Category: Ancient Egyptian Archaeology

The Great Pyramid of Giza is the defining symbol of Egypt and the last of the ancient Seven Wonders of the World. It is located on the Giza plateau near the modern city of Cairo and was built over a twenty-year period during the reign of the king Khufu (2589-2566 BCE), also known as Cheops, of the 4th Dynasty. Until the Eiffel Tower was completed in Paris, France in 1889 the Great Pyramid was the tallest structure made by human hands in the world; a record it held for over 3,000 years.

The pyramid rises to a height of 479 feet (146 metres) with a base of 754 feet (230 metres) and is comprised of over two million blocks of stone. Some of these stones are of such immense size and weight (such as the granite slabs in the King’s Chamber) that the logistics of raising and positioning them so precisely seems an impossibility by modern standards. Exactly how it was built, however, still puzzles people in the modern day. The theory of ramps running around the outside of the structure to move the blocks into place has been largely discredited.

Contrary to the popular opinion that Egyptian monuments in general, and the Great Pyramid in particular, were built using Hebrew slave labor, the pyramids of Giza and all other temples and monuments in the country were constructed by Egyptians who were hired for their skills and compensated for their efforts. No evidence of any kind whatsoever – from any era of Egypt’s history – supports the slave labor narrative of building the pyramids.

Worker’s housing at Giza was discovered and fully documented in 1979 by Egyptologists Lehner and Hawass but, even before this evidence came to light, ancient Egyptian documentation substantiated payment to Egyptian workers for state-sponsored monuments while offering no evidence of forced labor by a slave population of any particular ethnic group. Egyptians from all over the country worked on the monument, for a variety of reasons, to build an eternal home for their king which would last through eternity.

Source: Joshua J. Mark. “Ancient History Encyclopedia Limited”, a non-profit organization registered in the UK.

#Egypt #GreatPyramidGiza #MythBusting

A cosmetics container made around 1300 BC in Ancient Egypt:

“Tusk cosmetic spoon: in the form of a duck, which turns her head to offer a fish to the two ducklings which ride on her back. The duck’s eyes were carved to hold inlays, now lost. The closed wings form the lid of the spoon and swivel to either side so that the bowl hollowed from the bird’s body might be used to receive a scented fat or oil. In order to stabilize the lid when closed, a knob is set at its end, around which a cord could be tied to join it with a corresponding knob at the very back of the duck’s body.”
~ The British Museum

1350BC – 1300BC (circa)

Knot tied in 1323 B.C., sealing the doors of Tutankhamun’s tomb, discovered 1922.

On October 28th 1925 the funerary mask of Tutankhamun (pictured), possibly originally made for Queen Neferneferuaten, was uncovered for the first time in approximately 3,250 years.

The temple of Karnak was known as Ipet-isu—or “most select of places”—by the ancient Egyptians. It is a city of temples built over 2,000 years and dedicated to the Theban triad of Amun, Mut, and Khonsu. This derelict place is still capable of overshadowing many wonders of the modern world and in its day must have been awe-inspiring.

For the largely uneducated ancient Egyptian population, this could only have been the place of the gods. It is the largest religious building ever made, covering about 200 acres (1.5 km by 0.8 km), and was a place of pilgrimage for nearly 2,000 years. The area of the sacred enclosure of Amun alone is sixty-one acres and could hold ten average European cathedrals. The great temple at the heart of Karnak is so big that St Peter’s, Milan, and Notre Dame Cathedrals would fit within its walls.

Ramesses II is often called one the greatest pharaohs of ancient Egypt. He reigned for over 60 years and accomplished much during his lifetime. His achievements were not matched by the pharaohs who preceded or succeeded him. Even after death, Ramesses II continued to be unique. 3000 years after Ramesses II died he became the only mummy with a passport issued by a modern government…

#RamessesII #Passport

1922: Howard Carter and Lord Carnarvon became the first people to enter the tomb of Pharaoh Tutankhamun since the young ruler was buried in 1323 BCE. Below is a four minute video about the discovery. Here’s the famous story of the tomb’s opening:

“Carter returned to the Valley of Kings, and investigated a line of huts that he had abandoned a few seasons earlier. The crew cleared the huts and rock debris beneath. On 4 November 1922, their young water boy accidentally stumbled on a stone that turned out to be the top of a flight of steps cut into the bedrock. Carter had the steps partially dug out until the top of a mud-plastered doorway was found. The doorway was stamped with indistinct cartouches (oval seals with hieroglyphic writing). Carter ordered the staircase to be refilled, and sent a telegram to Carnarvon, who arrived two-and-a-half weeks later on 23 November.

On 26 November 1922, Carter made a “tiny breach in the top left hand corner” of the doorway, with Carnarvon, his daughter Lady Evelyn Herbert, and others in attendance, using a chisel that his grandmother had given him for his 17th birthday. He was able to peer in by the light of a candle and see that many of the gold and ebony treasures were still in place. He did not yet know whether it was “a tomb or merely a cache”, but he did see a promising sealed doorway between two sentinel statues. Carnarvon asked, “Can you see anything?” Carter replied with the famous words: “Yes, wonderful things!” Carter had, in fact, discovered Tutankhamun’s tomb (subsequently designated KV62).”

Silly you! You thought labor strikes were a relatively recent phenomenon…

Note: The tomb-builders of ancient Egypt were paid Egyptian citizens and not slaves.

Various items found in King Tutankhamun’s tomb including his funerary bed and sarcophagus:

Tutankhamun (also known as Tutankhamen ruled c. 1332–1323 BC) is the most famous and instantly recognizable Pharaoh in the modern world. His golden sarcophagus is now a symbol almost synonymous with Egypt. His name means `living image of the god Amun’. He was born in the year 11 of the reign of Pharaoh Amenhotep IV (better known as Akhenaten) c. 1345 BCE and died, some claim mysteriously, in 1327 BCE at the age of 17 or 18. He became the celebrity pharaoh he is today in 1922 CE when the archaeologist Howard Carter discovered his almost-intact tomb in the Valley of the Kings. While it was initially thought that Tutankhamun was a minor ruler, whose reign was of little consequence, opinion has changed as further evidence has come to light. Today Tutankhamun is recognized as an important pharaoh who returned order to a land left in chaos by his father’s political-religious reforms and who would no doubt have made further impressive contributions to Egypt’s history if not for his early death.