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. Dr Zahi Hawass, Egypt’s antiquities chief, noted the seal was the second of its type excavated in the region. The first seal had been found in the…
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We are just one week away from King Tuts stop at theArt Gallery of Ontario, in Toronto Canada. The Canadian exhibition will feature artefacts from the Tutankhamuns reign including the largest statue of King Tut ever found. The exhibit aims to go beyond Tut andgive viewers a lookat what Egypt was like during the Amarna period. On November 20, Heritage Key will be at at the media preview of the King Tut exhibit. We will be publishing a fullwrite-up before it opens on November 24. In conjunction with the Tut exhibit, the art gallery will be holding a lecture series…
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It’s the most exciting project in Egypt, and one that’s captured the hearts and minds of people all over the world: could Kathleen Martinez have discovered the tomb of Cleopatra? The Dominican expert certainly thinks so, and tells Heritage Key all about it in this special video. A Long Route to Egypt It has taken Dr Martinez ten years to convince herself Taposiris Magna, just outside Alexandria, is the famous queen’s final resting place. And she knew from the off she had to get out in the field herself to have any chance of finding the tomb. “I needed to…
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Description Some of the most asked questions about King Tutankhamun have centred around his death, and whether he was murdered. Dr Zahi Hawass enlightens us in this video on how the latest technology has been used to find the answer this question. Using radiology and CT scans to examine the remains of King Tut, science has helped to identify an ancient fracture and a hole in the back of the Boy King’s head. This video is the first in a series of videos about King Tutankhamun, so be sure to keep checking back for the next video! You can read the accompanying…
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The Cartouche Cosmetic Box is one of numerous artefacts found inside the Tomb of King Tutankhamun (KV62) by famous Egyptologist Howard Carter. The discovery was made in the sarcophagus itself according to Carter, although it’s possible that the artefact was actually found in between the two outer shrines, as other cosmetic boxes were. At a height of just 16cm and width of 8.8cm, with a depth of 4.3cm, the Cartouche Cosmetic Box bears several symbols intricately carved on it. This beautiful artefact is just one of many of the Treasures of the Cairo Museum, the very museum which Dr Zahi…
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Beverley Miles, a doctoral candidate at MacQuarie University in Australia, has been researching the relationship that dogs and humans had during the time that the pyramids were built. She presented her results at an Egyptology symposium in Toronto a week ago – and they are not for those of a delicate disposition! Shes found some pretty convincing evidence in the form of three pieces of art that dogs and humans shared a very close relationship. How close? Well, one artefact, pictured here, depicts a human male making mouth to muzzle contact with a dog. These objects are highly unusual, said…
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One of the most unusual presentations on Egyptology that Ive seen in awhile took place at the Egypt symposium in Toronto recently. Professor Emeritus Vincent Tobin, of St. Marys University, has been translating and analyzing Late Egyptian love poems, and finds that they reveal a rather risqu side to Egyptian life. The Egyptians were well aware of the more salacious aspects of love, said Tobin. For the Egyptians sexuality is part of human nature. He read a number of examples to the audience, which offer a unique insight into the sex lives of the ancient Egyptians: I shall lie down…
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Following on from the amazing high resolution satellite images of the Pyramids of Giza, it’s worth noting that the Pyramid is a structure that is seen across the world. The pyramid form was a popular one in ancient times – when you mention the Pyramids, people will instantly think of the Ancient Egyptians, and the Great Pyramid of Giza. But many civilisations adopted the pyramidal form, from the Greeks and Romans to the Chinese and Mesopotamians! The primary reason for this would be the structural form of a pyramid – the majority of the construction material that would be used…
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Want to know how to mummify a body but don’t know where to start?Well, you’ve come to the right place. Following on from our video featuring Dr Zahi Hawass, in which he gives Heritage Key a fascinating insight into how mummies are made (see the video embedded below), and an enlightening interview with Bob ‘Mr Mummy’ Briers on mummification, we’ve condensed millenia of wisdom into 7 not-so-easy and certainly not pleasant steps. Egyptian embalmers were masters of their craft, and while we possess a lot of clues about the long and laborious procedure they went through in order to ensure…
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The three day Egypt symposium, last weekend in Toronto, yielded a number of interesting finds. As Heritage Key has reported, researchers unravelled evidence showing that the husband of Djedmaatesankh, a mummy in the Royal Ontario museum, is now located in Chicago. Also, a large amount of info was presented on the discovery of an Amarna era fortress at Tell el-Borg. A detailed article on this can be seen here. Another key piece of research, released at the symposium,is an excavation project at the Seila pyramid. Professor Kerry Muhlestein, of Brigham Young University, delivered an update last weekend on research going…