The Chinese White Pyramid Has Been Found

'The story of the White Pyramid came about in the 1940s, when eyewitness reports, specifically from pilot James Gaussman, related the presence of an enormous "White Pyramid" near the Chinese city of Xi'an. If true, it was bigger than the Great Pyramid of Giza. The region was off-limits to Western tourists for many decades afterwards and once this restriction was lifted, many pyramids were found, but the gigantic "White Pyramid" was not amongst them.

A photograph of what was believed to be the White Pyramid, turned out to be one of a much smaller pyramid near Xi'an. So what was the White Pyramid? Had someone overestimated the dimensions of a smaller pyramid? The answer is a simple no. The photograph had nothing to do with the original account of the White Pyramid, and this is where the main problem has lain in recent years. The actual White Pyramid is Liangshan Mountain and it is as big as Gaussman and others had claimed it was.'

“The pyramid is about 300 meters high (other descriptions estimate 330 to 400 meters high) and roughly 500 meters at the base, which makes it twice as large as any pyramid in Egypt. The four faces of the structure are oriented with the compass points.” This observation conforms to what we have seen on the ground about Liangshan Mountain: it is a colossal pyramid, with four visible sides, holding the tomb of emperor Gaozong. It is difficult to determine the height of the pyramid. If measured from the platform with the twenty guards, the height is 160 meters; if measured from the base of the pyramid, the height is about 300 meters!

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New ancient Egypt temples discovered in Sinai

Archaeologists exploring an old military road in the Sinai have unearthed four new temples amidst the 3,000-year-old remains of an ancient fortified city that could have been used to impress foreign delegations visiting Egypt, antiquities authorities announced Tuesday.
Among the discoveries was the largest mud brick temple found in the Sinai with an area of 70 by 80 meters (77 by 87 yards) and fortified with mud walls 3 meters (10 feet) thick.

The find was made in Qantara, 2 1/2 miles (4 kilometers) east of the Suez Canal. These temples mark the latest discovery by archaeologists digging up the remains of the city on the military road known as "Way of Horus." Horus is a falcon-headed god, who represented the greatest cosmic powers for ancient Egyptians.

The path once connected Egypt to Palestine and is close to present-day Rafah, which borders the Palestinian territory of Gaza.

Archaeologist Mohammed Abdel-Maqsoud, chief of the excavation team, said the large brick temple could potentially rewrite the historical and military significance of the Sinai for the ancient Egyptians.

The temple contains four hallways, three stone purification bowls and colorful inscriptions commemorating Ramses I and II. The grandeur and sheer size of the temple could have been used to impress armies and visiting foreign delegations as they arrived in Egypt.
Studies indicated the temple was built on top of an 18th Dynasty fort (1569-1315 B.C.).
Last year, a collection of reliefs belonging to King Ramses II and King Seti I (1314-1304 B.C.) were also unearthed along with rows of warehouses used by the ancient Egyptian army during the New Kingdom era to store wheat and weapons.

Abdel-Maqsoud said the fortified city corresponded to the inscriptions of the Way of Horus found on the walls of the Karnak Temple in Luxor which illustrated the features of 11 military fortresses that protected Egypt's eastern borders. Only five of them have been discovered to date.

Forbidden Archaeology!!

If you are interested in Forbidden Archaeology, you may be interested in the shift in consciousness or 'paradigm shift' that is happening globally at this moment in time.
It is becoming self-evidently clear that the dysfunctional and destructive system of living that we have collectively created is doing us more harm than good to say the least - destroying our diverse human family and our planet at an alarming rate.

In response to the escalation of violence, pollution, corruption, mental and physical illness and loss of liberties which this system demands, many people around the world are starting to wake up to the fact that, firstly, we are not alone, and secondly, by working together from a foundation of integrity, respect and love at the grassroots level, we can change our reality to one that nurtures and supports joyful and abundant living for all people on planet earth.

New paradigm 'whistleblowers' such as archaeologists, journalists, astronomers, philosophers, anthropologists, geologists, physicists, medical doctors, mathematicians, psychologists, historians, chiropractors, indiginous leaders, artists, corporation CEOs, authors, and people like you and me, have begun to share their extraordinary experiences and insights into the current paradigm shift. Click the link below to watch interviews with all those listed above, who have generously donated their time to share deeply and honestly without censor.

Conscious Media Network

Forbidden Archeology

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Personal Attacks: Dispute over Age of the Sphinx and Great Pyramid

In 1993, NBC in the USA aired The Mysteries of the Sphinx, which presented geological evidence
showing that the Sphinx was at least twice as old (9,000 years) as Egyptologists claimed. It has become well known as the "water erosion controversy". An examination of the politicking that Egyptologists deployed to combat this undermining of their turf is instructive. Self-taught Egyptologist John Anthony West brought the water erosion issue to the attention of geologist
Dr Robert Schoch. They went to Egypt and launched an intensive on-site investigation. After thoroughly studying the Sphinx first hand, the geologist came to share West's preliminary conclusion and they announced their findings.

Dr Zahi Hawass, the Giza Monuments chief, wasted no time in firing a barrage of public criticism at the pair. Renowned Egyptologist Dr Mark Lehner, who is regarded as the world's foremost expert on the Sphinx, joined his attack. He charged West and Schoch with being "ignorant and insensitive". That was a curious accusation which took the matter off the professional level and put the whole affair on a personal plane. It did not address the facts or issues at all and it was highly unscientific.

But we must note the standard tactic of discrediting anyone who dares to call the accepted theories into question. Shifting the focus away from the issues and "personalising" the debate is a highly effective strategy--one which is often used by politicians who feel insecure about their positions. Hawass and Lehner invoked their untouchable status and presumed authority. (One would think that a geologist's assessment would hold more weight on this particular point.)

A short time later, Schoch, Hawass and Lehner were invited to debate the issue at the
AmericanAssociation for the Advancement of Science. West was not allowed to participate
because he lacked the required credentials. This points to a questionable assumption that is part of the establishment's arsenal: only degreed scientists can practise science. Two filters keep the uncredentialled, independent researcher out of the loop:
(1) credentials, and (2) peer review. You do not get to number two unless you have number one.

Science is a method that anyone can learn and apply. It does not require a degree to observe
and record facts and think critically about them, especially in the non-technical social sciences.
In a free and open society, science has to be a democratic process. Be that as it may, West was barred. The elements of the debate have been batted back and forth since then without resolution. It is similar to the controversy over who built the Giza pyramids and how.

This brings up the issue of The Big Lie and how it has been promoted for generations in front of God and everyone. The controversy over how the Great Pyramid was constructed is one example. It could be easily settled if Egyptologists wanted to resolve the dispute. A simple test could be designed and arranged by impartial engineers that would either prove or disprove their longstanding disputed theory--that it was built using the primitive tools and methods of the day, circa 2500 BC.

Why hasn't this been done? The answer is so obvious, it seems impossible: they know that
the theory is bogus. Could a trained, highly educated scientist really believe that 2.3 million
tons of stone, some blocks weighing 70 tons, could have been transported and lifted by
primitive methods? That seems improbable, though they have no compunction against lying
to the public, writing textbooks and defending this theory against alternative theories.
However, we must note that they will not subject themselves to the bottom-line test.

We think it is incumbent upon any scientist to bear the burden of proof of his/her thesis; however, the social scientists who make these claims have never stood up to that kind of scrutiny. That is why we must suspect a conspiracy. No other scientific discipline would get away with bending the rules of science. All that Egyptologists have ever done is bat down alternative theories using underhanded tactics. It is time to insist that they prove their own proposals.

Why would scientists try to hide the truth and avoid any test of their hypothesis? Their motivations are equally transparent. If it can be proved that the Egyptians did not build the Great Pyramid in 2500 BC using primitive methods, or if the Sphinx can be dated to 9000 BC, the whole house of cards comes tumbling down. Orthodox views of cultural evolution are based upon a chronology of civilisation having started in Sumeria no earlier than 4000 BC. The theory does not permit an advanced civilisation to have existed prior to that time. End of discussion. Archaeology and history lose their meaning without a fixed timeline as a point of reference.

Since the theory of "cultural evolution" has been tied to Darwin's general theory of evolution, even more is at stake. Does this explain why facts, anomalies and enigmas are denied, suppressed and/or ignored? Yes, it does. The biological sciences today are based on Darwinism.

Stormtroopers For Darwinism

The public does not seem at all aware of the fact that the scientific establishment has a double standard when it comes to the free flow of information. In essence, it goes like this... Scientists are highly educated, well trained and intellectually capable of processing all types of information, and they can make the correct critical distinctions between fact and fiction, reality and fantasy. The unwashed public is simply incapable of functioning on this high mental plane. The noble ideal of the scientist as a highly trained, impartial, apolitical observer and assembler of established facts into a useful body of knowledge seems to have been shredded under the pressures and demands of the real world. Science has produced many positive benefits for society; but we should know by now that science has a dark, negative side. Didn't those meek fellows in the clean lab coats give us nuclear bombs and biological weapons? The age of innocence ended in World War II.

That the scientific community has an attitude of intellectual superiority is thinly veiled under a carefully orchestrated public relations guise. We always see Science and Progress walking hand in hand. Science as an institution in a democratic society has to function in the same way as the society at large; it should be open to debate, argument and counter-argument. There is no place for unquestioned authoritarianism. Is modern science meeting these standards?

Richard Milton is a science journalist. He had been an ardent true believer in Darwinian doctrine until his investigative instincts kicked in one day. After 20 years of studying and writing about evolution, he suddenly realised that there were many disconcerting holes in the theory. He decided to try to allay his doubts and prove the theory to himself by using the standard methods of investigative journalism. Milton became a regular visitor to London's famed Natural History Museum. He painstakingly put every main tenet and classic proof of Darwinism to the test. The results shocked him. He found that the theory could not even stand up to the rigours of routine investigative journalism. The veteran science writer took a bold step and published a book titled The Facts of Life: Shattering the Myths of Darwinism. It is clear that the Darwinian myth had been shattered for him, but many moremyths about science would also be crushed after his book came out. Milton says:

I experienced the witch-hunting activity of the Darwinist police at first handÉit was deeply disappointing to find myself being described by a prominent Oxford zoologist [Richard Dawkins] as "loony", "stupid" and "in need of psychiatric help" in response to purely scientific reporting.

We are not from the apes! It's a big lie and impossible! Just read the Holy books (all 3 of them).

Antony and Cleopatra tomb found

Ahead of the start of excavations on Tuesday, archaeologists exhibited 22 coins, 10 mummies, an alabaster head and a fragment of a mask with a cleft chin as evidence that the site, a 2,000-year-old temple to the god Osiris, is likely to hold further treasures. They believes that the Toposiris Magna temple, 30 miles from Egypt's ancient seaside capital of Alexandria, contains the tomb of the doomed lovers that has been shrouded in mystery for so long.

"In our opinion, if this tomb is found it will be one of the most important discoveries of the 21st century because of the love between Cleopatra and Mark Antony, and because of the sad story of their death," they said.

Mark Antony and Cleopatra challenged Caesar Augustus for control of the Roman Empire more than two millenia ago. Their armies were defeated and rather than submit to capture, the two lovers committed suicide - Mark Antony by his sword, Cleopatra with a poisonous asp.

The Roman historian Plutarch said Caesar allowed the two to be buried together, but their tomb was never found.

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Egypt’s Tomb Raider, Off and on Camera

More than 2,500 years ago the mummified corpse of a wealthy man was carefully lowered into a hand-carved tomb 60 feet beneath the surface of the desert. His remains were placed inside a heavy limestone coffin and sealed for eternity.

Well, that was the idea.

Then one day in March 2009 workers inside the death chamber cracked the coffin lid in the middle, pushed aside one half and for the first time in two and a half millennia exposed the man’s remains. And who was there to greet this mummy?

Why even ask? This is Egypt, so it had to be Zahi Hawass.

“I think this guy was important,” Dr. Hawass said with a theatrical flourish, as he brushed some dust from the mummy for the cameras.
In the seven years since he was named general secretary of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, Dr. Hawass has been in perpetual motion. He personally announces every new discovery, was the force behind plans to construct 19 new museums, approved the restoration of nine synagogues in Cairo and has contributed to countless books, documentaries, magazine and newspaper articles all promoting Egyptian antiquities — and, of course, himself.
He is too concerned with self-promotion and is often loose with facts.
There are Egyptian antiquities workers who complain that he takes credit for their accomplishments. But his penchant for drama and his virtual monopoly over Egypt’s unrivaled ancient riches have earned him an international following and helped Egypt sell itself to tourists at a time when tourism dollars are increasingly scarce.
“Whether we like it or not, he is a star, and he lives the life of a star,” said Mahmoud Ibrahim Hussein.
When a tomb was found in the Valley of the Kings three years ago, he surmised that it was built for King Tut’s mother, a sure way to drive up ratings, even as scientists involved in the dig rolled their eyes. The chamber was most likely a storage room, they said at the time.
“In Egypt you need a project that everyone can believe in, a national project,” Dr. Hawass said.

He shot some video for his Web site and then drove off. Less than two weeks later there was another discovery, dozens of brightly painted mummies found in a necropolis in Fayoum, the oasis town about two hours south of Cairo. There were 53 tombs uncovered, some dating back 4,000 years. And who made the announcement? Well, this is Egypt. Who else?

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Pharaoh's mummy's mum Queen Sesheshet found in pyramid

Egyptian archeologists have uncovered what are thought to be the mummified remains of Queen Sesheshet, the mother of a pharaoh who ruled for 11 years in about 2300 BC. The remains were found in the sarcophagus of a pyramid south of the capital, Cairo.

The mummy was found wrapped in cloth in the 22mx4m chamber, adding that the sarcophagus appeared to have been looted. "It is believed that these remains belong to Queen Sesheshet, especially because the pyramid was not built for worship but it was a burial pyramid". Archeologists also found coins engraved with hieroglyphics and golden rings.

Queen Sesheshet was the mother of King Teti, the first pharaoh in the Sixth Dynasty. She was thought to have played a vital role in the establishment of the Sixth Dynasty, when two arms of the previous ruling family were at war. The Sixth Dynasty was considered the last of Egypt's "Old Kingdom" - there followed a time of upheaval. Queen Sesheshet's tomb was the only one of the Sixth Dynasty queens' that had not been found. One of King Teti's two wives' tombs was found more than 100 years ago, the other in 1994.

The team has been excavating the site since 1988. The pyramid is the 118th found in Egypt so far but only a handful are intact.

the mixed-blood sister Cleopatra had killed

ARCHEOLOGISTS and forensic experts believe they have identified the skeleton of Cleopatra's younger sister, murdered more than 2000 years ago on the orders of the Egyptian queen.

The remains of Princess Arsinoe, put to death in 41BC on the orders of Cleopatra and her Roman lover Mark Antony to eliminate her as a rival, are the first relics of the Ptolemaic dynasty to be identified.

The breakthrough, by an Austrian team, has provided pointers to Cleopatra's true ethnicity. Scholars have long debated whether she was Greek or Macedonian, like her ancestor the original Ptolemy, a Macedonian general who was made ruler of Egypt by Alexander the Great, or whether she was north African.

Evidence obtained by studying the dimensions of Arsinoe's skull shows she had some of the characteristics of white Europeans, ancient Egyptians and black Africans, indicating that Cleopatra was probably of mixed race, too. They were daughters of Ptolemy XII by different wives.

The institute's breakthrough came about after it set out to examine Thur's belief that an octagonal tomb in the remains of the Roman city of Ephesus contained the body of Arsinoe.

According to Roman texts, the city, in what is now Turkey, is where Arsinoe was banished after being defeated in a power struggle with Cleopatra and her earlier lover, Julius Caesar.

Arsinoe was said to have been murdered after Cleopatra, then with Mark Antony after Caesar's death, ordered the Roman general to have her younger sibling killed to prevent any future attempts on the Egyptian throne.

The distinctive tomb was first opened in 1926 by archeologists who found a sarcophagus inside containing a skeleton. They removed the skull, which was examined and measured, but it was lost in the upheaval of World War II.

In the early 1990s Thur re-entered the tomb and found the headless skeleton, which she believed to be of a young woman. Clues, such as the unusual octagonal shape of the tomb, which echoed that of the lighthouse of Alexandria with which Arsinoe was associated, convinced Thur the body was that of Cleopatra's sister.

Fabian Kanz, an anthropologist appointed to examine the remains, dated the skeleton to between 200BC and 20BC. He said he was certain the bones were female and placed the age of the woman at 15-18. Cleopatra was about 27 at the time of her sister's demise. The lack of any sign of illness or malnutrition also indicated a sudden death.

Cleopatra tomb may be located soon

Archaeologists searching for the tomb of Cleopatra and Marc Anthony may be closer to locating the burial site of the legendary lovers.
The team believes the tomb may be located in three possible sites near a temple west of the Mediterranean city of Alexandria. The expedition, which has worked at the site for three years, will excavate the three locations next week. The sites were identified by a radar scan of the temple, Tasposiris Magna, which was built in honour of the ancient Egyptian deity Isis in the Greco-Roman period.
"There are historic proofs in the works of (Roman chronicler) Plutarch where he says Cleopatra was buried with Marc Anthony". The team has uncovered 10 mummies, two of them gilded, in 27 tombs. The mummies, which belonged to nobles, suggest the tomb of Anthony and Cleopatra may be close. The team also discovered coins engraved with the images of Cleopatra and Alexander the Great. Twenty-two of the coins, made of bronze, showed Cleopatra's profile.
The coins engraved with Cleopatra's image and an alabaster bust of the queen found at the site showed that the queen was a "beauty". "The coin ... which show her face and neck... refute what some scholars have said about Cleopatra being very ugly".
A 2007 study by researchers at Britain's University of Newcastle concluded after studying her image on a well-preserved Roman denarius coin that her beauty had been exaggerated in popular culture.
The discovered coins, worn by age, show Cleopatra, whom Shakespeare portrayed as a tawny beauty who enthralled Anthony, to have been a robust woman with a large, hooked nose.
The bust, seen in a picture provided by the antiquities council, was dilapidated beyond recognition.
In the past century, Cleopatra came to be associated with Elizabeth Taylor's sensual portrayal of the queen in a 1963 movie. Early chroniclers were circumspect on her appearance. Cleopatra ruled Egypt more than 2,000 years ago. She allied herself with Marc Anthony, one of the three men who ruled the Roman empire after Julius Caesar's assassination, and the two married. The marriage and Anthony's ceding of Roman land to Cleopatra helped set his fellow Roman leaders against him. A civil war ensued, and Anthony and Cleopatra committed suicide when it was lost.

Secrets of the Egyptian Pyramids their construc

Egypts Timeline

Predynastic
About 5500-3000 B.C.
Climatic change about 7,000 years ago turns most of Egypt—except for along the Nile—to desert. Farming begins and communities form along the river, with important population centers at Buto, Naqada, and Hierakonpolis. Egypt remains divided into Upper and Lower (southern and northern) Egypt.

Early Dynastic
(Dynasties I-III)
2950-2575 B.C.
Consolidation of Upper and Lower Egypt and founding of Memphis, the first capital. Calendar and hieroglyphic writing created. Royal necropolis located at Abydos; vast cemeteries at Saqqara and other sites.

Old Kingdom
(Dynasties IV-VIII)
2575-2150 B.C.
Age of pyramids reaches zenith at Giza; cult of the sun god Re centered at Heliopolis. Cultural flowering; trade with Mediterranean region and brief occupation of Lower Nubia.

First Intermediate Period
(Dynasties IX-XI)
2125-1975 B.C.
Political chaos as Egypt splits into two regions with separate dynasties.

Middle Kingdom
(Dynasties XI-XIV)
1975-1640 B.C.
Reunification by Theban kings. Dynasty XII kings win control of Lower Nubia; royal burials shift north to near Memphis. Major irrigation projects. Classical literary period.

Second Intermediate Period
(Dynasties XV-XVII)
1630-1520 B.C.
Asiatic Hyksos settlers rule the north, introducing the horse and chariot; Thebans rule the south.

New Kingdom
(Dynasties XVIII-XX)
1539-1075 B.C.
Thebans expel the Hyksos and reunite Egypt. In this "age of empire," warrior kings conquer parts of Syria, Palestine, and Lower Nubia.

Third Intermediate Period
(Dynasties XXI-XXIV)
1075-715 B.C.
Egypt is once again divided. The high priests of Amun control Thebes; ethnic Libyans rule elsewhere.

Late Period
(Dynasties XXV-XXX)
715-332 B.C.
Nubians from Kush conquer Egypt; Egypt reunited under Saite dynasty. Persia rules in fifth century B.C. Egypt independent from 404 to 343 B.C.

Greco-Roman Period
332 B.C.-A.D. 395
Ptolemies rule after the death of Alexander the Great in 332 B.C. Dramatic growth of population and agricultural output. Roman emperors build many temples, depicting themselves in the Egyptian style.

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Scorpion King's Wines--Egypt's Oldest--Spiked With Meds

Deep inside the tomb of Scorpion I scientists discovered Egypt's oldest wines.
And now it appears the 5,000-year-old wines were spiked with natural medicines—centuries before the practice was thought to exist in Egypt, researchers say.
Archaeochemist Patrick McGovern and colleagues found chemical residues of herbs, tree resins, and other natural substances inside wine jars from the tomb, the previously discovered resting place of one of Egypt's first pharaohs.

The early Egyptians "were living in a world without modern synthetic medicines, and they were very aware of the benefits that natural additives can have—especially if dissolved into an alcoholic medium, like wine or beer," which breaks down plant alkaloids.

Papyrus records from as long ago as 1850 B.C. detail how such medicinal tipples were made to treat a range of ailments.

"Now this chemical evidence pushes that date back another 1,500 years,"

Scorpion I's wines predate the advent of Egyptian vineyards and were imports from the Jordan River valley.

The wines suggest that imports from the southeastern Mediterranean contributed to the Egyptian pharmacopoeia, which laid the groundwork for Greek and Roman medical traditions.

Now, collaborating with researchers at Penn Medicine's Abramson Cancer Center, McGovern's team is using biomolecular analysis to uncover the ancient wine-medicine recipes and hopefully put them to the test.

"We're trying to rediscover why ancient people thought these particular herbs were medically useful," he said, "and seeing if they are effective for the treatment of cancer or other modern diseases."

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Mummies found in ancient Egypt burial chamber

Archaeologists working in an Egyptian oasis have found a necropolis containing dozens of brightly painted mummies dating back as far as 4,000 years, the country's antiquities chief said on Sunday. The mission found dozens of mummies in 53 rock-hewn tombs dating to the Middle Kingdom from 2061-1786 BC.

Four of the mummies date back to the 22nd Dynasty (931 to 725 BC) and are considered some of the most beautiful mummies found. The linen-wrapped mummies are painted in the still-bright traditional ancient Egyptian colours of turquoise, terracotta and gold.

The necropolis was uncovered near the Ilahun pyramid in Fayoum oasis south of Cairo.

A Middle Kingdom funerary chapel with an offering table was also found, and that it was probably used up to the Roman era which lasted from 30 BC to 337 AD.

The team also found 15 painted masks, along with amulets and clay pots.

the Valley of the Kings

Recent discoveries at the Valley of the Kings on Luxor's west bank have changed the understanding of one of the most intriguing archaeological sites in Egypt.
The Valley of the Kings is one of the richest and most fascinating archaeological sites in the world. It was here that in 1922 Howard Carter found the tomb and treasures of Tutankhamun, perhaps the most sensational discovery in the history of archaeology. In 2005, a team from the University of Memphis in the United States located the first new tomb found in the valley since Tutankhamun, bringing the number of known tombs to 63, of which 26 belonged to kings. Yet, although explorers and archaeologists had been combing the Valley of the Kings for centuries, not a single tomb had been found by an Egyptian. Not, that was, until early last year, when the first all-Egyptian archaeological mission ever to work at the Valley of the Kings opened a new chapter of discovery. The team has recently made several important and revolutionary discoveries that are helping to solve some of the enigmas surrounding the site.

Although several important discoveries were made there in the 19th and 20th centuries, there are still a number of Pharaohs and other royals who were probably buried in the Valley of the Kings but whose tombs have not yet been found. The resting places of Ramses VIII, Tuthmosis II, and the queens and princes of the 18th Dynasty are still unknown.

"There are still many treasures left to be discovered in the valley," says Zahi Hawass, secretary-general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA), who led the excavation team.

Excavation work by the team focussed on three different areas at the valley; The first is between the tombs of Merenptah and Ramses II on the northern side of the central valley; the second in the area to the south of the tomb of Tutankhamun; and the third in the western part of the valley, where the tombs of Amenhotep III and Ay are located.

At the area in the cliffs between the tombs of Ramses II and Merenptah, a man-made drainage channel that probably helped prevent the flooding of the royal tombs in the vicinity has been found. Along with masses of stone piled near a man-made wall at the base of the cliff which appears to represent a collection area for runoff, it provided protection from the occasional rains in the high desert that have inundated the Valley of the Kings since ancient times. Hawass says the area at the base of the channel is probably the location mentioned in an ostracon as the site where a sacred tree once grew, and the "tears of the gods" were collected. A small, sheltered area off to the side of the channel, where the team found a stone basin that may have held food and water, probably served as a resting place for the workmen.

In the central part of the valley, south of the tomb of Tutankhamun, the team has found the remains of small structures made of stone. "These buildings were probably used for storage, perhaps of food and other items intended for offerings or of embalming materials," Hawass suggests. The team also uncovered a number of workmen's huts, which were identified but never excavated by Howard Carter, and a cave cut into the rock to the south of the tomb. "This cave was probably used as a shelter by the workmen," Hawass says, adding that the excavation area is in the vicinity of the Amarna-period tombs KV63 to the southeast and KV55 to the northeast. "It is possible that if important figures from this era, such as Nefertiti, for instance, were reburied in the Valley of the Kings after the city of Akhetaten [Amarna] was abandoned, their tombs would be in this area," Hawass says.

The mission also worked in the area north and east of the tomb of Seti I, where they have found traces of cutting in the bedrock underneath the modern rest house which may lead to a previously unknown tomb. Unfortunately, as Hawass points out, it would be necessary to remove the entire building in order to explore this area, so they will not be able to do so in the immediate future. A radar survey of the central valley was recently conducted that identified a number of areas of interest, and further analysis of the data may reveal features that warrant archaeological investigation.

Hundreds of graffiti, most of them previously unknown, have been uncovered. One unique example tells that the vizier Userhat built a tomb for his father, the vizier Amonnakht, in the place known as set- maat, or "place of truth". An inscription mentioning a previously unknown queen, the first part of whose name reads "Weret". This woman bore the title of "god's wife", an important religious office held by royal women beginning in the early 18th Dynasty. A beautifully painted ostracon showing a queen presenting offerings was also discovered, in addition to inscriptions of the cartouches of Ramses II and Seti I. Pieces of beautiful painted pottery dating to the New Kingdom have been also unearthed.

In the western valley, known as the Wadi Al-Quroud, or "valley of the monkeys", where the tombs of Amenhotep III and Ay are both located, the mission has carried out excavation work in an attempt to find Queen Tiye's tomb.

Queen Tiye, the mother of Akhenaten, was the wife of Amenhotep III and possibly the sister of Ay. If she was buried in the Valley of the Kings, her tomb might have been carved out near that of her husband, and if Ay was in fact her brother it would be all the more appropriate for her tomb to be near his as well. "It will be interesting to see what excavations in this area will reveal,".

Folding bed

AN EMBALMING bed used by ancient Egyptians to prepare the deceased for mummification has been discovered by chance in Luxor. Following weeks of restoration work, a number of wooden plaques that were found inside a jar unearthed in tomb KV63 at the Valley of the Kings on Luxor's west bank have proved to be the remains of a mummification bed.
The pieces have been identified as a plain, 170cm-long bed with a head rest and two carved heads of a lion and a lioness at the end. It slopes downwards 5cm from head to toe in order to help drain bodies being prepared for mummification. Bodies had their organs removed as soon as possible after death, including the brain, which was thrown away as it was thought to serve no purpose in the afterlife. The heart was left in the body, with other organs cleaned, perfumed and preserved in jars to be buried with the mummy. Afterwards, the corpse spent 40 days on the bed to drain the fluids, and another 15 days while it was bandaged.
"It is really a very important discovery, which confirms that KV63 is not a tomb for an individual but a storehouse for materials and objects used in mummification," SCA Secretary-General Zahi Hawass told Al-Ahram Weekly. He explained that in 2005, when the American-Egyptian mission found the tomb, it was empty apart from 28 clay jars of different sizes, seven anthropoid coffins and some embalming materials such as resin, oils, herbs and linen wraps. On opening one of the jars the mission found the wooden plaques and they did not know what they were, what their function might have been or why they were stored in a jar. "But with the help of Egyptian conservator Amani Nashed, the team was finally able to reassemble the pieces to form a bed of the type used in the ancient Egyptian mummification process," Hawass said.

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Russian archeologists discover golden-masked mummies in Egypt

Russian archaeologists working at Egypt's Fayoum Oasis have uncovered a number of mummies wearing golden masks, as well as other artifacts of historical value, a Russian Egyptologist said on Wednesday.

A group of Russian archaeologists has been working in the Fayoum province, some 80km southwest of Cairo, since 2003. It has been carrying out excavations at the Deir Al-Banat necropolis for the past two years.

"It is a huge necropolis," said Alexei Krol, deputy chief of the Russian Academy of Sciences' Egyptology center. "Despite the fact that the site was badly robbed in the early Christian period, the Coptic era and in the 1960s-1970s, we are still managing to find mummies with golden masks," he said.

The Deir Al-Banat necropolis contains burial sites from three periods of Egyptian history - Ancient Egypt, Roman Egypt and Christian Egypt. Apart from traditional Egyptian mummies, scientists have also found several so-called Fayoum mummy portraits from the Roman Egyptian period, realistic portraits of a deceased person made on a piece of wood and attached to a mummy.

The scientist added that several findings made at the necropolis challenged the existing theory, based on early Christian literature, that pagans and Christians in Egypt had a long and bitter feud at the dawn of the religion.

"They could live in the same city and pray to different gods," Krol said.