Fossil Discovery Suggests the Pyramids and Sphinx Were Submerged Under Water

The entire region of the Giza Necropolis, including the pyramids and the Sphinx, shows erosion that some say suggests the area was once submerged by seawater. A unique fossil amplifies this theory.

For over two decades, archaeologist Sherif El Morsi has worked extensively on the Giza Plateau, and in 2013, he collaborated with founder and fellow scholar Antoine Gigal of Giza for Humanity to publish his controversial discovery of this fossil.

One of the first scientists to actually discuss the issue of plateau systems being older than previously thought was Dr Robert M. Schloch. In the early 1990s, based on water erosion patterns found both on the statue and the surrounding soil, he indicated the Sphinx was thousands of years older than usually thought, dating back to 5000-9000 B.C.

Morsi has been digging deeper into the mystery ever since. During one of his photo shoots documenting the erosion patterns of many of the megaliths in the area, he made a discovery that further suggests the area was submerged at one time.

“During my photoshoot of this ancient seashore line, I nearly tripped off a second level temple block,” said Mr Morsi in an article published on the Gigal Research website.

“To my surprise, the bulge on the top surface of the block that nearly made me the trip was a petrified exoskeleton of what seems to be an echinoid (sea urchin), which is a shallow sea marine creature.”

Morsi believes the Giza Plateau was once inundated by a sea surge. The Menkara temple site, in particular, may have once been an ancient lagoon when the high sea covered the Necropolis, the Sphinx, the temple complexes, and other sites.

Other scientists have suggested the echinoid in the limestone was exposed by erosion and the creature was part of the original limestone that formed 30 million years ago.

But, Morsi countered those claims and suggested that the creature was cemented, or petrified, in a relatively more recent time, citing evidence that the creature is lying gravitationally flat, that it’s in pristine condition, that it is within the intertidal range of the lagoon, and that it is a large specimen unlike the tiny specimens typically found in limestone blocks.

“We can clearly see the pristine condition and minute details of the exoskeleton perforation,” continued Morsi, “which means that this marine creature must have petrified from recent times. It is not a body fossil as most fossils are that date back to 30 million years, but petrified by the sediment deposits that have filled its hollow.”

The inundation, Morsi believes, was rather significant, reaching a maximum of about 245 feet (75 meters) over the current sea level and creating a shoreline spanning the Khafra enclosure near the Sphinx to the Menkara temple.

Pitting and tidal notches due to waves and tidal ebbing pepper the stones in this area showing a 6.5-foot (2-meter) intertidal range, according to Morsi.

Moreover, at sites such as the Sphinx, the Sphinx temple, and the first 20 courses of the Great Pyramid, the stones are said to exhibit erosion due to deeper water saturation.

On temple blocks, there are sediment and alluvial, or material, deposits seen in shallow sea beds and lagoons. As the water recedes, it creates an oozing spongy effect in the rock.

For an echinoid to reach 3 inches (8 centimeters), the size of the fossil, it would take about 15 years. Furthermore, the amount of sediments and alluvium deposits, as well as the intertidal erosion on the shallower areas, would takes centuries, suggesting the area was flooded for quite some time.

However, it’s difficult to determine the exact year of the flooding. Over the past 140,000 years, the sea levels have fluctuated by more than 400 feet (120 meters), as major ice sheets have grown and receded during glacial cycles, according to CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research.

5,450 years old Egyptian knife known as Gebel el-Arak, made with an Ivory handle

This unique dagger from the late predynastic period consists of a light silex blade, sculpted using a highly sophisticated technique, and an ivory handle featuring carved bas-relief scenes. It is one of the oldest known examples of bas-relief sculpture.

The themes come from Nilotic as well as Mesopotamian traditions: animals, the hunt, lions overwhelmed by a figure, boats, and human combats.

A luxury object

Everything in this weapon illustrates luxury and technical expertise. The blade, made of extremely high-quality, light ocher slate, reflects an accomplished mastery of stone-cutting techniques. Parallel strips were removed on one side to form a regular pattern.

The other side of the blade is simply polished. Small areas were reworked to form a sharp serrated edge. Egyptian craftsmen used this meticulous technique for a short period only, between 3500 and 3200 BC.

This is the most accomplished example of the silex tool-making technique. Analyses of the handle determined that it is made of a hippopotamus tooth.

Only a small number of ivory dagger handles of this type, decorated with relief carving, exist. These were exceptional works, reserved to an elite.

Men and animals

The blade is set into a carved hippopotamus tooth and has a central knob with a hole for attaching a cord. On one side is a bearded figure wearing a cap, standing between and subduing two lions. Below are two domesticated dogs and wild animals; a hunter seems to be catching an antelope.

The other side depicts combats arranged in several registers. At the top are quasi-nude men wearing penis sheaths, in hand-to-hand combat. At the bottom, dead bodies are strewn between two different types of boats, both in use in Egypt during the Naqada period.

A key work

Animal life, hunting, and boating on the Nile are ancient themes that had already appeared on ceramics and paintings during the Naqada Period.

The bas-relief carving that appeared at this time on large contemporaneous palettes depicted more dynamic and less static scenes than images on earlier traditional ceramic pieces.

Furthermore, the battle theme appeared toward the end of this period, which is why researchers have tried to find a narrative link to historical events.

Today they are interpreted more as referential images, a catalogue of themes that were important to the ruling class during a period when the Egyptian state was taking shape.

As is often the case, certain motifs are variations of those from the contemporaneous Mesopotamian culture, such as the bearded figure of the priest-king (AO5718, AO5719) and the “Master of Animals” figure subduing two beasts. Direct or indirect contacts certainly existed between the two civilizations.

The design of superimposed registers and the conventions used to represent the human figure were used throughout the entire pharaonic period. This object illustrates the shift from the late predynastic period to the birth of the pharaonic civilization.

Archaeologists believe they have found Cleopatra’s tomb

One of history’s most famous love stories may finally be getting its ending — after more than 2,000 years. Archaeologists have teased a key breakthrough in finding Egyptian Queen Cleopatra’s final resting place — a hidden tomb where she is assumed to have been buried with ill-fated lover Mark Antony after their suicides.

The discovery was made during a “meticulous” dig in Taposiris Magna, a temple “honeycombed with hidden passages and tombs” on Egypt’s Nile delta, according to the Science Channel.

The scientists uncovered an “undisturbed tomb decorated in gold leaf” that a new documentary suggests “could be the answer to the 2,000-year-old mystery of Cleopatra’s final resting place” in 30 B.C.

“Their findings revolutionize our understanding of who she was and how she lived,” claimed the channel of the findings to be revealed in a two-hour special, “Cleopatra: Sex, Lies, and Secrets,”

The show follows the team led by Dr. Kathleen Martinez, who describes herself as a “Dominican archaeologist in search of Cleopatra” and has teased numerous breakthroughs on social media.

Cleopatra was the last queen of Egypt — having been crowned at just 18 — and is one of history’s most famous female rulers.

Yet she is “synonymous with seduction, beauty, and scandal,” the Science Channel noted, calling her “an icon of popular culture and one of the most elusive yet significant female figures in history.”

As well as the history books, her story is the subject of one of William Shakespeare’s greatest works, “Antony and Cleopatra,” as well as one of Elizabeth Taylor’s most iconic big-screen performances, with 1963’s “Cleopatra,” the most expensive movie of its age.

Even before her tragic love-story with Antony, she had a string of historic flings — having married and had a son with Roman Emperor Julius Caesar, according to History.com.

After Caesar was murdered in 44 B.C., Cleopatra went back to Egypt but was summoned to meet Roman general Antony to explain any role she may have had in the assassination.

She supposedly arrived on a golden barge rowed by silver oars, made to look like the goddess Aphrodite as she sat beneath a gilded canopy fanned by staff dressed as cupid, according to folklore.

Antony was instantly seduced, leading to three children — and the pair’s ultimate downfall.

Antony had been forced to prove his loyalty to Caesar’s successor as Roman Emperor, Octavian, by marrying his half-sister, Octavia — but soon dumped her to return to Cleopatra in Egypt, History says.

It sparked a war, which Octavian’s forces easily won in the Battle of Actium.

Antony famously fell on his sword when told his lover had killed herself — dying just as news arrived that it was not true.

Roman troops soon captured Cleopatra, and Octavian wanted to keep her alive to display her as a prize during a victory parade, according to llis Roxburgh, the author of “Cleopatra vs. the Roman Empire.”

Refusing to be used, Cleopatra killed herself — and is widely assumed to have done so by letting a snake poison her.

Dead at 39, she is believed to have been buried with her lover — sparking the more than 2,000-year mystery over the exact location of their tomb.

Skeleton of Teen Girl Found Buried Next to Mysterious Pyramid in Egypt

Egyptian archaeologists excavating the ruins of a pyramid 60 miles outside of Cairo have discovered the skeletal remains of a 13-year-old girl huddled inside a tomb.

Exactly how or when she died is a mystery, though the experts say the site itself dates back to the end of the Third Dynasty roughly 4,600 years ago.

The tomb was empty apart from the skeleton, which was buried in the squatting position, but the team also found two animal skulls and three ceramic vessels nearby that were likely placed as funerary offerings.

The skull offerings appear to have come from bulls, according to Egypt’s Ministry of Antiquities.

Researchers came across the burial during work on the partially-collapsed Meidum pyramid, where the team is excavating a cemetery built near the end of the Third Dynasty.

It’s thought that construction on the Meidum period began at the command of the Third Dynasty’s last pharaoh, Huni, and was continued by Sneferu, the first pharaoh of the Fourth Dynasty.

Previous efforts at the site uncovered the tomb of Prince Nefar-Maat, Sneferu’s oldest son.

While the newly-discovered bones indicate the remains belong to a girl who was around 13 years old when she died, much about the burial and the offerings are still unclear.

Researchers do not know the identity of the buried teenager.

The latest burial was found surrounded by a partially intact brick wall, and the team is now working to restore and reinforce the structures.

Elsewhere, in the Sinai Peninsula, the Antiquities Ministry says it discovered an ancient workshop that was used to build and repair ships thousands of years ago.

The site dates back to the Ptolemaic era (332 B.C.-30 B.C) and was found during excavations in the Tel Abu Saifi archaeological site, which is said to have once been the location of the Roman fortress Silla.

The find includes two dry dockyards where the ancient ships were worked on.

Researchers say it dates to the Greco-Roman period in Egypt, which lasted from the arrival of Alexander the Great in the 4th century until the 7th century when the Islamic conquest swept the region.

How pharaoh Khufu boat was found ‘perfectly preserved’ near the Great Pyramid

Archaeologists in Egypt have discovered a boat, which believed to have been used by Pharaoh Khufu himself  “perfectly preserved,” which helped confirm theories over how the ancient society constructed their wonders.

Probably the most famous and well-known of the many ancient landmarks of Egypt, the Giza pyramid complex is comprised of the Great Pyramid of Giza, the Pyramid of Khafre, and the Pyramid of Menkaure, together with their associated pyramid complexes and the Great Sphinx of Giza.

Of the three pyramids that still stand today, the Great Pyramid of Giza, or the Pyramid of Khufu, remains a spectacle to people all over the world, who marvel at how a society over 4,500 years ago managed to build such a colossal structure.

However, thanks to a find made more than half a century ago, archaeologists were able to slowly piece together what this ancient civilisation may have looked like and the ingenious way they worked together.

The 2014 series explained: “On this plateau, set on the edge of the desert, the story of the pyramids achieved its finest hour. “It is here that we best appreciate the grandeur and majesty of these constructions, and the organisational skills and methods used to erect them.

“The workers here were organised into teams that hauled blocks of stones on huge sledges mounted on logs of wood.

“Each team was made up of about 1,000 men organised along military lines and led by a master mason and various underlings.

“They were not slaves, they earned a regular wage, bed, and board and it is thanks to their work that these immense structures were ever completed.” The series continued, explaining the clever tactics used by the ancient society to haul together in the building process.

It added: “Even today, such imposing buildings would involve complex engineering problems.

“The Great Pyramid of Cheops, which was the first one to be built in Giza around 2500BC, has a base that covers over 12 acres (48,500 square metres).

“More than 2,300,000 blocks of stone were needed to build the base and weighed between two and 200 tonnes each.

“It may sound incredible, but this was once a lush green land, with neither desert nor buildings.

“Irrigation canals linked the areas to the Nile, and some of the stones used in buildings were transported on these canals.” The documentary went on to reveal how evidence of this was discovered more than 50 years ago.

It added: “A boat made with cedarwood built almost 5,000 years ago was discovered here in 1954 near the Pyramid of Cheops, still in a perfect state of preservation.

“Archaeologists found it belonged to the pharaoh Cheops himself, 140 feet long, equipped with 12 oars and was probably used by Cheops when he travelled along the Nile.

“On those occasions, his subjects could get a glimpse of their Pharaoh and pay homage to him.”

At completion, the Great Pyramid was surfaced with white “casing stones” — slant-faced, but flat-topped, blocks of highly polished white limestone. However, in 1303, a massive earthquake loosened many of the outer casing stones, which were taken away 50 years later to be used in the building of mosques and fortresses in Cairo.

Many other theories have been proposed regarding the pyramid’s construction techniques, disagreeing on whether the blocks were dragged, lifted, or even rolled into place. The Greeks believed that slave labour was used, but modern discoveries made at nearby workers’ camps associated with construction at Giza suggest it was built instead of thousands of skilled workers.

Czech archaeologist, Miroslav Verner, claimed that the labour was organised into a hierarchy, consisting of two gangs of 100,000 men, divided into five zaa or phyle of 20,000 men each, which may have been further divided according to the skills of the workers.

Archaeologists discover a Perfectly Preserved 4,000-year-old tomb in Egypt

Archeological finds in Egypt never stop. This was made all the more apparent by the recent discovery in Saqqara of a vibrant tomb, home to some of the oldest pyramids in Egypt.

There are vivid wall paintings in the amazingly well-preserved tomb that look like they were made yesterday when in reality the tomb was created over 4,000 years ago.

To celebrate the discovery, Prof. Khaled al-Enani—Egypt’s Minister of Antiquities—recently led over 50 foreign dignitaries on a tour through the site.

It’s believed that the tomb, which is located within a large necropolis, was created during the Fifth Dynasty.

This period spanned the early 25th century BCE until the mid 24th century BCE and was known as a time when funerary prayers began to be inscribed on royal tombs. In this particular case, the exceptional tomb was created for a dignitary named Khuwy.

Several aspects of the tomb lead researchers to believe that Khuwy was a man of great importance. Architecturally, it has a tunneled entrance, which is a feature typically reserved for pyramids—the tombs of the pharaohs.

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Artistically, the colors of the paintings are considered “royal colors” by officials. These clues bring into question Khuwy’s influence and his relationship with the Fifth Dynasty’s longest-ruling pharaoh, Djedkare Isesi.

Djedkare’s pyramid is located nearby in Saqqara and one theory is that Khuwy was a relative of the leader.

Others believe that the lavishness of the tomb was instead owed to the Djedkare’s reforms on funerary cults. Whatever the cause, what we’re left with are incredible examples of the artistry of ancient Egypt.

In addition to the tomb decoration, archaeologists also found Khuwy’s mummy and canopic jars—used to hold organs—scattered in several fragments.

Egyptologists hope that the newly discovered tomb will give them more insight into Djedkare’s reign, as the pharaoh’s own tomb was raided prior to excavation in the 1940s.

While Djedkare appeared to be held in high regard even after his death—he was the object of a cult until at least the end of the Old Kingdom—he is still a somewhat enigmatic leader.

Egypt unearths 7,000-year-old lost city

The discovery of the ruins of a lost city in Sohag, Upper Egypt Province, considering to be more than 7,000 years old has been announced by Egypt.

The Ancient City, found beside a nearby cemetery, dates back to 5,316 BC and is announced as a major archaeological discovery which predates the Early Dynastic Period in Egypt that began about 5 millennia ago.

During an excavation 400 metres south of the mortuary temple of Seti I, a pharaoh who ruled thousands of years later from 1290 to 1279 BC, a team of archaeologists from the Egyptian ministry of antiquities discovered the ruins of ancient huts and tombs.

Seti I’s temple is located in Abydos – one of the oldest known cities of ancient Egypt and the historic capital of Upper Egypt – and the newly found dwellings and graves could be parts of the long-gone capital now resurfaced, or a separate village that was swallowed by it.

“This discovery can shed light on a lot of information on the history of Abydos,” antiquities minister Mahmoud Afifi said in a press statement.

The recently unearthed structures are thought to have been home to high-ranking officials and grave builders.

In addition to the foundations of ancient huts, the archaeologists found iron tools and pottery, plus 15 giant tombs – the capacious size of which means their intended inhabitants must have been well-established individuals.

“The size of the graves discovered in the cemetery is larger in some instances than royal graves in Abydos dating back to the first dynasty, which proves the importance of the people buried there and their high social standing during this early era of ancient Egyptian history,” the ministry said.

It’s possible that these officials oversaw the construction of royal tombs in nearby Abydos, but the size of their own resting places outside the capital suggests they didn’t want to slum it in eternity either.

“About a mile behind where this material is said to be we have the necropolis with royal tombs going from before history to the period where we start getting royal names, we start getting identifiable kings,” Egyptologist Chris Eyre from the University of Liverpool in the UK, who wasn’t involved with the excavation, told the BBC.

“So, this appears to be the town, the capital at the very beginning of Egyptian history.”

According to the researchers, the ancient tools and pottery are the leftover traces of a once giant labour force that was engaged in the considerable feat of constructing these royal tombs – and if you’ve seen the kinds of structures we’re talking about, you’ll understand they had a pretty epic responsibility:

The nearby cemetery is made up of 15 mastabas, an ancient Egyptian tomb that takes a rectangular shape, made with sloping walls and a flat roof.

According to lead researcher Yasser Mahmoud Hussein, these mastabas are now the oldest such tombs we know about, pre-dating the previous record holders in Saqqara, which served as the necropolis for another ancient Egyptian city, Memphis.

We’ll have to wait for these new findings to be verified by other scientists, but we’re excited to see what new insights further excavations will bring.

Egypt Arrests Photographer Over Pyramid Shoot of Model Wearing Ancient Costume

A photographer was arrested by Egyptian police for disrespect after he took photographs of a model in a revealing ancient outfit at the Djoser Pyramid outside Cairo, a security source reported.

Social media rumours had spread that the Egyptian fashion model, Salma al-Shimi, had been arrested after the shooting in the necropolis of Saqqara, 20 miles south of Cairo, but the source said the photographer was detained by police on Monday.

The model had been pictured wearing a short ‘semi-naked’ Pharaonic-style dress in front of the ancient burial site.

‘A photographer has been arrested after a private shoot with dancer Salma al-Shimi in the archaeological zone,’ the source said, adding that his case had been referred to the courts.

Late last week, Shimi, who boasts thousands of followers on Instagram, had posted photographs from the shoot of her in ancient Egyptian dress at the foot of the 4,700-year-old Step Pyramid of Djoser.

Rumours quickly spread that she had been detained for wearing outfits that betrayed Egypt’s ancient heritage and broke the rules set by the antiquities ministry for photoshoots.

Saqqara was an active burial ground for more than 3,000 years and is a designated Unesco World Heritage Site. 

Social media users who had seen the photographs expressed disbelief and outrage.

“Is there really a ban on taking photographs in archaeological zones, even pictures that are not indecent but completely normal?” one user asked. 

The police are investigating the incident, and are looking to identify the employee responsible for allowing the model and photographer into the archaeological area, according to The Egypt Independent.    

On Monday, the pictures were quietly removed from the model’s Instagram account.

In recent months, Egyptian courts have handed down jail sentences against a dozen social media influencers for sharing content judges deemed offensive.

In December 2018, images of a naked couple embracing at the top of the Great Pyramid of Cheops prompted a media outcry.

The authorities arrested a camel owner and a young female guide for helping the couple to gain access to the site.