10 Most Incredible Discoveries From Ancient Egypt!

10 Most Incredible Discoveries From Ancient Egypt!

Number Ten, portrait mommy's 
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 to 2000 years, found in a remote part of the desert had colored paintings and any heroglyph extolling the family 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 Potala make 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 look like is a miracle number. 

Number Nine, 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 have found lime stone 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 from Cairo.

People have lived within the Oasis since 10000 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 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.

Number Eight, The Unfinished Obelisk

an unfinished Obelisk, has been buried beneath the Sands of Egypt for thousands of years. It is a massive structure that 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 and weighed 1200 tons. An obelisk is a giant Tower with four sides. You only covered with heroglyph fix 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 they have been built taller and are often composed of concrete and several stones. And some obelisks even have interior spaces. An example of when today is the Washington Monument located in Washington DC in the United States.

But why did this Egyptian obelisks 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. 

Number Seven, The Mummy of Nudjmet

In the 1880s. A hidden tomb was revealed to Egyptian authorities after sheepherders 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 mummifies remains of Nedjmet.

In addition to the famous nudge meant there were dozens of other mummies found with wooden coffin  stretching far into the distance within the underground catacomb. The discovery eventually became known as the Dare el-bahri mummy cash. Many of the mummified remains found in this cache, where priests from the 21st Dynasty, including Nudjmet whose husband was likely a high priest of a moon during the reign of Ramses XI. However, Nudjmet husband was never found, archaeologists only know about him, because his name and likeness were found within Nudjmet '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.

Nudjmet had been given artificial eyes made of black and white stones. She had had sawdust pact 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. 

Number Six,The Khufu Ship

The Khufu ship was discovered in 1954 and it's one of the most impressive archaeological discoveries from ancient Egypt ever found. 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 4600 years old, but it was crafted with such Excellence skill that even today, it could sail down the Nile River.

According to PBS. The Vessel is 144 feet long and took 20 months to remove from its burial place. There were approximately 1224 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.  

Number Five, The Tomb Of Seti The First

Seti the first 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 the first rule during the 19th dynasty of Egypt, he was the son of rameses I and the father of Ramses II and he likely ruled between 1294 BC and 1279 NBC. 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 a moon 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 KV 17 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 time that featured decorations on every passageway. Basically, it was the most lavish tomb ever designed. It was approximately 440 six feet long, but surprisingly enough , Seti I himself was not inside the tomb.

His body was found in 1881 within the large mummy cash discovered at Dare el-Bahri

Number Four 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, for the past 2200 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 fourth Pharaoh in the Ptolemic 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 4000 oarsman just to operate.

However, this ship has never been found. As for the new well, 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.

Number three, Egyptian Tomb Builders and Healthcare

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 3100 to 3500 years ago, it would appear that the army of workers who constructed the tombs of the Kings had actually been supported by a healthcare network.

In the US healthcare 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 dier el-medina, which was originally constructed for the workers who dug the tombs at the Valley of the Kings.

It was basically a worker Shantytown. However, many of the workers were highly skilled Craftsmen. And because of this, they were given extra support. The Egyptian State allegedly paid the monthly wages of grain while also providing them housing and servants  who would grind the 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 some government allow the worker sick days, and would even give them free treatment for things like eye problems and digestive disorders. This shows us that at dare el-medina Healthcare was assistant with exceptional networks of care provided through the state and the community.

Number Two, 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 as Crack the Code of Ancient Egyptian Hieroglyphics. It is an unevenly shaped Stone of black granite 3 feet 9 inches long and 2 feet and 4.5 inches 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 it's 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 and an ancient Egyptian demotic, which had been used by Everyday People. And in ancient Greek.

This helped Scholars compare the same phrase written in three different languages, and 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 .

Number One , Millions Of Mummified Dogs

In a series of catacombs located slightly south of Cairo, researchers recently discovered a burial site filled with mummified dogs.

This site is located in saqqara. Catacombs are dedicated to the jackal-headed god of the afterlife Anubis. Anubis was insanely popular with the ancient Egyptians. According to 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 life 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.

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