An article on Spiegel Online on Sunday made a shocking claim the bust of Hatshepsut, in Berlin Museum, may in fact be a fake. IOL reports: The bust in brown granite of female Pharaoh Hatshepsut, who ruled Egypt for 22 years, is one of the draws at the German capital’s Egyptian Museum and is only outshone by the limestone bust of exquisite Queen Nefertiti. Scientists at the Technical University of Berlin have discovered the Hatshepsut stone is rich in the minerals magnesite and siderite. No other bust from the Nile region is made of such rock, suggesting that the 16.5cm…
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When recently the mummy formerly known as ‘Lady Hor’ underwent a scan, researchers were surprised to find that it should have been ‘Sir Hor’ from the start. Yet, this case of ‘gender confusion’ is not a unique one. The same happened to ‘The Daughter of Amunkhau’ – actually a son – from the Birmingham Museum Collection and according to curator Edward Bleiberg on the Brooklyn Museum’s blog, no less than three of the five male mummies from that museum – including Lady Hor – that were CT-scanned in the last eighteen months were at one time thought to be women.…
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Now, this must be the dream of every starting archaeologist: no longer hot – or worse, rainy – dig seasons, no more spending ages meticulously noting down every find’s smallest detail and never again being send to locations where they won’t even serve you a decent chilled pint. This is your chance to escape them all, as History Channel is looking for the next Top Archaeologist (or an anthropologist will do too). Regardless if you crawl out of a dig somewhere in Egypt, toss aside those recently finished final papers or want a break away from your students, this is…
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Part of the Nubian Monuments, Abu Simbel is an ancient site home to two rock temples in the south of Egypt. A beautiful tribute build by Pharoah Ramesses II to his queen Nefertari, they had the alterior motive of commemorating the Battle of Kadesh, as well as the added bonus of intimidating the neighbours!Nothing like a massive temple or two to show the region who’s boss! The beauty of this monumental structure is depicted perfectly in gh0stdot’s photograph. Choosing to portray the two ancient statues at an angle which captures them from below, and results in a picture including the…
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Us in the ‘modern world’ tend to think we’ve got the market cornered for most things, and partying is no different. Clubs, drugs, drink and casual sex may be frowned upon even by our elders at times, but it seems those in the ancient world had rather less stringent morals when it came to partying hard. And new research suggests the neon-lit acid haze of the eighties was far from the first movement to find a love for rave culture. It seems that rolling stones had barely been invented before the ancient world was partying like Keith Richards on closing…
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Not even a month after 4 brave mummies left the Brooklyn Museum to have themselves scanned, and ‘Lady Hor’ proved to be a male mummy – “scrotum and penis pretty well preserved”, another round of mummy CSIuncovered yet another case of ‘transgender’ behaviour amongst mummies. The Birmingham Museum took three mummies to the Stafford Hospital in a bid to understand how these ancient Egyptians, whose bodied were later mummified, died. One of the mummies, from the Namenkhetamun of the 26th Dynasty (664-525BC), was described as ‘the daughter of Amunkhau’ on the coffin lid. But the scan has revealed the mummy…
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Continuing the Google Earth Tours here at Heritage Key, which have so far covered Rome, Athens and London, this week’s tour looks at Ancient sites across the historically rich nation of Egypt. An ancient civilisation which boasts some of the most famous relics in the world, such as The Great Pyramid of Giza and the Temple at Thebes. By bringing together aerial photography with 3D virtual environments, we can use Google Earth to scan across the surface of Egypt and see the sites and relics that remain of this great civilisation. This tour is complete with those clickable Heritage Key…
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London is a massive metropolis, buzzing with energy and bags of history to boot. Well now you can see the city’s top ancient sights, all handily presented in our custom Google Earth flyover. For there’s plenty more to London than its monstrous museums – though they’re all pretty good too – and this map gives you the chance to plan a first-time visit, tell a friend or just take a day out to explore London’s proud heritage. There’s no shortage of events either; check our calendar page for the pick of the city’s listings, which include this year’s British Archaeology…
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Last week the Brooklyn Museum took four of their ancient Egyptian mummies to the North Shore University Hospital in Long Island, as they were in dying need of a CT-scan. Pure Archaeology 2.0, not only because of the use of modern technology, but because the museum staff used ‘the web 2.0’ to document their trip and the scanning of the mummies as it was happening on Twitter – #mummyCT – and Flickr. Over at pyramidofman.com there’s an elaborate report on the mummies’ journey, but here are some of the highlights of this episode of CSI: Mummy: Mummy ‘Lady Hor’ is…
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Schools out for summer – it’s playtime now. And while there are plenty of computer games to whet your appetite for the ancient world, there’s also still a lot of fun out there to be had with a bit of glue and some decent instructions. From projects for big kids to those with slightly less nimble fingers, there’s something it seems in the ancient world for everyone. Build Your Own Stonehenge from Running Press may not come with the more than 150 rocks that feature in the life-size version, but it does come with a good two dozen that you…