Inside the Tombs of Saqqara

Smithsonian Magazine ^ | August 2021 | Jo Marchant

[Stravinsky]

Twenty miles south of Cairo, on the Nile's west bank, where riverfed crop fields give way to desert, the ancient site of Saqqara is marked by crumbling pyramids that emerge from the sand like dragon's teeth. Most striking is the famous Step Pyramid, built in the 27th century B.C. by Djoser, the Old Kingdom pharaoh who launched the tradition of constructing pyramids as monumental royal tombs. More than a dozen other pyramids are scattered along the five-mile strip of land, which is also dotted with the remains of temples, tombs and walkways that, together, span the entire history of ancient Egypt. But beneath the ground is far more-a vast and extraordinary netherworld of treasures.

One scorching day last fall, Mohammad Youssef, an archaeologist, clung to a rope inside a shaft that had been closed for more than 2,000 years. At the bottom, he shined his flashlight through a gap in the limestone wall and was greeted by a god’s gleaming eyes: a small, painted statue of the composite funerary deity Ptah-Sokar-Osiris, with a golden face and plumed crown.It was Youssef’s first glimpse of a large chamber that was guarded by a heap of figurines, carved wooden chests and piles of blackened linen. Inside, Youssef and his colleagues found signs that the people buried here had wealth and privilege: gilded masks, a finely carved falcon and a painted scarab beetle rolling the sun across the sky. Yet this was no luxurious family tomb, as might have been expected. Instead, the archaeologists were astonished to discover dozens of expensive coffins jammed together, piled to the ceiling as if in a warehouse. Beautifully painted, human-shaped boxes were stacked roughly on top of heavy limestone sarcophagi. Gilded coffins were packed into niches around the walls. The floor itself was covered in rags and bones.

[antceecee]

Bkmk

[Candor7]

the ancient site of Saqqara is marked by crumbling pyramids that emerge from the sand like dragon's teeth. Most striking is the famous Step Pyramid, built in the 27th century B.C. by Djoser, the Old Kingdom pharaoh who launched the tradition>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

They keep excavating your residences from former lives.

They really want those tourist dollars.

And now these Egyptian psychtropes are making money off your images!

You deserve a cut!

[Candor7]

the ancient site of Saqqara is marked by crumbling pyramids that emerge from the sand like dragon's teeth. Most striking is the famous Step Pyramid, built in the 27th century B.C. by Djoser, the Old Kingdom pharaoh who launched the tradition>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

They keep excavating your residences from former lives.

They really want those tourist dollars.

And now these Egyptian psychtropes are making money off your images!

You deserve a cut!

[sauropod]

bkmk

[TXnMA]

GGG Ping...

[Fred Nerks]

Next, they’ll be digging up a mummy of my cat!

[PIF]

Better than anything from Smith’s Zone
—

Serapeum of Saqqara, Egypt. Chapter 1 Introduction
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VGtDAHRK8s0

Serapeum of Saqqara, Egypt - Chapter 2: The boxes
https://youtu.be/c6f7KPD3QUA

Serapeum of Saqqara, Egypt - Chapter 3: Precision:
https://youtu.be/frhysD0G4mg

Serapeum of Saqqara, Egypt - Chapter 4: Liquid Polish
https://youtu.be/-PgvvdIBI8E

Serapeum of Saqqara, Egypt - Chapter 5: Conclusions
https://youtu.be/qLrTCYMFUbg

Serapeum of Saqqara, Egypt - Chapter 5A Addendum: Naming
https://youtu.be/12IpEwAGbTY

[oldvirginian]

“Next, they’ll be digging up a mummy of my cat!”

Already been done.
Saw a documentary on the place last week. Hundreds of mummified cats have been carted off from the place.

[Candor7]

You are right about the cat Fred!

Call PETA!

[Bookshelf]

Once upon a time, within a rock throw of the Step Pyramid od Djoser, a friend’s wife looking at the sandy earth said,”Oh look!” There facing us was a perfectly preserved woman’s necklace of faiance, coral, turquoise, and jet. The thread or sinew holding the necklace together was long gone, and incredibly the gem had simply been undisturbed for, perhaps, 4,500 years. The necklace was carefully dug out and the placement of all its pieces noted. I wonder to this day what happened to it and hope that a lovely necklace encircles a lovely neck somewhere outside the Egyptian Museum.

[SunkenCiv]

I have a feline you’re right.

[SunkenCiv]

https://freerepublic.com/tag/saqqara/index

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks TXnMA.

[Chainmail]

Antbody note this hidden within that article?

" some Egyptian iconography lives on in Christian narratives. Many scholars have noted similarities between Egyptian and Christian religious symbolism, for example in stories of the goddess Isis and her son Horus and the Virgin Mary and her son Jesus. “A lot of the iconography in Christianity is derived from ancient Egypt,” says Ikram, of the American University in Cairo."

Another cheesy snipeshot at Christianity, the nonbeheading religion by the Leftist/Aheist twits running the Smithsonian. Even the slightest passing knowledge of the Egyptian belief system would show that there absolutely no similarities between their ancient myths and the Christian Faith. They didn't have the heuvos to attack the Muslims, but they never let an issue go by without attacking us.

If you still have a subscription to Smithsonian, recommend that you let it lapse as I have.

[ChinaGotTheGoodsOnClinton]

Thanks a lot for these videos. Hard to explain how they did this stuff and less they were casting molten rock.

[Candor7]

Oh yes.

Some times it pays to be a tourist!

[wildbill]

Great stuff. I’ve been following this series myself and he has a new one on tools on You Tube. Another good one is entitled the Search for the Tools. About 18 minutes in it shows one of the most fantastic pieces of granite statuary ever made. One block of granite with three connected statues of gods. Unbelievable piece of work that I don’t think could be duplicated today.

And yet we have good folks on this site who still believe you could use round diorite balls to manufacture those straight edges and perfect corners with 90degree angles.

You should also search for the New Movie on the Pyramids K2019 on YOu tube. It tries to put together all the theories on construction, purpose, tools, and worldwide spread of pyramid technology. I used this: https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=new+pyramid+movie

[PIF]

Thanks Bill,
Have you read Robert Temple’s “The Sphinx Mystery,” or “Egyptian Dawn”? He discusses first hand observations of sites that have not been investigated since the early 20th Century as well as how dating is done and how out of wack it is.

Most of the dating is clearly disputable and far older that consensus history claims.

Much of the foundation dating rests on Old Kingdom Egypt Kings Lists, the major one being a 19th Century forgery bought in a bazaar; while it is a known forgery, it is still used to date the Kings. The Palermo Stone which is real, lists Kings on the first row (the oldest) which are completely unknown, and many of the others who are known are missing, and so on.

Worse still, bio-thermoluminescence dating (the date that a stone was placed) of the Menkaure pyramid (the newest) is almost 1000 years older than the consensus date of the Great Pyramid, the oldest. Bio-thermoluminescence dating is now illegal, unless done in Egypt which does not have the equipment to do the tests.

[wildbill]

If you check out the movie, one of the things discussed and shown by video/photos/diagrams is the discovery that metric units of measure were used as well as geometry that was thought to be discovered many centuries later by the Greeks.

Also goes into dates and construction methods. In all it kinda hits all the points of unknowns about the pyramids and tries to put them into a coherent theory.