Tag Archive
Largest tomb at Saqqara discovered
The Supreme Council of Antiquities has announced the discovery by Egyptian archaeologists of two tombs dating back to the 26th dynasty at the Saqqara necropolis, the site of a number of recent important findings. Both tombs are cut into the hills and, despite of being looted in the 5th Century AD, the excavators found coffins,... »
Could Imhotep be buried under the Step Pyramid of Djoser?
Image via Wikipedia Djoser permitted 11 of his daughters to be buried in his pyramid, which makes the Step Pyramid the only pyramid of the Old Kingdom that was used for the burial of the king and his royal family. Why not also allow his architect Imhotep to be buried with him? Could it be... »
VIDEO: The rise and fall of an honest Egyptian archaeologist
Muhammad Zakaria Goneim was one of a few Egyptian archaeologists of his time. His excavation work at Saqqara in 1954 led to a major discovery – a buried unfinished step pyramid belonging to Sekhemkhet, son of Djoser. Goneim found a spectacular cache of gold jewelry- 20 pieces of gold in bracelets and beads, but... »
Zahi Hawass: The Serapeum in Saqqara will open in December
We are also working now to restore the Serapeum at Saqqara. The Serapeum was discovered by Auguste Mariette in 1851, and consists of a series of huge underground galleries for the burial of the sacred Apis bulls. Burials of sacred cult animals were very common in Saqqara until the end of the Ptolemaic Period. We hope to open... »
Saving the Serapeum in Saqqara
Image via Wikipedia The Saqqara plateau served as a burial site to the ancient Egyptians for over three thousand years. It is home to pyramids, private tombs and temples, and is even the burial place of sacred animals. The most famous of the animals buried at Saqqara were the Apis bulls. From the ancient evidence we... »
New Discoveries at Saqqara
Image via Wikipedia Minister of Culture, Farouk Hosni, announced today that Egyptian archaeologists, performing routine conservation work at the southern side of Saqqara’s step pyramid (2687-2668 BC), have stumbled upon what is believed to be a deep hole full of the remains of animals and birds. The mission has also found that the hole’s floor... »
Researchers to restore Egyptian murals
The Institute for Conservation and Restoration of Cultural Properties (ICP) will begin a study on the conservation and restoration of deteriorating ancient murals at the Saqqara ancient burial site near Cairo on March 21. The institute hopes to use the research findings at the ancient Egyptian site in the preservation of murals in Japan... »
Royal tomb discovered in Saqqara
Japanese archaeologists working in the Saqqara necropolis have unearthed a 3,000 year old tomb containing a sarcophagus bearing the name of Isisnofret, granddaughter of Ramses the Great. The mission, from the Institute of Waseda opUniversity in Japan, also found three mummies and fragments of funerary objects. Lead archaeologist Sakuji Yoshimura, said that the find was made... »
Poles discover a necropolis in Saqqara
The last season of the mission lead by Prof. Karol Myśliwiec, from the University of Warsaw’s Mediterranean Archaeological Center in Egypt ended with spectacular discoveries that will help scientists understand procedures in preparing graves in the time of the Old Kingdom. The archaeologists also have found new aspects of burial rituals. The excavation zone... »
Wooden sarcophaguses found in Saqqara
Image via Wikipedia Japanese archaeologists from Waseda University in Tokyo have found four wooden sarcophaguses in a tomb in the Saqqara necropolis. The burials date from the Ramesside period or the Late Dynastic Period — anywhere between about 1300 and 330 BC. The sarcophaguses did not contain mummies because the tomb was robbed in ancient times... »
