10.
Portrait Mummies Russian archaeologists have just uncovered
a fascinating collection of mummies from the Egyptian Greco-Roman period in excellent condition!
The mummies were found in El Fayoum wrapped in linen bandages with some wearing golden
masks, and others with faces painted on their wooden sarcophagus.
Normally coffins from this time period are not decorated but this tomb dating back 2000
years found in a remote part of the desert had colored paintings and many hieroglyphics
telling the family’s story.
This part of Egypt was once a rich oasis and the people here were able to afford more luxuries
than most.
During this time the Roman Empire held a lot of influence over Egypt which you can see
by the architecture, artistic style, and clothing the people wore during that time.
Over 1000 portraits of people from the greco-roman era have been found in the region.
Painted on wood, they were usually laid on top of the bandages of the decorated mummies.
Aristocratic Egyptian families under the Ptolemaic Dynasty believed that everything Roman was
all the rage and these portraits represent the largest collection of ancient portraits
found to date.
But when amateur archaeology began, everyone started just digging everything up at once
and separating mummies from their coffins and their portraits from their faces.
Finding ancient people buried thousands of years ago with an actual portrait of what
they actually looked like, is a miracle.
9: Temple in the Middle of the Desert In 2018 archaeologists unearthed the incredible
remains of an Egyptian temple in the middle of the Western Desert at a place called Al-Salam.
And even though researchers were only able to identify the temple and a few other artifacts,
they say there is much more hidden beneath the sands.
So far, they’ve found limestone statues of lions and a treasure of ancient coins in
the Greco-Roman temple.
According to the archaeologists involved with the dig, its discovery will shed more light
on the ancient history of the Siwa Oasis, which is one of the most isolated settlements
not only in Egypt, but in the entire world.
The oasis is close to the Libyan border and about 350 miles(563km) from Cairo.
People have lived within the oasis since 10,000 BC, but the newly found temple is much younger,
dating back only to around 200 BC.
It was likely constructed around the time that Egypt came under Roman control.
This means researchers will surely discover even more impressive architecture that is
a blend of Egyptian and Roman design.
Further work still needs to be done at the site to understand why it was built, who ruled
over the area at the time, and how many people had been living there.
Considering how giant and inhospitable much of the Western Desert is, the fact that the
discovery was made at all is pretty amazing!!
8: The Unfinished Obelisk An unfinished obelisk has been buried beneath
the sands of Egypt for thousands of years.
It is a massive structure that almost looks like a sleeping giant half hidden beneath
the desert.
The obelisk was first discovered in Aswan, in the south of Egypt, in 2017, and it has
been dated to be at least 3500 years old.
Most Egyptologists agree that the female pharaoh Hatshepsut commissioned the obelisk during
the 18th dynasty.
When finished, it would have measured 137 feet(42m) and weighed 1200 tons(2,400,000lbs).
An obelisk is a giant tower with four sides, usually covered with hieroglyphics, and often
found at the entrances of temples.
In fact, obelisks are such impressive displays of architecture and history that most are
not even found in Egypt because the Romans stole them.
In the past, most obelisks were monolithic, but today, obelisks have been built taller,
and are often composed of concrete and several stones, and some obelisks even have interior
spaces.
An example of one today is the Washington Monument located in Washington D.C. in the
United States.
But why did this Egyptain obelisk go unfinished?
It would have been far larger than any obelisk previously erected.
But instead, it was just kind of abandoned.
Most archaeologists believe that when the Egyptians were trying to free it from the
bedrock, a giant crack appeared, making it pretty much worthless.
Since they couldn't do anything with it, the Egyptians just left it there for us to find
thousands of years later.
It's now an open-air museum that anyone can go and visit.
Is this something you would want to see in person?
Let me know in the comments below and be sure to subscribe if you haven’t already!
7: The Mummy of Nedjmet In the 1880s, a hidden tomb was revealed to
Egyptian authorities after sheep herders went looking for a lost goat and found that the
animal had plummeted into a vertical hole.
After one of the herders descended into the hole, he found one of the most impressive
discoveries in the history of modern archaeology.
Inside the secret cache was the mummified remains of Nedjmet.
In addition to the famous Nedjmet, there were dozens of other mummies found, with wooden
coffins stretching far into the distance within the underground catacomb.
The discovery eventually became known as the Deir el-Bahri mummy cache.
Many of the mummified remains found in this cache were priests from the 21st dynasty,
including Nedjmet, whose husband was likely a high priest of Amun during the reign of
Rameses XI.
However, Nedjmet’s husband was never found.
Archaeologists only know about him because his name and likeness were found within Nedjmet’s
Book of the Dead, which can be found today at the British Museum.
But what's so fascinating about this female Egyptian priest is that she was incredibly
well-preserved.
She had been mummified during a time when incredible progress was being made with mummification
techniques.
Nedjmet had been given artificial eyes made of black and white stones, she had had sawdust
packed between her bandages to give her body more volume, and parts of her face were colored
to give her a more lifelike appearance.
Even though she was an old woman at the time of her death, archaeologists say that the
embalmers worked hard to make her appear youthful as a corpse.
She was even given a wig to cover up the fact that she was balding!
6: The Khufu Ship The Khufu Ship was discovered in 1954 and
it’s one of the most impressive archaeological discoveries from ancient Egypt known to man.
It was found buried in over 1000 pieces right beside the Great Pyramid of Giza, which was
constructed for the pharaoh Khufu!
The sacred boat was buried with this great ruler so that he would have transportation
across the heavens to be with the gods in the afterlife.
The boat is roughly 4,600 years old, but it was crafted with such excellent skill that
even today it could sail down the Nile River.
According to PBS, the vessel is 144 feet(44m) long and took twenty months to remove from
its burial place.
There were approximately 1,224 separate pieces.
The boat is now kept safe inside a special museum beside the great pyramid, with 95%
of it completely original.
Archaeologists say the wood used to construct the ancient boat probably came from cedar
trees from Lebanon.
This is because there were not very many large trees in Egypt at the time to be building
massive boats for the afterlife.
And now for a mysterious tomb!
But first it’s shout out time!!
Big thank you to Jessica Tyree and Shelly Lace for supporting this channel!
If you are new here be sure to subscribe for more amazing discoveries!!
5: The Tomb of Seti I Seti I has the most impressive and beautiful
tombs in all of Egypt.
While not the most famous pharaoh ever, he was definitely incredibly important to Egyptians.
Seti I ruled during the Nineteenth Dynasty of Egypt.
He was the son of Ramesses 1 and the father of Ramesses II, and he likely ruled between
1294 BC and 1279 BC.
During his reign, Seti I made it his business to establish order throughout the Egyptian
kingdom, while regaining control of ancient Syria.
Examples of his great military success can even be seen depicted on the front of the
Amun Temple in Karnak.
And even though he was such a great ruler, his fame has been greatly overshadowed by
his son.
The tomb of Seti I is known commonly as KV17, and it was discovered in 1817 within the Valley
of the Kings.
It's the longest and deepest royal tomb out of anyone buried from the New Kingdom.
It was also the very first tomb that featured decorations on every passageway.
Basically, it was the most lavish tomb ever designed.
It was approximately 446 feet(136m) long!
But surprisingly enough, Seti I himself was not inside the tomb.
His body was found in 1881 within the large mummy cache discovered at Deir el-Bahri.
4: The Lost Temple of Pharaoh Ptolemy IV Recently construction workers drilling a new
sewage drain in a small village in the north of Egypt stumbled upon something amazing!
They discovered a temple thought to have belonged to Pharaoh Ptolemy IV, lost for the past 2,200
years.
Drilling was immediately stopped once workers realized what they had found, and archaeologists
were called in to do a proper excavation.
What they discovered was nothing short of incredible!
Ptolemy IV was the 4th pharaoh in the Ptolemaic Dynasty, he ruled Egypt from between 221 BC
and 204 BC.
However, according to an interesting report, he was not a very good ruler, and was more
interested in artistic endeavors than managing a kingdom.
Ancient texts have revealed that the pharaoh allegedly built the largest ever man-powered
ship with 40 banks of oars.
It would have needed 4,000 oarsmen just to operate.
However, this ship has never been found.
As for the new temple, which was only discovered in 2019, it is extraordinary.
So far, the dig team has uncovered most of the walls of the structure, and are slowly
revealing the engravings and carvings, which appear to indicate that the temple was heavily
themed around the Egyptian god Hapti, who was thought to be responsible for the annual
flooding of the Nile.
3: Egyptian Tomb Builders & Health Care Researchers have known for years that it took
an army of humans to construct the tombs and the pyramids found throughout Egypt.
However, according to texts dating back to the New Kingdom, about 3,100 to 3,500 years
ago, it would appear that the army of workers who constructed the tombs of the kings had
actually been supported by a health care network.
In the United States of America, health care is still a hot button issue.
But it looks like the ancient Egyptians actually figured it out thousands of years ago.
It all comes down to evidence found at the village of Deir el-Medina, which was originally
constructed for the workers who dug the tombs at the Valley of the Kings.
It was basically a worker’s shanty town.
However, many of the workers were highly skilled craftsmen.
And because of this, they were given extra support.
The Egyptian state allegedly paid them monthly wages of grain while also providing them housing
and servants, who would actually grind their grain for them and do their laundry.
Among the ancient records found were details about workers who were absent and why.
It turned out that some workers would call in sick and still be paid for it.
The general consensus here is that the Egyptian government allowed the workers sick days and
would even give them free treatment for things like eye problems and digestive disorders.
This shows us that at Deir el-Medina, health care was a system with exceptional networks
of care provided through the state and the community.
2: The Rosetta Stone Most people are relatively familiar with the
Rosetta Stone, but not everybody knows where it comes from or what it actually is.
Back in the 19th century, the Rosetta Stone was critical in helping scholars crack the
code of ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics.
It is an unevenly shaped stone of black granite 3 feet 9 inches (114 cm) long and 2 feet 4.5
inches (72 cm) wide.
According to History.com, the slab of stone was originally discovered by engineers in
Napoleon Bonaparte’s army way back in 1799.
It's now one of the most famous artifacts in the world.
Fun fact, it was actually taken by the British after they defeated the French in Egypt just
two years after its discovery – which is why you can still see it today at the British
Museum in London.
The Rosetta stone features in its writing, a decree from 196 BC by the ruler of Egypt,
Ptolemy V, saying how generous and devout he was.
The stone was originally displayed at a temple but later removed for unknown reasons.
The decree on the stone was written in standard Egyptian hieroglyphics, which at the time
had mostly been used by priests, in ancient Egyptian demotic, which had been used by everyday
people, and in ancient Greek.
This helped scholars comparing the same phrase written in three different languages, the
Rosetta Stone enabled scientists to break open the mystery of the old Egyptian writing
system, which until the early 1800s had been a complete mystery.
1: Millions of Mummified Dogs In a series of catacombs located slightly
south of Cairo, researchers recently discovered a burial site filled with mummified dogs.
The site is located in Saqqara, and the catacombs are dedicated to the jackal-headed god of
the afterlife, Anubis.
Anubis was insanely popular with the ancient Egyptians.
According to an archaeologist, an Egyptologist from the American University in Cairo, the
act of mummifying dogs in Egypt was actually a way for people to ensure that their beloved
pets went on to the afterlife following their death – and also because many people viewed
their dogs as the manifestation of the god Anubis.
Some even had their dogs mummified to be gifts to certain gods in the afterlife.
Thousands of years ago, these catacombs were a place people deposited their mummified dogs
for a handful of religious reasons.
According to the archaeologists, they deposited about 8 million of them!
Which of these incredible discoveries did you like the most?
Let me know your thoughts in the comments and thank you for watching!
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