Hello Fraters and Sorors,
I understand that the Egyptian antiquities department doesn't believe there is any chamber beneath the Sphinx, as some have thought. This is based on their drilling several relief holes into the ground around it. But does anyone think this is definitive evidence of there being no chamber beneath it? Or could they just not have drilled deep enough or maybe they just didn't drill in the exact spot to hit a chamber, such as under the left paw? Any ideas on this?
Replies
The Sahara sands continue to give up that which lay buried for centuries:
'Lost golden city' found in Egypt reveals lives of ancient pharaohs...
"Famed Egyptologist Zahi Hawass announced the discovery of the "lost golden city" near Luxor on Thursday.
He said the find was the largest ancient city, known as Aten, ever uncovered in Egypt.
It was unearthed within weeks of the excavation starting in September 2020.
The city dates to the reign of Amenhotep III, one of Egypt's most powerful pharaohs, who ruled from 1391 to 1353 BC.
The city continued to be used by pharaohs Ay and Tutankhamun, whose nearly intact tomb was discovered in the Valley of the Kings by British archaeologist Howard Carter in 1922."
Below is from the BBC article - link below - when 22 mummies were moved to their new resting place:
"Egyptians have been witnessing a historic procession of their country's ancient rulers through the capital, Cairo."
"The lavish, multimillion-dollar spectacle saw 22 mummies - 18 kings and four queens - transported from the peach-coloured, neo-classical Egyptian Museum to their new resting place 5km (three miles) away.
With tight security arrangements befitting their royal blood and status as national treasures, the mummies were relocated to the new National Museum of Egyptian Civilisation in what is called The Pharaohs' Golden Parade.
They were transported with great fanfare in chronological order of their reigns - from the 17th Dynasty ruler, Seqenenre Taa II, to Ramses IX, who reigned in the 12th Century BC."
Egypt mummies pass through Cairo in ancient rulers' parade - BBC News
I understand that the mummies still remain mum on all of this.
Yep - mum's the word. 😊
It seems all mummies were not treated the same way during the 'mummification process' - this interesting article would seem to show the practice of removing the brain and other bodily organs was later abandoned.
"Stucco-shrouded mummies are unique in the way in which they were buried. The process is an elaborate one, placing the bodies on wooden boards before wrapping them in textiles, plaster, gold, and adorning the end product with a whole-body portrait. Reporting in PLOS ONE, investigations using computed tomography (CT) scans of the portrait mummies revealed an adult male (~25-30 years old), a middle-aged female (~30-40 years old), and a young female (~17-19 years old) were concealed beneath the shrouds. The two females were buried sporting beautiful necklaces and hairpins, while all three contained artifacts that were likely intended as payment to Charon, a Roman and Greek deity said to ferry souls across the River Styx en route to the Underworld."
https://www.iflscience.com/editors-blog/new-scans-of-ancient-egypti...
The first link below is for an article about another Anciet Egyptian tomb in Saqqara where multiple sarcophagi (27) were found. This is in addition to a previous 2019 find of 30 sarcophagi in Luxor (2nd link below). That article reveals gender could be identified by the coffins - those which were carved with the hands open meant they were female, while if the hands were balled into fists, they held males.
What I found most interesting was the last paragraph in the first article regarding cat mummies and also scarab beetle mummies:
"In December 2018, archaeologists found a private tomb belonging to a royal purification priest that dates back more than 4,000 years, according to the Ministry of Antiquities. A month before that, archaeologists found a mass cat cemetery and a collection of rare mummified scarab beetles."
https://www.cnn.com/style/article/egypt-sarcophagi-discovery-intl-h...
https://www.cnn.com/2019/10/19/middleeast/egypt-discovers-coffins-m...
One of the 27 new sarcophagi discovered at Saqqara, Egypt. Credit: Egypt Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities/Facebook
Totally beliveable Kathy. The same thing occurred in Shakespeare studies when the "expert scholars" commented for maybe a century how ignorant Shakespeare was when he wrote of boat travel between inland Italian cities like Milan and Padua. Now in the last decade maps and references of hundreds of years ago prove the existence of a complex system of canals between these inland cities. Yet, ironically, he's still considered a kind of country bumpkin who just imagined or made up his great knowledge in many fields.
Yeah it is interesting how the 'expert scholars' have an opinion and other 'expert scholars' never question those opinions until someone - sometimes hundreds of years later - and maybe with the help of modern technology - disprove those 'outdated opinions.' I am not quite sure if it was Lydar or satellite imaging that revealed these canals but I have recorded the episode regarding Egyptian canals and plan on watching it again to find out.
Again on the Science Channel's Unearthed - more discoveries about Ancient Egypt. The episode watched the other day seems to confirm that back in time the Egyptians built a series of canals using the waters of the Nile - thereby allowing them to navigate by boat to many parts of Egypt and also gave access to other nearby bodies of water such as the Mediterranean - enhancing trade with their neighbours. Of particular interest was that where the Pyramids and Sphinx lie were once near to this canal system - which nowadays no longer exists - just proof that it did.
Kathy, when I was doing searches on Aztec history I primarily received results of links to merchandise selling sites, as well as a plane called the Aztec. But almost nothing of the history of the Aztecs! And, no, this is not how the internet used to be like. In the past I would get links to many sites of great information on the history, archaeology, archetecture, knowledge, etc of the Aztecs or what other real information i was interested in. It seems now that the internet search engines have just been gamed to produce links to commercialism, or eye candy. What an absolute waste!
That book on The Celestial Ship of the North looks quite dense, a whole lot of information to absorb. I will try to find more time to look through it. At the moment though the books I'm reading are The Immortalized Words of the Past and The Immitation of God.
And i see that you mention the story of The Little Prince and put up a video of it. A year or two ago i saw a mini opera on this story and because I couldn't understand much of the singing, though it was in English, i then purchase the book and enjoyed reading it. It's nice to know there's a video of it with easy access on this website. Thanks!
-
1
-
2
-
3
-
4
-
5
of 5 Next