Egyptomania

It is unarguable that the COVID-19 pandemic is actively changing the course of our present. Looking back to similar occurrences in history and the huge impacts they had further solidifies this claim stemming from the universal vulnerability of human kind. The earliest of those recorded examples being the Athenian Plague in 430 B.C.  The Plague of Athens was probably not a bubonic plague due to the absence of the "bubo" symptoms from the accounts. By consensus, it originated from Ethiopia and probably reached Athens through Egypt and Libya. The plague is still attributed to Athens because this is where it was most detrimental according to the records (or their absence in other affected areas). One very poignant account of this plague (which we are extremely thankful for) is Thucydides' account of the Peloponnesian War against Sparta. In this unique account, the rapidly spreading symptoms ranged from fevers all the way to deadly gangrene. It is mostly agreed that the nature

Unas was probably the last king of 5 th dynasty ,  but some archaeologists argue that he was the first king of 6 th dynasty.  Unas may have reigned for over 30 years ?!  His very unusual pyramid is located between the enclosures of Djoser's pyramid and Sekhemkhet's.  What makes the pyramid of Unas unique?   It is the smallest pyramid of all known old kingdom pyramids. Unas is also the first pharaoh to have his burial chamber inscribed with pyramid texts. Unas's chambers are the first since Djoser to be decorated: the chamber that contains the sarcophagus is covered with a gabled ceiling and golden stars like a starry night blanket! Unas was very smart in choosing the location of his pyramid complex    He took advantage of two natural features: long valley "wadi" for a nice paved route to his causeway and the path leading down to a lake which acted as a harbour for his Valley Temple.   Unas's pyramid became a ruin by the time of the New Kingdom era!  Son of

The equivalent hieroglyphic alphabet of the letter N is represented by the pictorial surface or ripple of water. "en" can mean "of" "to" or "for" where it can be seen joining long texts as an important preposition. Very rarely used as an ideogram (Gardiner refers to the absence of an ideogram altogether), it should mean water or the surface of water. The letter is more commonly used as a phonetic complement rather than an ideogram, to guide the pronunciation of other hieroglyphs in many instances.  A similar sign with the phonetic value of mu will also have the same pictorial representation but with three repeated ripples instead. The ideograph of a water surface is no longer valid here and we will either be referring to a whole body of water or a watery mass of the sky. This symbol can be seen frequently as a determinative such as at the end of "itrw" (river) where it does not have any phonetic value but is only there to signify water.

Can you imagine that some of these portraits were painted using beeswax? The history of the paintings: Fayoum portraits are unique pieces of art, they belong to the Greco-Roman era in Al Fayoum. These astonishing portraits are painted on thin wooden panels, they depict the entire detailed face of the owner and were believed to be  painted during the owner’s life to be displayed in his/her home then attached later to the owner’s mummy after his/her death. The technique: Some are painted in tempra and others in encaustic (wax). They were painted using thick, fine brushes or painting knives.  The beautiful traces of the brush strokes can be seen on the portraits.  The painters of these portraits must have been skilful to use wax as a painting medium since wax hardens so fast and needs to be applied carefully and quickly in order to obtain a plane painting layer. While the portraits painted using tempra technique have a less thick painting layer, it’s still difficult to differentia

Black is the colour of the land after the flood and is the symbol of the fertility it brings to the land. In Ancient Egypt, the colour was frequently used for eye make-up as well as wall paintings, statues' coatings and tombs.  Black pigment rarely had the inorganic origin of the Pyrolusite (Manganese dioxide) mineral. Galena (lead sulphide) was used a bit more commonly for cosmetic purposes until it was replaced by carbon black and Kohl sticks. All the mineral  ores were simply ground to produce the pigment, whereas Kohl was only soot from burning plant. The most common pigment of all is  carbon black. It was extracted from organic charcoal. Charcoal was made mostly from burned plant material. Pyrolusite appears to have been much less robust than carbon black.  When it comes to coatings on statues and coffins, black was made with bitumen or heated-till-blackened pistacia resin (yellow mastic). The resin was either used as both the pigment and the binding material simultaneously or

Shepeskaf was the 6th and last pharaoh of 4th dynasty in Egypt during old kingdom period.  But that's all we know. We do not know much about his lineage.  Some Archaeologists believe that he was the son of Menkaure because he completed his complex after his death. Other  Archaeologists argue that he was not the son of Menkaure  because completion of monuments was an Egyptian tradition not necessarily practised by sons.   Starting from the meaning of his name Shepses in hieroglyphics means "noble"   while Ka mean "soul"  and the f is a  suffix pronoun . His name literally means: " his soul is noble"   Shepseskaf was indeed mysterious   He built his tomb named M astabat Faraoun ( very unique in its shape ), it was neither a pyramid nor mastaba,  it was a very huge rectangular coffin .  Some archaeologists suggested that he wanted to get rid of sun cult alluding to the fact that he did not build a pyramid and carried a name without word re ( sun g

1. Getting all touchy/feely with the monuments Yes, the Egyptian Museum has a very unique way of displaying many artefacts. It just leaves some of them exposed on top of cabinets without glass encasing! Now, this isn’t entirely a bad thing. You get the full experience of admiring every ingenious detail your ancestors have carved instead of waving goodbye at it from behind glass obstacles. BUT, this doesn’t mean you get to grace the artefacts with the fatty acids of your hands and the perspiration of your breath. Do you know how hard conservators have to work in order to undo the mess you make? No you don’t. And let me tell you: CONSERVATORS HAVE A TON ON THEIR PLATE ALREADY. This is not your girlfriend/ boyfriend! 2. Going on a rampage with your camera's flash So, you’ve finally made it to the top chamber of the pyramid and now you want to savour this moment brag. The chamber is too dark so you whip out your camera’s flash and go crazy. You’ve just injured 5000 years of civiliza

Ankh is probably the most famous in Egyptian hieroglyphics but do you know why? Ankh is not an alphabet  letter; it belongs to the triliteral class of hieroglyphs. As an ideogram, ankh symbolises life. As to why it depicts life, it is hypothesised that the loop represents the sun over the horizon or the union of heaven and Earth to name two theories. Gardiner had interpreted the symbol's origin to represent a sandal strap tied around the ankle based on linguistic roots. As a phonetic, this hieroglyph is ānχ.  The true reason Ankh is so well engraved into our memories is its use as a very common motif in Ancient Egyptian architecture as well as pictorial representations in the hands of Gods wishing long, prosperous lives for Kings. In tombs, ankh is coupled with the "opening of the mouth ceremony" and the afterlife revival imagery where it is often seen extending down the King's lips. This hieroglyph uniquely remained in use throughout the Christian era in Egypt due to