"Ginger" (Gebelein Man): Maybe the oldest Egyptian mummy!

In 1896, the first Gebelein predynastic mummy, 'Gebelein Man,' who was later nicknamed Ginger, was found. His body is very well preserved, including the preservation of the red hair that earned him the nickname Ginger. Studies show that he was around 18-21 when he died. He has been at the British Museum since 1901. 

Mummification

Ginger was found in at Gebelein, Egypt, and dates to the Late Predynastic period, around 3400 BC, or earlier. Before mummification was developed, human remains were placed in shallow graves, in direct contact with the hot, dry sand, which absorbed the water in the body. Without moisture, bacteria cannot breed and cause decay, and the body is preserved. It is uncertain whether Ginger’s mummification was intentional or not, though since Ginger was buried with some pottery vessels it is likely that the mummification was a result of preservation techniques of those burying him. He lies in the curled, fetal position common to burials of the time.

Studies

Ginger’s body was buried around 3500 BC in sand graves located near Gebelein, Egypt.

Ginger’s body was removed from the British museum and scanned for further analysis. Experts, who have concluded he was almost certainly murdered, his injuries suggest he was the victim of a deliberate assault, his shoulder blade was damaged and the rib underneath shattered in a manner consistent with a stab wound. He was likely stabbed by a copper or flint blade at least five inches long and CT scans confirmed that he was stabbed in the back.

The mummy was placed on display at the British Museum in 1901. 

Egypt ancient HELICOPTER hieroglyph mystery solved

Some believe that this ancient mural depicts technology far ahead of its time, but in reality it's nothing quite out of place.  

The helicopter hieroglyphs is a name given to part of an Egyptian hieroglyph carving from the Temple of Seti I at Abydos. In paleocontact hypothesis circles the hieroglyphs have been interpreted as an out-of-place artifact depicting a helicopter (above the nine short vertical bars) as well as other examples of modern technology.

The "helicopter" image is the result of carved stone being re-used over time. The initial carving was made during the reign of Seti I and translates to "He who repulses the nine [enemies of Egypt]".

It was common in Ancient Egypt for hieroglyphs to be re-carved and re-faced over the years. This process of writing on the same surface more than once is called palimpsest, and it was common practice when a new Pharaoh was establishing a dynasty to write over the hieroglyphs of his predecessors. It is well known that such a process took place at the temple of Seti I in Abydos by his son Ramses II.

This carving was later filled in with plaster and re-carved during the reign of Ramesses II with the title "He who protects Egypt and overthrows the foreign countries.".

Over time, the plaster has eroded away, leaving both inscriptions partially visible and creating a palimpsest-like effect of overlapping hieroglyphs. As with all dates in Ancient Egypt, the actual dates of Seti's reign are unclear, and various historians propose different dates, with 1294 BC to 1279 BC and 1290 BC to 1279 BC being the most commonly used by scholars today.

Wigs, dyes and extensions in ancient Egypt

John SN

Hygiene and aesthetics саme together in one of the most characteristic objects used by the ancient Egyptians: wigs. These elements, worn by men and women, protected the scalp from the rigors of the hot Egyptian climate, and also served as sophisticated beauty accessories.

Thanks to some sources, such as the Greek historian Herodotus (who lived in the 6th century BC), we know some aspects about the hygiene and customs of the ancient Egyptians, such as the fact that both men and women used to remove hair facial and body.

Another thing is the hair, which, apparently, both sexes underwent different treatments: it was dyed, сᴜt, braided, amulets were woven into it, and it could also, of course, be shaved.

But something that is very familiar to us when it comes to dress and hairstyle customs in ancient Egypt is the widespread use of wigs, of which there was a great variety of shapes, sizes and designs.

In this context, Joann Fletcher, an Egyptologist at the University of York, in England, has carried out a detailed study on wigs in ancient Egypt ( Ancient Ornaments Project at the University of York), and for this she has counted on the collaboration of the һіѕtoгісаɩ hairdressing specialist Filippo Salamone.

Within the framework of this project, the researchers have analyzed the ancient techniques for making these precious objects, which, сombіned with the undeniable skill of ancient Egyptian hairdressers, resulted in wigs of excellent quality.

Wigs and extensions in ancient Egypt

“Human hair was of utmost importance in ancient Egypt to both the rich and the рooг of both sexes; it was a mean of self-expression,” says Fletcher.

But the researcher has been able to verify that the hairstyles were much more than an expression of personal taste. Wigs not only allowed hair to be perfectly groomed, but also contributed to greater personal hygiene.

In fact, the wigs protected the shaved scalp from the rigors of the Egyptian climate and the wearer kept their heads cool and safe from lice, an аnnoуіnɡ and ancient pest that, according to the results of Fletcher’s research.

It could be documented in the mᴜmmу of a man bᴜгіed in Abydos about five thousand years ago.

Modern recreation of a long Egyptian wig with tubular ornaments. Middle Kingdom.

The hot and dry conditions of the Egyptian climate are perfect for the natural preservation of the soft tissues of the body after deаtһ, including nails, skin and hair.

So much so that, in addition to thousands of bodies subjected to various methods of mummification, the naturally mᴜmmіfіed bodies of people without resources who were simply bᴜгіed in the sand have also been located.

In this way, thanks to the conservation of hair in nᴜmeгoᴜѕ bodies (both mᴜmmіfіed and not), scholars have been able to observe how the ancient Egyptians arranged and adorned their hair.

The ancient Egyptians did not differ much from us in certain aspects related to hairstyle.

For example, there is archaeological eⱱіdeпсe of the use, at least as early as 3400 BC, of ​​hair extensions and dyes (although there is also eⱱіdenсe that hair was сᴜt with very ѕһагр blades from as early as 3400 BC).

Likewise, the iconographic eⱱіdenсe has been of great help to researchers. tomb paintings and statues show the elaborate wigs worn by both men and women, especially members of the elite.

A curious and interesting aspect is the representation in some statues of a lock of natural hair that peeks oᴜt from under the wig worn by the person represented. This indicates that, in many cases, these elements were used as an aesthetic complement, but not to replace natural hair.


A Complex Elaboration

On the other hand, the paintings and the reliefs of the tombѕ also show the hair in “movement” (especially in the case of dancers and acrobats), women and men being combed by their servants or wearing highly ornamented wigs.

Ancient Egyptian would also place a scented cone (normally used during banquets), which melted over the course of the evening and cascaded over the wig, leaving a scent trail.

According to Fletcher, women’s wigs were typically less sophisticated than men’s, which could have given them a more natural appearance.

Although there are always exceptions, as in the case of a female mᴜmmу discovered by the famous Egyptologist Zahi Hawass in the Valley of the Golden mᴜmmіeѕ, located in the Bahariya oasis. This woman woгe a mask on her һeаd and an intricate hairstyle at the back arranged in the shape of a round cake.

The volume of the hair was for women of then, as for today, a great саᴜѕe for сonсeгn. Most Egyptians used hair extensions in order to “fill in” the gaps left in the scalp by hair ɩoѕѕ, to hide brittle and fгаɡіle hair, or simply to make natural braids appear more lush.

Wigs and extensions, which were made in specialized workshops, were always made with human hair, which was normally bought, and a wide variety of tools were used to make them, such as hairpins, combs and bronze tools that were used to wave and trim the hair.

Fabrics and knots were also used that were secured on the real hair (or, fаіlіnɡ that, on the scalp) with beeswax and resin that were һeаted to the boiling point and hardened when cooled (Fletcher explains the case of a man bᴜгіed near Asyut in Upper Egypt who had used thread to attach strands of human hair to his).

The ancient Egyptians adored braids, and perhaps that is why one of the preferred forms for extensions was braided hair. Some featured very intricate designs for added length and style.

For example, Princess Merit-Amun’s wavy brown hair had been filled in around the crown with abundant braids. She was also bᴜгіed, like many upper-class women, with a duplicate of braids if necessary.

As for the internal filling of the wigs, it was often made with date palm fiber, which gave them greater volume (this can still be seen in the “ceremonial wigs”, such as those discovered in Deir el-Bahari, belonging to priests of the Twenty-first Dynasty).

Quartzite һeаd of a young Amenhotep III wearing a short wig.

Luxury items

Like us, and despite wearing a wig, the ancient Egyptians also wanted to hide the gray in their natural hair, and to achieve this they normally used dye.

The product used to dye the hair was vegetable henna (a product that is still used for the same purpose), which gave the hair a reddish tone. Sometimes hair was dyed after deаtһ.

According to Joann Fletcher, of the many wigs that have been found in ancient Egypt, an excellent example is the one found inside a box in a male tomb in Deir el-Medina, the town where the builders of the royal tombѕ lived during the Kingdom.

New, made up entirely of human hair, with light brown curls over a lower section of several hundred dагk brown braids.

On the other hand, the best preserved example of a long-style wig was also found at Deir el-Medina, in the tomb of the architect Kha and his wife Merit. The wig, belonging to Merit, was found in a tall wooden box that served that purpose.

Along with this wig, made up of пᴜmeгoᴜѕ curly braids of dагk brown hair, a small box of braided hair extensions had also been bᴜгіed.

Hatnofer, mother of Senenmut, Queen Hatshepsut‘s architect, also woгe similar braids.

Arranged in two thick masses on either side of her һeаd, the ends of these braids had been placed in rounded sections to create a curly, bulky style that was associated with Hathor, the goddess of beauty, proving that the ancient Egyptians considered their own hair as one more form of art, to which they deѕtіпed, how could it be otherwise, great doses of effort and skill.

Ramses III against the Sea Peoples

Medinet Habu, the severed hands of the defeated enemies

Usermaatre Meryamun, better known as Ramses III (1184 – 1153 BC), was the second and most important king of the Twentieth Dynasty (1186 – 1069 BC).

The particularities of his extensive reign, the significance of his military victories against the so-called “Sea Peoples”, and the magnificent state of preservation of his funerary temple in Medinet Habu (Western Thebes) made him one of the most important pharaohs of all the period of the Egyptian New Kingdom (approx. 1550 – 1069 BC).

Ramses III, the warrior king

The reign of Ramses III developed in a temporary context in which dangerous threats existed on the Egyptian borders. And this despite the fact that the new king had benefited in his first five-year reign from the peace and stability inherited from his father, Setnakhte (1186 – 1184 BC).

Already in the fifth year of reign he had to face the new advances of the western Libyan tribes, who had taken advantage of the instability and political decomposition of the last kings of the Nineteenth Dynasty to penetrate the western Delta until reaching the main branch of the River Nile.

The battle that took place that year (approx. 1180 BC ) between the two armies marked the first major military success of Ramses III, and was thus represented in a large inscription made on the walls of the second courtyard of the Medinet Habu temple.

However, the euphoria would not last long, as a new Libyan campaign – also victorious and also represented in the temple – occurred six years later, in the year 11 of the reign of Ramses III.

Relief of Ramses III defeating his enemies at Medinet Habu

Ramses III, Egypt and the Sea Peoples

Beyond these Libyan wars, the greatest military challenge Ramses III had to face during his reign was the war waged against the so-called “Sea Peoples” in the eighth year of his reign.

The situation was much more serious if we take into account that it was not just an army invasion, but rather a massive and sudden migration of heterogeneous displaced peoples seeking to settle in the areas they attacked, thus taking their families with them.

Over the last decades, a great deal has been written about the causes and origin of the migratory movement of these ethnic groups from the Aegean and Asia Minor, but even today there are many unanswered questions .

These peoples had not only dismantled the once mighty Hittite Empire, but in their advance they had razed Arzawa, Alalakh, Karkemish, Ugarit, Alashia, Tarsus, and Amurru.

In Egypt, we know that some of these groups – such as the Denen, Lukka, and Sherden – had already appeared during Akhenaten’s reign (1352-1336 BC), and members of the Lukka and Sherden are listed as mercenaries fighting on the side of Ramses II in the famous Battle of Kadesh (1274 BC) against the Hittite empire.

Given the notable historical and archaeological uncertainties surrounding this episode, we can only narrate the succession of events presented by Ramses III.

This scene from the north wall of Medinet Habu is often used to illustrate the Egyptian campaign against the Sea Peoples in what has come to be known as the Battle of the Delta.

Ramses III against the Sea Peoples

Around 1177 BC, the Danauna, Shakalash, Uashasha, Alasa, and Chekker completely encircled Egypt, heading toward it by sea and land, and both East and West.

To face them, Ramses III prepared a war fleet and raised a large army of infantry in arms. Curiously, there was no shortage of mercenaries among the Pharaoh’s forces from the ranks of the Sea Peoples, as had happened in the past.

Judging by the scenes contained in the Medinet Habu reliefs, the war was decided in two major battles, first a land one and then a naval one.

Archeology has not found any evidence that indicates the exact place of these clashes, but we can assume that, if they occurred as indicated, they were at two points close to each other and as far as possible from the Nile valley.

Based on this, it is believed that the land battle could have taken place at some point between the eastern border of the Delta and the southern coast of the Palestinian strip, while the naval combat occurred when an enemy fleet penetrated precisely in the Nile Delta.

It should also be noted that in both encounters the pharaoh would have intervened, although in a different way:

In the land battle he would intervene directly, but in the naval he would support his navy from the coast. On land, Pharaoh’s forces had time to prepare, so they would have mercilessly ambushed the migrant caravan heading towards Egypt.

Despite this overwhelming victory, this enemy could not be defeated so quickly because it was not a political entity and therefore did not act as a coherent group.

In this way, other groups continued to be a threat to Egyptian stability that had to be alleviated.

On this occasion, the scenes in Medinet Habu show us a group of foreign ships that entered a waterway with the clear intention of landing their warriors on the shore.

However, they were unaware that they were being watched and, before the maneuver came to an end, the Egyptian navy would have suddenly emerged to attack them by surprise.

At the same time, from the ground the infantry would finish off those who had managed to disembark and the enemy ships carried towards the coast would be attacked by the Egyptian archers.

The "Fourth Pyramid of Giza": The Inconspicuous "Pyramid of Khentkaus" in Giza Plateau

The tomb, located on the Giza Plateau, was originally believed by some Egyptologists to be a "fourth pyramid of Giza"

The pyramid of Khentkaus I or step tomb of Khentkaus I is a Fourth Dynasty two-stepped tomb built for the Queen Mother Khentkaus I in Giza. The tomb, built in two phases coinciding with its two steps, was originally known as the fourth pyramid of Giza.

The tomb has a two-stepped superstructure, which can not properly be classified either as a mastaba or as a pyramid. Selim Hassan compared it to Djoser's step pyramid, which had a square base in its early development, to favour a pyramid designation.

In the first phase, a nearly square block of bedrock, around which the stone had been quarried for the Giza pyramids, was utilised to construct her tomb and encased with fine white Tura limestone.

In the second phase, most likely in the Fifth Dynasty, her tomb was enlarged with a large limestone structure built on top of the bedrock block. The Egyptologist Miroslav Verner suggests that this may have been intended to convert her tomb into a pyramid, but was abandoned as a result of stability concerns.

Reconstruction of the Giza Necropolis, Artist: Uvo Hölscher, 1910

South-west of the tomb was a long boat pit, which housed the Night boat of Re. A companion day boat has not been found. A chapel was built into the tomb superstructure, with a large granite entrance bearing the queen's name and titles. One of her titles was of particular interest because it had not been known of prior to its discovery at her tomb.

The chapel connected to a three-niched statuary room to its west, and a long hall to its north. The hall to the north housed two pink granite false doors, below one of which was a sloped passage into the tomb substructure comprising an antechamber and a bisected burial chamber. In the east half of the burial chamber were entrances to six storage magazines, and two more pink granite false doors in its west wall.

The west half of the chamber was once occupied by a large alabaster sarcophagus, fragments of which constituted the only significant finds by Selim Hassan. Carved into the north wall was a shelf which once stored the canopic jars of the burial. A small square niche had been cut into the south wall.

Khentkaus I's mortuary complex

A settlement was built around Khentkaus' tomb, and probably occupied by priests of her mortuary cult until the end of the Sixth Dynasty. The settlement was bounded to the north and south by long perimeter walls running east then south.

Along a causeway leading from the chapel through the town, ten carefully planned homes were built, suggesting that the town was designed and not the result of natural urban development. The town was further outfitted with granaries and a large water tank. To the south-west were Menkaure's valley temple, and an annex described by Hassan as Khentkaus' valley temple.

Location and Excavation

The tomb, located on the Giza Plateau, was originally believed by some Egyptologists to be a "fourth pyramid of Giza". It was identified as a pyramid by John Shae Perring and Colonel Howard Vyse who visited the site in 1837–1838. The site was visited the following year by Karl Richard Lepsius, on sponsorship from King Frederick William IV of Prussia.

He believed the tomb was a private one, and designated it 100 on his map. In 1912, Uvo Hölscher identified the structure as "the unfinished pyramid of Shepseskaf". George Andrew Reisner identified it as a king's pyramid, believing it to be an incomplete construction of Shepseskaf, in Mycerinus, the temples of the third pyramid at Giza (1931).

In 1932, Selim Hassan was able to demonstrate that the tomb belonged to Khentkaus I. The name and titles of the queen were found inscribed on blocks of red granite from the doorjambs of the chapel. Hers was the last royal monument built on the plateau.

Who was Khentkaus I?

Khentkaus I, also referred to as Khentkawes, was a royal woman who lived in ancient Egypt during both the Fourth Dynasty and the Fifth Dynasty. She may have been a daughter of king Menkaure, the wife of both king Shepseskaf and king Userkaf (the founder of the Fifth Dynasty), the mother of king Sahure. Some suggest that she was the regent for one of her sons. Perhaps, in her own right, she may have been the king of Upper and Lower Egypt, which aspects of her burial suggest. Her mastaba at Giza – tomb LG100 – is located very close to Menkaure's pyramid complex. This close connection may point to a family relationship. Although the relationship is not clear, the proximity of the pyramid complex of Khentkaus to that of king Menkaure has led to the conjecture that she may have been his daughter.

Khentkaus depicted on her tomb

Khentkaus's burial complex confirms her royal status. Some of her titles are ambiguous and open to interpretation. She appears to have served as regent and may have taken the title of king. On a granite doorway leading into her tomb, Khentkaus I is given titles that may be read either as mother of two kings of upper and lower Egypt, as mother of the king of upper and lower Egypt and the king of upper and lower Egypt, or, as one scholar reads it, the king of upper and lower Egypt and the mother of two kings of upper and lower Egypt. Furthermore, her depiction on this doorway also gives her the full trappings of kingship, including the false beard of the king. This depiction and the title given have led some Egyptologists to suggest that she reigned as king near the end of the fourth dynasty.

 

That she was the daughter of Menkaure is speculated widely. Much evidence supports the idea. Khentkaus may have been married to king Userkaf and may have been the mother of Sahure and Neferirkare Kakai. Egyptologist Miroslav Verner has stated that it is more likely, however, that Sahure was a son of Userkaf and his wife Neferhetepes. He also suggested that Khentkaus was the mother and regent for her son Thamphthis and the mother of Neferirkare Kakai.

Manetho's King List has Menkaure and Thampthis reigning in the Fourth Dynasty, which ties Khentkaus to the end of the Fourth Dynasty, The suggestions of her marriage to Userkaf and having been the mother of Sahure, tie her to the Fifth Dynasty as well.

Egypt restores ancient shrine of Amun-Ra

Egypt has finished restoring one of the seven shrines in the Temple of Seti I in southern Egypt, dedicated to the worship of Amun-Ra about 3,500 years ago.

This picture taken on Jan. 19, 2022, shows a view of the top of the Luxor Obelisk in Egypt's southern city of Luxor, displaying a relief of the obelisk commissioner Pharaoh Ramses II making an offering to the god Amun-Ra. - AMIR MAKAR/AFP via Getty Images

CAIRO — A team of restorers and archaeologists from the Egyptian state-owned Supreme Council of Antiquities has recently completed restoration work on the shrine of the ancient deity Amun-Ra, one of the seven chapels in the Temple of Seti I in Abydos in southern Egypt’s Sohag governorate.

In a press statement released by the Supreme Council of Antiquities on Aug. 21, Muhammad Abdel-Badi, the head of the Central Administration of Upper Egypt Antiquities, explained that in the rear of the shrine, a there is a symbolic door and scenes depicting the boat journey to the underworld as well as religious rituals and offerings to Amun-Ra.

The statement quoted Saadi Zaki, director of restoration for Upper Egypt Antiquities, as saying that the restoration works took about three months and included removing dirt and soot first with brushes by hand and then with a chemical cleaning procedure.

He added that some of the walls and ceiling were rebuilt, the colors were brightened and finally the entire room was insulated.

Hussein Abdel Basir, director of the Antiquities Museum of Bibliotheca Alexandrina, told Al-Monitor, “A shrine in ancient Egypt was tantamount to a mihrab, a holy place where priests used to perform daily and funeral services in the temple.”

“The Temple of Seti I includes seven shrines of the following deities: Horus, Isis, Osiris, Ra-Horakhty, Ptah and Amun-Ra, as well as the chapel of King Seti I, who believed he was a god and designed a shrine for himself,” Abdel Basir explained.

He added, “The Abydos area was a sacred spot for the god Osiris and a site for annual pilgrimages,” and stressed that Amun-Ra was one of the most significant deities in the modern state era, especially in the Thebes area.

“Therefore, Amun-Ra’s shrine is considered one of the most important monuments in the area. The connection between Seti I and the god is evident in the shrine's drawings and inscriptions on the walls,” he said.

The archaeological area of Abydos is one of Egypt’s oldest cities and home to the first Egyptian kings. One of the richest archaeological sites in Egypt it was called “Abju,” meaning the land of the great, of which “Abydos” was derived. The ancient city was a center for the worship of the deity Khenti-Imentiu before it became the same for Osiris.

Seti I (1294-1279 BC) was the second king of the 19th Dynasty after his father, Ramses I. He was the father of the great King Ramses II, who ruled Egypt for at least 21 years.

Abdul Basir explained, “King Seti I was a great warrior and had great military achievements in the Near East. During his era, interest in art emerged. That is why he is considered one of the most important kings of ancient Egypt. Had it not been for the fame of his son, Ramses II, which overshadowed the king’s life story, Seti I would have had a greater reputation historically.”

Before taking up the throne, King Seti I was a military officer. After he was coronated, he led various campaigns in Libya and the Levant. During his reign, battle scenes were extensively depicted across walls of Egyptian temples.

Ahmad Badran, a professor of archeology and ancient Egyptian civilization at Cairo University, told Al-Monitor, “The Temple of Seti I is distinguished from the rest of the Ramesside temples by its L-shaped architectural design. It also has seven shrines, as opposed to only one in other temples.”

“The shrine of Amun-Ra is located opposite the entrance to the temple and is characterized by its colorful inscriptions that show King Seti I performing daily service rituals and worshiping the deities,” he added.

Badran explained, “The temple is known for its bright colors. But over time, dust and dirt settled on the drawings and inscriptions, meaning that work was required to restore the original colors, giving the temple greater luster and splendor and highlighting the ingenuity of ancient Egyptians in using colors from natural sources that were mixed with other products such as egg whites to make them last.

Badran said that the restoration work of shrines will boost tourism, as tourists are interested in shrines in their original condition and original colors as built by ancient Egyptians more than 3,500 years ago.

In the Supreme Council of Antiquities’ Aug. 21 press statement, council head Mostafa Waziri said that the council is planning to restore all the temple’s chapels and that the restoration of the shrine of the god Ra-Horakhty has recently begun.

Source: https://www.al-monitor.com/originals/2022/...

Why Was Pharaoh Hatshepsut’s Reign Virtually Erased From History?

 Pharaoh Hatshepsut was a remarkable female who was just as successful as strong.

In her new book, The Woman Who Would Be King: Hatshepsut’s Rise to Power in Ancient Egypt, UCLA Egyptologist Kara Cooney provides a clear-eyed perspective on how the young Hatshepsut maneuvered her powerful rise and explains why distrust of strong female leaders caused Hatshepsut's reign to be virtually erased from history.

In an interview with the Good Magazine, Cooney revealed how this powerful female leader came to be "king."

This is what Cooney had to say:

Why should we know about Hatshepsut?

She’s the only woman from all of antiquity to have left her situation better than she found it. Other women who held military power are all associated with crisis or disaster. Hatshepsut does everything right, everything was good in her reign. There were no assassinations, only prosperity. In fact, some accused her of giving too much of that wealth away.

Why isn’t she a household name?

Her success precisely is the reason we don’t remember her. We are still quite ambivalent about a female in power.
A woman who has succeeded is automatically distrusted—we assume she will only care about herself and close family members, instead of being able to make far-reaching political decisions.

An ambitious woman leader is usually maligned in history as a conniving, scheming seductress who foolishly brings down the men around her.

Today, only 5.2 percent of Fortune 500 CEOs are female and about one out of five Congress members are women. These are facts. Women have a very hard time finding political power.

Can you name some of Hatshepsut’s successes?

Her wars in Nubia (also known as Kush) were moneymaking. Nubia means “land of gold” and she quashed insurrections there and made sure those gold mines stayed open.

She built more structures than any king previous to her—and these were stone temple structures. No king had built temples in stone the way she did. She made sure she left a permanent mark with those sacred structures.

And she was a job grower. She was interested in spreading wealth, creating more titles for people so they could have their own income. The amount of wealth she created and redirected back to her elite was impressive. She decentralized her power and this made the country stronger.

Speaking of power, how did Hatshepsut get so much of it?

She cloaked all her of personal decisions in ideology and idealism—this woman was canny, clever, and calculated.

Her husband-brother, King of Upper and Lower Egypt, died young and she was also the daughter of a successful warrior king. She was pulled into a matrix of power; few people could understand how to justify the aberration of becoming a female king. Yet she made sure everyone believed that this was in their best interest. She was a careful thinker politically and she was a very good communicator. Looking at statuary and relics texts, she covered her power plays by saying ‘the gods asked me to do this.’ She never said ‘I want it.’

In fact, as a priestess, she called God her father and said God’s seed was planted into her mother.

An engrossing biography of the longest-reigning female pharaoh in Ancient Egypt and the story of her audacious rise to power.

Hatshepsut—the daughter of a general who usurped Egypt's throne and a mother with ties to the previous dynasty—was born into a privileged position in the royal household, and she was expected to bear the sons who would legitimize the reign of her father’s family. Her failure to produce a male heir was ultimately the twist of fate that paved the way for her improbable rule as a cross-dressing king.

At just over twenty, Hatshepsut ascended to the rank of pharaoh in an elaborate coronation ceremony that set the tone for her spectacular reign as co-regent with Thutmose III, the infant king whose mother Hatshepsut out-maneuvered for a seat on the throne.

Hatshepsut was a master strategist, cloaking her political power plays in the veil of piety and sexual reinvention. Just as women today face obstacles from a society that equates authority with masculinity, Hatshepsut shrewdly operated the levers of power to emerge as Egypt's second female pharaoh.

Hatshepsut successfully negotiated a path from the royal nursery to the very pinnacle of authority, and her reign saw one of Ancient Egypt’s most prolific building periods. Scholars have long speculated as to why her monuments were destroyed within a few decades of her death, all but erasing evidence of her unprecedented rule.

Constructing a rich narrative history using the artifacts that remain, noted Egyptologist Kara Cooney offers a remarkable interpretation of how Hatshepsut rapidly but methodically consolidated power—and why she fell from public favor just as quickly. The Woman Who Would Be King traces the unconventional life of an almost-forgotten pharaoh and explores our complicated reactions to women in power.

What kind of a mother was she?

A very good mother. She had a daughter named Nefrure, her only offspring, and she fostered her daughter’s power. She made sure Nefrure became a high priestess, with a household and income of her own. We don’t know their emotions but the two must have been close allies.

Did Hatshepsut have a lover?

An outsider named Senenmut was her closest ally. He was in charge of her money, her buildings, and her campaigns. His access to her was closer than any other person. In more than 20 statues, he is shown hugging Hatshepsut’s daughter as a young child, which showed everyone that he had this close connection. But just because they were close doesn’t mean that they had a sexual relationship. And remember, Hatshepsut was the most powerful woman of her time—she could have slept with anyone she wanted. This woman’s sexuality was not controlled by others, she controlled her own.

Sexually, Ancient Egyptian customs seem to break all the rules, with brothers marrying sisters, and daughters marrying fathers. Was this widespread?

This only happened in royal families. Brother-sister marriages were sometimes preferred for political reasons. Incest rules are only broken in cultures around the world that want to hold onto extreme power and wealth. It’s a good technique if you’re trying to keep the money in the family. The problem is the health of the offspring is not guaranteed, so it’s not necessarily a successful breeding scheme. To counter this, daughters were kept inside the palace, and non-family women were brought in to the male kings.

Why did Hatshepsut call herself a king and not a queen?

In Egypt, the word for queen means ‘king’s woman’ so when Hatshepsut took on that highest mantel, she abandoned the title of queen and called herself king—and took on the masculinity that went with it.

Source: https://www.ancientpages.com/2014/11/09/ph...

US authorities seize 3000-year-old Egyptian artefact

A potentially 3,000-year-old canopic jar was found as it was being smuggled through the city.

[Getty]

While Memphis, TN has plenty of landmarks paying homage to its ancient Egyptian namesake, federal officials were likely not expecting to find a potentially 3,000-year-old ancient Egyptian artifact being smuggled through the city.

The artifact, an Egyptian canopic jar lid of the funeral deity named Imsety, had been declared as an antique stone sculpture over 100 years old and had been sent from a dealer in Europe to a private buyer in the US. Canopic jars were used to hold the internal organs of mummies, with Imsety specifically protecting the deceased's liver.

In ancient Egyptian theology, Imsety was one of the four sons of Horus and was represented with a human-headed figure.

An ancient Imsety canopic jar lid seized by US Customs and Border Protection.

(photo credit: US Customs and Border Protection)

The US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) worked with subject matter experts at the University of Memphis Institute of Egyptian Art and Archaeology to determine that the artifact was authentic and is likely from the Egyptian Third Intermediate Period, 1069 BC to 653 BC.

The artifact is protected by bilateral treaties and falls under the category of archaeological materials of cultural property imported into the US that is subject to seizure and forfeiture (CPIA 19 USC 2609). The CPIA (Convention on Cultural Property Implementation Act of 1983) restricts the import of some archaeological and ethnological materials into the US.

The Pyramid of Memphis, Tennessee (credit: Joel יוֹאֵל/Wikimedia Commons)

The dealer who shipped the item made contradictory statements about its declared value, and CBP seized it and turned it over to Homeland Security Investigation for further examination.

Memphis's Egypt connection

Memphis, TN is named for the ancient capital of Egypt and is home to the 10th largest pyramid in the world. One of the entrances to the University of Memphis hosts a large replica of the Colossus of Ramesses and the city's zoo features a grand entrance modeled after an Egyptian temple.

Source: https://www.jpost.com/omg/article-715728