Tuesday 26 April 2016

Saturday 23 April 2016

Omm Seti



Omm Seti
Recently I shared a memory on Facebook on the anniversary of  the death of this amazing lady. Glen
Morris had posted a charming picture 3 years ago and I shared it again. This time the picture stirred all sorts of interesting comments. You can read it all here (3) Jane Akshar - Jane Akshar shared a memory.





Cross Stitch
Pamela Schrom Reynolds mentioned she had a cross stitch made by her. I had been
sent a design of hers some time ago but this was a different picture. Great
cross stitch but also a hand written mini essay on Osiris.

Daniel Kolos shared a memory
"Thanks for the heads up. Prof. Donald Redford took us to see Omm Seti in May, 1977 on a day
off from the Akhenaten Temple Project East Karnak Expedition. She immediately
began to tell her stories of meeting King Sety, what she thought of `young
Ramses` and how she fell into a previously unexcavated temple room, came out of
it covered in cobwebs that the guards had to brush off her, but she could never
find that room again! She told her stories sounding genuine and authentic.
That`s just the way her life was. If ours was different, that was too bad! (-;"

Publications


If you search on her name there are loads of links

Omm Sety, Mystery Woman of Ancient Egypt - YouTube

Search for Omm Sety (9780446390408): Jonathan Cott: Book

SHE HAD HER LIFE TO LIVE OVER - NYTimes.com

The Search for Omm Sety - Google Books





Thursday 14 April 2016

Barque station of Queen Hatshepsut discovered on Elephantine Island



Barque station of Queen Hatshepsut discovered on Elephantine Island
------------------------------------------------------------
Ancient Egyptian Antiquities Sector Dr. Mahmoud Afify declared the discovery of a number of blocks that most probably belong to a previously unknown building of Queen Hatshepsut that was discovered this year by the German Archaeological Institute on the Island of Elephantine, Aswan.
According to Dr Felix Arnold, the field director of the mission, the building served as a waystation for the festival barque of the god Khnum. The building was later dismantled and about
30 of its blocks have now been found in the foundations of the Khnum temple of Nectanebo II. Some of the blocks were discovered in previous excavation seasons by members of the Swiss Institute, but the meaning of the blocks has only now become clear.
On several of the blocks discovered this year Queen Hatshepsut was originally represented as a woman. The building must therefore have been erected during the early years of her reign, before she began to be represented as a male king. Only very few buildings from this early stage of her career have been discovered so far. The only other examples have been found at Karnak. The newly discovered building thus adds to our knowledge of the early years of Queen Hatshepsut and her engagement in the region of Aswan. In the reign of Thutmosis III, all mentions of her name were erased and all representations of her female figure were replaced by images of a male king, her deceased husband Thutmosis II.
Based on the blocks discovered so far the original appearance of the building can be reconstructed. The building thus comprised a chamber for the barque of the god Khnum, which was surrounded on all four sides by pillars. On the pillars are representations of several versions of the god Khnum, as well as other gods, such as Imi-peref “He-who-is-in-his-house”, Nebet-menit “Lady-of-the-mooring-post” and Min-Amun of Nubia.
The building thus not only adds to our knowledge of the history of Queen Hatshepsut but also to our understanding of the religious beliefs current on the Island of Elephantine during her reign.
(c) Ministry of Antiquities, Press Office Based on the the Mission's Report.

Tuesday 5 April 2016

Egypt’s 'Indiana Jones' says new theory on King Tut’s tomb is wrong - Al-Monitor: the Pulse of the Middle East

Egypt’s 'Indiana Jones' says new theory on King Tut’s tomb is wrong - Al-Monitor: the Pulse of the Middle East:



Extract from an interview with Zahi Hawass

...........

Al-Monitor: What is your take on the recent discovery announced by the Ministry of Antiquities concerning the possibility of two additional chambers in King Tut’s tomb?

 Hawass: I have evidence to disprove British Egyptologist Nicholas Reeves’ theory about a hidden chamber containing Nefertiti’s remains behind Tutankhamun’s resting place. In theory, Nefertiti could not have been buried in the Valley of Kings, as she used to worship King Tut. The High Priests of Amun would not have allowed it. The radar Reeves used to prove his theory did not offer conclusive results, and in 2009, Reeves used the same radar to prove the existence of a tomb in front of Tutankhamun’s. Later on, excavation results showed that it was only a fissure in the rock formation. In order to validate his latest theory, Reeves must dig through the northern wall of King Tut’s tomb, and this would cause the whole tomb to collapse.



Al-Monitor: If the predictions are true and there are additional chambers, what impact would this have on Egypt’s tourism sector?

Hawass: There is no way to predict the outcome of such a discovery as long as we are speaking theoretically. Once the theory is proven, we can then speak of an outcome for tourism in Egypt.



Al-Monitor: If the theory is proven false, how would this harm Egypt and Egyptian archaeologists’ reputation?

Hawass: In such case, Egypt’s credibility would be compromised around the world. In this respect, I’ve presented the minister with a proposal consisting of appointing a committee of six Egyptian and foreign archaeologists to discuss the theory with Reeves and assess the radar’s results by comparing them to another digital radar’s findings. The committee will then present its verdict on Reeves’ theory. After that, we can announce the first steps toward a scientific discovery.



Al-Monitor: Tell us more about your latest book......................

Friday 1 April 2016

Tutankhamun KV62 scan results

Press Release via EEF and Facebook


* MSA Press Office
The 10 hours works of the Egyptian American teamwork at King
Tutankhamun’s Tomb (KV62) in Luxor have been terminated a
while ago.
The teamwork assured that the preliminary results reached so far
do not contradict with the results of the (Japanese) previous
radar scans. Radar experts added that 40 scans have been performed
on multiple levels (up to 5 levels) using two radar antennas
(400 MHZ & 900 MHZ) that allow more penetration (up to 4m.) and
higher resolution. The team also emphasized that the raw data
quality is excellent, and anomalies were detected but more
will come after a week (3D analysis).
Another radar scan will be made at the end of April from the
top of the tomb from outside and results will be announced
in an international press conference next May.
The Teamwork includes Dr. Khaled Al Anany, Minister of
Antiquities, Dr. Mamdouh Eldamaty Antiquities ex. Minister,
Nicholas Reeves Egyptologist – Egyptian Expedition – University
of Arizona, Eric Berkenpas Electrical Engineer, GPR Specialist –
National Geographic, Alan Turchik Mechanical Engineer, GPR
Specialist – National Geographic, Dr. Yasser Elshayeb Rock
Mechanics – Cairo University, Dr. Mahmoud Afify, Head of the
Ancient Egyptian Sector(MA), Eng. Wadallah Abu ELella, Head
of the Projects Sector (MA) and Dr. Abbas Mohammad member of
the Geophysical Research Center in Egypt.


* A video (35 min) of the press conference  - by Luxor Times:

<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.facebook.com_luxortimesmagazine_videos_492083337644849_&d=AwIDaQ&c=-dg2m7zWuuDZ0MUcV7Sdqw&r=opcsBFeNOGibikhitrWp_vvUpAwW-hA4UeIW8Ekh45I&m=8InzRWGI1IobECgINKrbnJQDUDPi4Hz93076ytWJtBM&s=8873sPn3vMzKDC4VNzDRhCuMG8xAChE4EnJdj_04xnY&e= >

English speeches notably after ca. 6 min and ca. 22 min and
ca. 30 min.

The data of the new scans (3rd round of scanning)(see above)
are yet to be analyzed (will take a week); they seem more
cautious now and speak of possible "anomalies" only.
The next scans (round 4) to be done at the end of April will
be surface scans from above and should reach 40 m deep.
The final results of all the scanning rounds will be released
on a Tutankhamun conference at the NMEC on May 8.

* Press report with photos of the scanning yesterday:

<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__luxortimesmagazine.blogspot.nl_2016_03_exclusive-2Dlatest-2Dnews-2Dfrom-2Dvalley-2Dof.html-3Fm-3D1&d=AwIDaQ&c=-dg2m7zWuuDZ0MUcV7Sdqw&r=opcsBFeNOGibikhitrWp_vvUpAwW-hA4UeIW8Ekh45I&m=8InzRWGI1IobECgINKrbnJQDUDPi4Hz93076ytWJtBM&s=Y7nRGSgO30QAVba62mx8gvBVJSEuaMCTeVLf6-YWMxE&e= >

"(..) This radar scan this time using GSSI radar of model SIR4000
with digital antennas of 400 and 900Mhz. (..)"


Aayko Eyma