In southern Egypt, near the Nile River, an international team of archaeologists has unearthed an age-old secret: how the beliefs of rural communities helped build the ideology of the pharaonic state. The cemetery of Adaima has revealed that seemingly local rituals—such as the symbolic dismemberment of bodies and the alignment of tombs with the stars—were […]
Egypt
Posted inBronze Age Archaeology
The inhabitants of a Canaanite city sacrificed and buried Egyptian female donkeys under their houses as a protection ritual 4,500 years ago
In the ruins of Tell es-Sâfi/Gath, an ancient Canaanite city located in what is now Israel, archaeologists have discovered something surprising: four complete skeletons of young female donkeys carefully buried beneath the floors of houses built around 4,500 years ago (between 2900 and 2550 BCE). These animals, all young and healthy females, were sacrificed and […]
Posted inAncient Egypt, Archaeology
Rare 6,000-Year-Old Rock Panel Discovered in Egypt May Depict a Member of the First Dynasty Elite
Near Aswan, the Nile winds through millennia-old rock formations where a team of researchers has discovered an exceptional rock art panel that may depict a member of the ruling elite during the early days of the Egyptian state, a key period that laid the foundation for what would later become one of the most influential […]
Posted inAncient Egypt, Archaeology
Tombs with Hieroglyphic Inscriptions and a 2-Meter Sarcophagus Discovered in the Necropolis of the Aga Khan Mausoleum in Aswan
An Egyptian-Italian archaeological team has announced the discovery of several rock-cut tombs dating to the Greek and Roman periods, located in the necropolis on the west bank of the Nile near the Aga Khan Mausoleum in Aswan. The discovery includes hieroglyphic inscriptions in a remarkable state of preservation. The mission, which consists of specialists from […]
Posted inAncient Egypt, Archaeology
22 Large Blocks of the Lighthouse of Alexandria Retrieved from the Seafloor, Including Its Door Lintels
Three decades after the waters of Alexandria’s bay revealed the first submerged vestiges of the seventh wonder of the world, an international archaeological mission has successfully extracted from the seabed twenty-two of the most massive blocks of the legendary Lighthouse of Alexandria. The operation, led by archaeologist and architect Isabelle Hairy, a researcher at France’s […]
Posted inAncient Egypt, Archaeology
Three Tombs with False Doors, Offering Tables, and Infant Remains Discovered in the Qubbet el-Hawa Necropolis in Aswan
As part of the ongoing archaeological excavations taking place in the Qubbet el-Hawa necropolis in Aswan, an Egyptian mission has unearthed three rock-cut tombs dating back to the Old Kingdom period, between 2686 and 2181 BCE. According to Mohamed Ismail Khaled, Secretary General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, initial studies indicate that some of […]
Posted inAncient Egypt, Archaeology
The Ancient City of Akhetaten, Built as a Capital by Akhenaten, Reemerged as a Christian Sanctuary at the End of the Roman Period
Until now, researchers believed that the city of Amarna (the Arabic name for the ancient city of Akhetaten), founded by Pharaoh Akhenaten in 1370 BCE, had been abandoned forever after its fall. However, a recent study published in the Minia Journal of Tourism and Hospitality Research reveals that Amarna not only survived but was transformed […]
Posted inAncient Egypt, Archaeology
Why the Statues of Hatshepsut Were Destroyed in Ancient Egypt Revealed
For a long time, the image of Pharaoh Hatshepsut has been linked to the idea of a damnatio memoriae, a deliberate attempt to erase her legacy after her death. This was the prevailing view among Egyptologists, who argued that her nephew and successor, Thutmose III, had ordered the systematic destruction of her statues as an […]
Posted inAncient Egypt, Archaeology
Ancient city of Imet discovered in Egypt, featuring tower-shaped houses and a temple of the cobra goddess Wadjet
A team of archaeologists from the University of Manchester has unearthed the remains of the ancient city of Imet in the Tell el-Fara’in area in the Sharqia Governorate, northeast of Cairo. The discovery includes residential structures, grain storage facilities, stables, and evidence of a temple dedicated to the cobra goddess Wadjet, dating from the 4th […]
Posted inAncient Egypt
There Are 500,000 Ancient Egyptian Papyri Preserved Around the World, Many of Them Accessible Online
Paper, invented in China around the 2nd century BCE, did not spread to the rest of the world until much later, as it remained within the country for half a millennium, and it wasn’t until the 11th century that Muslims brought it to Europe, specifically to Al-Andalus. Until then, other materials were used, ranging from […]
