New discovery: Egypt's oldest harbor, collection of papyrus uncovered

Catholic Online ^ | April 16, 2013

[NYer]

LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - Dating back to the days of the Pharaoh Khufu, or Cheops in the Fourth Dynasty, the harbor dates back 4,500 years. The Great Pyramid of Giza serves as the tomb of Khufu, who died around 2566 B.C.

The harbor was built on the Red Sea shore in the Wadi al-Jarf area, 112 miles south of Suez. The harbor was discovered by a French-Egyptian mission from the French Institute for Archaeological Studies.

The site "predates by more than 1,000 years any other port structure known in the world," according to the mission's director, Pierre Tallet of the University of Paris-Sorbonne.

Egyptian authorities said the archaeologists found a variety of docks, as well as a collection of carved stone anchors.

Considered one of the most important commercial ports of ancient Egypt, the recently discovered harbor is where trips to export copper and other minerals from the Sinai Peninsula were launched.

In addition, the team also unearthed a collection of 40 papyri that detailed the daily lives of ancient Egyptians during the 27th year of Khufu's reign. "These are the oldest papyri ever found in Egypt," Egypt's antiquities Minister Mohamed Ibrahim says. Among the subjects reportedly covered were the arrangements for getting bread and beer to the workers heading out from the port.

One papyrus is said to detail the daily activities of an official named Merrer, who was involved in building the Great Pyramid.

[NYer]

Ping!

[stockpirate]

WOW

[Colorado Doug]

Good stuff! Thanks for posting.

[Sacajaweau]

really cool

[NormsRevenge]

cool. one of the mysteries was how such large chunks of stone and such could be moved close to Giza.. one can imagine the sights of the day when they floated stuff in..

[Inyo-Mono]

Among the subjects reportedly covered were the arrangements for getting bread and beer to the workers heading out from the port.

Just finished a book on pirates in the 17th and 18th centuries and how they mainly ate bread and drank beer aboard ship.

[bunkerhill7]

They used air-cushion vehicles to move the blocks miles- cf “gospel of Solomon” {?} and other pseudoepigraphica concerning the genie, the little boy, submersibles, descriptions of lasers and air cushion vehicles.

[SatinDoll]

Twelve thousand years ago, the sea level was about 400 feet lower than it is today. The Persian Gulf did not exist as it was dry land.

I suspect there are more discoveries to be found, primarily in what is now Ethiopia.

Why do I say that? There exist submerged stone structures 30 kilometers off the southern coast of India. What is today the Indonesian Archipelago was a large dry land area known as Sundaland.

[AnalogReigns]

Beer brewed in monasteries in the Middle Ages was associated with health and the hospitals which started at those same monasteries.

Since the water in densely populated Europe was always of doubtful potability: “The nobility drank wine, the peasants drank beer....and the dead drank water.” (all ages, with every meal, I might add).

[OldNewYork]

Interesting. Thanks for posting this.

[dinodino]

COOL!

[Ann Archy]

There should be THOUSANDS and THOUSANDS of Jewish BODIES since they built all of the pyramids and such.

[SunkenCiv]

GGG managers are SunkenCiv, StayAt HomeMother & Ernest_at_the_Beach	join list or digest view topics view or post blog bookmark post a topic subscribe
Thanks NYer! Looks like a good topic to substitute for the weekly digest (hello, all). ...the harbor dates back 4,500 years. The Great Pyramid of Giza serves as the tomb of Khufu, who died around 2566 B.C. The harbor was built on the Red Sea shore in the Wadi al-Jarf area, 112 miles south of Suez... "predates by more than 1,000 years any other port structure known in the world," And I'm sure it'll do wonders to revive the tourist trade in Egypt. Wait, did I say 'do wonders'? I mean "take wonders". ;') To all -- please ping me to other topics which are appropriate for the GGG list.

[Monkey Face]

Holy Majole! I suspect “we” (as in, the human race) will be finding more papayri/scrolls/etc as the years go by, and thus illuminate the darkness surrounding certain beliefs world-wide.

I LOVE it when this stuff finally sees the light of day!

[SunkenCiv]

Any pyramids built by the Hebrews during their Egyptian captivity were made of brick (as it sez in the OT), and those can be found even today in the Fayyum, and date to the Middle Kingdom. Probably not by coincidence, the lake there was (and still is) kept from entirely drying out by a water channel that expands the irrigation reach of the Nile. The channel originated in pharaonic times, and is still called the Canal of Joseph.

on a lighter note:
http://www.theonion.com/articles/jews-ordered-back-to-egypt-for-pyramid-duty,20447/

[SunkenCiv]

Egypt’s use of papyrus to keep records was probably similar to their ancient contemporaries, but Egyptian conditions are conducive to their preservation. Even so, over 99 percent of them vanished long ago. It’s nice when they emerge. Some few years ago, one turned up which apparently has the signature of Cleopatra VII — better known as Cleopatra. :’)

http://www.google.com/search?q=oxyrhychus+site%3Afreerepublic.com

[Monkey Face]

YOIKS! I could have commented but it was two years old. I mean, who knew?

I know that things disintigrate, but I also know that other things that SHOULD disintigrate are still intact, in various states of decomposition. This, I believe, is not an accident. It is far too important to be hidden forever, so it is given to us when we need the reassurance of our beliefs in the history of who and what we are.

Every iota of knowledge of the past that we can glean is a powerful weapon against ignorance and fear. And religion doesn’t have to be involved. It’s all there: We just have to find it.

Things change. Life goes on.

[SunkenCiv]

KEYWORDS: davidovits; geopolymer; geopolymerization; geopolymers; josephdavidovits

[SunkenCiv]

For example, the Gnostic Gospels turned up in Egypt.