Archaeology News: 2025.06.01

What happened to the Canaanites? DNA sequencing was conducted on five skeletons from Canaanite Sidon, including this one. The results indicate that there is a “genetic continuity” between the Canaanites at Sidon and the modern Lebanese. Photo: Courtesy of Claude Doumet-Serhal. What happened to the Canaanites?  Researchers conducted DNA sequencing on ancient Canaanite skeletons and have determined where the Canaanites’ descendants can be found today. The Canaanites were a Semitic-speaking cultural group that lived in Canaan (comprising Lebanon, southern Syria, Israel and Transjordan) beginning in the second millennium B.C.E. and wielded influence throughout the Mediterranean. In the Hebrew Bible, the Canaanites are described as inhabitants of Canaan before the arrival of the Israelites (e.g., Genesis 15:18–21, Exodus 13:11). Little of the Canaanites’ textual records remain, perhaps because they used papyrus instead of the more durable clay for writing. Much of the Canaanites’ history is reconstructed through the writings of contemporary peoples in addition to archaeological examinations of the material record. FREE eBook: Life in the Ancient World. Craft centers in Jerusalem, family structure across Israel and ancient practices—from dining to makeup—through the Mediterranean world. Email(Required) REQUEST FREE BOOK DOWNLOAD EBOOK Marc Haber, Claude Doumet-Serhal, Christiana Scheib and a team of 13 other scientists recently published their ... Continue Reading...

Roundtable session on the future of the field. Photo by Glenn Corbett. This past January, prominent archaeologists and biblical scholars from around the world gathered for a weekend of lectures and discussion at the Lanier Theological Library in Houston. The event, organized by Lipscomb University, was primarily a commemoration of the work and legacy of William Dever, the longtime leading voice of American biblical archaeology,* who celebrated his 90th birthday in November 2023. Nearly 20 scholars, including Gary Rendsburg, Jodi Magness, Thomas Levy, and many others well known to Biblical Archaeology Review readers, honored Dever with presentations about their latest discoveries and perspectives on the field. But the event, titled “Paradigm Shift or Pitfalls: Does Biblical Archaeology Have a Future?” was also an opportunity to reflect on the state of the field and its future. At least on the surface, the discipline’s prospects appear bleak. Across U.S. higher education, smaller history, anthropology, and religious studies departments, where biblical archaeology and related fields tend to be taught, are reducing faculty or shuttering altogether. Even programs at elite research institutions face existential threats from declining enrollments and constant demands to show meaningful employment outcomes for students. Adding to the problem, the field’s leading professional associations—the American Society of Overseas Research and the Society of Biblical Literature—remain divided on many issues, including whether archaeology has any relevance for biblical studies and vice versa. Finally, the field suffers from a severe lack of representation and has not kept pace with changing social and demographic trends, at least within the U.S. FREE ebook: Cyber-Archaeology in the Holy Land — The Future of the Past. Modern archaeological methods help create a new and objective future of the past. Email(Required) REQUEST FREE BOOK ... Continue Reading...

A colossal 36-foot statue of Ramesses II in the museum’s atrium. Courtesy Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities. The Grand Egyptian Museum Cairo, Egypt visit-gem.com The Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM) is finally open to the public … sort of. After a series of delays and setbacks dating back decades, this state-of-the-art, $1-billion museum complex began welcoming visitors on a trial basis this past fall, with its grand opening now set for mid-summer 2025. Housing upwards of 100,000 artifacts divided between a dozen exhibition halls in the main galleries and the museum’s majestic entry and staircase, the GEM is the largest archaeological museum in the world, offering a breathtaking journey through ancient Egyptian history. Perhaps most exciting, the GEM will be home to the entire Tutankhamun collection (some 5,500 artifacts). While access to the Tutankhamun galleries and Khufu’s solar boat museum remains restricted, visitors can enjoy the main galleries as well as an expansive services area and exterior gardens offering views of the Giza Pyramids. The exhibits are complemented by an interactive children’s museum and a conference center. Not least, the museum boasts modern laboratories, storage facilities, and resource-efficient and climate-smart design. Become a BAS All-Access Member Now! Read Biblical Archaeology Review online, explore 50 years of BAR, watch videos, attend talks, and more Egyptian authorities believe this splendid museum will breathe new life into Egypt’s tourism industry, which is still recovering from setbacks due to the Arab Spring and the COVID-19 pandemic. To that end, the surrounding area is being upgraded with new roads, parking lots, greenery, and hotels. There are now three large museums in Cairo dedicated to ancient Egypt: the GEM covering ancient Egyptian civilization from prehistoric times to the Roman era; the old Egyptian Museum at Tahrir Square; and the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization inaugurated in 2021, which covers Egyptian history up to the present day and boasts collections of royal mummies and textiles. Related reading in Bible History Daily More Discoveries at Saqqara Two Mummification Workshops Discovered at Saqqara Hundreds of Egyptian Sarcophagi Uncovered in the Saqqara Tombs The Sarcophagus of Ramesses the Great The Egyptian Journey of Jeremiah in the Bible Joseph in Egypt Our website, blog and email newsletter are a crucial part of Biblical Archaeology Society's nonprofit educational mission This costs substantial money and resources, but we don't charge a cent to you to cover any of those expenses. If you'd like to help make it possible for us to continue Bible History Daily, BiblicalArchaeology.org, and our email newsletter please donate. Even $5 helps: The post Egypt’s Grand Museum Finally Set to Open appeared first on Biblical Archaeology Society. Continue Reading...

A new type of figurine, with a feathered headdress, found at Azekah. Courtesy of the Lautenschläger Azekah Expedition Clay nude female figurines are a common find at Late Bronze Age sites in the southern Levant. Typically hand-sized and made from a mold, these objects, which may depict goddesses or birthing women, were likely used in rituals to promote fertility or offer protection.1 Our excavations at the site of Azekah in the Judean foothills have uncovered many such figurines, including the standard types: (1) a woman with a curled, Hathor-style headdress who holds a lotus flower in each hand; (2) a shorthaired woman with a flat headdress whose hands support her breasts; and (3) a longhaired woman with pronounced facial features, an infant at each breast, and a body adorned with trees and ibexes. This past summer, however, we found a new type that combines many of these expected forms and adds some new elements. The fragmentary piece, which measures 3 inches tall, depicts a woman inside a frame. She has curling, Hathor-style hair (type 1), and her eyes and mouth seem to express pronounced agony (type 3). She wears a necklace with a round pendant, and her hands support her breasts (type 2). A stylized tree is visible on her abdomen (type 3). Especially unusual, however, is her feathered headdress. Where might this headdress have originated and what might it represent? FREE eBook: Life in the Ancient World. Craft centers in Jerusalem, family structure across Israel and ancient practices—from dining to makeup—through the Mediterranean world. Email(Required) REQUEST FREE BOOK ... Continue Reading...

HEZEKIAH IN THE BIBLE. The royal seal of Hezekiah, king of Judah, was discovered in the Ophel excavations under the direction of archaeologist Eilat Mazar. Photo: Courtesy of Dr. Eilat Mazar; photo by Ouria Tadmor. The royal seal of King Hezekiah in the Bible was found in an archaeological excavation. The stamped clay seal, also known as a bulla, was discovered in the Ophel excavations led by Dr. Eilat Mazar at the foot of the southern wall of the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. The discovery was announced in a press release by the Hebrew University of Jerusalem’s Institute of Archaeology, under whose auspices the excavations were conducted. The bulla, which measures just over a centimeter in diameter, bears a seal impression depicting a two-winged sun disk flanked by ankh symbols and containing a Hebrew inscription that reads “Belonging to Hezekiah, (son of) Ahaz, king of Judah.” The bulla was discovered along with 33 other stamped bullae during wet-sifting of dirt from a refuse dump located next to a 10th-century B.C.E. royal building in the Ophel. In the ancient Near East, clay bullae were used to secure the strings tied around rolled-up documents. The bullae were made by pressing a seal onto a wet lump of clay. The stamped bulla served as both a signature and as a means of ensuring the authenticity of the documents. FREE ebook: Ten Top Biblical Archaeology Discoveries. Finds like the Pool of Siloam in Israel, where the Gospel of John says Jesus miraculously restored sight to a blind man. Email(Required) REQUEST FREE BOOK ... Continue Reading...

In two short publications from the early 1940s, Carl Blegen characterized the development of prehistoric culture in Greece as a continuous process of racial mixing that laid the foundations for classical, and even modern, Greece. This article situates Blegen’s narrative of racial mixing within a longer tradition in Aegean prehistory, as it developed in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and especially how 19th-century ideas about race influenced archaeological understandings of culture. Along with his friend and collaborator the British archaeologist Alan J.B. Wace, Blegen additionally used archaeological practice—vertical stratigraphy and ceramic evolutionary typologies—to buttress an argument for progressive racial mixing that ultimately preserved a continuity of culture between prehistoric and historic Greece. Despite disciplinary shifts in the decades after World War II, I argue Blegen’s narrative had a degree of staying power both because of its emphasis on language as an indicator of culture, which was strengthened by the decipherment of Linear B, and because it appealed to those who rejected notions of racial purity. This study therefore reveals how racialized understandings of culture can persist without the word “race,” and why it is important to interrogate the entangled relationship between archaeological practice and intellectual history. The post “The Peculiar Hellenic Alloy”: Carl Blegen’s Narrative of Greek Racial Development in Context appeared first on American Journal of Archaeology. Continue Reading...

Of the 12 cities that were active in Cyprus during the Roman Imperial period, current archaeological data indicates that gladiatorial and related spectacles were held only in Paphos, Salamis, and Kourion. The first two were the most important cities of the island and most probably organized such shows from the first century CE; in Kourion this happened later, in the first half of the third century CE. Concerning the venues where these events took place, there is evidence suggesting that the theaters of all three cities received provisional or permanent modifications to host these events. Additionally, Paphos boasted an early oval amphitheater. Salamis was also believed to have had an amphitheater, as suggested by late first-century CE inscriptions. Here it is argued that the “amphitheater” referenced in these inscriptions was actually a stadium, partially uncovered during excavations in the 1960s. Furthermore, an actual amphitheater excavated in Salamis, often associated with the inscriptional amphitheater, is now proposed to be a later structure, integrated into the preexisting stadium, likely dating from the mid fourth century CE. These revised interpretations have significant implications for the understanding of Roman spectacles in Cyprus. The post The Gladiatorial Spectacles in Cyprus and the Enigma of the Amphitheater at Salamis appeared first on American Journal of Archaeology. Continue Reading...

This article examines water management and control by the Roman army in arid environments, with a focus on southern Jordan. It presents the results of an aqueduct survey at Khirbet al-Khalde (Wadi al-Yutm, Aqaba Governorate), situated 26 km to the northeast of modern Aqaba. The aqueduct, which is the best surviving example of its kind in the Wadi al-Yutm, connected the site’s small fort (castellum) to a spring located approximately 1 km to the southeast. The aqueduct is notable because of its steep incline, and its construction is further evidence for the complex water management systems that are found in this region. The article argues that the aqueduct at Khirbet al-Khalde facilitated the control asserted by the army over water points along the Via Nova Traiana and, by extension, over trade and movement along this frontier zone. The post Asserting Control Through Water in the Roman Period: The Evidence from Southern Jordan and the Case of Khirbet al-Khalde appeared first on American Journal of Archaeology. Continue Reading...

This article presents the results of the last eight seasons of work at Gordion in west central Türkiye, focusing primarily on architectural conservation, excavation, and remote sensing on the Citadel Mound. The recently discovered South Gate appears to have been in use for over 1,200 years, from the ninth century BCE to the fourth century CE, and with an approach road nearly 100 m long. New excavations in the Mosaic Building Complex, first unearthed in the 1950s and dated at that time to the late fifth century BCE (Persian period), have demonstrated that it was actually constructed a century and a half earlier (ca. 575 BCE) and reconstructed after Gordion came under Persian control. The discoveries within the complex include a stone omphalos and two gilded ivory sphinxes that probably adorned a throne. The Mosaic Building may also have housed the cart with the Gordian Knot cut by Alexander in 333 BCE. The eighth-century Tumulus 52 included more than 3,000 amber beads imported from the Baltic, and the decedent may have been a member of Midas’ family. Gordion was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage Site List in 2023, the 20th site in Türkiye to be so honored. The post Fieldwork at Phrygian Gordion, 2016–2023 appeared first on American Journal of Archaeology. Continue Reading...

The rock-cut Midas Monument at Midas City, about 150 km west of Gordion, appears to reproduce the kind of megarons that were in operation in Iron Age Phrygia. In a 2023 article in the AJA, Geoffrey Summers argued that the Midas Monument was carved in the early sixth century BCE, when the surrounding area was under Lydian control. In this note, we address his arguments in detail and maintain that the available evidence supports a late eighth-century BCE date for the carving of the Midas Monument, when Midas served as king of Phrygia. The post The Citadel of Gordion and the Dating of the Midas Monument at Midas City appeared first on American Journal of Archaeology. Continue Reading...

 A large Roman villa was uncovered in Oxfordshire. Credit: Red River Archaeology GroupThe complex was adorned with intricate painted plaster and mosaics and housed a collection of small, tightly coiled lead scrolls. The Red River Archaeology Group (RRAG), the organization responsible for coordinating the excavation, announced in a press release that these elements suggest that the site may have been used for rituals or pilgrimages.Francesca Giarelli, the Red River Archaeology Group project officer and the site director, told CNN that the villa likely had multiple levels. The Roman villa complex, spanning an impressive 1,000 square meters (or 10,800 square feet) on its ground floor alone, was likely a prominent landmark visible from miles away.“The sheer size of the buildings that still survive and the richness of goods recovered suggest this was a dominant feature in the locality if not the wider landscape,” says Louis Stafford, a senior project manager at RRAG, in the statement.Read the rest of this article... Continue Reading...

Today, Smallhythe Place in Kent is best known as a bohemian rural retreat once owned by the Victorian actress Ellen Terry and her daughter Edy Craig. As this month’s cover feature reveals, however, the surrounding fields preserve evidence of much earlier activity, including a medieval royal shipyard and a previously unknown Roman settlement (below, first image). Our next feature comes from the heavy clays of the Humber Estuary, where excavations sparked by theconstruction of an offshore windfarm have opened a 40km transect through northern Lincolnshire, with illuminating results (below, second image). We then take a tour of Iron Age, Roman, and medieval Winchester, tracing its evolution into a regional capital and later a royal power centre.Read the rest of this article... Continue Reading...

Tom Quad, Christ Church, Oxford University – image David BeardThe Oxford Experience summer school is held at Christ Church, Oxford. Participants stay in Christ Church and eat in the famous Dining Hall, that was the model for the Hall in the Harry Potter movies.This year there are twelve classes offered in archaeology.You can find the list of courses here… Continue Reading...

‘It was killing fields as far as the eye can see’ … the Latin-inscribed slabs crossing the site of the battle, which features in the British Museum show Legion.Photograph: David Levene/The Guardian‘Their heads were nailed to the trees’: what was life – and death – like for Roman legionaries?It was the defeat that traumatised Rome, leaving 15,000 soldiers slaughtered in a German field. As a major show explores this horror and more, our writer finds traces of the fallen by a forest near the RhineIt is one of the most chilling passages in Roman literature. Germanicus, the emperor Tiberius’s nephew, is leading reprisals in the deeply forested areas east of the Rhine, when he decides to visit the scene of the catastrophic defeat, six years before, of his fellow Roman, Quinctilius Varus. The historian Tacitus describes what Germanicus finds: the ghastly human wreckage of a supposedly unbeatable army, deep in the Teutoburg Forest. “On the open ground,” he writes, “were whitening bones of men, as they had fled, or stood their ground, strewn everywhere or piled in heaps. Near lay fragments of weapons and limbs of horses, and also human heads, prominently nailed to trunks of trees.”Read the rest of this article... Continue Reading...

Schematic drawing of the relationship between climatic change and sociological, physical, and biological factors influencing infectious disease outbreaks.Credit: Science Advances (2024). DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.adk1033A team of geoscientists, Earth scientists and environmental scientists affiliated with several institutions in Germany, the U.S. and the Netherlands has found a link between cold snaps and pandemics during the Roman Empire.In their project, reported in the journal Science Advances, the group studied core samples taken from the seabed in the Gulf of Taranto and compared them with historical records.Researchers learn about climatic conditions in the distant past by analyzing sediment built up from river deposits. Tiny organisms that are sensitive to temperature, for example, respond differently to warm temperatures than to cold temperatures and often wind up in such sediment. Thus, the study of organic remains in sediment layers can reveal details of temperatures over a period of time.Read the rest of this article... Continue Reading...

In July’s post, I reviewed The Telegraph’s assertion that the Pitt-Rivers Museum had been ‘hiding’ objects that women were not supposed to see. You can find an archived version of the original Telegraph article here. The article is superficially about the exclusion of an object from public display (including digital display in collections online) to explicitly prevent a certain group (in this case women) from seeing that object. It’s main argument has been largely refuted in this article by the Pitt Rivers Museum, and in two threads about digital and in person access byMadeline Odent (@oldenoughtosay), on the platform formerly known as Twitter. In my previous post, I looked at the misunderstandings about museums that underpinned The Telegraph’s article. A careful reading of the article reveals that neither women’s access to the Igbo mask, nor the somewhat more philosophically interesting subject of who should be able to access taboo or sensitive objects, is its real theme! It’s primary purpose is to denigrate the Pitt Rivers Museum’s policies on cultural sensitivity, and the decolonisation process of which they form a part. So far so boring and predictable, but what is interesting about this article are the methods it uses to manipulate the reader. Reverse Outlining To take a really close look at the Telegraph article, I printed it out and numbered the paragraphs. Then on the left side of the paper I noted the points of each paragraph, and on the right side, details that jumped out at me about how the article was written. If you want to see what that looks like, I’ve posted images of the results below. I have blurred the human remains in two of the images so those who do not wish to see are not accidentally exposed. Annoyingly, the final sentence of the article has strayed onto a fourth page, but it is functionally the end of the previous paragraph. For copyright purposes please note that I reproduce these images of the marked-up article here, without ‘alt-text’ of the article content, as a means to criticism and review. They are not meant for in-depth reading, but merely as a visual guide to how I analysed the article. For those with an interest in academic writing techniques, I used a process known as ‘Reverse Outlining‘ in analysing the Telegraph article. If you want to see more about how it works, you can follow the previous link to Pat Thompson’s incredibly useful patter blog, or this article by Rachael Cayley. First page of the reverse outlined Telegraph article. I have blurred the image of the tsantsa. Second page of the reverse outlined Telegraph article. Third page of the reverse outlined Telegraph article. I have blurred out the human remains in the photograph at the top. The fourth page of the reverse outlined Telegraph article, only includes one sentence from the article. Womens rights The article is framed as an expose of a threat to women’s rights in the form of restrictions placed on the public display ... Continue Reading...

In my previous post, I discussed a Telegraph article, published on 17 June 2024 which criticised the Pitt Rivers Museum for ‘hiding’ objects that women were not supposed to see. You can find an archived version of the original Telegraph article here. While Madeline Odent (@oldenoughtosay) on Twitter and the Pitt Rivers Museum (in this article) rebutted most of the claims made by the Telegraph, it would not have been nearly as effective without certain gross misunderstandings of what museums are and how they work. I previously wrote here about how the redisplay of certain Wellcome Museum galleries was subject to similar misunderstandings in 2022, but it seems these misunderstandings continue. They may even be more intense in Wunderkammer-style museum, like the Pitt Rivers, which is as Madeline Odent puts it, ‘somewhat unusual among modern museums in that it has largely kept to its Victorian roots of ‘cram as many artefacts as possible into each display case’. If you’re unfamiliar with the PRM, it’s somewhat unusual among modern museums in that it has largely kept to its Victorian roots of ‘cram as many artefacts as possible into each display case’— madeline boOoOoOodent (@oldenoughtosay) June 25, 2024 Madeline Odent’s thread about visiting the Pitt-Rivers Museum, with her succinct description of its ‘Wunderkammer-style’. What is a museum? Museums, especially archaeological museums, often combine the function of object warehouse, educational institute, and art gallery. As I described in my post about the Wellcome Museum, the latter two functions are what we experience when we visit the museum galleries, or an exhibition of objects from the museum (either in the same building or elsewhere). The publicly open galleries and exhibitions do not constitute the whole Museum. They are simply the part of the museum that is prepared for public visitation with carefully curated objects and relevant signage. This is more obvious when we visit a museum with a limited number of artefacts carefully displayed, but even then I suspect many people assume that that which is on display constitutes the entire museum. In this respect, the Wunderkammer-style of the Pitt Rivers, is a disadvantage, because the very large number of items on display itself suggests that the entire collection is visible. In fact, the visible artefacts in publicly open galleries and exhibition spaces only ever constitute a relatively small proportion of any museum’s holdings! The Igbo mask, the focus of the Telegraph’s article, has not been ‘hidden’. It was never on display, along with much of the rest of the collection! The Collection The majority (exact proportions vary) of any museum’s holdings are held in storage. Together the objects in storage and those on display are described as the museum’s collection. Some of these objects are not on display because they are fragile or would be at risk in some way. Some are sufficiently similar to objects on display that including them would clutter display cases without adding further interest or value. Others are simply extremely boring to any but dedicated specialists. The holdings ... Continue Reading...

‘Regular readers will know that I’m interested in both public misunderstandings of archaeology and heritage and ‘Wunderkammer‘ style museums. So I was interested when on 17 June 2024, the Telegraph newspaper published an article critical of the Pitt Rivers Museum. The reaction to this on Twitter and in this rebuttal by the museum revealed that the article demonstrated both significant misunderstandings about the nature and purpose of museums, and how those misunderstandings are politicised. Now, do some photos have sensitivity warnings? Sure. When you visit the site, you get a pop up, and you can opt in OR OUT of the warnings. If you opt in, you can click thru to see something with a warning. For a small number, there’s no image. Here’s what that looks like. pic.twitter.com/YjlN2Y0m7i— madeline odent (@oldenoughtosay) June 19, 2024 Sensitivity warnings in the online catalogue, including one example where the image is not available to the public. (Tweet by @oldenoughtosay) Repatriation? As an aside, it’s worth noting that I am not going to engage here with the question of repatriation of objects. That is a very complex and important issue and there’s insufficient space here to do it justice. My focus here is public understanding of what museums do and are, where misunderstandings lie and how those misunderstandings can be corrected or exploited. Hiding masks? The Telegraph article was entitled “University of Oxford museum hides African mask that ‘must not be seen by women’”. You can find an archived version of the original Telegraph article here. It asserted that the museum had removed a Nigerian Igbo mask from display, and photos of it from the online catalogue because the culture of origin forbade women from seeing it. The article then linked these actions with a ‘decolonization process’ (the quotation marks are original to the article), that involved removal of the museum’s tsantsa (also known as ‘Shrunken heads’) and the addition of cultural sensitivity warnings, all resulting from the museum’s response to the Black Lives Matter protests of 2020. Truth or fiction? This swift rebuttal from the Pitt Rivers Museum and some investigative tweeting by Madeline Odent (@oldenoughtosay) revealed that the core claims of the Telegraph article were largely misunderstandings of both general museology and specific museum policy. To summarise, the Igbo mask in question has not been removed from display because it never was on display; a large proportion of the collection has yet to be photographed; some photographs have sensitivity warnings (image above right from Madeline Odent’s thread) and a very few are not available to view online; but researchers are welcome to visit and no one has ever been denied access to the mask. Pure coincidence that we just posted about this earlier. The curtains are to protect the delicate feathers from being damaged by too much light. https://t.co/PKZqBSXHX7— Pitt Rivers Museum (@Pitt_Rivers) June 25, 2024 Pitt Rivers Museum on Twitter confirming that the curtain was added for conservation reasons. Madeline Odent followed up her initial thread with this live-tweeted visit to the Pitt Rivers Museum, to test the idea that significant changes ... Continue Reading...

Mastabas in the Eastern Cemetery, with the Great Pyramid of Khufu (rear right); the pyramid of Khafre (rear, left) and the pyramid of Khufu’s Queen Henutsen (rear, centre) behind. A small chapel is visible in the ‘street’ between the mastabas in the foreground, with the denuded edge of mastaba G7430 behind it. To the left is the north edge of mastaba G7520. (Author photograph February 2024). The Eastern Cemetery East of the Great Pyramid, arranged in careful blocks, like a suburb of the dead, are a series of large mastaba (bench) tombs belonging to the nobles of Khufu’s court. The format for these tombs was relatively simple, the masonry ‘bench’ structure contained the offering places and, later, the more extensive tomb chapels, in which the cult of the dead was celebrated. The deceased with their grave goods were buried in subterranean tomb chambers, accessed via various burial shafts, concealed within the masonry structure. Most of these mastabas are closed to the public, although a rotating series of more interesting, well-preserved, and decorated tombs are accessible as part of the Giza Plateau ticket. (These include but are not limited to; G6020 Iymery; G7101 Qar; G7102 Idu; G7130-40 Khufukhaf; G7060 Nefermaat; G7070 Senefrukaef; Lepsius 53, Seshemnefer IV.) The tomb of Meresankh III is an exception to this rule. It is accessible only with a separate ticket and (after recent conservation) is almost always open. Google Maps satellite image of the Great Pyramid and the Eastern Cemetery. The mastabas of the Eastern cemetery appear as rectangular shapes, with the dark squares of the tomb shafts clearly visible cutting through the masonry. The ‘Tomb of Mers Ankh’ is correctly located. The entrance is on the eastern side of the mastaba, to the right of the red pin. The family of Meresankh III (centre), her mother Hetepheres II (left) and her son Nebemabkhet, who was later a vizier (right). Another probable son, Khenterka is shown as a child in front of Meresankh III, holding a lotus flower and a bird. Visiting Meresankh III’s Mastaba G7530-G7540 Meresankh III’s tomb is mastaba G7530-7540, roughly in the middle of the Eastern Cemetery, between the Great Pyramid and the valley. Surprisingly, the Google maps Tomb of Mers Ankh pin is almost exactly correct, just to the left of the subterranean tomb entrance (previous image). For those with small folk, it is also quite child-friendly. The scenes and statues are interesting and retain some of the paint, the burial chamber is easily accessible and, the tomb isn’t too large for a five-year-old attention span. Plus, for those with Disney-obsessed kids, she’s an actual bonafide princess and Queen! Prince Kawab, eldest son of Khufu and Meresankh III’s father, is the largest of any figure in her tomb. (Author photograph). Meresankh III Meresankh III was a granddaughter of Khufu, builder of the Great Pyramid, and wife of Pharaoh Khafre. Her Father, the eldest son of Khufu, Prince Kawab, is featured on the east wall of the first chamber. Her mother, Hetepheres II appears several times, and her son ... Continue Reading...

In my previous post, I reviewed the Grand Egyptian Museum atrium and Tutankhamun: The Immersive Experience. In this post I will address the sculptures of the Grand Staircase, the only display of ancient Egyptian artefacts currently accessible to the visitor, apart from the statues in the atrium and the hanging obelisk. When the museum is fully open, the Grand Staircase will lead to the galleries of museum exhibits, but at the time of writing (February 2024) it can be visited as part of a guided tour that also includes the hanging obelisk and the atrium and follows the immersive Tutankhamun experience. Tickets can be booked via the GEM website. The Grand Staircase from the bottom. The usurped pair of colossal seated statues of a late Middle Kingdom Pharaoh are visible to the left (GEM45807 and GEM 45808), with a standing statue of Senusret III (GEM1709) between them. Beyond them are the Thutmosides and Ramessides. To the right of the staircase is a seated statue of Thutmose III (GEM 3769) and a colossal head of Akhenaten (GEM 2220), safely isolated from his religiously orthodox peers (Author photograph). Practicalities The Grand Staircase is located in the centre of the south side of the GEM, and is accessed by turnstiles in front of the granite statues of two Ptolemaic monarchs (probably Ptolemy II and Arsinoe II). There are four travelators to the right of the staircase, allowing visitors to ride up and access three intermediate landings and the top level of the staircase. For those with accessibilty needs the travelator will be most welcome, but there is nothing to stop you from walking up, and the stairs are interspersed with seating if you need a rest, or would like to stop and soak in the statuary and sculptures. Each landing has a large board explaining the theme of the next part of the staircase, and touchable models of significant artefacts for those who need tactile formats. Spaced regularly up the staircase, with easy access all around the individual artefacts, the statuary renders the staircase a kind of vertical sculpture gallery. Group of Ramessides as standard bearers. Seti II (GEM 2236), usurped from Amenmesse, is in the foreground with Ramses III (GEM 5993) behind him. Merneptah (GEM 2234) is just visible to the right of Seti II, with Roman Emperor Caracalla (GEM 6730) beyond. The royal image The sculptures of the Grand Staircase are broadly themed around Kingship, beginning with various royal statues, followed by sculptures showing the relationship between the King and the gods, and ending with those relating to the royal afterlife. In the lowest section of the staircase, we are introduced to various Pharaohs, beginning with an unfortunate late Middle Kingdom Pharaoh (probably Sensuret III or Amenemhat IV) whose pair of seated colossal statues were usurped initially by Ramses II and now bear the cartouches of Merneptah. Several statues of Thutmose III, Hatshepsut, and a rather nice black granite seated statue of Amenhotep III serve to represent the Thutmosides. The Ramessides are ... Continue Reading...