Located in the eastern Nile Delta, this site was used as a capital by the Hyksos during the Second Intermediate Period. They were an Asiatic people who controlled part of Egypt during this time. The site is strategically placed, giving whoever controls it access to the Sinai, Levant and southern Egypt.
It was abandoned for a time, after the Hyksos were driven out of Egypt. It was rebuilt during the 18th dynasty of Egypt. It included three palaces, indicating that it was used by Egyptian royalty.
The most astonishing finds were the Minoan frescoes that decorated two of the palaces. These depict bull-leaping scenes. They are similar in many respects to the frescoes painted at the Palace of Knossos in Crete.
How these frescoes got to Egypt is a mystery. The excavator of the site, Manfred Bietak, has proposed that a Minoan princess got married to a member of the Egyptian royal family. The Minoans sent artists to paint the frescoes as a way to commemorate this wedding.
As I write this, thousands of politicians, government officials, scientists, NGO officials, journalists, protesters and, yes, caterers – are gathered in Copenhagen trying to craft a deal on greenhouse gases.
It’s a historic occasion. The decisions they make (assuming they are honoured) will shape our world for years to come. We’re already experiencing the effects of global warming where I live (in Toronto Canada). Last November was a balmy month, with virtually no snow. This has occurred several times over the past decade.
Submitted by Sean Williams on Tue, 11/17/2009 - 16:36
Austrian archaeologists have unearthed the oldest cuneiform seal inscription fragment ever found in Egypt. The piece dates to the Old Babylonian reign of King Hammurabi, who brought the world its first code of law, between 1792 - 1750 BC. Egypt's culture minister Farouk Hosni announced the discovery today, made by the Austrian Archaeological Mission in a pit at Tel El-Daba, modern name of ancient Avaris, 120km north-east of Cairo in the Nile Delta.
