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Ancient Egypt

Swedish researchers used phase-contrast imaging to examine the soft tissue of a 2,400-year-old mummified hand

Now We Don’t Have to Unravel Mummies to Study Them at a Cellular Level

Phase-contrast imaging enabled researchers to non-invasively examine a mummified hand’s blood vessels, skin layers and connective tissue

Cool Finds

Scientists Begin Unveiling the Secrets of the Mummies in the Alexandria ‘Dark Sarcophagus’

The massives stone coffin found in July contains a woman and two men, including one who survived brain surgery

Cool Finds

Egyptian Papyrus Reveals This Old Wives’ Tale Is Very Old Indeed

The “Wheat and Barley” pregnancy test described in a recently translated medical text has been practiced for thousands of years

New Research

Egyptians Cracked Recipe for Embalming Resin Well Before Time of the Pharaohs

A new analysis shows that the Egyptian mummies were being made long before 2600 B.C.

The world's oldest cheese has been found in an ancient Egyptian tomb, but after 3200 years of entombment, it probably looked way worse off than this moldy modern sample.

Oldest Cheese Ever Found in Egyptian Tomb

Italian researchers also found traces of disease-causing bacteria in what they believe is probably extremely aged cheese.

Cool Finds

Egyptian Authorities Open Sealed Ptolemaic-Era Sarcophagus

Rampant speculation about what was inside the black granite tomb has swirled since the relic was first discovered at a building site in Alexandria

This gilded mummy mask was recently discovered in a burial chamber in Saqqara, Egypt. Archaeologists called the find a "sensation."

Mummification Workshop and Trove of Burial Relics Found in Egypt

‘We are standing before a goldmine of information,’ one expert said

A look inside the VR experience

Take a VR Tour of an Egyptian Queen’s Elaborate Tomb

The resting place of Queen Nefertari, the favorite wife of Ramses II, is largely closed to visitors, but it can now be explored virtually

Cool Finds

Oldest Greek Fragment of Homer Discovered on Clay Tablet

The verses come from the ancient city of Olympia and date to the Roman era

Photographer Harry Burton spent eight years documenting the excavation of Tutankhamun's tomb

Rare Photographs Put Focus on Egyptians Who Worked Alongside Carter to Excavate Tutankhamun’s Tomb

Harry Burton’s 3,400 snapshots document rich array of artifacts, unseen Egyptians who contributed to the Egyptologist Howard Carter’s great discovery

Scanning Tut's tomb

Trending Today

Sorry, There Are No Secret Chambers in King Tut’s Tomb

After two contradictory radar scans, Egypt’s Ministry of Antiquities commissioned a third comprehensive survey that revealed no voids beyond the tomb walls

Partial rendering of Psamtek I's statue

4,500 Newly Discovered Fragments Help Piece Together Massive Psamtik I Statue

The pieces gave researchers a better idea of the size and shape of the colossus

Ataqeloula stele

Cool Finds

Large Cache of Texts May Offer Insight Into One of Africa’s Oldest Written Languages

Archaeologists in Sudan have uncovered the largest assemblage of Meroitic inscriptions to date

Governor Djehutynakht

New Research

The F.B.I. Helped a Museum Learn the Identity of a 4,000-Year-Old Severed Head

Cutting-edge DNA analysis revealed the mummified head belonged to Djehutynakht, a governor in Middle Kingdom Egypt, and not his wife as some believed

Mummy Found Inside 2,500-Year-Old ‘Empty’ Coffin

The coffin had been listed as empty for nearly 160 years while stored at the University of Sydney’s museum

Cool Finds

Rare Image of Early Female Pharaoh Found in University Collection

After her reign, Hatshepsut was expunged from Egyptian history, but a carving of her likeness has turned up in Swansea University

Tattoos on the Pre-dynastic female mummy from Gebelein.

Earliest Figural Tattoos Discovered on 5,000-Year-Old Mummies

The markings include a bull, a sheep and a mysterious ‘S’ motif

Ask Smithsonian

Is the Fall Equinox the Secret to the Pyramids’ Near-Perfect Alignment?

One engineer says yes

A panel from the newly found tomb

Cool Finds

Tomb of 5th Dynasty Priestess Found in Egypt

The 4,400-year-old burial chamber includes well-preserved wall paintings, including an image of a monkey dancing in front of an orchestra

We’re One Step Closer to Non-Invasively Reading Ancient Papyri Hidden in Mummy Masks

Researchers at the University College of London are working to find a way to read the ancient scraps without destroying the artifacts in the process

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