Royal Burial Found in the Valley of the Kings

     A re-excavation of tomb KV40 in the Valley of the Kings in Egypt has resulted in the revelation of a previously unknown burial chamber that contains the looted remains of perhaps fifty members of families of Tuthmose IV and Amenhotep III.

     A number of children's mummies were found mostly intact, but the adult mummies were torn apart by tomb robbers long ago.

Looting is Happening in Syria Too

     I have done a few posts on looting in Egypt that is going on due to the unstable political situation there. But that is not the only place archaeological treasures are being harmed due to unstable politics.

     An article in the Wall Street Journal (Saturday / Sunday, April 26 - 27) details the problems that Syria is facing as scholars attempt to preserve the country's historical artifacts. In Aleppo, the national museum looks like a bunker. Concrete and sand bags have been set up to protect the building from stray mortar shells and the exhibition halls are empty as most of the artifacts have been removed to the museum's basement for protection. The curators and museum guards now live in the museum in an attempt to protect it from looters.

     Sadly, no end is in sight for the deteriorating political situation in several countries in the Middle East. The human toll is staggering and the loss of archeological treasures is incalculable.

     

Follow Up on the Tomb of Senebkay

     In January we reported that the tomb of a Second Intermediate Period Pharaoh named Senebkay had been found at Abydos. At the time it was speculated by some that Senebkay was a 16th Dynasty Pharaoh.

     The latest issue of KMT magazine (Spring 2014) devotes two pages to the discovery of SenebKay's tomb as well as to the discovery of the tomb of Sobekhotep I (also at Abydos). The press release in KMT speculates that this discovery proves the existence of an "Abydos Dynasty" in the Second Intermediate Period, but I am not sure any such thing has been "proven".

     There is apparently evidence for a number of other royal burials in this area and when the University of Pennsylvania resumes excavations they will hopefully find more evidence to either prove, or disprove, this theory.

New Tomb Found at Abydos

     A new tomb has been found at Abydos in Egypt. Only the substructure still exists, but archaeologists are pretty sure that a small pyramid was built above the burial chambers.

     The tomb dates to the New Kingdom and contained multiple burials and may have been owned by multiple persons who served in the Egyptian military. The tomb is fairly large and elaborate for a private tomb.

     An article and some photos can be found here.

Ancient Egyptian School Found

     The first known example of an ancient Egyptian school has been found in the Dakhla Oasis. The school dates to the Roman period and has inspirational quotes written (in Greek) on its walls. Also, there are quotes from Homer's Odyssey written on the walls. Here is a link to an article that has a few pictures.

Tomb of the Parents of Senenmut (Cont.)

     Hatnofer also had in her burial equipment a small chair made of wood that had a linen mesh for a seat. The legs of this object ended in lion paws and the chair sat very low to the ground, as ancient Egyptian chairs typically did. On its back are open work carvings of four Djed columns, two on each side of a carved representation of the god Bes.

     Hatnofer also was buried with a cartonnage mummy mask covered in gold foil and having alabaster eyes with inlaid obsidian pupils. The lower portion of the mask has incised decoration representing a beaded collar. 

     Rings and a heart scarab were found on her mummy. The tomb also contained numerous other items that she may have actually used in life as well as jars of wine and baskets of other food offerings that she would need in the afterlife.

Next Meeting of the Egyptological Seminar of NY

     The next meeting of the Egyptological Seminar of New York will take place on Friday February 21 at 6:30 pm in the Uris Center of the Metropolitan Museum. Admission to the museum is not required to attend the meeting.

     The topic of the meeting will be "Thutmose, Creator of Nefertiti". If you are in the New York area, please try to attend as this promises to be an interesting talk.