3,500-Year-Old Egyptian Tomb Rediscovered
Belgian archaeologists have unearthed a 3,500-year-old pharaonic official's tomb that had disappeared under sand in southern Egypt after it was originally discovered 129 years ago.
Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities said in a statement on Sunday that the Belgian team in Luxor uncovered the tomb of Amenhotep, the deputy seal-bearer for King Thutmose III who ruled Egypt in the 18th Dynasty.
The tomb was first discovered in 1880 by Swedish Egyptologist Karl Piehl, but it was later buried under sand until the Belgian team found it again this year.
Bavay said that because the tomb was first uncovered when archeological study in Egypt was in its infancy, the discovery and scientific analysis of a tomb such as Amenhotep's was likely haphazard.
"In the late nineteenth century at a time when Egyptology was not completely organized, and especially the study of this private necropolis, Theban necropolis, that is located between the Valley of the Kings and the Valley of the Queens, the study was not really organized," bavay said. "And people, scholars were just coming there spending some time there discovering tombs, taking some notes, going back, publishing them, and then the tombs were forgotten."
On Monday, the head of the Belgian Archeologists team, Laurent Bavay, said he believed that properly excavating the tomb would be two or three seasons' work.
Bavay said the tomb had served multiple purposes throughout history. "These tombs were also re-used later in antiquity," Bavay said. "And especially in the late antiquity the tomb was re-used and transformed into a hermitage by Christians, by Coptic monks."
He said paintings on the walls themselves were in the most part destroyed but the ceiling inscriptions were in good condition.
"It seems that this destruction dates back to earlier in the 19th century, before the visit of this Swedish Egyptologist, and it was destroyed mainly by tomb robbers."
© 2010 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities said in a statement on Sunday that the Belgian team in Luxor uncovered the tomb of Amenhotep, the deputy seal-bearer for King Thutmose III who ruled Egypt in the 18th Dynasty.
The tomb was first discovered in 1880 by Swedish Egyptologist Karl Piehl, but it was later buried under sand until the Belgian team found it again this year.
Bavay said that because the tomb was first uncovered when archeological study in Egypt was in its infancy, the discovery and scientific analysis of a tomb such as Amenhotep's was likely haphazard.
"In the late nineteenth century at a time when Egyptology was not completely organized, and especially the study of this private necropolis, Theban necropolis, that is located between the Valley of the Kings and the Valley of the Queens, the study was not really organized," bavay said. "And people, scholars were just coming there spending some time there discovering tombs, taking some notes, going back, publishing them, and then the tombs were forgotten."
On Monday, the head of the Belgian Archeologists team, Laurent Bavay, said he believed that properly excavating the tomb would be two or three seasons' work.
Bavay said the tomb had served multiple purposes throughout history. "These tombs were also re-used later in antiquity," Bavay said. "And especially in the late antiquity the tomb was re-used and transformed into a hermitage by Christians, by Coptic monks."
He said paintings on the walls themselves were in the most part destroyed but the ceiling inscriptions were in good condition.
"It seems that this destruction dates back to earlier in the 19th century, before the visit of this Swedish Egyptologist, and it was destroyed mainly by tomb robbers."
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"Being a Christian is about what God did for us, not about what we've done for Him."
No, being a christian is about shoving your beliefs in a mystical sky fairy down everyone else's throat. There is no God. Stop believing in fairy tales and grow up and have a taste of reality.
You call it a neurological disorder, others call it faith. You mock the assumptions based on assumptions based on your own assumptions based on assumptions. You attack the church, saying it is anti-science, while if it hadn't been for the efforts of the church, the only sciences that would have made significant progress through the middle ages would have been astrology and alchemy. You are just like most religious zealots, secure in your "belief" and determined that every one else is wrong. Circular logic indeed.
Posted by spiritwalk at 11:38 AM : Mar 3, 2009
Naturalized at least. He lives in South Park.
Charlton Heston as Moses; Yul Brynner as Rameses
The good guy is played by an American; the bad guy is played by a Russian
No use of religion to promote a political agenda there.
Of course, when you think about it, Moses lead the people through the desert for 40 years to finally end up in the only place in the Mid-East without oil and getting people to follow you around in circles for years only to end up in a place where you were worse of than you started does mirror the last 40 years of political leadership in this country.
So maybe the bible is relevant for our times.
Posted by just_tired
.............................................
But Jesus is an American, isn't he?
Posted by just_tired at 10:22 AM : Mar 3, 2009
Not really. The Bible was written well after "the beginning".
Excellent post. Thank you.