Did ‘mummy paper’ – paper made out of recycled mummy bandages – exist for sure? Worchester librarian S.J. Wolfe believes it is not the myth historians believe it to be. Ms Wolfe recently published her book ‘Mummies in Nineteenth Century America’ about the import of mummies in the USAin the 1800’s. Her research into what happened to these 560 ‘honorary guests’ to the USA’s carnivals and exhibitions (often further dismemberment and a travelling life) lead the researcher to what she calls a smoking gun: proof that ‘mummy paper’ is not an urban myth. Mummy-recycling was a popular passtime or even…
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Two large tombs have been discovered at the ancient Egyptian necropolis of Saqqara – one of which is the largest ever found at the site. The 26th Dynasty tombs, likely robbed during the Roman era, are nonetheless filled with important arefacts including coffins, skeletons, pottery and mummified eagles. The tombs, discovered by an Egyptian archaeological mission from the Supreme Council of Antiquities, are at the Ras El Gisr area of Saqqara, near the landmark’s entrance. Both tombs are cut into the hills of the region: the larger first tomb is hewn from limestone while the other is mud-brick. The larger…
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The Globe and Mails Patrick Martin (the papers former Middle East Correspondent), is reporting that Jordan is asking the Canadian government to seize the Dead Sea Scrolls on display in Toronto Canada. The Royal Ontario Museumis currently displaying seven of them as part of an exhibit on the scrolls.Thelast day of the exhibit isJanuary 3. Summoning the Canadian charg d’affaires in Amman two weeks ago, Jordan cited the 1954 Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict, to which both Jordan and Canada are signatories, in asking Canada to take custody of the scrolls,…
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Mastodons, Woolly Mammoths and bears – one thing is for sure, the first people to cross into North America certainly were not timid hunters! At a lecture at the Vancouver Aquarium Marine Science Centre a few weeks back, Parks Canada archaeologist Daryl Fedje told a crowd that his team has found evidence that people were engaged in bear-hunting, on the Queen Charlotte Islands, as far back as 13,000 years ago. This is the point where humans were just crossing into North America. The Queen Charlotte Islands are located off the coast of British Columbia, a western province in Canada that…
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One remarkable tale from ancient history is that of the site of Pyla-Kokkinokremos on the southeast coast of Cyprus. It existedfor only 50 years, at a time of devastation throughout the ancient world. Trying to make sense of this site is difficult and the story reminds me, in some ways, of the ill-fated 16th century AD English colony of Roanoke in North Carolina. A few weeks back Professor Dimitri Nakassis, of the University of Toronto, presented the latest research on the site at an event at the Royal Ontario Museum. In the following days Heritage Key did an extensive interview…
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A massive one ton granite statue of the pharaoh Taharqa has been found in Dangeil, deep inside Sudan. Taharqa was a pharaoh of the 25th dynasty of Egypt. This was a period of Kushite rule, which means that Taharqa and his fellow rulers were from Nubia and drew their power-base from there. Update: Further information on the statue of Pharoah Taharqa discovered at Dangeil and a confirmation that – indeed – no statue of a pharaoh has ever been found further south of Egypt than this one in Owen’s follow up blog. You’ll also find photographs of the statues and…
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Archaeologists believe they may have found the remains of Cao Cao, a Chinese warlord renowned for his role during Chinas Three Kingdoms period. This past weekend Chinese archaeologists announced the find, saying they had discovered the ancient rulers tomb in Chinas Henan Province, near Anyang. Cao Cao, who lived from 155 to 220 AD, is a major historical figure in China. Both a military general and a poet, he established himself as a king of his own state while fighting to unite the country under his rule. Cao Caos life was later romanticized in Chinese literature, with him being cast…
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In this Heritage Key video, Dr. Janice Kamrin, head of the EgyptianMuseum Database Project, shows and discusses some of the lifestyle objects found in Tutankhamuns tomb by Carter in 1922, and now housed in The Egyptian Museum in Cairo. Board games, and containers for perfumes, cosmetics and unguents, are amongst the objects shown in this video that give an insight into the livestyles of the rich and famous ancient Egyptians. You can catch up on the previous videos in this series when Dr Kamrin looks at Animal iconography (Watch the video), The Canopic Shrine, Chest and Jars (Watch the video)…
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Nothing keeps Dr Zahi Hawass awake at night quite like the prospect of being the first person to lay eyes on a millennia-dead Egyptian mummy. I could not sleep with thinking about it all the time, he reveals at the start of Heritage Keys latest fantastic video by Nico Piazza, documenting the opening of an intact tomb at Saqqara. Thinking about the moment that I will come down, he continues, about 11 metres, and begin to open a sealed sarcophagus that no one ever touched since 2,600 years ago. The camera pans across creepy piles of heavily decayed human bones…
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The first visitor numbers are in for the number of people visiting the King Tut exhibition. The Art Gallery of Ontario, which is hosting King Tut and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs, announced that more than 100,000 tickets have been sold to date That works out to at least $3.2 million in sales (Canadian currency). The exhibit has only been open for one month. Now I should caution that tickets have been available for three months (you could buy them in advance). I should also add that it doesnt appear as if Tutankhamun will top the 750,000 visitors it…