It’s long been believed that ancient Egyptians used mummification as a way to preserve a body after death. However, an upcoming museum exhibition indicates that was never the case, and instead the elaborate burial technique was actually a way to guide the deceased toward divinity. Researchers from the University of Manchester’s Manchester Museum (opens in […]
The mummy of a woman who may have been pregnant when she died has baffled archaeologists in search of clues about her true identity. Now, two facial approximations by forensic specialists are offering new insight into what this ancient Egyptian woman may have looked like, disclosing yet another secret that she held onto for centuries. […]
This view, from the west, shows part of the bathhouse discovered at Berenike. Dating back more than 2,200 years, it would have been a place where people went to relax after work or exercise. (Image credit: Steven Sidebotham) The ruins of a 2,200-year-old bathhouse dating to the second half of the third century B.C. have […]
A tattoo on the left hip bone of a mummified Egyptian woman buried at Deir el-Medina. (Image credit: Anne Austin/University of Missouri-St. Louis) Lower back tattoos may seem like an early 21st century fad popularized by low-rise-jeans clad celebrities, but new archaeological evidence from Egyptian mummies shows the practice is actually more than three millennia […]
Sign up for a full digest of all the best opinions of the week in our Voices Dispatches email Sign up to our free weekly Voices newsletter Archaeologists have discovered a vast tunnel underneath an ancient Egyptian temple, which they say may lead to the long-lost tomb of queen Cleopatra. The tunnel, which is at […]
Archaeologists in Egypt have discovered a vast tunnel beneath a temple at the ancient city of Taposiris Magna, west of Alexandria. The 4,281-foot-long (1,305 meters) tunnel, which brought water to thousands of people in its heyday, was discovered by an Egyptian-Dominican Republic archaeological team, the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities said in a statement […]
The ancient Egyptians are known for many things, such as mummification, the great pyramid, a sophisticated writing system and a belief in the afterlife. Considering that death and devotion to many deities was featured so prominently in this culture, who was the ancient Egyptian god of death? While Osiris is often considered the Egyptian god […]
Archaeologists in Egypt have unearthed the 3,300-year-old stone sarcophagus of an official whose mummified body was stolen by grave robbers long ago. The coffin, carved from pink granite, was crafted for an official named “Ptah-im-wea,” who, according to the hieroglyphs inscribed on it, lived during the time of Ramesses II (reign circa 1279 B.C. to […]
Archaeologists digging near Prague have discovered the remains of a Stone Age structure that’s older than Stonehenge and even the Egyptian pyramids: an enigmatic complex known as a roundel. Nearly 7,000 years ago during the late Neolithic, or New Stone Age, a local farming community may have gathered in this circular building, although its true […]
Archaeologists in Egypt have uncovered a nearly 1,000-year-old cache of gold and silver coins behind a temple in Esna, a city located along the Nile River. The hoard, which was discovered by a team of researchers from Egypt‘s Supreme Council for Archaeology, includes coins minted throughout different parts of the Islamic era, which began in […]
