by Hassan Saadallah

An ancient Egyptian temple has been discovered in the Cairo district of Ain Shams, Minister of Culture Farouk Hosni announced yesterday.

For his part, Chairman of the Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA) Zahi Hawass said in a statement that the temple, discovered in Souq el-Khamis in Ain Shams, is one of many sun temples in the area.

The floor of the temple was covered in red granite, Hawass said, adding that a statue similar to that of Ramses II was also found on the site.

"Many parts of red granite statues were found, the most important of which had features close to Ramses II ... The statue needs some restoration and weighs between four and five tonnes," the statement quoted the Hawass as saying.

The region known in ancient times for sun worship and where the Council says a calendar based on the solar year was invented.

Sun Temple discovered in Cairo district, The Egyptian Gazette, Egypt, February 27, 2006.

The Queensland Museum launched its show Life and Death in Ancient Egypt yesterday, cashing in on the enduring fascination with Egyptian mummies.

It follows the story of Keku, a rich young woman who died in Thebes 2700 years ago.

It took about 70 days to prepare her body for the afterlife, and every step of the way, from mummification to the spells adorning her sarcophagi, was aimed at helping her transition through the treacherous underworld to the afterlife.

Opening the exhibition, University of Queensland historian Jennifer Tunny, an expert in the process, said the rituals of death in ancient Egypt were amazing...

Roll up for inside story on mummy mania, The Courier-Mail, Queensland, Australia, February 28, 2006.

An ancient Egyptian mummy has reached Queensland.

The 2,700-year-old mummy of Keku will go on display at the Queensland Museum from tomorrow.

Exhibition curator Greg Czechura says there are 200 ancient artefacts including mummified heads, a foot and a hand.

"We've had ancient Egyptian exhibitions in the past which have been sort of artefact-based, so you get a cluster of particular type there and another type over there," he said.

"What this display does is pulls it all together, so you can see where each lot fits in the story of her life."

Qld Museum to display 2,700-year-old mummy, Yahoo! News, Australia, February 27, 2006.

cf. Life and Death in Ancient Egypt: Keku's Story, Queensland Museum South Bank, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, February 28, 2006 – May 21, 2006.

by Zahi Hawass

We know about the governor Djed-Khonsu-ef-ankh from the temples of Ain-El-Meftella where he built chapels with his brothers to the kings Apries and Ahmose II of the 26th Dynasty.

During the sixth century B.C., a power struggle between King Apries and Ahmose, the head of the Egyptian army, sent troops to the Western Desert, where he victoriously defended Egyptian interests against the Greeks and Libyans. Ahmose was crowned Ahmose II. He understood the importance of Bahariya as a gateway to Egypt from the west and protected it vigilantly.

To honour him, two temples and many chapels near Ain el-Muftella (an ancient site near El-Bawiti) were erected in his name by the second priest of Bahariya. Wahibranefer, the son of Arknakht, under the supervision of Prince Soteckh-erdies, who appears on the temple walls with a feather on his head. His grandson, Djed-Khonsu-ef-ankh would later make addition to this temple.

These chapels were discovered in 1900 by the German scholar George Steindorff. In one of three chapels, Djed-Khonsu-ef-ankh is shown as the second priest and the third priest of Amun.

The governor is depicted equal in size to the king, showing he is an important man and could be second to the king. The name of his father, Ped-Isis, and his brother, Shepen-Khonsu, who was also a governor of Bahariya, were also mentioned. Therefore, the whole family lived in Bahariya, and should be buried there. I never thought that the tomb of Djed-Khonsu-ef-ankh would be found.

A week after, we demolished the house of the old women, and the tombs were consolidated. I entered inside. As I entered the burial chamber, I saw a very large anthropoid sarcophagus. I shall never forget that moment...

Discovery of Djed-Khonsu-ef-ankh Governor of Bahariya (Part 3), The Egyptian Gazette, Egypt, February 27, 2006.

by Hassan Saadallah

The recently discovered catacomb in Luxor is the first intact tomb to be discovered in over 80 years. The tomb, unearthed by an American team of archaeologists, lies very close to the tomb of King Tutankhamun, making experts wonder why the Ancient Egyptians collected so many mummies in one place, known as a catacomb.

The stunning discovery was made in Luxor's Valley of the Kings on the West Bank of the Nile. The tomb lies to the northeast of King Amenmesse's tomb.

A rectangular chamber cut into the mountain side, 1.3m wide and 1.95m long, the tomb contains five mummies dating back to the 18th Dynasty (1767-1320 BC), lying in wooden sarcophagi bearing coloured human faces and funerary masks. The archaeologists also found 20 sealed pots there.

Asked why the Ancient Egyptians used to gather lots of mummies in one place, Secretary-General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA) Zahi Hawass attributed this to the many robberies of mummies and their treasures in the past. "This was because the kings had little power. They could neither protect the country nor even the mummies and tombs of their forefathers," he explained.

Much has been revealed about these robberies and the trials of the thieves from ancient papyri. Priests would wrap the mummies in their sarcophagi and rebury them in secret places, so secret in fact that so far only four have been found.

As for the other three catacombs, a senior archaeologist called Mohamed Megahed says the first was discovered in AD 1881 inside the tomb of a woman called In-Habi, south of Deir el-Bahari. This catacomb is thought to date to one of the Intermediate Period dynasties.

"It was the biggest catacomb discovered in the 19th century," adds Megahed, head of the Technical Office for Scientific Research at the SCA General Secretariat.

The catacomb contained 40 mummies, most of which were in good condition, and they are now in the Egyptian Museum. Among the mummies were those of Ahmose; Thutmose I; Thutmose II; Thutmose III; Ramses I, II, III and IV; Seti I; King Ahmose's wife, Nefertari; Sand Merit Amun and wife of King Amenhotep I.

It was later found that members of an influential local family had explored the catacomb three times before it was officially discovered and announced that they had royal antiquities for sale. Investigations soon led to the family and the catacomb. "Happily, the same member of the influential family who guided the authorities to the first one, reported the second cache in January 1891.

"He led director of the [Egyptian] Antiquities Authority at the time to the cache located at the foot of the mountain near Queen Nefro's tomb, very near Deir el-Bahari Temple," Megahed explains.

"At a depth of about 35 feet, they reached the bottom of a well that took them to a hole leading to a little corridor where many wooden sarcophagi were found. The way the sarcophagi were made show they date to the 21st Dynasty. The mummies belonged to ordinary priests of the god Amun."

The catacomb contained 153 sarcophagi, 110 funerary statues and 77 other statues, as well as eight wooden placards, a wooden bed and 16 pots containing the intestines from the mummified bodies. As for the third cache, it was also found in the Valley of the Kings in 1898, in one of the side rooms of the tomb of Amenhotep II. It contained 13 mummies, nine of them ancient Egyptian kings, which are now all in the Egyptian Museum.

Exciting discovery near King Tut's tomb, The Egyptian Gazette, Egypt, February 24, 2006.

Archaeologists discovered a pharaonic sun temple with large statues believed to be of King Ramses II under an outdoor marketplace in Cairo, Egypt's antiquities chief said Sunday.

The partially uncovered site is the largest sun temple ever found in the capital's Aim Shams and Matariya districts, where the ancient city of Heliopolis — the centre of pharaonic sun worship — was located, Zahi Hawass told The Associated Press.

Among the artefacts was a pink granite statue weighing 4 to 5 tons whose features "resemble those of Ramses II," said Hawass, head of the Supreme Council of Antiquities...

Ancient sun temple uncovered in Cairo, AP via Mobile Register, Alabama, USA, February 26, 2006.

cf. Egypt announces discovery of Ramses II statues, Reuters via Tiscali, UK, February 27, 2006.

cf. Ancient sun temple with statues of Ramses II uncovered beneath a Cairo marketplace, AP via Sioux City Journal, Iowa, USA, February 27, 2006.

cf. Ancient temple found beneath Cairo market, Sapa-AP via Independent Online, South Africa, February 27, 2006.