-Archaeology-

ARCHAEOLOGY

This site deals with the subject of Archaeology. You will find meanings to archaeological terms in the link named Terms. Hope everyone who happens to stumble across this site, will find it to be informative, as well as educational.

Ciick here for Definitions list.

-THE SPHINX IS DUE FOR A FACELIFT-
Austrian scientists have found out how to save the Sphinx from further erosion. Several thousand years exposed to the elements of the desert has taken toll on the 190-foot-high natural rock carving. Inexperienced Europeans tried to do restoring; but did even more damage in the process of restoring THE MYSTERIOUS STATUE at GIZA, near Cairo. In fact, human-inflicted damage was so bad, that the United Nations financed an eight-year effort to undo the damage caused by the "repairs."
Egyptian antiquities experts were impressed with an idea from the Austrian College of Trade and Technology. Researchers there, developed a silicate treatment that will sheild the stone from sun and water damage.
Instructors from Austria have traveled to Egypt to familiarize restoration workers with their technique.
Go to TheSphinx to view
what will be restored.

An Egyptian worker brushes limestone statues depicting a priest, discovered in the 4,300-year-old tomb of a nobleman in Abu Sir: southwest of Cairo, on Tuesday, November 21,2000. The tomb was built for judge Inti-dating to the 6th Dynasty.

Wednesday, November 22,2000
ABU SIR, Egypt-A team of Czech archaeologists announced they have discovered the 4,300-year-old tomb of a nobleman in the windy sand dunes of Abu Sir; southwest of Cairo. The new tomb found, dates to the 6th Dynasty and the reign of Pepi, said Bratislav Vachala, who is leading the excavations. His announcement was made on Tuesday.
  Vachala said the tomb was built for a judge named Inti, who also held numerous titles in the priesthood; which is one of the most powerful elements of ancient Egyptian society.
   The tomb covers an area of 75 by 100 feet, and contains both above-ground and subterranean structures, built with mud and limestone. The underground portion reaches at least 65 feet beneath the earth's surface through a shaft to a burial chamber.
  Vachala announced to The Associated Press, the tomb appears to be part of a large funerary complex, that probably includes the graves of Inti's wife and sons.
Three nearly intact statues depicting a priest named Meryhryshef were found in the tomb, he said. Vachala further said the walls contain some very interesting depictions of musicians accompanied by song lyrics. It is somehow concerning the admiration for a woman.
  The tomb was robbed in antiquity--but is relatively well preserved Vachala said. It still contains numerous artifacts; including a large alabaster sarcophagus engraved with hieroglyphics, fragments of funerary jars, wall reliefs, a near intact stele, and skeletal remains which were strewn throughout the tomb.

Wednesday, August 23, 2000
SOFIA, Bulgaria-Archaeologists in southern Bulgaria, have located remains of what they believe are a place in the latest in the series of major Bronze Age discoveries as reported by local media on Tuesday.
Parts of an ancient three-story building, dating from the fourth or fifth century B.C., were unearthed under a medieval fortress near the village of Perperek; located about 200 miles southeast of Sofia, Valeria Fol; as reported to the state BTA news agency by the head of the expedition. Archaeologists reported that the palace could have belonged to a leader of Thrace; a Balkan civilization that flourished in the Bronze Age.

Monday, June 5, 2000
-ALEXANDRIA, Egypt-Archaeologists scouring the Mediterranean seabed, announced on Saturday they had found the 2,500-year-old submerged Pharaonic cities, that until now were known only through Greek tragedies, travelogues and legends.
  Among the stunning discoveries at the site; where the cities of Herakleion, Canopus and Menouthis once stood---are remarkably preserved houses, temples port infrastructure and collosal statues that stand testimony of the citizen's luxuriant lifestyle; which some travelers had described as decadent.
   This is the first time that historians have found physical existence of the lost cities, which were famous not only for their riches and arts, but also for numerous temples dedicated to the gods Isis, Serapis and Osiris. Many cults find this region an important destination.
  Herakleion, once a customs port where commerce flourished, until the founding of Alexandria by Alexander the Great in 331 B.C., WAS FOUND IN ITS ENTIERITY.
  The team worked for two years off this city in Egypt's northern coast in waters 20 to 30 feet deep, using modern technology, including the use of magnetic waves to map the area.
  Gaballa Ali Gaballa, secretary-general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, Egypt's top archaeology body, said that it is the most important find in the history of marine archaeology; and it is shown that land is not enough for Egyptian antiquities.
  Some of the treasures that were found and on display were---a basalt head of a pharaoh, a bust of curly haired and bearded god, Serapis and a life-size headless black granite statue of the goddess Isis, sculpted as if wearing a diaphanous cloth held together by knots on her breasts.
  Gaballa said, the cities probably built during the waning days of the pharaohs in the 7th or 6th century B.C., will be left as they are in the sea--and only smaller pieces will be retrieved for museums.
   Numerous texts speak of the importance of the region and the cities, before they were covered over by the sea; probably following an earthquake.
  Greek historian Herodotus, who visited Egypt in 450 B.C., wrote about Herakleion and its temple dedicated to Hercules. The sites were also named in Greek tragedies. Greek mythology also tells the story of Menelaos, king of Spartans, who stopped in Herakleion during his return from Troy with Helena. His helmsman Canopus was bitten by a viper, and subsequently transformed into a god. Canopus and his wife Menouthis were immortalized by two cities that bore their names.
Authors such as Strabo described the geographic location of the cities and their rich lifestyle, while others, such as Seneca, condemn their moral corruption.
Herakleion lost its economic importance after the building of Alexandria. It was probably destroyed by an earthquake; indicated by the position of collapsed columns and walls. They had fallen systematically in one direction.
  The sea encroached on the land following the quake; and ruins of Herakleion are now about four miles from land in the Bay of Abu Qir. The sea also engulfed Canopus and Menouthis.
  The destruction most likely happened in the 7th or 8th century. Divers found Islamic and Byzantine coins and jewelry from that period; but none more recent. Click here to view the goddess- Isis

WEDNESDAY, may 24, 2000
Bawiti, Egypt-For 2,500 years, an Egyptian mayor who thought himself the pharaoh's equal, lay mummified; until a small hole revealed his resting place.
Two weeks ago, an archaeological team lead by Zahi Hawass was digging in this city; a little over a mile from the temple Djed Khonsu Eus Ankh, the mayor of Bahariya Oasis, around 500 B.C., HAD BUILT FOR HIMSELF.
Suddenly, a hole in a tomb, revealed a chamber of a neighboring tomb. Hieroglyphs on the colorfully painted walls, proved the crew had found the celebrated mayor's final resting place.
His mummified body, mostly deteriorated, lay inside two finely carved sarcophagi; one inside the other; sorrounded by amulets.
Click here to view Mummy

EGYPT
Receding ground water has uncovered a startling archaeological treasure; the tomb of Osiris; perhaps the most important god in Egyptian mythology. A granite sarcophagus believed to contain the remains of Osiris was found inside a 98-foot deep tomb in Giza--site of the famous pyramids. Zahi Hawass, a prominent Egyptian archaeologist, dated the sarcophagus to 500 BCE. According to an ancient Egyptian legend, Osiris was murdered by his brother Seth. After being buried by Isis, who was both his sister and his wife, he returned to life as the ruler of the underworld. Bones and artifacts near the sarcophagus date back as far as 3000 BCE.

Sunday, November 21, 1999
DAMASCUS.SYRIA:-Archaeologists have discovered the ruins of a royal palace believed to be 4,000 years old, near Damascus, as was reported by the Arab News Agency, on Saturday.
  The agency said "highly valued ruins" were discovered by a joint German Italian and Syrian expidition in Qatanah, about 12 miles southwest of the Syrian capital.
  The palace dates back to 2000 B.C., the agency reported. It did not give a more precise year, or say which ruler built it.
Historians believe that the Amorites, who came from the Arabian peninsula around 2100 B.C., were the first important Semitic settlers in the area; and that they established many small states.
  The palace contains a throne hall that is 70 feet by 132 feet with 6-foot high adobe walls. In the center of the hall, an unbroken jar with "amazing decoration" was found stuck to the ground, the agency reported.
   The archaeologists also discovered houses with clay jars and basalt tools for grinding grain. Weights and spindles were found in one house.

Saturday, July 17, 1999,
-Cairo, Egypt-Egyptian and Belgian archaeologists have unearthed a cave with primitive wall paintings that dates back to 7000 B.C. near an ancient Red Sea port. Granite axes, knives and hunting tools were found in the Neolithic-era cave near al-Qosier, located 340 miles southeast of Cairo, as was reported on Friday by Mohammed el-Saghir; head of Egyptian archeology department. Another cave found 500 yards away was expected to yield similar results.

Monday, December 8, 1997
-CAIRO-On Sunday, french archaeologists said they have found the tomb of the wet nurse of Tutankhamen, the boy pharoah whose golden coffins and burial treasures have fascinated genarations.
  The 1330 B.C. memorial to the servant who suckled the boy king is an "extremely rare" instance of ancient Egyptians devoting an entire tomb to a woman, was expressed by archaeological team leader, Alain Zivie.
  Hieroglyphics and a relief showing a woman with breast and nipple exposed, pay tribute to Maya, "who fed the body of a god."
  Zivie found the tomb in Saqqara, an ancient necropolis, 13 miles south of Cairo. The city was the burial site for the courtiers and high-ranking officials of ancient Egypt's New Kingdom, which prevailed from about 1400 B.C. to about 1100 B.C.
  Most of the pharaohs, Tutankhamen included, were buried in the Valley of the Kings near Luxor, about 300 miles south of Cairo.
ZIVIE WAS DRAWN TO EXPLORE THE PARTICULAR TOMB WHEN HE SAW A RELIEF OF Tutankhamen on the antechamber.
   Six weeks of excavation have cleared two of the five known chambers; another is filled with rubble, and two others are sealed off by masonry.
  Searchers have not as yet found funerary objects, nor have they found Maya's coffin. The archaeologists are looking for more clues about Maya, whose existence was previously unknown.
  Tutankhamen's father is widely believed to have been the Pharaoh Akhenaten. As for his mother, "there are all sorts of theories; but she is not known," Zivie said.
  Some experts think that Tut was the son of Akhenaten's secondary wives, Kiya. Others theorize he was a brother of Akhenaten, whose mother was Queen Tiye.
  Brtish archaeologist Howard Carter found the long-lost, rich-filled tomb of the boy king in 1922, sparking a worldwide craze for Egyptian things.
  The discovery of Tut's nanny, came almost exactly 75 years later, as was noted by Zivie.

On Thursday, November 4, 1922, the entrance to King Tutankhamen's tomb was discovered in Egypt.

On February 16, 1923, the burial chamber of King Tutankhamen's recently unearthed tomb was unsealed in Egypt.

In 30 B.C., (on August 30th, as is estimated), the seventh, and most famous queen of ancient Egypt, Cleopatra, committed suicide.

On July 12, 100 B.C., Roman dictator, Julius Caesar was born.

In 44 B.C., Roman dictator Julius Caesar was assassinated by a group of nobles including Brutus and Cassius.

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