The joint Egyptian-French archaeological mission has made a significant discovery under the waters of the Nile in Aswan. The mission, composed of the Supreme Council of Antiquities of Egypt and Paul Valéry University Montpellier, and led by Dr. Chris Crassion, has found inscriptions and reliefs of important pharaohs, including Amenhotep III, Thutmose IV, Psamtik II, […]
Egypt
Posted inAncient Egypt
Harpedonaptai, the Indispensable “Rope Stretchers” of Ancient Egypt
In the long and fascinating history of Ancient Egypt, there were figures without whom many monumental and artistic achievements would not have been possible. Moreover, without them, chaos would have taken over the Nile country year after year, making them essential for maintaining order. We are not talking about the pharaohs or the priests. We […]
Posted inAncient Egypt, Ancient Greece
The Frenzied Life of Ptolemy Ceraunus, the Man Who Ended the Last Successor of Alexander the Great
He was disinherited from the Egyptian throne, organized an expedition to overthrow his brother-in-law in Thrace, murdered the ally who helped him, married his own stepsister, killed her children, briefly ruled in Macedonia, and ultimately lost his life because, in his reckless impetuosity, he did not wait for reinforcements in his last battle, ending with […]
Posted inAncient Egypt, Prehistory
The Enigmatic Merimde Culture, the Origin of Egyptian Civilization
Although we are accustomed to reading about Egyptian kings and great pharaohs, about gigantic monuments such as pyramids and mastabas, Egyptian civilization did not emerge out of nowhere but developed from prehistoric cultures around the Nile Delta. The oldest, and perhaps one of the most enigmatic, which is considered the origin of the later Egyptian […]
Posted inArchaeology
33 Tombs with Mummies of Young People and Newborns Discovered Around the Aga Khan Mausoleum, West of Aswan
The joint Egyptian-Italian archaeological mission, operating around the Aga Khan Mausoleum, west of Aswan, has made a remarkable discovery by unearthing several previously unknown family tombs dating back to the Late, Greek, and Roman periods, according to Dr. Mohammed Ismail Khaled, Secretary General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities. This discovery is highly significant as […]
Posted inAncient Egypt
The Best Preserved Temple in Egypt Was Saved Because It Was Buried 12 Meters Under the Sand
When Auguste Mariette, who had been sent eight years earlier by the Louvre Museum to Egypt in search of ancient manuscripts, was appointed Conservator of Monuments by the Egyptian government in 1858, he initiated a frenetic excavation activity. In 1860 alone, he directed more than 35 new excavations while also maintaining the ones already started. […]
Posted inAncient Egypt, Ancient Rome
The Story of Caesarion, the Unfortunate Son of Julius Caesar and Cleopatra
It was the year 30 B.C. when Octavian’s victory at the Battle of Actium ended the Third Civil War, turning Egypt into a mere Roman province. With this new political-administrative status, the dignity of the Egyptian pharaoh disappeared and was replaced by that of a proconsul. The last one, who reigned alongside his mother Cleopatra […]
Posted inAncient Rome
Caesar, besieged with Cleopatra in Alexandria, Ordered his Ships to be Burned to Prevent Retreat
If we talk about the sieges that Julius Caesar experienced, the one at Alesia immediately comes to mind, where he defeated the Gallic leader Vercingetorix after a month and a half of fighting and after being besieged himself when an enemy army unexpectedly appeared from the rear. He would go through this experience again five […]
Posted inMiddle Ages
Cyriacus of Ancona, the Italian Humanist Considered the Father of Archaeology Who Identified the Pyramids and the Parthenon
Although the German Johann Joachim Winckelmann is generally considered the father of modern archaeology, it’s important to note that this science didn’t suddenly appear in the 18th century but had roots hundreds of years earlier, particularly in the Italian Renaissance, which revived Greco-Roman artistic and cultural classicism. Consequently, one might call one of those multidisciplinary […]
Posted inClassical Archaeology
Letters from Roman Centurions Found in Ancient Berenike, Egypt: “I Send Them with Dromedarius, Take Care of Them”
Polish archaeologists found papyrus with letters from Roman centurions stationed in Egypt in Berenike. These unique documents were discovered along with, among other things, ceramics from Italy, Roman coins, and a specific cloak brooch in what might have been the remains of a centurion’s office. For Egyptologists and other scholars of Antiquity, this is an […]