Archaeology, features and articles | Educational Science

Mar 23, 2023

Ancient zodiac paintings on Egyptian temple see the light of day after 2,200 years

Gorgeous zodiac paintings decorating the roof and walls of the 2,200-year-old Temple of Esna in southern Egypt have been revealed during a restoration project that's clearing away two millennia's worth of grime, soot and bird poop, researchers announced March 20. Restorers painstakingly cleaned the zodiac artworks, many of which were...

Mar 23, 2023

Ancient Egyptian pharaoh-sphinx statues unearthed at sun temple

Archaeologists in Egypt have discovered broken statues of ancient royalty at a sun temple in Heliopolis, an archaeological site that was once a major city near what is now Cairo. The stone-carved fragments include depictions of Ramesses II (reign circa 1279 B.C. to 1213 B.C.), Ramesses IX (reign circa 1126...

Mar 29, 2023

2,000 mummified rams' heads were gifted to long-dead ancient Egyptian pharaoh Ramesses II

More than 2,000 mummified rams' heads have been unearthed at an ancient temple in Egypt. The severed skulls were likely prepared as an offering to the Egyptian pharaoh Ramesses II, around 1,000 years after he died. The severed heads were uncovered at the Ramesses II temple in Abydos, an ancient...

Apr 1, 2023

Who ruled ancient Egypt after King Tut died?

Tutankhamun, the famed ancient Egyptian boy king who ascended the throne as a child, died when he was around 19 years old, sometime between 1327 B.C and 1323 B.C. But Tut's death was unexpected, and he left no heirs to the throne. So who ruled in the power vacuum that...

Apr 16, 2023

Which ancient Egyptian dynasty ruled the longest?

Ancient Egypt was ruled for millennia by a series of pharaohs. Historians have broken up this period into dynasties, in which the rulers were either related to one another or derived power from a predecessor. But which dynasty lasted the longest? The 18th dynasty of Egypt, which lasted around 250...

Apr 18, 2023

Severed hands buried in ancient Egyptian palace were likely 'trophies' exchanged for gold

In a gruesome exchange about 3,600 years ago, the severed right hands of at least 12 individuals were traded for gold and then buried in a royal palace in ancient Egypt, a new study finds. Scientists discovered the severed hands buried in three pits during a 2011 excavation of a...

Apr 20, 2023

Hidden contents of 6 ancient Egyptian coffins, sealed for thousands of years, revealed

For thousands of years, six ancient Egyptian coffins have been sealed to the outside world, their contents unknown. Now, scientists have used technology to peer inside the coffins, which are now housed at the British Museum in London, for the first time since their burial, revealing the mummified remains of...

Apr 23, 2023

3,300-year-old ancient Egyptian tombs and chapel with 'amazing' decorations unearthed at Saqqara

Archaeologists in Egypt have discovered several tombs and chapels dating back around 3,300 years in an ancient cemetery at the site of Saqqara. The biggest tomb belonged to a man named Panehsy who was the overseer of the temple of Amun, Lara Weiss, a curator of the Egyptian and Nubian...

Apr 28, 2023

Mystery of 'impossible' ancient Egyptian statue may be solved

The mystery of an impossible ancient Egyptian sculpture depicting two individuals, one of them a pharaoh, may now be solved, according to a researcher. Not everyone agrees with the new assessment, however. The 3D sculpture, carved out of limestone, shows the statue of a pharaoh seated on the lap of...

May 2, 2023

1st-century Buddha statue from ancient Egypt indicates Buddhists lived there in Roman times

A 1,900-year-old statue of the Buddha — discovered at the ancient Egyptian port city of Berenike, on the coast of the Red Sea — likely belonged to a transplant from South Asia, according to archaeologists. The Buddha statue depicts Siddhartha Gautama, who lived in South Asia around 2,550 years ago....

May 16, 2023

Ancient Egyptian children were plagued with blood disorders, mummies reveal

A large percentage of mummified children from ancient Egypt show signs of blood disorders known as anemias, suggesting that these youngsters may have had a slew of related medical problems, including malnutrition and growth defects, a new study finds. Using full body CT (computed tomography) scans, a non-destructive way to...

Jun 1, 2023

Ancient Egyptian queen's bracelets contain 1st evidence of long-distance trade between Egypt and Greece

Bracelets found in the tomb of the ancient Egyptian queen Hetepheres I — the mother of Khufu, the pharaoh who commissioned the Great Pyramid of Giza — reveal new information about the trade networks that once linked the Old Kingdom to Greece. After analyzing samples taken from the jewelry, an...

Jun 2, 2023

Ancient Egypt: History, dynasties, religion and writing

Ancient Egypt in North Africa was one of the most powerful and influential civilizations in the region for over 3,000 years, from around 3100 B.C to 30 B.C. It left behind numerous monuments, documents and works of art that continue to be studied by scholars today. However Egyptian civilization existed...

Jun 2, 2023

2,300-year-old Egyptian mummification workshops found at Saqqara

Two ancient mummification workshops — one for humans and another for animals — have been discovered at Saqqara in Egypt. The workshops date back around 2,300 years and were in use between the late 30th dynasty and the early Ptolemaic period. During that time, Egypt lost its independence, first being...

Jun 7, 2023

King Tut's likeness revealed in vivid new facial approximation of ancient Egyptian pharaoh

The pharaoh Tutankhamun, also known as King Tut, is arguably the best-known ruler in ancient Egyptian history. And while much has been written about the royal youth, who held the throne from about the age of 9 until his death a decade later around 1323 B.C., his actual appearance is...