Category: Ann - Part 24

Ancient Advertisement – Nefertiti Cigarettes

Although traces of nicotine and even of cocaine have been found on Egyptian mummies that date as long as 3000 years back -French scientists examining the stomach of the Egyptian Pharaoh Rameses II‘s mummy found fragments of tobacco leaves most likely used in the embalming process – and discussion is still ongoing on how these plants exactly got to Egypt without the help of the Spanish conquistadores – a 1997 Discovery Channel show suggests ancient international trade: a Pacific crossing and then delivery via the Silk Route.

Regardless if the Pharaohs were junkies or not, we doubt if Queen Nefertiti would have condoned the use of her name and lovely face for this commercial. Yet we find this very colorful animated 1970 ad from Egypt promoting a brand of cigarettes called Nefertiti highly entertaining. Mind the cigarettes magically appearing from the pyramid!

Funny, no? Hat tip to Michael Tilgner for submitting this to the EEFmailing list!

Egyptian Exhibition opens at Lord Carnarvon’s Highclere Castle

Lord Carnarvon, the man who funded the discovery of KV-62 – the tomb of Tutankhamun – and died five months later in mysterious circumstances before he could actually see the mummy’s face, was a superstitious man who wore the same lucky bow tie all his life. Such anecdotes are part of the ‘Egyptian Exhibition’ at Highclere Castle.

Rising in the ~~Berkshire~~ Hampshire countryside south of Newbury, England, the castle kept many secrets on its own. As the old Earl did not want to talk about Egypt, the collection was hidden away until 1987. But the long-hidden collection of Egyptian antiquities is now presented in its full glory – bigger room, better lighting, new cabinets – in the cellars of the castle, along with hundreds of unpublished photographs taken by Lord Carnarvon between 1907 and 1914, photographs from the discovery in 1922 of the Tomb of Tutankhamun and letters, notes and drawings from Lord Carnarvon and Howard Carter. They were discovered two years ago in the family archives by Fiona, the Eighth Countess of Carnarvon who recently published ‘Egypt at Highclere’ and has also written ‘Carnarvon & Carter’.

“These pictures reveal the enormous scale of excavations that Lord Carnarvon and Carter carried in the decade before their most sensational finding. They tell the story of two amazing men, who have never been fully recognized in England for the discovery they have made,” the Countess of Carnarvon told Discovery Channel News.

Among the antiquities on display, are a splendid 3,500-year-old painted coffin of a woman named Irtyru, from Deir el-Bahri, a calcite shabti showing the head of Amenhotep III, silver bracelets from the Delta, faience bowls, a 5,000-year-old calcite dish used in priestly offerings, coffin faces carved in wood and alabaster vessels found at the entrance to the tomb of King Merneptah, the son of Ramesses II and the razor that caused the Fifth Earl of Carnarvon’s death.

Does the Highclere castle looks strangely familiar to you? Don’t worry, this could be perfectly normal, as the castle’s front was used for exteriors of the orgy scenes in the Stanley Kubrick film Eyes Wide Shut. We do advise to adhere the rules of proper and decent behaviour when visiting! 😉

Highclere Castle, it’s Grounds, Gardens and the Egyptian Exhibition are open Sunday to Thursday each week the 3rd of September 2009. From 11am until 4.30pm. Last admission is at 3.30pm.

Curious for images from the exhibition? Discovery News has a video interview with the Eight Earl of Carnavon showing parts of the exhibition.

How the Brooklyn Museum’s male mummies were misdiagnosed as female

When recently the mummy formerly known as ‘Lady Hor’ underwent a scan, researchers were surprised to find that it should have been ‘Sir Hor’ from the start. Yet, this case of ‘gender confusion’ is not a unique one. The same happened to ‘The Daughter of Amunkhau’ – actually a son – from the Birmingham Museum Collection and according to curator Edward Bleiberg on the Brooklyn Museum’s blog, no less than three of the five male mummies from that museum – including Lady Hor – that were CT-scanned in the last eighteen months were at one time thought to be women. How could such mistakes in identification of the mummies be made? Curator Edward Bleiberg blames ‘bad grammar, bad x-rays, and bad judgment‘:

Because of her size, ‘Lady Hor’ was not that easy to manoeuvre in place for her CT-scan. In the end, she turns out to be a big boy. Video: Brooklyn Museum on Flickr

Bad Grammar for Demetris: “Before Demetris became a mummy, he lived in the first century AD when many Egyptians had Greek names, the result of Alexander the Greats conquest in the 4th century BC Demetris was thought to be a woman because his name – written on his linen wrappings – ended in is, a feminine grammatical ending in classical Greek. Scholars early in the twentieth century thought that a man could only be named Demetrius. One early curator commented that Demetris portrait represented a particularly homely woman.” (Learn more about earlier findings on Demetris’ life and death on the Brooklyn Museum’s blog.)
Bad X-rays for Thorthirdes: “Thothirdes masculinity was questioned because of bad x-rays. In spite of the beard of Osiris on his coffin, in spite of his red face – which is a trait traditionally associated with portrayals of Egyptian men – an x-ray very early in the 20th century suggested to an early curator that he was clearly female. The most recent CT-scan showed, on the contrary, that Thothirdes is unquestionably anatomically male. This is a particular relief since it means that his beard and red face make better sense.”
Bad Judgement for Lady Hor: “She was identified as female because of her lovely face, clearly feminine in the judgement of an early curator. Again the face was red, but the lack of a beard on the cartonnage coffin and the faces delicacy was taken as proof that Hor was a woman. The CT-scan, however, left no doubt that he was a man. Sometimes judgement alone is too subjective to make this determination.”

I assume the staff at the Brooklyn Museum‘s Egyptology department can only be glad this was cleared out once and for all through ‘Mummy CSI’.

Yet these are probably not the most famous cases of ‘mistaken mummy identity’ ever. The most obvious one – one I was guilty of myself – you can watch happen in the British Museum daily. If you go stand next to the mummy of ‘Cleopatra of Thebes’ and you’d be surprised how many tourists shout out: “Look, it’s Cleopatra!” and “Oh my -insert deity depending on religion-, she was only 17?!” Maybe there, placing a big sign saying “This is not Marcus Antonius’ Cleopatra!” could be advised? At leat it would have saved me the embarrassment of stating ‘Why is Dr. Zahi still looking for Cleopatra if it’s obvious the British Museum has her and is – also obvious – not planning to hand her over?’ *blush*

Egyptology Idol – Want to be Super and Star next to Dr Zahi?

Now, this must be the dream of every starting archaeologist: no longer hot – or worse, rainy – dig seasons, no more spending ages meticulously noting down every find’s smallest detail and never again being send to locations where they won’t even serve you a decent chilled pint. This is your chance to escape them all, as History Channel is looking for the next Top Archaeologist (or an anthropologist will do too). Regardless if you crawl out of a dig somewhere in Egypt, toss aside those recently finished final papers or want a break away from your students, this is your opportunity to kick-start your media career, guided by the legendary Dr. Zahi Hawass. From the Past Preservers website:

ARCHAEOLOGISTS or ANTHROPOLOGISTS WANTED!

A new television series for the History Channel is seeking an Archaeology or Anthropology Expert/Professor AND several student Archaeology or Anthropology majors or recent graduates! (Please do NOT submit if you are only an enthusiast.)

This expert and the students will be a part of a small team that will travel to several digs in Egypt with the legendary Dr. Zahi Hawass. (If the expert and/or the students have experience in Egyptology even better, but this is not a requirement.)

This series will be the adventure of a lifetime! There is also pay to be negotiated. And the time commitment is roughly October 2009 through February 2010. We understand this may seem like a long time frame for some professionals and students, but it is an opportunity unlike any other!

If this sounds like you, please email Nigel for the auditioning instructions and if you are not currently on the Past Preservers talent database, please send a current CV, including your date of birth, nationality, and mention of any previous experience working in the media, along with a photograph of you, to nigel@pastpreservers.com

Please note if you have applied previously to this appeal, you can reapply and your application will be considered again.

(And yeah, we’re serious. Check out this entry on the Past Preservers’ blog. In case you’re not 100% sure if you’ll make it through the selections, you can always apply for the job of ‘Witch’ at the Wooky Holes as a backup plan. ;;)

UNESCO’s Final Report on Damage Assessment in Babylon

After 4 years of research – at a quite ‘sensitive’ and not-so-safe area, Imust admit – UNESCOfinally released it’s Final Report on Damage Assesment in Babylon by the International Coordination Committee for the Saveguarding of the Cultural Heritage of Iraq. Be the report not that world-shocking, we all know by now that both Saddam Hussein as well as the Coalition Forces are to blame, the report does clearly devide which damage was inflicted upon the Babylon archaeological area before the start of the Iraq war, and which was brought upon ‘Camp Alpha’ post-2003.

Damage to the archaeological site that occurred before 2003

Parking lots – Flat areas covered with gravel were built in scattered areas of the city. (Of which some were later used by the MNF-IIraq as airfield.)
The Al-Hawliyah canal and it’s lakes – The moat surrounds the city of Babylon and has a lenght of 4.5km and a width of 15. The bottom and sides of the moat are lined with cement. The canal is linked to three lakes, of which the largest is 29ha.
Artificial earthen mounds – Established under the ‘International Babylon Festival’ plan.
The Palace and buildings surrounding it, as well as restaurants and service buildings constructed in the center of the archaeological site.
Improper restaurations and reconstructions – Amongst others the Southern Palace of Nebuchadnezzar, the northern portion of the Processional Way, the temple of Minmakh and the temple of Nabu-sha-Hare, the eastern portion of the inner wall, the Babylonian houses and the Greek Theatre. In particular, the use of concrete for the foundations of the reconstructed Greek Theatre is in clear contravention of internationally acknowledged standards.
Firing positions – Defensive trenches in scattered areas of the city. The spoil from one of these trenches contains archaeological material including a glazed vessel.
Damage to previous archaeological excavations – The lack of appropriate maintenance and protection caused major damage to the exposed remains from rain, wind, ground water, salt, plans and human activity.

Damage sustained to the site in 2003 after the MNF-1 entered the city

The UNESCO report on the use of Babylon as a military base:”a grave encroachment on this internationally known archaeological site. During their presence in Babylon, the MNF-I and contractors employed by them, mainly KBR, directly caused major damage to the city by digging, cutting, scraping, and leveling. Key structures that were damaged include the Ishtar Gate and the Processional Way.“

The military presence in the city and the establishment of a military zone, entailing fortification and defensive measures caused both indirect and direct damage:

Excavation works, pits & trenches – Many trenches of different sizes were dug in different parts of the city. Only to often the soil removed was not preserved. In at least one of the trenches pottery fragments and baked brick fragments with Nebuchadnezzar’s name inscribed were found. This trench has begun to collapse, causing additional damage.
Cutting works – Horizontal cutting into a mound, removing deposits. Again, only to often soil was removed, mixed with sand from other locations and not preserved.
Scraping and leveling works – On several archaeological areas and tells, which were then covered with sand and gravel. Some of them were treated with chemicals in addition. This operation covered broad areas of Babylon and entailed the use of heavy equipment to compact the soil, which may have destroyed any antiquities beneath the surface. The effects of chemical treatment on the archaeological sub-surface layers are not yet known.
HESCO containers – Which area a ‘Concertainer Defence Wall System’ were filled with soil from the city of Babylon containing pottery fragments and backed brick fragments. Some of these are still in use.
Barbed wire and steel stakes – The barbed wire is not limited to a specific location. The damage in this case was caused by the implantation of stakes in archaeological ground and on several tells and walls, as happened to a wall in the central area and a wall in the sacred precinct.
Ishtar Gate – The Ishtar Gate serves as a ritual gate leading into the northern part of the inner city. The damage to the gate includes smashed bricks on nine of the bodies of the animals adorning the gate. These animals depict the legendary dragonsnake, the symbol of Marduk, the god of the city of Babylon.
Southern portion of Processional Way – Major damage can be observed in the southern part of the Processional Way, which was rediscovered during the Babylon Revival Project excavations in 1979. Starting from the Nabu-sha-Hare Temple, the effects of heavy vehicle wheels are clear, breaking the paving of the street. Three rows of 2-ton concrete blocks were placed in the middle of the Processional Way on top the paving by heavy vehicles, which is itself an encroachment. These blocks were removed by helicopter on November 29, 2004 to prevent further damage to the Processional Way. In addition, a row of HESCO containers with soil taken from the eastern wall of the sacred precinct were placed on the way, and barbed wire was attached by steel stakes to the wall itself and in the middle of Processional Way. There is also a cut in the wall itself with a length of 2.5 m, a depth of 50 cm, and a height of 1.5 m.
Many of the reconstructed features and buildings have suffered damage, including the Inner Wall, the Temple of Ninmakh, the Temple of Ishtar, the Nabu-sha-Hare Temple, the royal palaces and the Babylonian houses. Part of the roof of the Ninmakh Temple collapsed and cracked. Fractures and openings can be seen in the walls of various buildings. The presence of the MNF-1 in Babylon made these structures inaccessible, preventing the SBAH from maintaining their normal procedures of monitoring and repair. A contributing factor to the damage in the Ninmakh Temple may have been the vibration resulting from constant air traffic coming from the close-by helipad. Also, the movement of heavy vehicles within the site caused undefined damage to the archaeological sub-surface layers by churning up or compressing earth.

Looting & damage to artefacts and archives during the war

During the war in 2003, the archaeological city was subjected to encroachment and damage. The Nebuchadnezzar and Hammurabi museums were broken into and everything in the two museums was stolen. Fortunately, the objects exhibited in the two museums were plaster replicas rather than originals, but this did not prevent them from being stolen. Some of these replicas were found scattered and destroyed in the grounds of the two museums. The Project Management Headquarters (Study Centre) and the Museum Office also attracted the thieves and robbers. Whatever could not be stolen was burned. Everything in the Babylon Library and Archive was destroyed, including important reports, maps, and studies on the results of excavation and preservation works undertaken by the Babylon Archeological Restoration Project.

You can read the full report at the UNESCOwebsite. But after taking a glance at even just this short summary, one can not help but wonder if archaeologists should advise the military on Middle East heritage?

CSI Ancient Greece – Who chiseled what?

From ‘Mummy CSI‘, we jump to ‘CSIAncient Greece’. At least, according to the NewScientist. There Ewen Callaway reports on how Stephen Tracy – Greek scholar and epigrapher – makes good use of human intelligence and machine’s computing power to attribute 24 ancient Greek inscriptions to their individual masons. Together with Michail Panagopoulos and Constantin Papaodysseus – both computer scientists at the National Technical University of Athens – they succeeded at attributing the chisel marks to six different cutters, between the years 334BCand 134BC. How?

Panagopoulos’ team determined what different cutters meant each letter to look like by overlaying digital scans of the same letter in each individual inscription. They call this average a letter’s “platonic realisation”. After performing this calculation for six Greek letters selected for their distinctness , , , , and across all 24 inscriptions, Panagopoulos’ team compared all the scripts that Tracy provided.

‘Transgender’ Mummy Discovered in Birmingham Museum Collection

Not even a month after 4 brave mummies left the Brooklyn Museum to have themselves scanned, and ‘Lady Hor’ proved to be a male mummy – “scrotum and penis pretty well preserved”, another round of mummy CSIuncovered yet another case of ‘transgender’ behaviour amongst mummies. The Birmingham Museum took three mummies to the Stafford Hospital in a bid to understand how these ancient Egyptians, whose bodied were later mummified, died.

One of the mummies, from the Namenkhetamun of the 26th Dynasty (664-525BC), was described as ‘the daughter of Amunkhau’ on the coffin lid. But the scan has revealed the mummy is male. Researchers also discovered another mystery – an unexplained hole in the mummy’s back, about the size of a fist.

Museum staff also wanted to learn more about a ‘metallic’ object in the neck of a Graeco-Roman mummy, discovered on x-rays in 1995. The head contains three or four fragments of a dense unidentified material lodged in the base of the skull. This was previously thought to be an arrowhead but no entry or exit wounds are visible. The brain has been completely removed via the nose. Instead, the CT-scans have revealed the object is in fact one of three or four fragments – probably metal – lodged in the base of the skull.

Scans of Padimut, priest of the goddess Mut and probably of the 21st Dynasty (1085-935 BC), showed evidence of high quality mummification – including removal of the brain and ‘false eyes’ plates in front of the real eyeballs. These are possibly made from stone or glass.

Birmingham Museums curator of world cultures, Adam Jaffer, said: This scanning has produced views of the museums mummies which have never been seen before. We have been able to virtually unwrap them without causing any damage. But scanning poses new questions about the life and death of these ancient Egyptians which we will try to find the answers for.

Ancient Chinese frescoes found in Qi dynasty tomb

Ancient wall paintings were discovered in northern China in a 1,400-year-old royal tomb found during the construction of one of the country’s largest infrastructure projects, a national water transport system. The detailed frescoes found in the tomb in Cixian county in Beijing’s neighbouring Hebei province depict honour guard officials from the Northern Qi Dynasty (550-577), the report said.

The tomb itself had belonged to Gao Xiaoxu, the male heir of an emperor in the Qi, archaeologists told the agency. The intricate images, painted on the walls of a 15-meters long passage, will prove useful in the study of the escort customs 1500 years ago. But over a millennium had taken its toll on the frescoes, which were faded and in many areas missing whole sections. The excavation of the tomb has of course exposed the frescoes to the fresh air which could damage the crumbling images even further. Sun Jinghua, an expert from the Shaanxi Provincial Institute of Archaeology working on the new discoveries, said the fragile works were in need of thorough restoration. “Because small pieces of the paintings have fallen off, so we are using some things to secure them, and after experts from Hebei province have taken data we will start to take the paintings off the wall,” Sun told reporters.

Pottery figurines, bluestone tomb doors and epitaph were also discovered in the tomb, the report said. The site is part of a larger tomb complex that served the Northern Dynasties (386-581) and contains 134 tombs, mostly belonging to the royal family, stretching over roughly 15 kilometres.

The tomb was uncovered during the contraction of a stretch of the country’s controversial North-South water Diversion Project, a nation-spanning series of channels built to bring water from the wet south to the dry north.

Watch the video at EuroNews.net.

Mummies Taken To Hospital For CT-Scan

Last week the Brooklyn Museum took four of their ancient Egyptian mummies to the North Shore University Hospital in Long Island, as they were in dying need of a CT-scan. Pure Archaeology 2.0, not only because of the use of modern technology, but because the museum staff used ‘the web 2.0’ to document their trip and the scanning of the mummies as it was happening on Twitter – #mummyCT – and Flickr. Over at pyramidofman.com there’s an elaborate report on the mummies’ journey, but here are some of the highlights of this episode of CSI: Mummy:

Mummy ‘Lady Hor’ is in fact a man

Tweet by the Brooklyn Museum:

“its a boy! – scrotum and penis pretty well preserved, but the anthropoid coffins says woman but going for closer look #mummyCT“

The CT-scan did show breast forms on the cartonnage – not on the body – which makes this even more curious. Transgender practices in ancient Egypt?

Also found, but less shocking were natron sacks and four wrapped organs inside Lady Hor.

Slideshow of the Mummies visit to the hospital for CT Scanning

They forgot to take the brain out?

Bennu writes on the second mummy: “Until this CT scan very little was known about mummy #2 who lived roughly around the time 300-400 BC. The scan showed that he was well preserved, had no organs and showed the brain preserved in the skull, the nose not being cracked to remove the brain. It even showed a preserved beard as indicated by his portrait.”

A random fact Tweet from the press conference

“@brooklynmuseum started doing non-invasive xrays of mummies in 1936 – much better quality in CT scans today“

Reed found in Pasebakhaienipets esophagus

There is no official theory yet as to why this object was placed in Pasebakhaienipet’s throat, but the Brooklyn Museum promised to soon publish more information on the analysis of these 4 mummies on their blog, so keep posted!

As a conclusion I can only say, I wish more research teams and projects were this open about their discoveries and would report them to the public that instantaniously. Brooklyn Museum, please keep that awesome attitude!

Police Force Will Attend Stonehenge Summer Solstice Too

The Wiltshire police has announced there will be a large police presence at Stonehenge for this year’s Summer Solstice. Because the celebrations fall over the weekend and fine weather is predicted, bigger crowds than usual are expected and Wiltshire police have said they will clamp down heavily on antisocial behaviour. The police operation will involve an unmanned drone and horses. Also drugs sniffer dogs will be launched at Stonehenge tomorrow as huge crowds descend on the ancient site for the summer solstice.

The Guardian reported on visitors of the Stonehenge fearing a repeat of the escalations at the recent G20 protests, but police say they are not looking for confrontation: ‘The drone would be used to help make sure the 30,000 people who were expected to attend the celebrations were safe; and there would be only three police horses, also there for “public safety” reasons rather than any crowd control.‘ Personally, I think the police should try Druid Arthur Pendragon’s good advice – You are not policing Salisbury, you are policing Stonehenge for the summer solstice – and remember that the majority of the summer solstice visitors are there for celebration, rather than protest.

The police warned people not to set up spontaneous raves or free festivals before or after the solstice. Another preventive safety measure is that – as mentioned in our practical guideline to the Summer Solstice – you can only take a limited amount of alcohol with you. Stonehenge is not located in Amsterdam, so any substance that is illegal in the United Kingdom will be considered to be illegal at Stonehenge too. Luckily, chances that this will turn out to be a second ‘Operation Solstice’ are small! 😉

Stonehenge History Lesson: Battle of the Beanfield (Operation Solstice)

The Battle of the Beanfield took place over several hours on the afternoon of Saturday June 1, 1985 when Wiltshire Police prevented a vehicle convoy of several hundred new age travellers, known as the Peace Convoy, from setting up the fourteenth Stonehenge free festival at Stonehenge in Wiltshire, England after English Heritage, the custodians of the site, persuaded a High Court Judge to grant an exclusion zone of some four miles around the Stones. The incident became notorious for accusations of a police riot that were reported to have taken place.

Those in the Convoy insist that, after a stand-off of several hours, police attacked their procession of vehicles by entering the field where they were being contained, methodically smashing windows, beating people on the head with truncheons, and using sledgehammers to damage the interiors of their coaches, an account supported by all the independent witnesses and upheld by the subsequent court verdicts. The Beanfield was the next field down from where the vehicles were; and when a large number of police entered the first field, many of the Convoy vehicles tried to escape by going through the Beanfield, where they were pursued and arrested by police.

At the time, the police alleged that they responded after they had earlier come under attack, being pelted with lumps of wood, stones and even petrol bombs, though they did not repeat these allegations in any of the subsequent court cases and no proof for any of them has ever come to light. Whilst the full account of events remains in dispute, a court judgement six years later found the police guilty of wrongful arrest, assault and criminal damage.