“I don’t get to introduce rock stars,” said Art Gallery of Ontario CEO Matthew Teitelbaum.
Well tonight he did.
Forget the critical New Yorker article, the mixed reviews of the new Tut exhibition at the Art Gallery of Ontario, or the fact that local Toronto media largely stayed away from this lecture.
The world’s most well-known Egyptologist completely filled Convocation Hall, with people who had all paid a small admission fee (no more than $18) to hear him speak.
There was a line snaking up Kings College Circle (the street outside the hall) an hour before it even started.
Now, before I get into what Dr. Hawass said, I should say this – I’ve been cursed.
The Pyramid of Behenu belonged to Queen Behenu, who was thought to be the wife of either Pepi I or Pepi II. These kings ruled over Egypt during the 6th dynasty reigning from 2232-2283 BC and 2278–2184 BC respectively. The Pyramid of Behenu which is 25 metres in length and hold fragments of engraved hieroglyphic texts.
The pyramid was discovered by French archaeologists under the direction of doctor Philippe Collombert, who were working within the necropolis of Pepi I at Saqqara which is a vast, ancient burial ground in Egypt, serving as the necropolis for the Ancient Egyptian capital of Memphis.
A French archaeological team digging at Saqqara has discovered the burial chamber of 6th Dynasty Queen Behenu, wife of either Pepi I or Pepi II. The burial chamber was revealed while the team was cleaning the sand from Behenu's pyramid in the area of el-Shawaf in South Saqqara, west of the pyramid of King Pepi I.
The burial chamber uncovered by the French mission is badly damaged, apart from two inner walls which contain engraved Pyramid Texts. Those texts were widely used in royal tombs – carved on walls as well as sarcophagi - during the 5th and 6th Dynasties (circa 2465-2150BC).
The Great Pyramid of Cholula (also known as Tlachihualtepetl – "artificial mountain" in Nahuatl) is a giant pre-Columbian Mesoamerican monument, situated in the ancient settlement of Cholula, near modern Puebla in Mexico. It is the largest pyramid in the world by volume. With a base of 202,500 square metres and a height of 66 metres, it boasts a total estimated volume of over 4.45 million cubic metres – almost twice the volume of its nearest rival, the Great Pyramid of Giza.
It was dedicated to the "feathered-serpent" deity Quetzalcoatl. The Aztecs thought it to have been built by Xelhua, one of the seven giants in Aztec mythology. It is fairly obscure as pre-Columbian monuments in South America go, because relatively little major archaeological investigation or restoration of the site has been carried out, but for the excavation of about five miles (8 km) of tunnels inside. This is because the the Iglesia de Nuestra Señora de los Remedios (Church of Our Lady of the Remedies) sits on top of the pyramid – an important Catholic pilgrimage destination, built by the Colonial Spanish in 1594. It's a protected colonial monument.
Part of Usborne’s popular ‘Flap Book’ series, See Inside Ancient Egypt is an enjoyable and educational book. It offers children aged five and over an engaging trip back in time to the world of the ancient Egyptians.
Succinctly written by Rob Lloyd Jones and lavishly illustrated by David Hancock, the book offers an interactive history lesson by presenting a series of snapshots of daily life in ancient Egypt. Each busy scene spans a double-page spread, with Jones’s many and varied facts and supportive descriptions dotted throughout and hidden under the many lift-up flaps (there are more than 70 in the book), which proved a hit with my young reader.
The pyramid at Seila is something of an enigma, having been reduced to little more than a glorified 7m-high mound over its 4,500-year history. It was built by prolific 4th Dynasty pharaoh Snefru, father of Khufu and famous for having commissioned pyramids at Dashur and Meidum. Located six miles west, in the Fayum town of the same name, the Seila Pyramid has long been one of Egypt's forgotten landmarks. Yet now archaeologists are beginning to think it may have been more impressive than they thought.
Snefru was the first pharaoh to construct true pyramids (unlike the step pyramids of, say, Djoser). Seila appears to have been designed in this vein, with experts from Brigham Young presenting laser models of how it would have looked back around 2,600 BC, as shown to the left. The team also noted the pyramid may well have had an internal burial chamber, but that it may have been looted and destroyed in antiquity.
Submitted by Sean Williams on Wed, 11/04/2009 - 10:02
Archaeologists exploring the lost Maya city of El Mirador claim they've found the world's biggest pyramid. The massive structure, called La Danta (The Tapir), may have its summit hidden beneath Guatemala's jungle canopy. Yet its volume is reckoned to be larger than that of the Great Pyramid of Khufu in Egypt's Giza Plateau. The city itself, dubbed the 'Maya Cradle of Civilization', is the size of a modern metropolis; bigger than downtown Los Angeles. And experts believe there are thousands more pyramids yet to be found.
The Buried Pyramid is the common name for the funerary complex of pharaoh Sekhemkhet, and is a collection of monuments dating from the Old Kingdom of ancient Egypt. It is located in the Saqqara necropolis, close to modern Memphis.
The discovery of the Old Kingdom monument in 1951 by archaeologist Zakaria Goneim gave a name to the Pharoah that succeeded Djoser: Sekhemkhet, now thought to be the same person as Djoserty.
Question – who can completely fill up a cavernous 1,500 seat domed hall on a Saturday night in Toronto?
A French archaeological team digging at Saqqara has discovered the burial chamber of 6th Dynasty 
Snefru was the first pharaoh to construct true pyramids (unlike the step pyramids of, say, Djoser). Seila appears to have been designed in this vein, with experts from Brigham Young presenting laser models of how it would have looked back around 2,600 BC, as shown to the left. The team also noted the pyramid may well have had an internal burial chamber, but that it may have been looted and destroyed in antiquity.
