Posted on 02/08/2006 10:48:04 AM PST by SunkenCiv
AN American archaeological mission discovered a tomb in Luxor's Valley of the Kings next to the burial place of King Tut, Egyptian antiquities authorities have announced.
An excavation team from the University of Memphis made the find five metres from Tutankhamun's tomb, while the mission was doing routine excavation work, said Zahi Hawass, secretary-general of Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities.
Some three metres beneath the ground, the tomb contained five human mummies with coloured funerary masks enclosed in sarcophagi and several large storage jars.
The mummies date to the 18th dynasty (circa 1539-1292 BC).
(Excerpt) Read more at theage.com.au ...
Archaeologica · Mirabilis · Texas AM Anthropology News · ArchaeoBlog
Archaeology magazine · Biblical Archaeology Society · Yahoo Anthro- and Archaeology
History Podcasts · Science & Nature Podcasts · Excerpt, or Link only? · post a topic
Theban Mapping Project (Valley of the Kings etc)
Theban Mapping Project | 1980s to present | Kent Weeks et al
Posted on 01/13/2005 8:03:55 PM PST by SunkenCiv
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1320504/posts
Please FREEPMAIL me if you want on or off the
"Gods, Graves, Glyphs" PING list or GGG weekly digest
-- Archaeology/Anthropology/Ancient Cultures/Artifacts/Antiquities, etc.
Gods, Graves, Glyphs (alpha order)
Luxor BumP
Thanks!
Reportedly, the neighbors said they didn't know Tut very well. "He's quiet, keeps to himself, not stand-offish mind you," said Ms. Saidy Horen, "but it's those deep ones you have to watch out for, in't it?"
Tres cool! I wonder what the chances are of ever finding another intact tomb.
LOL!
Well, I'd say they're not too good, because most of the tombs were plundered within years (or less) of their completion. A previously unknown (non-royal) tomb (I think the guy's name was "Oofa") was found in the last ten years or so, completely untouched and unheard of, but it was pretty nondescript. The sarcophagus was really neat, carved stone caricature (as we'd call it) of the dead guy.
The Great Pyramid of Khufu was open during Roman times (and presumably somewhat before), and tourists visited it back then. Already it was empty, meaning that it had been plundered somewhere in the pharaonic times.
Sometime near the end of the empire Khufu was resealed for some reason, leaving it to the Moslems to dig a new way in during the Middle Ages. During the Old Kingdom, after construction was complete (or perhaps just before), an earthquake shook the Great Pyramid so badly that the massive corbels over of the Grand Gallery are only hanging on by a fraction of an inch on one end. The Old Kingdom Egyptians dug up through the rock to check the corbel over the king's burial chamber, rather than disturb the king. My wild guess is that Khufu's tomb was desecrated during the 5th dynasty or during the First Intermediate Period.
Even Tut's tomb was entered in ancient times, but the burial chamber wasn't reached (see that Theban Mapping Project link, s'cool). At some point shortly thereafter, another tomb construction led to the tailings accumulating over the entrance to Tut's, and it vanished from the attention of the thieves. Typically, the Valley of the Kings tombs were plundered by those doing the work on them.
Have you read Thomas Hoving's book on the Tut discovery? Fascinating read. It was the first indication I had that Carter and Carnarvon and their party actually entered the tomb the night it was discovered, instead of waiting for the authorities as per the official story.
here's an update to this tomb find, posted by AdmSmith and pinged a few minutes ago. It's getting exciting! Another hurried burial, one would hope it is the missing royal family members of the Amarna period (Akhenaten and children; Nefertiti's tomb was apparently discovered by thieves in the 19th century, as some of the apparent funerary gear appeared on the market back then; a unique scarab with her name was found on the Ulu Burun wreck discovered off Turkey), but regardless, this could be a biggie.
Intact tomb found in Egypt's Valley of the Kings
reuters | February 9, 2006 | staff
Posted on 02/09/2006 7:32:55 AM PST by AdmSmith
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1575119/posts
I read chunks of the Hoving book. Somewhere around here there's a related topic that may be of interest...
BOOK FEATURE: The man who really found Tutankhamen (British Corporal Spy)
Middle East Times/World peace Times | March 31, 2005 | Desmond Zwar
Posted on 03/31/2005 1:45:59 PM PST by nickcarraway
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1374884/posts
First peek at ancient tombThe door was partly opened last week to reveal the simple burial place, believed to be from the first dynasty of the New Kingdom, which ruled between 1539BC and 1292BC and had its capital in Thebes, the present city of Luxor. One of the coffins had toppled towards the door, revealing its white painted face, and another was partly open, showing a brown cloth covering the mummy inside... Zahi Hawass, head of Egypt's supreme council of antiquities, said: "Maybe they are mummies of kings or queens or nobles, we don't know. But it's definitely someone connected to the royal family."
by Nic Fleming
February 12, 2006
The Age
two other related topics, newer:
Tomb Found in Egypt's Valley of Kings
The Houston Chronicle | February 10, 2006 | TANALEE SMITH
Posted on 02/10/2006 7:21:28 AM PST by Founding Father
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1575862/posts
Pharaonic tomb find stuns Egypt [Possibly Nefertiti ... find by American archaeologists]
BBC News on line | February 10, 2006 | Unsigned
Posted on 02/10/2006 3:57:33 PM PST by aculeus
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1576212/posts
My guess as to the eventual URL for KV63, on the Theban Mapping Project website:
http://www.thebanmappingproject.com/sites/browse_tomb_877.html
U of M-sponsored Find in Egypt Promises More "Wonderful Things"The Egyptian Supreme Council of Antiquities announced yesterday that an expedition sponsored by the University of Memphis has discovered a new tomb in the Valley of the Kings. The tomb appears to date to the 18th Dynasty (ca. 1539-1292 B.C.) and it contains five human mummies and several pottery vessels. It is located just a few meters from the tomb of King Tutankhamen.
WebWire
February 12, 2006
The University of Memphis, through its Institute of Egyptian Art and Archaeology, has sponsored the Amenmesse Tomb Project (KV 10) – the scientific excavation and conservation of the tomb of Late 19th Dynasty King Amenmesse – since 1995, three years after the project was begun.
more pics, thanks to ArchaeoBlog:
http://snipurl.com/mfjt
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11252094/
the best of the bunch:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_pictures/4702060.stm
http://www.archaeologica.org/NewsPage.htm
See Yahoo link for 89 pics of the find including too many of the man with the big brown hat whose name I won't mention because he's a camera hog.
Silly Fred, check the thread before you post pics!
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