Lost and Found: Ancient Shoes Turn Up in Egypt Temple

by Owen Jarus, LiveScience ContributorDate: 26 February 2013

More than 2,000 years ago, at a time when Egypt was ruled by a dynasty of kings of Greek descent, someone, perhaps a group of people, hid away some of the most valuable possessions they had — their shoes.

Seven shoes were deposited in a jar in an Egyptian temple in Luxor, three pairs and a single one. Two pairs were originally worn by children and were only about 7 inches (18 centimeters) long. Using palm fiber string, the child shoes were tied together within the single shoe (it was larger and meant for an adult) and put in the jar. Another pair of shoes, more than 9 inches (24 cm) long that had been worn by a limping adult, was also inserted in the jar.

The shoe-filled jar, along with two other jars, had been "deliberately placed in a small space between two mudbrick walls," writes archaeologist Angelo Sesana in a report published in the journal Memnonia.

Whoever deposited the shoes never returned to collect them, and they were forgotten, until now.

In 2004, an Italian archaeological expedition team, led by Sesana, rediscovered the shoes. The archaeologists gave André Veldmeijer, an expert in ancient Egyptian footwear, access to photographs that show the finds.

"The find is extraordinary as the shoes were in pristine condition and still supple upon discovery," writes Veldmeijer in the most recent edition of the Journal of the American Research Center in Egypt. Unfortunately after being unearthed the shoes became brittle and "extremely fragile," he added.

Dynasties Of Egypt Part V: Late Period

Kushite Period, or Dynasty 25 (ca. 712–664 B.C.)

From ca. 728 to 656 B.C., the Nubian kings of Dynasty 25 dominated Egypt. Like the Libyans before them, they governed as Egyptian pharaohs. Their control was strongest in the south. In the north, Tefnakht's successor, Bakenrenef, ruled for four years (ca. 717–713 B.C.) at Sais until Piankhy's successor, Shabaqo (ca. 712–698 B.C.), overthrew him and established Nubian control over the entire country. The accession of Shabaqo can be considered the end of the Third Intermediate Period and the beginning of the Late Period in Egypt.

Nubian rule, which viewed itself as restoring the true traditions of Egypt, benefited Egypt economically and was accompanied by a revival in temple building and the arts that continued throughout the Late Period. At the same time, however, the country faced a growing threat from the Assyrian empire to its east. After forty years of relative security, Nubian control—and Egypt's peace—were broken by an Assyrian invasion in ca. 671 B.C. The current pharaoh, Taharqo (ca. 690–664 B.C.), retreated south and the Assyrians established a number of local vassals to rule in their stead in the Delta. One of them, Necho I of Sais (ca. 672–664 B.C.), is recognized as the founder of the separate Dynasty 26. For the next eight years, Egypt was the battleground between Nubia and Assyria. A brutal Assyrian invasion in 663 B.C. finally ended Nubian control of the country. The last pharaoh of Dynasty 25, Tanutamani (664–653 B.C.), retreated to Napata. There, in relative isolation, he and his descendants continued to rule Nubia, eventually becoming the Meroitic civilization, which flourished in Nubia until the fourth century A.D. 

Ancient “Egyptian blue” pigment points to new telecommunications, security ink technology

“Nanoscience of an Ancient Pigment”
Journal of the American Chemical Society

A bright blue pigment used 5,000 years ago is giving modern scientists clues toward the development of new nanomaterials with potential uses in state-of-the-art medical imaging devices, remote controls for televisions, security inks and other technology. That’s the conclusion of an article on the pigment, Egyptian blue, in the Journal of the American Chemical Society.

Tina T. Salguero and colleagues point out that Egyptian blue, regarded as humanity’s first artificial pigment, was used in paintings on tombs, statues and other objects throughout the ancient Mediterranean world. Remnants have been found, for instance, on the statue of the messenger goddess Iris on the Parthenon and in the famous Pond in a Garden fresco in the tomb of Egyptian “scribe and counter of grain” Nebamun in Thebes.

They describe surprise in discovering that the calcium copper silicate in Egyptian blue breaks apart into nanosheets so thin that thousands would fit across the width of a human hair. The sheets produce invisible infrared (IR) radiation similar to the beams that communicate between remote controls and TVs, car door locks and other telecommunications devices. “Calcium copper silicate provides a route to a new class of nanomaterials that are particularly interesting with respect to state-of-the-art pursuits like near-IR-based biomedical imaging, IR light-emitting devices (especially telecommunication platforms) and security ink formulations,” the report states. “In this way we can reimagine the applications of an ancient material through modern technochemical means.”

The authors acknowledge funding from the University of Georgia.

Source: http://portal.acs.org/portal/acs/corg/content?_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=PP_ARTICLEMAIN&node_id=223&content_id=CNBP_032200&use_sec=true&sec_url_var=region1&__uuid=ffed7931-bfa4-48b6-9f40-8bc24da2890e

Museum Pieces - Vase with Three Handles

Vase with Three Handles

Some of the finest works of New Kingdom glass were made under Akhenaten, perhaps under the inspiration of Asiatic glassmakers living in Egypt. Vessels such as this example were shaped around a sandy core and decorated with glass threads that were manipulated with a thin stick before the vessel had dried. By carefully moving his stick, the craftsman created ornate, rippled designs.

Medium: Glass

Place Made: Saqqara, Egypt

Dates: ca. 1352-1336 B.C.E.

Dynasty: late XVIII Dynasty

Period: New Kingdom

Dimensions: 3 7/16 x Diam. 2 9/16 in. (8.7 x 6.5 cm)  (show scale)

Collections:Egyptian, Classical, Ancient Near Eastern Art

Museum Location: This item is on view in Egypt Reborn: Art for Eternity, Amarna Period, Martha A. and Robert S. Rubin Gallery, 3rd Floor

Accession Number: 37.340E

Credit Line: Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund

Rights Statement: Creative Commons-BY

Caption: Vase with Three Handles, ca. 1352-1336 B.C.E. Glass, 3 7/16 x Diam. 2 9/16 in. (8.7 x 6.5 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 37.340E. Creative Commons-BY

Image: overall, 37.340E_SL1.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph

Catalogue Description: Small glass jar with broad foot, three upturned handles, tall neck, and wide flat rim. The body and neck are decorated with yellow and white dragged patterns. On the neck the pattern is a zigzag; on the body a festoon pattern. The outer edge of the rim is yellow; the remainder of the vessel is a dark blue. Condition: Large chip out of rim; two pieces glued back onto rim.

Photocredit: Brooklyn Museum

Source: http://www.brooklynmuseum.org/opencollection/objects/4021/Vase_with_Three_Handles#

Ramses II vizier's tomb cover discovered

Remains of a mud-brick pyramid-shaped tomb cover belonging to vizier Khay found in Luxor

by Nevine El-Aref , Wednesday 20 Feb 2013

A group of Belgian archaeologists uncovered the remains of a mud-brick pyramid-shaped tomb cover in Luxor belonging to Ramses II's vizier Khay.

The Belgian archaeological mission from the Free University of Brussels and Liege University uncovered the 15 metre-tall structure during their routine excavation work at Sheikh Abdul Gorna noblemen's necropolis on Luxor’s west bank.

The mission stumbled upon a pyramidion (a tiny pyramid) engraved with an ancient Egyptian scene depicting the god Ra-Hurakhti.

Khay's tomb has not yet been found, but excavation works are ongoing to uncover it.

In the era of Ramses II, all noblemen's tombs were topped with a pyramid-shamed cover.

“It is a very important discovery,” said Mohamed Ibrahim, minister of state for antiquities, explaining that archaeologists only know Khay from ancient Egyptian papyri, statues and documents; his tomb has never been identified before. Two statues of Khay are currently on display at the Egyptian Museum in Tahrir.

Mansour Breik, supervisor of Luxor antiquities, said that Khay was Ramses II's vizier for 15 years and he used to supervise the construction of royal tombs in the valleys of the kings and queens.

He helped in the organisation of several festivals, among them the king’s coronation.

According to Abydos stele, said Breik, Khay came from a very important family.

Source: http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/9/40/65217/Heritage/Ancient-Egypt/Ramsis-II-viziers-tomb-cover-discovered.aspx

Egypt’s ancient treasures being lost to looters

By Betsy Hiel 

Published: Saturday, February 16, 2013, 10:20 p.m.

Updated: Sunday, February 17, 2013 

DAHSHOUR, Egypt — From a distance, it looks as though an animal has burrowed around the 4,000-year-old Black Pyramid of Amenemhat III.

But thieves dug these holes. And Egyptian archaeologist Monica Hanna calls that “a catastrophe.”

“See the ancient mud bricks?” says Hanna, 29, peering into a pit. “It is very well structured.”

She walks to another, followed by three pyramid custodians, and points into the 25-foot hole with a tunnel to one side. Here, she says, looters exposed what might be a burial shaft.

One custodian, Said Hussein, 32, tells her that as many as 30 armed men come nightly to dig for antiquities. They beat two custodians, broke an arm of one and “attacked the armed guards on the gate.”

“Do they find anything?” she asks.

“They only find pottery, stuff like that,” he replies. “A wooden coffin, that's what they take.”

These “massive looting pits,” Hanna says, have made “Swiss cheese” of a 2-mile-long field of five pyramids listed as a United Nations World Heritage Site.

“This should not happen here,” she declares. “I feel so sad … because it is history being lost forever.”

The discovery of Tutankhamun’s tomb and the legacy of Howard Carter

By Dr Joanna Kyffin 
Sunday, 17 February 2013


Ninety years ago, Howard Carter and his patron, George Herbert, the Fifth Earl of Carnarvon, opened the first and only intact royal burial to ever have been discovered in Egypt. The tomb of Tutankhamun in the Valley of the Kings which was probably originally intended for a non-royal burial. In comparison to the tomb of Amenhotep III, who had been buried only some 20 years earlier in a large, complex and gorgeously decorated tomb, Tutankhamun’s tomb, consisting of just four small rooms, three of which were undecorated, is modest, even humble.

Nonetheless, no other royal mummy has ever been found in the tomb in which it was first laid to rest, with its grave goods almost undisturbed and Carter’s momentous discovery has shaped the field of Egyptology ever since.

Howard Carter was a self-made man, the son of a well-known portrait artist, and his first endeavours in Egyptology were as an artist and draughtsman rather than an excavator. At the tender age of 17 he undertook his first work in Egypt with Percy Newberry at the site of Beni Hasan, working for the Egypt Exploration Fund (now the Egypt Exploration Society).

Carter’s artistic skills were his passport into employment, along with his relatively humble origins – a letter from Francis Llewellyn Griffith, curator at the British Museum and head of the Archaeological Survey branch of the EEF, sets out the criteria for choosing the right man for the job: ‘it matters not whether the artist is a gentleman or not… A gentleman, unless of an economical turn of mind, would run into extra expenses very likely’.