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Digging up Egypt's TreasuresExplore more photos from the story |
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6. Origins of the Alphabet
Discovered: 1999
Dates to: 1900-1800 B.C.
Place: Wadi el-Hol
Almost 4,000 years ago, Semitic peoples living in Egypt wrote a message on stone cliffs in the desert west of the Nile. The two inscriptions are the earliest examples of alphabetic writing, pushing the use of such communication back about three centuries earlier than previously thought. The discoverers, John and Deborah Darnell of Yale University, think the inscriptions were left by a group of early Canaanites, perhaps part of a gang of skilled laborers working on tombs. These ancient people figured out how to use Egyptian hieroglyphics to convey their own language.
7. Birth Brick
Discovered: 2001
Dates to: 1750-1700 B.C.
Place: South Abydos
While excavating in South Abydos, archaeologist Josef Wegner found a magical birth brick that women of ancient Egypt used for support while they squatted during childbirth. Wegner, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania, knew the bricks existed because they were mentioned in spells. But the 20-inch-long piece of unbaked mud was the first one ever found.
Decorated with polychrome paint, the brick's sides depict deities and demons. On the top a woman cradles a baby flanked by images of the goddess Hathor. Such iconography conveys the importance of childbirth—and divine assistance in the process—at a time of high infant mortality.
8. Statue of Queen Tiy
Discovered: 2006
Dates to: circa 1360 B.C.
Place: South Karnak
Placing a larger-than-life-sized statue of Queen Tiy in a temple dedicated to the fierce goddess Mut conveyed a strong image: this was a woman of great importance, a ruler who wanted to associate herself with the punishing aspects of the gods and their ability to put things right again.
It must have worked, because several hundred years later, another Egyptian queen, Henttawy, had her name inscribed on the beautiful statue, hoping no doubt to benefit from such a powerful association.
Images of Tiy found prior to the statue's discovery had shown her with her husband, Akhenaten. The depiction of Tiy standing solo implies that she had some authority in the cult of Mut and suggests that other queens might have been more active members of this cult than previously thought. The statue now resides in the Cairo's Egyptian Museum.
9. Red Sea Ship
Discovered: 2004
Dates to: 2000-1800 B.C.
Place: Wadi Gawasis
Cedar timbers and steering oars found in caves near the Red Sea shed light on Egypt's ancient trading activities. Limestone tablets found near the site's entrance described trips to Punt and Bia-Punt, two mysterious places in the ancient world that have yet to be positively located. Since a cartouche, an object with the seal of King Amenemhat III, was also found at the site, Egyptologists speculate that he ordered the expeditions around 1800 B.C., perhaps to get myrrh, the valuable, aromatic plant resin used in incense.
10. Confirmation of Queen Hatshepsut's Mummy
Discovered: June 2007
Dates to: 1478-1458 B.C.
Place: Cairo
The remains of the enigmatic Egyptian Museum in Cairo scanned the tooth, held inside a box inscribed with the queen's name. They then compared the scan to a gap in the mouth of a mummy long believed to be Hatshepsut; the tooth matched the gap within a fraction of a millimeter.
Robin T. Reid, a freelance writer and editor in Baltimore, Maryland, has written about fossils recently discovered in Kenya.
Comments
Wasn't Queen Tiy the mother and not the wife of Akhenaten? I think Tiy was the wife of Amenhotep III and Akhenaten's wife was Nefertiti. (Discovery #8 paragraph 3)
Posted by Heidi Sawatzky on November 21,2007 | 01:32PM
scarryy!
Posted by on November 21,2007 | 09:22PM
Queen Tiy was Akhenaten's mother, not his wife. She was married to Amenhotep III.
Posted by Stan Parchin on November 24,2007 | 08:05AM
Akhenaten didn't *really* abolish polytheism. He did abolish the worship of Amen and other major state gods in favor of the Aten, but the worship of smaller household gods were still allowed. This is backed up by the discovery of figurines and shrines to such lesser gods at the workmen's village at Amarna, Akhenaten's capital. Another error-- while the site is now referred to as Amarna, historically it was called Akhetaten, not to be confused with Akhenaten, the one who built it. Again, regarding the polytheism-- after Akhenaten's death, worship of the Aten was abolished, and worship of Amen and other major state gods was reestablished.
Posted by Dan Carpenter on December 11,2007 | 01:48AM
It's really impressive what technology and archeologists can discover.For school i'm doing a project on new kingdom. I WANT to know how the ancient egyptians died.Also im curious about how egyptian girls were believed to have married at ages 8 or older.Its real intresting stuff!
Posted by Christian page on December 19,2007 | 03:58PM
Dear Sir Has there every been a tomb found for a Jew in Thebes Egypt? Reaspectfully Garry
Posted by Garry Matheny on December 21,2007 | 09:01AM
I am a retired US Army officer. I have been in 25 countries, including Egypt. I have 2 years in combat in RVN with PH, etc. I have sent several messages to different places regarding Alexander the Great, but they all discount me. He was buried in Alexandria in a display coffin. He and his coffin disappeared during the riots in Alexandria 100's of yeas ago. I believe he, and his coffin, were carried by six priests out of Alexandria and hidden in Egypt. They remain undisturbed. His coffin sits on six rectangular stone blocks, feet facing north. The coffin is flat on the bottom, slopes up and out and has a flat slab lid. It is light to medium green in color.If interested in retrieving it...................contact me!
Posted by Pres Kendall on March 14,2008 | 03:30PM
My question--Has there ever been any burial sites found in Egypt that will confirm the presence of Jews (Hebrews) during the time of the Pharoahs? PLEASE REPLY MyTHANKS BobB
Posted by BobBallard on June 26,2008 | 07:46AM
Can anyone tell me how gold was discovered in ancient Egypt, and how did they know how to ''work it''...............are there documents as to how this precious metal was found.
Posted by chester carone on October 30,2008 | 06:50AM
I thought she was not found !
Posted by diana mejia on February 19,2009 | 05:07PM
to Mr : Pres Kendall i am from alexandria ( Egypy ) i agree with you about Alexander the Great coffin story , pleas contact me by my email . by the way iam retired too. thank you
Posted by oss on April 1,2009 | 03:59AM
If Bob Ballard ever finds this again. To the best of my knowledge (I live in Cairo and am fascinated by the continuity of Afro-Asiatic and Proto-Semitic linguistic evolution) the earliest instance of recorded "Jews" in contrast to merely "Semitic Peoples" or "Proto-Caananites" occurs in the Elephantine Papyrus (I think from around 1152 BC) and involves a group of Jews from the Persian Empire being stationed by the Shah in Elephantine near Northern Nubia for assistance with Egypt's Nubian Campaigns.
This is fairly well documented, but I have seen no evidence that earlier references to Semites reflect Judaism in particular, but rather the normal Semitic Pantheon instead (per some Berber tribes and some influence of the said Pantheon on Egyptian identification of gods - particularly of gods associated with foreigners).
Posted by Michael Sheflin on August 15,2009 | 01:32PM
what about some of the mummifications found like king tut. or ramses the great that helped us along as to what we know now. to whats written in our history books.artifacts and stones are great.but think about to what we know now.......
Posted by owen on October 12,2009 | 10:14AM
1 word AWSOME!!! = )
Posted by asdfghjlk; on November 10,2009 | 08:17AM