Eu-eke-a!

During excavation work at the Tombs of the Nobles on Luxor's West Bank an Egyptian archaeological mission has stumbled upon what it believes is the tomb of Amen-Em-Epet, Supervisor of Hunters during the reign of the monotheistic Pharaoh Akhnaten.

The rock hewn 18th Dynasty tomb consists of an open courtyard and two halls, one square, the other rectangular. It has a deep shaft where the mission unearthed the remains of mummies, funerary seals and fragments of pottery vessels. In the court, says Mustafa Waziri, director-general of Luxor's West Bank inspectorate, another shaft was discovered containing a well preserved mummy that may belong to the tomb's owner.

The walls of the tomb had been covered with a black substance, and it had clearly been reused on a number of occasions. Yet when a section of the wall was cleaned, says Waziri, it revealed beautiful decorations.

The mission had located two further undecorated tombs at the north western side of Epet's tomb, one containing seven funerary seals bearing the name Amenhotep-Ben-Nefer, the Supervisor of the Cattle of Amun, the other seals with the name of Eke, Royal Messenger and Supervisor of the Palace. Fragmentary remains of unidentified mummies have also been found, as well as a collection of Ushabti figures.

Egyptian Archaeologists Discover 3,500-Year-Old Tomb in Luxor

Egyptian archaeologists digging in a necropolis at Luxor where the Pharaohs buried their dead have found a tomb dating back 3,500 years ago that belonged to an official known as the Supervisor of Hunters.

The tomb of the supervisor, known as Amun-em-Opet in ancient Egyptian, dates back to the so-called 18th dynasty of Egyptian Pharaohs between 1570-1315 B.C., the Cairo-based Culture Ministry said in an e-mailed statement today. The west bank necropolis where it was found is called Dra Abu el-Naga.

Two other undecorated tombs were also found northwest of the tomb of Amun-em-Opet in which the names of the Supervisor of the Cattle of Amun and the Royal Messenger and Supervisor of the Palace were found, the statement said.

Unidentified fragments of mummies were found as well as funerary figures called ushabti in the two tombs.

Project Isis

I watched a documentary called 'The secret KGB abduction files'. It was about the KGB and secret video footage of the KGB uncovering a tomb in Egypt in about 1961 that supposedly contained the body of an alien (The visitor Osiris from the constellation of Orion). The documentary showed clear evidence that the body was 10,500 years old. I'd also like to point out that the video film in question is the same batch of film reels that contained the crashed UFO footage in Russia. The cans/reels of film were obtained from the same source.

They were also able to align the great pyramids and Sphinx with a constellation of stars, but to get the exact match for a constellation alignment, it had to be done by computers to see where the constellations were at the time of the construction of the great pyramids, as they would have been much different in ancient times. They showed this computer animation, which is fact and can't be faked, and the exact alignment of the pyramids, aligned to Orion. The date of the alignment matched 10,500 years B.C.!!

The face on mars

I truly believe that there is also an alignment between old Egypt and the face on Mars and the pyramid, in the Valley of Cydonia. I mean it's obvious that there is a connection between these two places. Why is there a human face and the pyramid on mars? ...we humans never were there...!!....How does it get there, who build it?....It's clear to me that it was build by extraterrestial lifeforms. A proof that they were here on earth, 12,000 years ago, and brought this knowledge and technology to the oldest civilisation of all time, the old Egypts. They want to let us know that they were here and still are here!! ...and someday we would have the technology to go to Mars and then we get the evidence that we are not alone in the universe, not even in our solar system...!! ...its like a big piece of that unbelievable puzzle.

The Sphinx

It is evident that the face of the Sphinx was once a LION (and much larger with a mane) and not a Pharaonic face complete with a beard, but as the sands encroached on the Giza plateau AFTER 5,000 BC the body of the Sphinx seems to have been nearly completely buried up to its mane-neck (i.e. by 2,500 BC) in sand and thus was whittled down for centuries by dry wind erosion (perhaps for longer than 1000 years or so) before some later Pharaoh came along, dug the buried body of the Sphinx out of the sand, then proceeded to "re-carve the nub" of the now disfigured Lion's Head with his own face in its place - notice how jutting out and disproportionate the face is from the body (and its odd angle) as well as the tiny size of the head in relation to the larger lion body - which shows that the present Pharaonic head on the Sphinx is not original but a later and somewhat desperate attempt at a re-carving an older monument into something the Pharaoh wanted to take credit for - as it was clearly originally some other shape than a man's head...almost certainly a Lion's Head which originally was facing the constellation Leo in approx 9,000 BC.

Certainly the older, inner core of the Sphinx oddly (and IMPOSSIBLY!) shows clear signs of 'rain-water damage' from at least 1000 years of heavy pounding rains (as does the so-called Sphinx Limestone Enclosure made of 9 tonne carved limestone blocks), whereas the repairs done to the outside if the Sphinx are later (along with the recarved smallish Pharaoh-head) shows wind and dry-sand erosion from a later period (e.g. BC 3000 to today) and thus the more ancient parts of the Giza plateau may well have remnants of far older structures going back to at least 8,000 BC when Egypt was wetter not dryer...

The Conclusion

Most Egyptologists however are VERY RELUCTANT to re-date Egyptian history or relate anything that old to the first Egyptian period, since it would mean that for the past 150 years, all their assumptions about the beginnings of Egyptian Civilisation was based on faulty information and therefore...well, wrong....

And archaelogists and anthropologists don't like that too much...especially if they've been publishing books touting their own theories...and it is hard to retract once one has published in hard print....sort of like un-ringing a bell...!

When researchers began looking into just how much the Soviet government knew about UFOs and extraterrestrial visitation, they were not surprised to learn that the Russians looked at the subject very seriously. What they didn't expect was evidence of ancient alien visitation, paranormal properties associated with related artefacts, and most shocking of all, of a mass abduction in 1985!

Among the piles of material obtained from former Soviet spies, some extremely puzzling and disturbing documents and film footage surfaced confirming rumours, which had been circulating for decades. In the last 1950s and 60s, the Russians became very interested in a number of unusual and newly discovered archaeological sites in Egypt.

There has always been the question... How did the Egyptians feed and care for the 100,000's of slaves that it would have taken to build the ancient structures like that of the pyramids in Egypt? One minute it is a very backwards country and almost over night a highly advanced and technological culture sprung into existence.

We now have the answer to that very question..and evidence that the Egyptians had help... Extraterrestial help at that! Thanks to Russia, the KGB and a top secret project called Project Isis!

Astro physicist , neurologist and science advisor in advanced propulsion system gained access to the files of Project Isis. This was a top secret project brought about by KBG concerning the discovery of the Tomb of the Visitor in 1961.

Up until SCI-FI purchased this exclusive footage from an agent of the Russian Mafia, it had never been seen outside the top secret facilities of the KGB. SCI-FI showed it one time on television and as it stands today, no evidence of this film or the project is available...except what we have copies of here given to us by a client that had taped the original show.

This video is a powerful documentary with actual footage filmed by the KGB and verified by specialists in the fields for SCI-FI to be authentic film footage. If we can somehow bring attention back on Project Isis and prove it out, it will change the history of the beginning of the civilization of man.

During the Cold War, Nikita Khrushchev was determined to show the world that communism was superior over the democracy. As he realized that it would be too costly to compete with the U.S. in the space race, Kruschev chose to go the other route. The KGB was ordered to investigate less costly means for technical advancement and superiority. Having over 300,000 agents in his secret police and espionage organizations he focused most of this resource on alternative science, such as paranormal phenomenon, pschotrometic weapons, biogenerators and mind altering machines.

In the 1920's, during the Stalanist Regime, a 'dark room' was created where the KGB conducted psychotronic weapons research on prisoners sentenced to die and political desidents. After 1936 these files were transferred to the secret archives of the KGB, continuing on with their paranormal research. Khrushchev achieved great success with his biogenerators and machines to alter human minds, which worried, naturally, the United States, knowing that the Soviet Union was there to conquer and overthrow.

Russia, being that is borders surrounded the largest land mass of the world, had the largest amount of ufo sightings. If they could capture one of these flying objects and reverse engineer it they could have the greatest advance aeronautical designs.

They got lucky in January 1986 when a space craft crashed in Dalnegorsk but remained intact. The craft was back engineered and the process was quite successful!

But to achieve the most superior advancement and global domination, they went in search for something that was only a rumor or legend...The Chamber of Knowledge in Egypt. If the legends were true, storehouse of knowledge left behind by ancient visitors from outerspace was concealed in the Great Pyramid.

A team of archeologist were composed of Egyptologists from the Russian Soviet Academy of Science, was sent to Egypt. The Fearing that the CIA would learn of this expedition, the Kremlin operated with complete secrecy. By the late 1950's Egypt accounted for 43 per cent of all the Soviet Aide for Third World Nations. When they started the Isis project the Soviet Military Personal in Egypt was estimated over 20,000. The heavy military presense was used to disguise the efforts of the Mission Scientist headquarted in Cairo.

They would operate under the guise of Arab peasants or Russian Officers. To speed things up, in 1959 the KGB recruited professional informationalists to wire tap Egyptian officials. This paid of in July 24, 1960 when a conversation was recorded that would then change myth into reality. The official had been given a call that 'two bedouins' had stumbled upon the "Tomb of the Visitor". The bedouins were in the hospital and kept repeating ,'The Visitor God'.

At this moment in time, Project Isis became Top Priority and all efforts were made to immediately follow up by having the Bedouins show them where they had found this tomb.

SCI FI was able to purchase several documents and film footage as to the KGB documentations of their findings.

Listed are the following:

Taken out of Egypt and brought to the secret facility of the KGB was this:

Memo to high ranking KGB official :

"My agents have secured the notes of one of the scientists working on the tomb of the visitor findings."

Another was the Inventory of Contents taken from the Tomb..as follows:

Location of finding...undisclosed.

15 crates of relics, 1 partially mummified body, 1 stone sarcophogas, 8 hieroglypic samples.

Filed report from a project scientist that was one of the first to enter the tomb:

"During the inspection of the wall segment we noted that a strange magnet repulsive force seemed to be eminating from the rock. We were unable to find any scientific explanation".

Kryptologist report:

Partial decoded message on tomb wall indicating a prophecy of the 'Return of the Winged Gods'

The Kremlin took the Kryptologist report very seriously. KGB was ordered to determine target locations, i.e. planets ,stars, galaxies. They had to duplicate the stars as they would have been over Giza thousands of years ago. They finally found it, in the stars and constellation of Orion during the year 10,500 BC.

Although it was possible that the builders could have been working off plans of a time before the pyramids was constructed this was proven not to be the case. Metal and synthetic materials of tomb were determined to be of unknown origin and the tomb was carbondated ..giving it a dating of 10,500 BC..meaning the pyramid had to have been made at 10,500 BC.

Cans of Film were purchased by SCI FI through the Russian Mafia Agent which originally came from the Maximum Security Archives of the KGB. These cans contained film of KGB filming the process of the Tomb and Sarcophagus being opened. SCI-FI had this film analyzed before purchasing by experts in this field. Finding no evidence of fraud, SCI FI purchased cans of film.

The documentary is in black and white showing soldiers entering the tomb without gas masks. As they opened the sarcophagus, you can see toxic fumes escaping and the reaction of the soldiers as they were being affected. It also shows the mummy contained inside. The film shows the soldiers leaving the tomb fast and then a chemical warfare specialist team comes in with protective clothing. There is talk from one that was there in the tomb, that the energy inside , during the first days of exploration was very very high. They also had a team of psychics go in and do some special readings of the tomb. It later goes on to show the KGB and bedouins loading trucks with crates to be shipped back to Russia.

According to KGB documents , researchers began to wonder if the pyramid was designed for one particular purpose. They thought it was possibly a machine, being that it was designed like a 3 dimensional triangular depliction of a hemisphere. There thoughts were 'There must have been a reason why it was designed for reasonating with the planet."

Their thoughts went to a 'prism' and that the pyramids have powers to alter the cosmic rays.. That the pyramids are huge prisms capable of concentrating energy, capturing light from the stars which would initiate a process which would turn the pyramid into a interstellar transmitter. The three pyramids and sphnix could be intergral parts of an immense machine design by alien engineers..linked by a master control mechnanism inside the great pyramids.

They noted that the passageway goes to main chamber...and above the sarcophagus was a tunnel..a star shaft. They reasoned that when a specific star alignment occurs a streak of energy goes down the shaft. Scientists speculated that the radiant energy hitting the sarcophagus could initiate something similar to a cold fusion reaction. The prism structure of the pyramid would then magnify and transfer to the corresponding pyramids. A unifed beam of energy could erupt creating a cosmic beacon used by alien starship for future navigaton.

According to ancient legends all around the world, they all have the same thing in common:

Pyramids

The visitors were like men but more like gods.

They were giants

They traveled among the stars

They brought us the knowledge

Legends of the first emporers of China were called the 'Suns of Heaven' and made the first pyramids of China.

Mexico and yucatan have similar legends.

Starwalkers can be found throughout Egyptian texts and S. American Folklore

The visitors are described as the giants man/gods...giants or titans

And it seems...all cultures may be traced to a single parent civilization... Could it be ET?

Later on in the documentary, it shows them working on the mummy..attempting to give it a face and identity. A computer projection of the mummy was made as it laid in the sarcophagus.

Experts that were there to observe the florescenic reconstruction of the face described to SCI-FI that if they had not been there themselves, they would not have believed what the face revealed after reconstruction. When skull and face was completed , it showed a humanoid type .. large cranium..large eyes, small chin, small teeth... not earth humanoid, but some being that had to have been extraterrestrial.

Later, using underground radar technology, the KBG found a passage way under the tomb of the visitor... directly below was a large chamber. They believed they found the Chamber of Knowledge, but was afraid to open the tomb, thinking it could be a Trojan Horse...capable of blowing up the entire planet. They decided to seal the tomb, wipe away the location of the tomb and close the project. It seemed however that all were affected by the discovery. Some had personality changes. Some disappeared entirely, others committed suicide and others no longer could support their old religious beliefs.

The Project Video goes on to add:

The first official report of sightings, that we are aware of, was by King Tutkhamen III about 3400 years ago.

Sightings continued through the Ages.

Sightings seemed to pick up with man mastered the skies.

But when we conquered the inner workings of the atom, the aliens of Orion stepped up their observation with an explosion of ufo sightings that continue up to the Present.

UFO Abduction reports began to sweep around the world in the early 60's. A pattern was developing with nearly all abductees reporting physical examinations,insertion of objects and artificial inseminations. Many women abductees believed they were being impregnated to give birth to alien hybrids. In the last decade reports such as these have risen dramatically. It may be highly likely that the genetic colonization program that started back in the ancient times has resumed. The question was asked

'Could they be cloning themselves by implanting their alien genes into human dna?' 'Are humans being transformed into an alien species through genetic engineering?'

The ancient Egyptians have always said that our DNA came from the heavens and that someday they would return.'

Did the KGB discover the truth in the chamber of knowledge about the true agenda of the ET's.

And..what was discovered on the Wall of the Tomb of the Visitor prophesized that They would Return...but When??

THE FOLLOWERS

Secrets cannot be contained...not even KGB secrets. A group of scientists, computer programs, doctors, etc. shortly after the discovery of the Tomb of the Visitor, came together to discuss the possibilities of this discovery. They fully believed that the visitor was none other than Osiris, the Alien King. Thus they gave themselves the name, 'The Followers', based off the Followers of Horus in the Egyptian Book of the Dead.

According to Egyptian beliefs a Family of Gods came from the Stars to Egypt. They were the ones that gave the people of Egypt the knowledge and wisdom. Later they left Earth back to their star homes, except for Osiris. He stayed and taught 'The Followers'. It ws their duty to protect and keep the ancient knowledge he gave them until his return.

The Egyptians were astronomers and fully understood that the stars were the map to the great god Osiris and the afterlife.

The modern Followers would secretly come together in their homes to discuss the possiblity of the return of Osiris. They believed that the Second Coming of Osiris would herald a New Age for Mankind.

They believed that when the tomb was discovered and the seal was broken, a signal was transmitted to the visitors. They calculated and estimated the time it would take for the electromagnetic signal to reach the constellation of Orion. They figured that they could return no earlier than April 23, 1985.

with that time frame in mind, the group left Russia and took off to Egypt...never to return.

The only remains left behind of their meeting with the visitors was a newspaper clippage found in the KGB archives of a group of tourists disappearing in the middle of the night in Egypt, 1985...and one home movie project with film. This film showed the group in front of the pyramid at night. It shows a light appearing in the sky, the group dropping to their knees in prayer..the light becoming brighter... and then 'nothingness'... A daughter of parents that were part of this group was shown the home video by the SCI FI team, of which she recognized her parents and burst into tears.

Officials have quietly covered up what may be the most stunning archaeological discovery of all time: The body of a perfectly preserved, carefully mummified space alien found buried in an ancient pyramid! The 5-foot-3-inch creature was discovered on January 7 near Lahun by an archaeologist exploring a small pyramid near the 12th Dynasty pyramid of Senusret II, but little public mention of the extraordinary find has been made.

"The mummy dates from about 1880 B.C. and is humanoid, but clearly not human," says a source in the Egyptian Department of Antiquities, who provided details and photographs of the find but spoke under condition of anonymity. "It's unclear what sex it was, but we do know it had unusual reptilian-type skin, no external ears and overly large, almond-shaped eyes. The mummy's tomb inscriptions showed it was a counsellor to the king named Osirunet, which means 'star- or heaven-sent.' The body was mummified and buried with great respect and care, accompanied by a number of strange objects that we cannot identify."

The alien mummy was unearthed by Dr. Viktor Lubek, a Czechoslovakian citizen and retired professor from the University of Pennsylvania, according to the Egyptian source. The archaeologist located its hidden burial chamber while investigating a small pyramid to the south of the main pyramid at the Senusret II site thought to contain the pharaoh's queen.

"It was apparent from the outset that this tomb contained someone extraordinary because the mummy had been preserved in a very unusual manner," the Egyptian source says. "There was a mixture of gold and clay coating the corpse, and remaining vestiges of a linen-type cloth covered the being's skin. Objects inside the tomb included devices made of a tough synthetic-type material that no one has been able to identify, and the uses of these strange machine-like items are a complete mystery. No one's ever seen anything like this in any Egyptian tomb."

The source says the bizarre find has caused consternation among Egyptian officials, who want to cover it up until a plausible explanation can be found for the strange mummy. The government has consulted a number of respected archaeologists, but to date none can explain the artefact in ordinary terms. "The truth is, almost every expert who has seen this mummy has concluded it's not of earthly origin," the source says. "There's a feeling this is an extraterrestrial who somehow ended up advising an Egyptian king. But everyone in the government is shying away from that conclusion because it backs up wacky New Age ideas that the ancient Egyptians had help from space aliens in building their extraordinary civilization. The Egyptians refuse to believe their heritage came from outer space," he said.

The mummy is slated to be flown to a university in Florida where specialists will examine it more closely.

...to a "Project Isis" that the KGB conducted in the 1930's. According to the searches that I have done, the KGB worked with the Egyptians and uncovered a tomb that had some sort of inscription that basically said "Alien God" In the tomb, they found a small body of non-human origin. There is supposed to be inscriptions all over the interior walls of the tomb. There is also a reference to a "button" but nothing on the "button's" function.

There is also references to weird radiation in the tomb as well as researchers floating around. From what I have been able to find, everyone present there figured that the place was too dangerous and then either destroyed the entrance or covered it up so that it would not be found again.

What if I told you that I believe I have come across evidence that there exists, most probably in the Egyptian Museum of Antiquities (in dusty storage), conclusive genetic proof that ties the Egyptian civilization to the alien Grey race?

Yes, those large-headed, large eyed alien Grey's that you see depicted on everything from coffee mugs to television commercials. Unless this evidence has been destroyed or simply allowed to decay into dust, it does exist somewhere, because there is photographic and video-graphic proof of its existence.

This hieroglyph of a head, is clearly not a human head. Why would these ancients portray all kinds of alien heads and bodies all over the place. The only logical reason is that they saw them, they existed. These ancients were not a crazy religious cult as Egyptologists portray them. They were spoken of by Hermes as being the happies and healthiest people in the land. A healthy mind does not go to such mind boggling lengths as these to carve gigantic monuments and carvings in stone with no logical reason. These people were not crazy. They were from another planet.

One video was shown on the Discovery Channel a couple of years ago, and that's where I first saw it.....and evidently I'm the ONLY one who realized what they had!! The show was called "Secrets of the Pharoahs: Search for Ancient DNA" and I made several copies for "home use". Photos have been published in various books on King Tutankhamun, which I don't have the titles to at this time. However, I do have a photo that was scanned from one such book.

An exciting exploration into the secretive

human - alien connection in ancient Egypt

"An expedition was mounted as a result of data gathered back in the 1920's and 1930's about a secret chamber under the pyramid. They built equipment in later years and went in down into the pyramid and found this metal door 500 feet below the base of the pyramid. They found other doors. The doors used a sonic code. They found a room with over 30,000 recording disks and alien equipment. They made photos of the disks with IR film. The Egyptian government wouldn't allow them to take any out. The disks were deciphered. They described the rise and fall of civilizations in outer space going back more than a 100,000 years. This group built this record room and then built the pyramid over it. There was no UFO, but a lot of equipment was stored on three levels. They photographed over 2,700 record disks. According to an Air Force contact, these disks are kept in a safe at Kirtland AFB in New Mexico. They don't want the public to know the information. "

What's going on in Luxor?

Geotechnical studies and mapping, restoration, conservation and site management, that's what's going on -- and a great deal more, says Jill Kamil.

We all know that the "mansions of millions of years", the tombs and temples built by the ancient Egyptians that were meant to last forever, are seriously threatened -- and have been for a long time now. Among the many causes are subsoil water seepage, infrastructure development, unrestricted housing, and that greatest menace of all -- tourism. Fifty years ago fewer than a hundred visitors a day visited Luxor's magnificent monuments. Now there are as many as 9,000, and they are largely responsible for rapid changes in temperature and humidity levels in the tombs.

It's a never-ending struggle.

Take Nefertari's tomb in the Valley of the Queens as an instance. The tomb was discovered in 1856 by Ernesto Schiaparelli, and was closed to visitors in the 1950s because of the marked deterioration of the marvellous wall paintings of Ramses II's most beloved of wives. It remained closed until 1986 when the Getty Conservation Institute, in collaboration with the then Egyptian Antiquities Organisation (EAO), undertook a major conservation programme. The tomb was reopened in 1995, theoretically to a limited number of visitors per day. Unfortunately, however, this was difficult to control -- or perhaps there was not enough incentive to do so. Anyway, the newly restored paintings deteriorated at such a rate that the condition of the tomb caused renewed concern to the authorities and was closed in 2003; this time to all but small groups willing to pay a substantial entrance fee. This somewhat reduced humidity in the tomb but it did not solve the problem because the paintings are on plaster which tends, because of its weight, to separate from the bedrock. Further efforts were made by the Getty Institute to slow the rate of buckling, and the number of tourists is now "strictly controlled" -- according to Zahi Hawass of the Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA) -- but the process of destruction continues. Even re-closing the tomb will not save it. All that can be done is to monitor its inevitable deterioration.

Tourism is expected to increase in the next decade, and is essential for the Egyptian economy. Not everyone is pessimistic, however. "Large numbers of tourists do not necessarily spell the death of an ancient site provided their numbers are carefully regulated and environmental controls are put in place to counter their negative effects, and long-term management plans are implemented", Kent Weeks, director of the Theban Mapping Project (TMP) since 1979, says. Weeks points out that he recognised early on the urgent need for archaeological conservation on the necropolis, the west bank of the Nile, and in collaboration with the SCA he launched the first step to establish a survey grid across the necropolis to make it possible for the accurate location of monuments. His next step was a detailed survey of the Valley of the Kings that included topographical maps and meticulous plans of all accessible tombs. Using this information, Weeks has devoted the last four years to preparing a management plan for the royal valley as the first part of what he hopes will ultimately be a plan for the entire west bank.

"Six years ago the concept of site management was in its infancy," says Hawass, who took over the post of secretary-general of the SCA in 2002. "Tombs and temples were excavated, conservation programmes carried out, and decisions made, but seldom, if ever, with an overall vision for the understanding of the increasing dangers facing Luxor or for its protection as a whole," he said. "Over decades important restoration projects were carried out, but with no comprehensive strategy to protect the sites for the future. This is no longer the case. The future is upon us, and site management is one of the SCA's most important goals. We don't want work to be directed towards just one tomb or wall, but to the sites as a whole, both on the east bank of the Nile at Luxor and the west."

Providing training to archaeologists, architects, conservators and administrators is an integral part of the SCA's current programmes because, again in the words of Hawass, "unless we improve the professional capacities of our employees, it will be impossible to develop and implement long-term plans to maintain sites." To this end, and in response to the SCA, the site management training project of the American Research Centre in Egypt (ARCE), funded by USAID, was initiated in 2006. Its objective is to help promote "effective" and "integrated" site management in Egypt, and more specifically, "to increase the expertise of the SCA to formulate, implement, and administer the plan... and provide the means to handle risks at sites."

Howard Carter's house on the west bank, built in 1902, has been renovated to serve as the site management headquarters, and there inspectors selected by the SCA participate in site management and training programmes, some of which are already being implemented. Drains, for example, are being laid out along the semi-circle of mortuary temples from Medinet Habu to that of Seti I so that excess irrigation water that threatens antiquities at the edge of the desert can be pumped into a drainage canal that carries it to the Nile. This project is funded by the World Monuments Fund.

Dewatering programmes around Luxor and Karnak temples, funded by SWECO of Sweden, have been launched on the east bank of the Nile. They include large-scale engineering works to install a city-wide sewage system around these most frequently visited and important monuments. Interestingly, the operations have revealed the presence of unknown or previously lost monuments around the temple complexes -- for example the eastern limits of the destroyed temple built by Akhenaten was uncovered; outside the Karnak Temple complex the colonnade of an unknown temple dating from the 25th Dynasty was found; and work around Luxor Temple has revealed the enclosure wall of a Roman camp as well as decorated blocks re-used as house foundations for the mediaeval city that grew up to the east. Needless to say, whenever antiquities are chanced up, engineering work is held up for an indefinite period.

"The extraordinary monuments of Luxor survived for 5,000 years in large part because of the dry conditions and low population," says Ray Johnson, director of Chicago House, the Oriental Institute of Chicago's headquarters in Luxor which has been involved in restoration, conservation, recording and documentation projects throughout Thebes since 1924. "Today we have to adjust to changes in environmental and demographic conditions." He was referring particularly to increased damage to monuments, such as the great mud-brick palace of Amenhotep III at Malkata, the enclosure walls of the temple of Medinet Habu, and Deir Al-Medina, in addition to the tomb chapels and settlement remains scattered throughout the west bank as a result of "wetter weather conditions, unregulated groundwater and wastewater, increased population pressure, expanding agriculture, urban development, and tourism." Johnson's words in a recent article written in collaboration with Mansour Boraik, the SCA's director in Luxor, are woeful indeed. All these monuments, they claim, "have suffered the decay of centuries during just the last 15 years."

Working on the Ramasseum, the mortuary temple of Ramses II, one of the most important sites from antiquity, admired since ancient times and celebrated in Percy Shelley's famous poem "Ozymandias, King of Kings", is Christian Leblanc, director of the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS). Working in collaboration with the SCA, Leblanc made reference to encroaching agricultural fields, uncontrolled rural development in proximity to archaeological sites, and the fact that "the widened asphalt road cuts the temple off from its panoramic cultural and natural setting." Within the precincts of the temple itself, and in tandem with archaeological investigations, work on presentation, restoration, and protection is progressing systematically. Indeed, protection of the monument's first pylon is now being studied by the California-based Institute for Study and Implementation of Graphical Heritage Techniques (INSIGHT), and, in order to encourage the respect of young people for their heritage, an illustrated, French/Arabic educational pamphlet (funded by a Franco-Egyptian Bank, NSGB), is being distributed free of charge at the site entrance.

So, is there some hope for some optimism? Can we look on the bright side of things despite the fact that Egypt's weather is getting wetter, its population is increasing, and that expanding agriculture is threatening the ancient sites? Lake Nasser creates tremendous amounts of airborne moisture through evaporation and condensation; humidity fluctuations in the air cause damage to monuments; groundwater salts trapped in temple walls migrate to the surface, crystallise, and shatter the stone; and runoff water from over-irrigated fields results in abnormally long periods of high groundwater. Can we be optimistic in the face of all this?

The answer must surely been a somewhat guarded, "Yes", because although concerted efforts are being made to protect the monuments on both sides of the Nile, and remarkable progress is being made, the overall plan -- the Master Plan one could call it -- is to bring in tourists. That is government policy. And despite site management and facilities for visitors with the dual aim of enhancing their experience, and reducing their impact on the monuments, is being implemented, it is clearly a losing battle.

Today some 40 foreign archaeological missions are working in Luxor. Apart from those mentioned above they include Australia, Belgium, Hungary, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Spain, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. As they excavate, restore, conserve, document, and abide by the rules of the SCA, the Ministry of Tourism proudly announces its anticipated further increase of tourism in the coming year. In fact, it has already expanded so rapidly that conditions on the ground -- and I refer to the daily influx of tour buses from the Red Sea -- is already so great that a decision had to be taken to convert the Nile Corniche road on the east bank of the Nile in Luxor into to a dual highway of four lanes each way. The original plan to open up the ancient sphinx-lined avenue between Karnak and Luxor temples to accommodate the traffic is still years from completion. On the west bank, the declared intention -- when the bridge across the Nile was constructed seven kilometres south of Luxor -- that there would be no infringement on archaeological sites, is not being adhered to. And while visitor centres are planned to facilitate services to tourists including information and transport, and are consequently attracting ever- increasing numbers to the monuments, the problem of crowd control has not been solved.

Why? Because it is no easy matter. Weeks said that different methods of ticketing at other World Heritage Sites were less effective when applied in the Valley of the Kings (KV), and he explained why. Currently one ticket allows admission to any three of KV's 12 open tombs (except those of Tutankhamun, Ay and Ramses VI, for which an extra charge is levied). They are good for the date of purchase only, and can be bought only at the KV entrance. "Switching to a system of timed tickets would help reduce crowding in KV by ensuring that optimum carrying capacities were observed," Weeks said, adding that timed ticketing would also help maintain appropriate levels of temperature and humidity. "But the time when most visitors arrive at KV is largely determined by factors beyond the control of the SCA or local tour guides," he said.

This is in part due to the fact that charter flights usually arrive from Europe on Fridays or Mondays, so large numbers of tourists come to the royal valley on Saturdays or Tuesdays. Nile cruise boats arrive on Mondays, and also contribute to the Tuesday rush. "Recently, travel agencies have begun offering day trips from Red Sea resorts to Thebes, and every day several thousand tourists come to spend eight hours visiting Thebes," Weeks said. "They invariably arrive in KV at eight in the morning, creating huge crowds and long lines, then move on to Deir Al-Bahari and Karnak (where crowding is repeated) before returning to the Red Sea in time for dinner."

There is no simple solution. Extend visiting hours? Good idea, but late evening or night-time operation would involve major investment in lighting systems (which anyway are not reliable), overtime cost for security police, and an inevitable a clash with today's inflexible hotel meal schedules, shopping trips and museum visits. In fact unless, and until, the SCA is established as a separate government ministry -- in other words, until an institute of Egyptian archaeology is founded that is separate from the ministries of culture and tourism -- there is no way that Egypt's cultural heritage in this once most powerful metropolis of the ancient world, or its necropolis, can be saved.

Culture Minister: 132 archaeological sites in Egypt not excavated

Culture Minister Farouk Hosni said that the researches conducted via satellites have confirmed the existence of 132 archaeological sites in Egypt that witnessed no excavations until now.

Farouk Hosni said Egypt's shows full cooperation with the research teams to explore the archaeological sites, and has recently issued a number of laws seeking to stop the illegal digging in areas likely to contain the buried monuments. He is pointing out that project of monuments photography via satellite is being implemented in collaboration with the National Authority for Remote Sensing, Space Sciences and Mubarak City for Scientific Research for the aerial photography and ground laser.

Meanwhile, Secretary General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA) Zahi Hawas pointed out that satellites took photos for many archeological sites including Habu city.

more to come.....

Pyramid site yields older relics

An ancient Egyptian tomb near the mud-brick pyramid of Lahun shows the site was used 1,000 years earlier than archaeologists previously thought.
The burial site, 130km (80 miles) south of Cairo, was previously dated to Pharaoh Senuseret II - 4,000 years ago.
It became well-known last month when a cache of mummies was found there.
But a chance discovery of a shard of pottery has led to evidence that Lahun was an important site 5,000 years ago - long before the pyramid was built.
Among the subsequent discoveries were an ancient staircase and a coffin.
The wooden box contains the remains of a man who died in his 40s - from the engravings on the item archaeologists say it was most likely a senior figure in the Egyptian government of the second dynasty.
The body is not very well preserved as the tomb predates the era when the Egyptians mummified their dead. But around it archaeologists have discovered a number of the man's prized possessions. There was an offering table, a headrest, two spears and a bed constructed of pine from Lebanon.
The items recovered could help scholars better understand Egyptian carpentry techniques of the time.
This is an exciting period in Egyptology,archaeologists have uncovered several important tombs this year.
One near the step pyramid of Saqqara protected a perfectly preserved mummy inside and another, discovered last month in Lahun, contained a series of exquisitely painted, brightly coloured sarcophagi which dated from a much earlier period.

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.