Egyptian archaeologists have discovered a number of rare Pharaonic seals of soldiers sent out on desert missions in search of red paint to decorate the pyramids, Egypt's culture minister said Thursday.
The 26 matchbox-sized seals belonged to Cheops, who ruled from 2551 to 2528 BC, in whose honour the greatest of the great pyramids of Giza southwest of Cairo was built, and show Pharaonic soldiers' ranks, the MENA news agency quoted Faruq Hosni as saying.
More here.
School project update Walls middle school project back on track
Work has resumed on construction of a new middle school in the Walls area after researchers surveyed the site and found it to be clear of American Indian artifacts.
A temporary stop-work order was issued this past week after the property was identified as a potential archaeological site that included American Indian artifacts.
On Sunday, David Dye, a University of Memphis archaeology professor, and a class of students found pottery shards, animal bone, fired clay, flint chips and other items on property north of the middle school location. A new elementary school is planned for this site but the elementary project, which has not been bid, will be delayed, said schools Superintendent Milton Kuykendall.
Shippam site set to give up its secrets
Archaeologists are poised for the biggest and most exciting Roman excavation ever carried out in Chichester city centre – after demolition plans for the former Shippams factory site were approved by district councillors yesterday.
This will be the first time ever that a dig has been carried out on a major site fronting one of the main central streets.
The area is close to an important gateway where the Roman road from London entered the city, and significant material, including masonry buildings and even mosaics, could be found.
That's the whole thing.
This just seems weird Ancient Manuscript Discovery has 'Da Vinci Code' Touch
An ancient document likened to something which could have been featured in best-selling novel The Da Vinci Code was being analysed at a top auction house for its significance today.
The manuscript, believed to date from the 17th century, contains biographical details of every person in the Bible.
It was unearthed in the depths of the National Library of Wales in Aberystwyth where it had been kept in storage for Llandovery College, an independent school near the Brecon Beacons. It was among about half of the school’s archive of books which were taken to the library around 50 years ago.
See, nowadays someone would write up something like that but it would be a web site. The Internet: The ultimate playground for the obsessive-compulsive.
The tell-tale Pallava stamp
In a significant development in archaeological terms, a fragmented stone inscription in Tamil, from the eighth century A.D., was this week found in the excavated depth of the garbha griha (sanctum sanctorum) of a collapsed temple close to the Shore Temple at Mamallapuram, not far from here. In February 2005, in the wake of the tsunami-driven waves that hit the coast on December 26, the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) had discovered the remains of a massive temple on the beach, a few hundred metres south of the Shore Temple. The inscription in Tamil with eight characters reads cika malla eti... ma. It evidently formed part of a larger inscription but the stone is broken.
Remote sensing update Archeological Vestiges Discovered in Ethiopia
Major archeological vestiges have been discovered at Ethiopia's Axum obelisk site, UN experts said Tuesday.
"Underground chambers and arcades have been found in the vicinity of the original location of the obelisk," said a statement released here by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)
"Geo-radar and electrotomographic prospection, the most advanced technologies for underground observation, revealed the existence of several vast funerary chambers under the site's parking ground which was built in 1963," it said.
And now. . . . .the news from the EEF
Press report: "Brussels museum is to return a stolen 5th dynasty relief"
http://snipurl.com/eafe
It's a relief "which was stolen from the Giza tomb of a 5th dynasty priest, Senenu ....one of three pieces discovered in 1965 in Senenu's tomb...the museum had bought the piece from a private Belgian collector in 1973."
[Submitted by Kristin Romey
Press report: "Police: Egyptian Artifacts Looted By Accused Child Molester"
http://snipurl.com/eafc
"The suspect admitted to looting while on Egyptian archaeological digs with the University of Chicago."
A press release from the Hermosa Beach Police Dept. says:
While searching the home detectives found various items of possible Egyptian Antiquities including what appeared to be mummified wrapping gauze, (analysis has not been completed on the wrapping as of this writing). Weinberg indicated that he has in the past volunteered to
participate on archaeological digs with the University of Chicago in Egypt. Weinberg admitted during questioning that he looted the artifacts from sites in Egypt. Weinberg aalled the items his "Pocket collection". He would find the artifacts and "Pocket" them. He would then smuggle the items back into the United States. The items included various amulets and other antiquities that may be up to 4000 years old. Hermosa Beach Police detectives called in special agents from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to conduct a separate investigation into the looted artifacts. ICE took possession of the artifacts and is having an antiquities expert examine them to determine their authenticity.
Press report: "Ancient Egyptian art reappears online"
http://www.news14charlotte.com/content/top_stories/default.asp?ArID=92158
"The Senusret collection of ancient Egyptian art was gathered from private collections and shown briefly in the 1970s. It has never again been seen by the public -- until now. At
http://www.virtual-egyptian-museum.org, the contents of King Padibastet's tomb are once again on display."
Press report: "Reconstruction Reveals Mummy's Face"
http://dsc.discovery.com/news/briefs/20050425/mummy.html
"The face of "Bess," an Egyptian woman who died 3,000 to 3,500 years ago, is once again visible as technology brings to life what an artist's hand used to." Her mummy is at the
Denver Museum of Nature and Science.
[Eds. Criminy, guys, you could at least try to be a little more imaginative. Their reconstruction:
ArchaeoBlog's reconstruction:
Digitized Book from the Giza Digital Library
-- Peter Der Manuelian, Slab Stelae of the Giza Necropolis [Publications of the Pennsylvania-Yale Expedition to Egypt, Number 7], Peabody Museum of Natural History of Yale University and the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, New Haven and Philadelphia, 2003. xxxiv, 244 pp. - pdf-file: 57.5 MB
http://www.gizapyramids.org/pdf%20library/manuelian_slab_stelae2003.pdf
* Digitized books from the Maison de l'Orient et de la Méditerranée
-- Samuel Sharpe, The Alabaster sarcophagus of Oimenepthah I., king of Egypt: now in sir John Soane's Museum, Lincoln's Inn Fields, Longman, Green, Longman, Roberts, and Green, London, 1864. 45 pp., 19 pls.
http://www.mom.fr/bibliotheque/bibnum/Notice.php?id=1070&url=3D1
-- The plates are also available at
http://sethy1.free.fr/sarcob.html
Gutierrez, Maria A., "Egypt's Bounty via the Humble Potstand," in:
The Penn State McNair Journal Summer 2003, Volume 10, pp. 120-144. In PDF (4.93 MB; with many pictures):
http://forms.gradsch.psu.edu/equity/mcnair/2003/gutierrez.pdf
"The purpose of this study is to investigate the types, functions and contexts of stands and potstands from the earliest examples (middle Predynastic c. 3600 B.C.) into the Roman era. " [Eds. See, this is real archaeology.]
[Submitted by Michael Tilgner]
G. Bitelli, V. A. Girelli, M. A. Tini, L. Vittuari, Low-Height Aerial
Imagery and Digital Photogrammetrical Processing for Archaeological Mapping, in: Geo-Imagery Bridging Continents, XXth ISPRS Congress, 12-23 July 2004 Istanbul, Turkey, Commission 5, pp. 498-503 - pdf-file: 465 KB
http://www.isprs.org/istanbul2004/comm5/papers/605.pdf
"In the framework of the Joint Archaeological Mission of the Universities of Bologna and Lecce at the ancient town of Soknopaiou Nesos (Fayyum, Egypt) a wide-range of geomatic methodologies were experimented ... The paper deals in particular with the acquisition and processing of low-height aerial imagery to provide very large-scale mapping of the area in support of archaeological researches."
[Submitted by Marcel Maessen]
re: List of Museums with an Egyptian Collection worldwide I have updated the .pdf file with museums around the world with an Egyptian collection (I posted the first one on the forum earlier this week) .I have added a list with museums without a website. Any comments as to additions, broken links or new websites are welcome. The .pdf can be found at
http://www.kemet.nl/pdf/museum.pdf
End of EEF news