Was King Senebkay killed in battle? Injuries to pharaoh's bones suggest he was brutally hacked with axes while riding his horse | Daily Mail Online

Was King Senebkay killed in battle? Injuries to pharaoh's bones suggest he was brutally hacked with axes while riding his horse | Daily Mail Online: The 3,650-year old skeleton of King Senebkay has revealed the pharaoh died a violent death.

Senebkay lived at a time when rulers battled for power before the rise of Egypt’s New Kingdom in 1,550 BC and his skeleton shows 18 injuries caused by axes.

Injuries to his skull, lower back and ankles, suggest he was attacked while on his horse and hacked at with the deadly weapon - dying from blows to the head.

Deir el-Bahari VI, The Temple of Hatshepsut, The Solar Complex

Deir el-Bahari VI, The Temple of Hatshepsut, The Solar Complex



Janusz Karkowski, Deir el-Bahari VI, The Temple of Hatshepsut, The Solar
Complex, Centre d'Archeologie Mediterraneenne de l'Academie Polonaise
des Sciences, Varsovie 2003

Deir el-Bahari Hatshepsut - third terrace (solar complex) now open - 2

AE, Deir el Bahri

The upper terrace

A second ramp leads from the centre of the intermediate
portico to the upper terrace whose portico consists of columns originally decorated with Osirian statues of the Queen,
now mostly destroyed. Through a great doorway of pink granite, one enters a courtyard circled by columns. To the north
and south of the courtyard, there are two areas dedicated respectively to the cult of the sun and that of the royalty.
The northern part dedicated to the solar cult of Re-Harakhty includes a vestibule with columns leading into a courtyard
with a solar altar in the centre. In the northern part of the courtyard, there is another chapel dedicated to the cult
of Anubis (the upper chapel of Anubis). There is no clear idea as to why there are two chapels dedicated to this
divinity in the Temple, but numerous hypotheses have been advanced to explain this exceptional and unique fact; anyway,
it appears clear that great importance was attached to this god in Deir el Bahri, especially in comparison with other
funeral gods, such as Osiris and Sokar, who acquired greater importance later, but always appear in a secondary role
here. The southern part of the upper terrace dedicated to the royal cult consists of a vestibule from which one gains
admittance to two chapels dedicated to the cult of Hatshepsut and that of Tuthmosis I.

Deir el-Bahari Hatshepsut - third terrace (solar complex) now open

Deir el-Bahari Hatshepsut - third terrace: The third terrace of the temple of Hatshepsut in Deir el-Bahari is now open to visitors, after a long restoration by a Polish team.
The upper terrace of Hatshepsut's temple has a forefront portico with two rows of columns. The external row is made of square columns decorated with colossal osiride statues of the queen, of which only few remain. The inner row is made of octogonal columns.
When entering the court itself, the first noticeable thing is that it seems empty though it once contained two rows of colums, of which only a few one have been reerected.
On the left and on the right, the reerected walls have a (very) fragmentary decoration.
The back of the court houses the very heart of the temple: a sanctuary dedicated to the god Amun. It has been cut directly in the mountain.
On each side of the sanctuary one can see nine niches : small cult chapels alternate with niches housing osiride statues of the queen.
On each side of the lateral walls doors lead to chapels (not visitable) respectively dedicated to the royal cult and to the solar cult.

More finds for Dr Hourig

German archaeologists find 2 statues of goddess Sekhmet in southern Egypt | Fox News Latino: A group of German archaeologists found two statues of Sekhmet, the Ancient Egyptian goddess of war and destruction, during work at a dig in the ruined city of Luxor, in southern Egypt, the Egyptian Antiquities Ministry reported Sunday..............

Why are there undecorated tombs in the Valley of Kings.

I currently have Don Ryan staying at my holiday apartments Flats in Luxor. He is ‘digging’ in the Valley of Kings on the undecorated tombs, here are some links to past lectures he has given http://luxor-news.blogspot.com/search/label/KV27.

It is thought that some of these tombs were for the ‘girls’ of the 18^th dynasty. Stylistically you can date even a shaft to a period, I remember Otto Schaden explaining this at a lecture he gave on KV63. I asked him why the tombs were undecorated. It puzzled me as nobles tombs of this period are decorated so why not the queens. He thought there were three possible reasons, although there may be more 1) only kings tombs were decorated in the valley of the kings. There are a number of non pharaohs tombs and it may have been the “rules” that these could not be decorated. 2) (this explanation appealed more to me) that the chapels of these tombs have not been found and these were decorated. 3) the decoration might have been lost during the flooding of these tombs which removed the plaster work. It was a fascinating discussion and just shows you how much more there is to learn.

He is such an informative person, if you ever get a chance to go to a lecture of his do not miss it. We have chatted about Ancient Egyptian rope, funerary cones, his work in the valley, his work with Thor Heyerdale, Egyptology people he has met in the past and all sorts of other things.

41 countries represented at Luxor African Film Festival - Film - Arts & Culture - Ahram Online

41 countries represented at Luxor African Film Festival - Film - Arts & Culture - Ahram Online: Luxor African Film Festival’s 4th edition, which runs from 16 to 21 March, is dedicated to late Egyptian actor Khaled Saleh

For all lovers of Luxor to get you in the mood for Valentines Day

Mahmoud Hussein Abdul Rassoul - The family say thank you

Mahmoud Hussein Abdul Rassoul

I must have had 100 comments on Facebook, the blog and twitter about the death of Mahmoud. So today I phoned Nubi, his brother and told him what everyone had said. Nubi said he had many many calls and SMS from all over the world and he and the family were VERY touched and grateful

RIP Abdul Rassoul;

I am sure anyone who has come to Luxor has met this lovely gentleman at the Ramasseum cafe. Sadly he died last night.His full name was Mahmoud Hussein Abdul Rassoul (no idea if I have spelt that right) and he was 74

Seventeen new governors to be sworn in Saturday: Presidency - Politics - Egypt - Ahram Online

Mahmoud heard on the TV that Luxor is going to get a new governor. No details yet.

Seventeen new governors to be sworn in Saturday: Presidency - Politics - Egypt - Ahram Online: President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi on Thursday approved the appointment of 17 new governors, a move which has been anticipated for weeks.

The heads of the 17 governorates, out of a total of 27 in Egypt, will be sworn in on Saturday, presidential spokesman Alaa Youssef said in a statement on Thursday.

Sources told Ahram Online earlier that the move was almost concluded recently but withheld due to last-minute changes that were to be made for a wider consensus on the appointments.

The names of the appointees however are not yet released.

Egypt has traditionally appointed military and police generals as heads for the majority of its governorates.

Cats at AWOL

I just took my little kitten to AWOL Animal Welfare of Luxor, Egypt to be wormed and flea/tick protection. I would like to have got a photo while I was there but I needed all my hands to hold onto a very upset kitten. Poor Dr Mohammed is still counting his fingers I think.

This is a very sorry for itself kitten post treatment. To be honest I didn't realise AWOL did small animals until I saw this gorgeous cat on their Facebook page looking a bit more relaxed than my kitten I can tell you.

If you want to learn more about them or make a donation their main website is www.awol-egypt.org

More pictures from the bridge