Pyramid of Sesheshet

From the State Information Service – Link to article

Archaeologists have discovered a new pyramid under the sands of Sakkara, an ancient burial site that remains largely unexplored and has yielded a string of unearthed pyramids in recent years, Egypt’s antiquities chief announced Tuesday11/11/2008.

“The 4,300-year-old monument most likely belonged to the queen mother of the founder of Egypt’s 6th Dynasty, several hundred years after the building of the famed Great Pyramids of Giza,” the country’s antiquities chief Zahi Hawass said as he took media on a tour of the find scene.

The discovery is part of the sprawling necropolis and burial site of the rulers of ancient Memphis, the capital of Egypt’s Old Kingdom, about 12 miles (19 kilometers) south of Giza.

All that remains of the pyramid is a square-shaped 16-foot (5-meter) tall structure that had been buried under 65 feet (25 meters) of sand.

“There was so much sand dumped here that no one had any idea there was something buried underneath,” said Hawass.

Hawass’ team has been excavating at the location for two years, but he said it was only two months ago when they determined the structure, with sides about 72 feet (22 meters) long, was the base of a pyramid.

They also found parts of the pyramid’s white limestone casing, believed to have once covered the entire structure which enabled them to calculate that the complete pyramid was once 45 feet (14 meters) high.

Click here to go to the full (original) article

BBC News In Pictures – New Pyramid Found

 

Four Sphinx statues recovered in Luxor

From SIS – Link to original article

Culture Minister Farouk Hosni said 15/8/2008 that four statues for sphinx have been recovered in the ancient city of Luxor.

The four giant statues are made of the sand stones and were found in Luxor’s Eastern Bank.

Dr Zahi Hawwas, the Secretary General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, said the statues were found without the upper parts.

“They were fixed upon sand-stone bases, which were brought from Aswan by the Pharaohs,” he added.

He said the bases are inscribed with the name of the founder of the 30th royal dynasty King Nekhipto.

Hawwas said he will allocate LE 100,000 to restore the discovered statues in cooperation with the Luxor’s Supreme Council chaired by Samir Farag.

The SCA is gradually clearing the entire length of the ceremonial avenue that ran between Luxor and Karnak temples, so this find isn’t surprising, as the entire length was lined with statuary. However it’s always heartening to see more late period sculpture gain attention, and that these ones will be restored.

Interestingly, a Middle East News article, carried by M&C, adds:

The team also excavated Ptolemic and Roman buildings along with a sandstone block that carries a cartouche (a royal title) of famed Queen Cleopatra, the last Ptolemaic ruler of Egypt.

Monsters & Critics

The SIS press release, however, doesn’t mention this.

 

Egypt, Italy sign protocol to set up center for renovation antiquities

From State Information Service – Original article

Egypt, Italy sign protocol to set up center for renovation antiquities

Egypt and Italy sign in October a protocol whereby a first Egyptian-Italian center will be set up in old Cairo for renovation of ancient antiquities,” Minister of Culture Farouq Hosni said Saturday 1/8/2008.

The protocol will be signed by the ministers of culture of the two countries on the sidelines of a visit to Egypt by Italian President Giorgio Napolitano, Hosni said.

Following his return from Italy’s Turin city where he opened the renovated Egyptian Museum (Musee Egizio Di Torinio) Hosni added his visit to Turin was a landmark visit due to the importance of the occasion, which saw the renovation of the Egyptian museum and in view of the close ties between the two countries.

He added that he discussed with his Italian opposite number Sandro Bondi means of promoting cooperation in the cultural field.

 

Six Stolen Shabtis Recovered

From State Information Service – Link to original article

Egypt restored six stolen ancient statues

Egypt restored six stolen Pharaonic statues that were unearthed in 1985 by an English-Dutch archaeological mission in Saqqara, 30 km south of Cairo,” Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities Secretary General Zahi Hawwas said Monday 4/8/2008.

Among the statues was the ancient funerary “Ushabti”, carved in green faience, which was stolen from Sekhemkhet storehouse in the vast ancient burial ground of Saqqara, Hawwas said.

The statue is 8.5 cm tall, 2.9 cm wide and 2 cm thick with hieroglyphic inscriptions at its front and back, he said.

A Dutch businessman purchased the statue, which represents a woman from the 19th Dynasty, from an auction in Brussels, but when he sought to check its historic value at the Leyden Museum, he was told that it had been stolen from Egypt.

The man reported the theft to the Dutch security authorities and to the Dutch courts who ruled that the relic had to be returned to Egypt. He regained the money he paid at the auction.

Note - The Daily News Egypt / Daily Star also published an article on this recovery, but report that only a single figure has been recovered. Link

 

5,000 Year old cemetery unearthed in Sohag [Abydos]

From State Information Service (Link to article)

5,000 year old cemetery has been unearthed in Sohag governorate, Upper Egypt, officials said on Saturday 5/7/2008.

The cemetery is believed to be of senior royal staffers or persons who participated in the establishment of the royal tombs. It contains 13 tombs.

The cemetery was discovered by a mission of the Supreme Council of Antiquities in Umm el-Ga’ab area, south of Sohag’s Abydos archaeological city.

The mission also found a group of wooden caskets, containing embalmed remains, as well as a “Senet” game which resembles chess.

This is the second time an ancient Egyptian Senet game is discovered. The first was found in King Tutankhamen’s tomb.

The 5,000 year age given for these discoveries would put them in the Early Dynastic time frame (Dyn. 1 to 3). The Sohag name here applies to the province. The actual discoveries took place in Abydos.

Note that the statement that this is only the second time a senet board has been discovered, is, to the best of my knowledge, incorrect. Other boards have been found, including one belonging to Amunhotep III (Brooklyn Museum), as well as a more modest version from the New Kingdom in the British Museum, and another at the Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum in San Jose in the United States, to name a few. None of these were found in the tomb of Tutankhamun, as far as I am aware.

 

Massive upgrading for Egyptian Museum

From State Information Service – Link to article

06/05/2008
Massive upgrading for Egyptian Museum

Secretary General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities Dr Zahi Hawwas has said that the Council has launched a massive upgrading project at the Egyptian Museum in downtown Cairo.

“The museum will be one of the most unique museums all over the world,” he told reporters at a press conference that was attended also by the Italian ambassador in Cairo.

He said the upgrading would cost 1.3 million euros in cooperation with the Italian government.