The Valley of Whales in the Middle of Egypt’s Desert is Millions of Years old

The site is called Wadi Al Hitan, dubbed the Valley of Whales, located around 160 kilometers from the famous pyramids at Giza.

An ancient Egyptian desert, once a vast ocean, guards the secret of one of the most remarkable transformations in the evolution of life on planet Earth. Egypt is known as the land of Pyramids, Pharaohs, and golden sands. Countless jewels have been excavated from beneath Egypt’s sands, revealing a treasure trove of a time long gone. Archaeologists have discovered pyramids, temples, entire cities, and finds whose value is incalculable.

But there’s more to Egypt than the Sphinx, the Pharaohs, and its incredible pyramids; there is more to this wonderful land than the Valley of Kings. Some 160 kilometers southwest of the Pyramids at the Giza plateau is a treasure trove of history. No pyramids, temples, or mummies are buried there, but it is a site of great importance. Wadi Al Hitan was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2005. The reason? Hundreds of fossils of some of the earliest forms of whales, the archaeoceti (a now-extinct sub-order of whales), lie buried beneath the desert sand.

The story of Wadi Al Hitan

The story of Wadi Al Hitan is worthy of the most impressive tales. Some 40 million years ago (give or take a few), massive beasts swam in the vast prehistoric Tethys ocean. It was home to numerous creatures that have long since been forgotten. One of these massive animals, over 50 feet long, had massive jaws and jagged teeth. It looked unlike anything living inside Earth’s oceans today.

The creatures eventually died, sinking to the prehistoric ocean seafloor. Tens of thousands of years went by, and a fine protective mantle of sediment eventually built up over the beasts’ bones. The prehistoric sea receded. The former seabed transformed into a vast desert as powerful winds armed with fine grains of sand began covering the surface little by little, eventually preserving the whales that would remain hidden for time to come.

Eventually, it became another of the many secrets hidden beneath the golden sands of Egypt. Time passed by, and the planet’s geology and geography warped. The planet’s crust smashed India into Asia, giving birth to the breathtaking Himalayas. Humankind came into existence, and Africa saw the first humans stand straight, evolve, and eventually build a civilization that would forever become imprinted in history.

The mighty Kings of Egypt built incredible mastabas, which evolved into massive pyramids. Egypt flourished and fell, and the land of Pharaohs was no more. Then, more than one hundred years ago, the wind revealed massive fossils of long-gone beasts, which delicately preserved and revealed the fossils since time immemorial.

A Valley of Whales in the Middle of Egypt’s Desert

The site is so important that scientists argue that site reveals evidence for the history of one of the greatest mysteries in the evolution of whales: the species’ appearance as an ocean-going mammal from a previous life as a land-based animal.

Today, the site is a desert with geological features that make it even more unique. But in the distant past, Wadi Al Hitan was a massive ocean where whales swam, hunted, and reproduced. As the site is dubbed, the Valley of the Whales is the most important site in the world to demonstrate the above-mentioned evolutionary process.

The way of life of these mammals is accurately portrayed during their evolution.  The number, concentration, and quality of fossils are unique to Wadi Al Hitan, a time capsule providing evidence of millions of years of coastal marine life and evolution.

These remains show these animals losing their hind limbs and hydrodynamic bodies (like those of modern whales) while presenting primitive bone structure aspects. Other fossil materials found at the site allow the reconstruction of the environment and the ecological conditions of the time. Wadi Al Hitan portrays the form and way of life during the transition from land animals to ocean-going mammals.

Wadi Al Hitan, the Valley of Whales

Although the fossils discovered at the site may not be the oldest, their great density in the area and the quality of their preservation is to the degree that even some stomach contents have remained intact. Thanks to the discovery of fossils of other early animals like sharks, crocodiles, sawfish, turtles, and rays, scientists have been able to reconstruct the environmental and ecological conditions of the site accurately.

The site and the first fossil skeletons of whales were discovered at the Valley of Whales in 1903. But for over 80 years, the site was forgotten, mostly due to the difficulty of accessing the site.

However, in the late 1980s, as all-wheel-drive- vehicles became widely available, people started visiting and documenting the site. Eventually, the Valley of Whales would attract scholars, fossil collectors, and even tourists. People would go there and collect fossils without properly documenting or conserving the fossils. This led to the disappearance of many fossils from the site, prompting warnings for the site to be adequately conserved.

A Treasure in the Valley of Whales

One of the most important discoveries at the site was the largest fossil discovered there, with 21 meters in length. The fossil showed clear traces of five-fingered flippers on its forelimbs and an unexpected existence of hind legs, feet, and toes, precisely unknown features in an archaeoceti. The site exceeds the values of similar sites in terms of the number, concentration, and quality of its fossils and their accessibility, found in an attractive and protected landscape.

The site includes an impressive assemblage of fossilized skeletons of Archaeoceti (primitive whales documenting cetacean transition to marine life), and sirenians. It also includes well-preserved reptile fossils and shark teeth dating back to around 40 million years ago. Scientists have identified the fossils of crocodiles, sea turtles, and the fossilized remains of sea snakes at the site. Many species of bony fish, sharks, and rays are represented at the site, but the largest number of fossils are isolated small teeth, which are often inconspicuous. There are also larger fish fossils, including the rostra and pegs of sawfish. The site features a sawfish rostrum of 1.8 meters long.

Wadi Al Hitan is also home to various fossilized shells and disc-shaped nummulite fossils. According to scientists, the strata in Wadi Al Hitan belong to Middle Eocene, including a vast mass of vertebrate fossils within 200 km2 of the desert. While researchers have identified many whale fossils, they have also cataloged and reported sea cows’ fossils, among over one hundred different fossils.

Reconstructing the Origins of Whales

Scientists could reconstruct their origin and conclude their form was serpentine and the animals were carnivorous. The site has been found to feature typical streamlined bodies from modern whales and shows us clear evidence of some of the primitive aspects of skull and tooth structure. In other words, the Valley of Whales in Egypt is a unique site not only because of its diverse fossil library but because of the examples of fossils and their respective age.

The site has managed to remain well-protected because not many people access it. It is believed that between 1500 and 2000, tourists visited the site, which is accessible through unpaved and unmarked desert roads.

The tourists who decide and come to the site are mostly foreigners who then camp in the valley. Wadi Al Hitan lies within the Wadi El Rayan Protected area, but part of the site has been turned into a tourist venue. There are walkways between the main fossils. Small shelters were also built at the site.

In addition to its vast collection of fossilized remains, Wadi Al Hitan is home to more than 15 different species of desert places and 15 different types of mammals, including the red fox and the Egyptian mongoose. The site is mostly frequented by the Gennec Foxes, who visit the campsite at night searching for food.

Signs of Anemia Detected in Ancient Egyptian Mummies

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 study objects, an international team of researchers examined the remains of 21 child mummies who had died between the ages of 1 and 14.

The team assessed the mummies for anemia by looking for telltale signs of the disorder, such as abnormal growth in the mummies’ skulls and arm and leg bones. 

Seven of the mummies, or 33% of those studied, showed signs of anemia in the form of thickened skull bones, the researchers found. Today, anemia is thought to affect 40% of children under the age of 5 years old globally, according to the World Health Organization.

This research on anemia in ancient Egypt “may shed light on ancient societies’ health issues, dietary inadequacies, and social standards,” Sahar Saleem, head and professor of radiology at Cairo University and a member of the Egyptian Mummy Project, told Live Science in an email. Saleem was not involved in the study.

This study, published April 13 in the International Journal of Osteoarchaeology, is possibly the first of its kind to analyze the presence of anemia in mummified children. It includes child mummies from various parts of Egypt dating as early as the Old Kingdom (third millennium B.C.) to the Roman Period (fourth century A.D.).

Indigo Reeve, a bioarchaeologist at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland who was not involved in the study, defined anemia as “a lack of healthy red blood cells or hemoglobin.” This condition can stem from a variety of causes, including dietary deficiencies, inherited disorders and infections, which can all lead to intestinal blood loss and poor absorption of nutrients, Reeve told Live Science in an email.

Anemia typically causes fatigue and weakness, but it can also cause irregular heartbeat and can be life-threatening depending on the type and severity, she added. 

Childhood cases of anemia can cause the expansion of some bone marrow, which is found at the center of most bones, which can lead to odd and abnormal bone growth, such as the thickening of the cranial vault, the part of the skull that holds the brain, Reeve explained. Porous lesions can also appear on bones, especially on the skull, which can cause further medical problems.

The study uncovered some of these anemia-related issues in mummified children. 

In one of the seven cases with thickened cranial vaults, a 1-year-old boy showed cranial signs of thalassemia, an inherited blood disorder that can cause mild to severe anemia due to reduced hemoglobin production; other symptoms of thalassemia can include inadequate and unusual bone growth and an increased risk of infections, according to Johns Hopkins Medicine.

The boy also had an enlarged tongue and a condition known as “rodent facies,” which is an abnormal growth of the cheekbones and an elongated skull. This boy’s severe anemia, compounded with other difficulties, likely caused his death, the researchers theorized.

It’s unclear how these ancient children came to have anemias, but the disorder can be caused by malnutrition, iron deficiency in pregnant mothers, chronic gastrointestinal issues, and bacterial, viral, or parasitic infections, all of which are thought to have been prevalent in ancient Egypt, the researchers said. 

However, the study’s small sample of 21 child mummies is not representative of an entire population or time period, the researchers noted. Further, the CT scans “produced blurry images due to low resolution that prevented interpretation” of additional signs of anemia, Saleem said.

“However,” Saleem said, “we think that this work may pave the way for additional research on anemia and other ancient health issues in the future.”

A 3,000-year-old Egyptian figurine sensationally unearthed in a former SS hospital

In a stunning discovery, a three-thousand-year-old ancient Egyptian figurine of the god Osiris has been unearthed in a former Nazi SS hospital in the Lublin province.  The figurine is part of a long-lost collection of antiquities that have been the subject of a search by specialists for decades.

In the village of Kluczkowice about 30 km west of Lublin, researchers found two figurines depicting Osiris, the Egyptian god of death. The researchers also discovered a bust of Bacchus, who, according to Roman mythology, was the god of wine.

Finding ancient Egyptian and Roman antiquities in Poland is highly unusual. Therefore, after the discovery last year, the objects needed to be thoroughly analyzed.

“Such an unprecedented find in our area raised doubts about the authenticity of the relics,” the Lublin voivodeship heritage protection office reported.

A few days ago the heritage protection specialists were finally able to announce the discovery as genuine.

“Thanks to cooperation with the National Museum in Lublin and scientists from the Department of Archaeology at Warsaw University, it was possible to confirm that we are dealing with original objects from ancient Egypt and ancient Rome,” they reported.

In May last year, local treasure hunter Krzysztof Kozłowski led an exploration on the grounds of the palace in Kluczkowice with the permission of the heritage protection office when he discovered a bronze figurine.

After immediately alerting heritage protection authorities, Dr Łukasz Miechowicz of the Polish Academy of Sciences went to the site to search the area.

“Suddenly, 10 meters away from the first figurine of Osiris, we came across another one,” he said. “It is sensationally well preserved.”

The specialists dated the figure of Osiris to the 1st millennium BC and the bust of Bacchus to the 1st century AD.

Meanwhile, Dr. Lukasz Miechowicz of the Institute of Archaeology and Ethnology of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Warsaw was able to confirm that the relics were part of a collection of antiquities that were kept in the palace in Kluczkowice until World War II by its then residents, the Kleniewski family.

Dr. Miechowicz believes that the figures were purchased by Maria Kleniewska when she travelled to Egypt in 1904 with her four daughters and brought back to Poland as artifacts that she intended to display in a chamber of antiquities.

They stayed in Helaun, which in the interwar period was popular with affluent Poles. In 1932, Marshal Józef Piłsudski stayed there for treatment.

“She writes about it in her memoirs, which have been published. Her health declined, and it was a fashionable resort among wealthier families at the time. She also travelled a bit and did some sightseeing, from Alexandria to Cairo,” Dr. Miechowicz added.

The bust of Bacchus was most likely a fragment of a Roman tripod, a similar example of which was discovered in the 18th century near Vesuvius in Italy, and is now in the collection of the British Museum in London.

The Kleniewski family lived in the palace in Kluczkowice until 1942 when their property was confiscated by the occupying Germans and handed over to the SS. The family then left for Warsaw, taking with them only personal belongings.

In the same year, the palace became a place of convalescence for German soldiers who had been injured at the front. After the war, the palace was thoroughly looted and the collection of antiquities has been lost ever since.

Historians now believe the family members hurriedly hid some of the precious items in the grounds before leaving the palace.

Dr. Miechowicz said that he had been looking for traces of this collection for years.

“Capturing traces of a valuable collection that was lost years ago is of great importance for science, cultural heritage, and tourism,” he
said.

The ancient figurines will be donated to the National Museum in Lublin after further analysis. 

Staging of religion on rock paintings that are thousands of years old in southern Egypt desert

Egyptologists at the University of Bonn and the University of Aswan want to systematically record hundreds of petroglyphs and inscriptions dating from the Neolithic to the Arab period and document them in a database.

The desert in southern Egypt is filled with hundreds of petroglyphs and inscriptions oldest dating from the fifth millennium B.C. and few have been studied.

A more than 5,000-year-old rock painting that shows a boat being pulled by 25 men on a rope among them stands out in particular.

“The first newly discovered sources shed new light on the pre-Pharaonic period of the Fourth Millennium and the importance of the socio-cultural periphery,” says Egyptologist Prof. Dr. Ludwig Morenz of the University of Bonn.

Mohamed Abdel Hay Abu Baker, who was specifically responsible for researching the rock images at the Aswan Inspectorate, among the images captured during his explorations in the field, one, in particular, stood out to the Egyptologist from the University of Bonn.

It is depicted over the bumps and edges of the rock, how a boat is pulled by 25 men with raised arms on a rope. A ritual is obviously impressively shown here – namely the great procession of an image of the gods, according to Morenz.

This is clear from image details, he said: the boat with shrine and standard and, in particular, the cattle horns, which are typical of sacred imagery. “This rock image gives us insights into the sacred design of an apparently remote landscape, the Wadi al Agebab, which is still largely unknown in research,” says the Egyptologist.

The entire later Pharaonic culture is based on the beginnings of the pictorial staging of religion. Morenz: “Here, the high importance of religion and especially the cult of the gods in the still pre-Egyptian society of the second half of the Fourth Millennium is revealed as a culture-creating factor.”

Documentation

“This cultural treasure in the northeast of Aswan has been largely undocumented, let alone published,” says Egyptologist Prof. Dr. Ludwig Morenz of the University of Bonn.

The petroglyphs are found in numerous and often remote locations in dried-up river valleys, called “wadis” in Arabic. At the same time, the petroglyphs, which are sometimes inconspicuous at first glance, are under severe threat, especially from current quarrying activities in the desert.

 “Especially in recent years, there has already been serious destruction of this cultural asset,” says Morenz, who is also a member of the Cluster of Excellence Bonn Center for Dependency and Slavery Studies (BCDSS) and the Transdisciplinary Research Area “Present Pasts” at the University of Bonn.

“Such losses can hardly be prevented completely, given the vastness of the area, but all the more important is at least good documentation.”

In the course of his doctoral studies at Aswan University in Aswan, Abu Baker will now work together with the University of Bonn to create a comprehensive database with an image archive on rock images. For this purpose, the University of Excellence Bonn supports the inspector of the Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities for one year with a scholarship from excellence funds of the federal and state governments. Prof. Morenz is the second supervisor of the dissertation.

Excavations Continue in Middle Egypt’s Meir Necropolis

An Egyptian archaeological mission has uncovered a collection of structure relics from the Byzantine and Late Period in Meir Necropolis in the Assiut governorate.

The mission discovered the large remains of structures on two levels, with the upper level consisting of monks’ cells with a court and a number of chambers and the lower level consisting of a collection of burials.

​“The discovery highlights the significance of Meir during the Old and Middle Kingdoms as well as the Late Period,” said Mostafa Waziry, secretary-general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, referring to a Coptic text engraved on one of the walls of the structural remains.

The text, written in black ink, consists of eight lines of prayers to God. Above it, three clay shelves that may have been used to hold the monks’ equipment at the time or manuscripts.

The burials include a collection of coffins and human skeletons in poor condition, among them the funerary objects of an unidentified lady.

These objects consist of remains of a decorated coffin in poor condition, a funerary mask and collar, clay pots of different shapes and sizes, along with a group of blue and black faience beads and two copper mirrors, said Adel Okasha, head of the Central Archaeological Department for Antiquities in Middle Egypt.

The Meir site is located about 50 kilometres northwest of the Upper Egyptian city of Assiut. Provincial rulers, or nomarchs, were buried in tombs in the hillside.

Several of the tombs have been cleared and opened to visitors.

The necropolis has many important rock-cut tombs dating to the sixth and seventh dynasties, painted with coloured scenes depicting daily life including industries and sports with a distinct local style.

A surprising discovery in the Lublin countryside! Ancient figurines of Egyptian and Roman gods found

Two ancient figurines depicting the Egyptian god Osiris and a bust of the Roman god Bacchus were found in the Opole district of Lublin, Poland.

An extraordinary discovery was made at the beginning of May by Krzysztof Kozłowski, who, having obtained permission from the Lublin Voivodship Conservator, conducted a search for historical monuments in Kluczkowice (Opole district).

The figurines he found, which at first glance resembled the images of a “pharaoh” and a “goddess”, were handed over to the Lublin conservation office.

Lubelskie Voivodeship Conservatory of Monuments (LWKZ) Facebook post, “The find, so unusual in our area, raised doubts as to the authenticity of the artifacts (…). Thanks to cooperation with the National Museum in Lublin and scientists from the Faculty of Archeology of the University of Warsaw, it was possible to confirm that we are dealing with original objects from ancient Egypt and ancient Rome,” he wrote.

Thanks to cooperation with the National Museum in Lublin and scientists from the Faculty of Archeology of the University of Warsaw, the ancient record of the finds was confirmed. Osiris was made in the 1st millennium BC and the bust of Bacchus – in the 1st century AD.

Dr. Łukasz Miechowicz of the Institute of Archeology and Ethnology of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Warsaw determined that the artifacts are part of the Kleniewski family’s former collection, which was kept in the palace in Kluczkowice until World War II.

The Osiris figurine was probably purchased for the collection by Maria Kleniewska during her stay in Egypt in 1904. At that time, she and her daughter spent 4 months in Cairo, which she writes about in her memoirs.

“The bronze bust of the Roman god Bacchus was discovered around 1906 by Fr. Antoni Chotyński, chaplain of the Kleniewski family in Dratów (now Zagłoba/Wrzelów). They were found in a richly equipped grave of a deceased person from the Przeworsk culture”.

In April this year, dr Miechowicz led the verification research at the place where the figurines were found. The action was attended by representatives of the Ancient Society in Chodlik and the Opole Association of Explorers “Topór”.

During the search, another Egyptian bronze figurine of Osiris was discovered. It measures 8.5 cm in height and is equipped with two suspension rings. The artifact was discovered by Andrzej Kołodziej.

The Kleniewski family lived in the palace until 1942. Their property was confiscated and transferred to the administration of the SS. The Kleniewskis left hastily for Warsaw, taking only their personal belongings with them, Miechowicz determined.

Presumably, the deposit, which included the artifacts discovered in Kluczkowice, could have been hidden in 1942 by the owners leaving their ancestral seat or just after the war when the equipment of the Kleniewskis’ palace was dispersed and plundered.

Google Translate was used to translate the article from Lubelski Wojewódzki Konserwator Zabytków.