Category: Ancient World

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For almost the entire year, the inner sanctum of the main temple at Abu Simbel lies in darkness. On two days though, the anniversary of the birthday and the coronation of pharaoh Ramses II, a shaft of sunlight illuminates statues of gods and the king in the temple’s inner sanctum.

On February 22, a day celebrating the pharaoh’s birth and again on October 22, a day commemorating his coronation, sunlight illuminates seated statues of the sun gods Re-Horakhte and Amon-Re, as well as a statue of Pharaoh Ramses II. The statues sit in the company of the God of darkness, Ptah (who remains in the shadows).

The biannual phenomenon, which has endured more than 3,200 years of Egyptian history draws thousands of tourists to Abu Simbel to watch this ancient tribute to a pharaoh whose name is still known up and down the Nile Valley for his military exploits and monumental building projects.

The Sphinx

The Sphinx. What words could describe this epitome of architecture? What hints could decipher the mystery in his gaze? Most likely built during the reign of Pharaoh Khufu (4th Dynasty), the Sphinx is composed of a human head accompanied by the body of a lion.

Some people believe the Sphinx serves as a guard – protecting the pyramids from the destructive force of time. Yet several people made studies and predicted that the Sphinx gazes into that specific direction by no ordinary chance. They believe that the sphinx looks at a certain point, in the horizon, where Gods descended to earth.

The Great Pyramid Of King Khufu:

“It is truly vast, built from 2.3 million blocks of stone, each weighing on average more than a ton, and covering an area of thirteen acres. A simple calculation reveals that the builders would have had to set one block of stone in place every two minutes during a ten-hour day, working without a pause throughout the year for the two decades of Khufu’s reign (2345 – 2525). Once completed, 481 feet high, the Great Pyramid remained unsurpassed in scale until modern times. For forty-four centuries, until the completion of the Eiffel Tower in A.D. 1889, it was the tallest building in the world.”

~ Toby Wilkinson, from “The Rise and Fall Of Ancient Egypt”

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