• Ann

    Imesy’s Sarcophagus to Return to Egypt

    After two years of investigation and negotiation, the 21st Dynasty coffin of Imesy is being returned to Egypt. Minister Farouk Hosni describes the coffin as beautifully plastered and painted with colourful religious scenes. It was intercepted at Miami International Airport in 2008 when the importer failed to show the necessary documents to prove his ownership of the ancient Egyptian sarcophagus, which was part of a shipment from Spain. This raised concern amongst the American authorities that the coffin had left Egypt illegally. An investigation was started by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency (ICE) of the US Department of Homeland…

  • sean-williams

    Follow the LGBT Trail at the Petrie Museum this Month

    Learning about ‘alternative’ sexualities through time is often a murky business, beset with the prejudices and right-leaning morals of almost every culture in history. And when you’re looking as far back as ancient Egypt, the task becomes infinitely harder. This makes the Petrie Museum’s latest endeavour all the more impressive, as it falls in line with LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender) Month, a UK-wide event running throughout February. Watch our special AWiL video on Love & Sex in the ancient world here. Like lesbian or gay history in general, you’ll have to do more than scratch at the museum’s…

  • owenjarus

    Who Was King Tut’s Great-Grandfather? Meet Yuya, the Warrior of the Family

    The latest Tut research has revealed a king who, while still in his teens, probably had to walk around with a cane (as seen in this stele), had a cleft palette, suffered from malaria and had a spine that was out of whack. As an Egyptologist told me today, this pretty much kills the idea of King Tut as a sort of warrior king who died in a chariot accident. But for those wanting to see a warrior in the family, you may be interested in another research finding. The new Tut research has confirmed who one set of King…

  • owenjarus

    The big mystery the new Tut research did not solve – Amarna Art

    The King Tut results are in and right now everyone is going gaga over the fact that malaria appears to have played a role in the boy king’s death. While this is an interesting find, there is another discovery – King Tut looked fairly normal, or at least he did not have a significantly bizarre or feminine physique – which also carries major implications for Ancient Egyptian research. First a bit of background. During the reign of Akhenaten(who is probably Tut’s father)Egyptian art became, well, very weird. The formal prose that the Egyptians had followed for thousands of years was…

  • Ann

    King Tut Further Unwrapped – The Family of Tutankhamun Project

    It’s only 24 hours since all Tut broke lose, and additional information is still gradually being released (confirming my theory that the main bulk of the information was leaked too early ahead of the press conference). That, or it took the released information a while to percolate through my brain. The following bits are new or extra info (to me) from the official SCApress release. My grey mass failed to process the fact that this study is part of the ‘Family of Tutankhamun Project’ rather than the ‘Egyptian Mummy Project’. Somehow, limiting the scope does make sense, despite the Onion’s…

  • veigapaula

    King Tut’s Medical History and Autopsy Report

    We are just learning fresh news about research on King Tut’s mummy, in advance of tomorrow’s publication in the American Medical Journal of the results of the most recent DNA and other tests. Over the years, there have been many different theories, but now we can scientifically prove what killed the Boy King, his parentage, and other health conditions affecting him at the time of his death. Early Research KV62 – Tut’s tomb – was discovered by Howard Carter in 1922. Multiple attempts at proving kinship between various royal mummies have been made since then, including tests by Connolly (1976),…

  • Ann - Articles & Blogs

    King Tut Unwrapped – Tutankhamun Mummy Forensics to Air on Discovery Channel

    When I wrote that it was most likely we’d see more conlusive information on King Tut’s pedigree on TV first, I obviously was wrong, partly. Spoiler alert:yes, King Tut died at age 19 of (in order) a failing immune system, a leg fracture and malaria, but for the the fine details, and juicy imagery, you’ll need to tune in to Discovery Channel’s ‘King Tut Unwrapped’. The network – which sponsored Egypt’s ‘mummy lab’ – promises us an unprecedented forensic investigation into the life and times of King Tut that reveals the identity of Tut’s parents and grandparents, details on his…

  • Ann

    Leg fracture and brain malaria cause King Tut’s death?

    Ahead of tomorrow’s press conference on King Tut’s DNAand relatives, some of the news already escaped. Pharoah Tutankhamun died of complications from a broken leg aggravated by malaria. And his family? ‘Most likely’ (still) Akhenaten is the daddy, with one of Akhenaten’s sisters being Tutankhamun’s mum (and thus also his aunt!). The article – to be published tomorrow in the Journal of the American Medical Association alongside the press conference – contains results of over two years of research in two different dedicated ‘mummy labs’. It was already (though maybe not that widely) known that King Tut was not murdered,…

  • veigapaula

    Could Frankincense Revolutionise Cancer Treatment?

    The ancient Egyptians were well aware of the properties of Frankincense, and used it to treat phlegm, asthma, throat and larynx infections that bleed, and for calming down vomiting. The inhalation of the melted stem relieves both bronchitis and laryngitis. But new research by immunologist Mahmoud Suhail suggests that it may contain properties that could cure cancer. Could the knowledge of the ancient Egyptians be scoured to revolutionise cancer treatment today? Frankincense is grown in green valleys, on the other side of the Dhofar Mountains that catch India’s summer monsoons, making the area a paradise in the Arabian Peninsula. Boswellia…

  • helen-atkinson

    How to Save Cash and Live Forever: Brooklyn Museum Exhibition Reveals Secrets of the Thrifty Egyptians

    Ancient Egyptians faced tricky compromises over how they would be seen dead, a new exhibition at New York’s Brooklyn Museum reveals. “To Live Forever: Art and the Afterlife in Ancient Egypt,” emphasizes the often unpalatably expensive options that lay before Ancient Egyptians when considering burial. They had to think long and hard about what they could afford in the afterlife. As has often been pointed out, the phrase “you can’t take it with you” had absolutely no purchase in Ancient Egypt, and the lengths to which humans were expected to go to demonstrate material wealth in the next life made…