Kingdom, the team announced on Sunday.

Since there have been two other queens with the same name, the archaeologists are calling her Khentakawess III, or Khentkaus III, according to AFP.

It's the "first time we have discovered the name of this queen who had been unknown before the discovery of her tomb," antiquities minister Mamdouh al-Damaty said in a statement cited by AFP. "This discovery will help us shed light on certain unknown aspects of the Fifth Dynasty, which along with the Fourth Dynasty, witnessed the construction of the first pyramids."

Inscriptions also identify her as "wife of the king" and "mother of the king."

Miroslav Barta, head of the team that made the discovery, told the EFE news agency that Khentakawess III would have been the mother of Pharaoh Menkahur in addition to being wife of Neferefre.

Osiris tomb discovered in Luxor

A symbolic tomb of the god Osiris has been discovered at Al-Gorna on Luxor’s west bank

By Nevine El-Aref , Sunday 4 Jan 2015

A Spanish-Italian archaeological mission has discovered a complete symbolic tomb of the god Osiris with multiple shafts and chambers at Al-Gorna necropolis on Luxor’s west bank.
Minister of Antiquities Mamdouh Eldamaty told Ahram Online that the discovery is important because the newly discovered tomb is a small version of the design of the Osirion found in Abydos in the Upper Egypt city of Sohag.

Abdel Hakim Karar, head of Antiquities of Upper Egypt, explains that the newly discovered tomb can be dated to the 25th Dynasty and consists of a large hall supported with five pillars. Its northern wall has a hall with a rock-hewn staircase that leads down to a funerary complex where an Osiris statue is found in the core of a vaulted chapel.

To the west of the chapel, said Karar, a funerary hall is found decorated with a relief depicting ancient Egyptian gods holding knives in order to protect the dead.

At the opposite side of the Osiris statue is another staircase leading to a nine metre deep shaft that leads to another chamber that has a seven metre deep shaft with two rooms full of debris.

María Milagros Álvarez Sosa, head of the mission, said that part of the tomb was initially discovered by archaeologist Philippe Virey in the 1880s and some attempts were made to sketch out the main structure in the 20th century. However, it was not until recently that the full extent of the structure was discovered through excavation.

The funerary complex will continue to be explored and the chambers cleared of debris in the autumn of this year.

Source: http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/9/40/119421/Heritage/Ancient-Egypt/Osiris-tomb-discovered-in-Luxor.aspx

Archaeologists Investigate Early Urban Center Near Sea of Galilee

The 5,000-year-old city had diplomatic and commercial ties with First Dynasty Egypt.

Situated near the southern coast of the Sea of Galilee in the present-day State of Israel, the ancient remains of one of the earliest urban centers of the Levant has been explored off-and-on by teams of archaeologists for more than 70 years. Known as Tel bet Yerah, or Khirbet Kerak, it was built around 3,000 BCE as a fortified city, and archaeologists have discovered evidence indicating the center had significant political and commercial importance to the First Dynasty kings of ancient Egypt. 

In 2009, a team of archaeologists under the direction of Dr. Raphael Greenberg of Tel Aviv University, Dr. Sarit Paz of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and Prof. David Wengrow of the University College London, uncovered an Egyptian relief-carved stone fragment illustrating a hand grasping a scepter and the ‘ankh’ (eternal life) symbol, which they dated to about 3000 BCE. It was one clear sign, among other finds, that testified of a trade and political relationship between the city and First Dynasty Egypt.

Greenberg and colleagues have been excavating at the site to address unanswered questions about the history and culture of the site, the location of an ancient city that is shedding additional light on the development of urbanization in this part of the Levant, an area that has functioned historically as a crossroads between the great urban centers of Mesopotamia and Egypt to the south.

But unlike many other similar sites in the region, Tel bet Yerah features finds that also tell of the distinctive presence of a migrant group from an area far to its north.

The online battle for papyrus texts

Papyrus scrolls are also now increasingly desirable items in the distinctly 21st Century world of the online auction trade, writes Philip Sherwell

By Philip Sherwell, New York

They are tattered yellowing fragments of bygone civilisations, ancient manuscripts that open a remarkable window on previous millennia, including the earliest days of Christianity.

But papyrus scrolls are also now increasingly hot items in the distinctly 21st Century world of the online auction trade.

A rectangular scrap measuring about 4.5 inches by 1.5 inches and featuring 15 partial lines of Homer’s epic poem The Iliad in the elegant hand of a 4th Century Egyptian scribe was just [DEC] picked up by an unidentified European buyer for £16,000 after a feverish Internet auction battle.

That price was way above the posted estimated but is typical of the sums that collectors will now spend to lay their hands on these fingerprints from the past.

Indeed, it is not just modern art that has been setting jaw-dropping records at auction recently - so have ancient scrolls.

When a fragmentary parchment sheet from the 3rd century AD featuring portions of Paul’s epistle to the Romans was bought at Sotheby’s for £301,000 auctioneers and antiquity experts alike were stunned.

Museum Pieces - Model of Nubian Soldiers

Model of Nubian Soldiers

Photocredit: Museums for Intercultural Dialogue

datation: Early Middle Kingdom (11th Dynasty around 2055-1985 BC)
provenance: Asyut
area: Egypt
period: 3000-2000 BC
materials: Wood.

These small figurines of different sizes, wood stuccoed and painted, represent Nubian soldiers as if in a parade. They are fixed on a base composed of five boards joined by three cross boards below. This group was found in a tomb dated to the beginning of the Middle Kingdom in the necropolis of Asyut in Middle Egypt, accompanied by a second group representing a troop of Egyptian soldiers.

These objects are in fact what we call “models”, made to accompany the deceased in his/her trip to the afterlife. They probably belonged to the governor of the nome (province) that they call Nomarch, perhaps Mesehti, who lived during the late 11th Dynasty.

The black skinned figures, dressed in a red or white loincloth and wearing a necklace and hair band, are standing in a way which represents the march of the parade: the bare feet, with the left leg forward. The left arm is brought back to a right angle and holds a bow. The other arm is left dangling by the body with the hand holding a set of arrows. The squad consists of four lines of ten soldiers giving a total of forty soldiers.

In Pharaonic Egypt, from the earliest times, there existed a military organization consisting of both Egyptians and other ethnic groups such as Nubians. The Nubian and Medjay auxiliaries appeared in the Middle Kingdom. Some stelae testify that a garrison of Nubian and Medjay archers was established in the late 11th Dynasty at Gebelein in Upper Egypt. In this period, it was primarily the infantry of defeated soldiers who were enlisted in the Egyptian troops.

With the New Kingdom and expansive aims of Egypt the army became professionalized. The pharaoh, supreme commander of armies, was surrounded by important management personnel. Titles connected to the military were numerous; from scribe to chief of troop (so-called General).

The Old and Middle Kingdoms defended their borders and did not venture out much, except to Sinai and Nubia up to the Second Cataract. With the appearance of the horse, a new military unit was created: the chariot, which will have a big influence in conflicts starting from the New Kingdom, especially considering it was a period when ambitions for the Near East intensified. In this period, other ethnic groups from Libya and the Near East will be incorporated into the army. The foreign reinforcements in the army will be continued in future periods as pharaohs will not hesitate to call on foreign mercenaries from the Saite period and onwards: a practice which will become the norm in Antiquity from Hellenistic Greece to Rome.

Source: http://www.unesco.org/culture/museum-for-dialogue/item/en/70/model-of-nubian-soldiers