The Biblical plagues that devastated Ancient Egypt in the Old Testament were the result of global warming and a volcanic eruption
Archaeologists now widely believe the plagues occurred at an ancient city of Pi-Rameses on the Nile Delta, which was the capital of Egypt during the reign of Pharaoh Rameses the Second, who ruled between 1279BC and 1213BC. The city appears to have been abandoned around 3,000 years ago and scientists claim the plagues could offer an explanation. Climatologists studying the ancient climate at the time have discovered a dramatic shift in the climate in the area occurred towards the end of Rameses the Second's reign. Read more
Two large pharaonic granite statues unearthed in Egypt
Egyptian archaeologists have unearthed two large red granite ancient statues in southern Egypt, the country's ministry of culture announced Tuesday. A 4-metre-tall statue of the pharaonic god of wisdom, Thoth, was discovered along with another featuring the upper part of Pharaoh Amenhotep III besides a god represented as a hawk Read more
A hidden wonder of the ancient world is to be unveiled in Egypt after excavation of the first stretch of a two-mile avenue lined with hundreds of carved sphinxes. Built more than 3,000 years ago, the so-called Avenue of Sphinxes linked two giant temples and was used once a year for a religious procession. It was gradually buried by silt and built over after falling out of use in the 5th century AD. Read more
A colossal red granite head of one of Egypt's most famous pharaohs has been unearthed in the southern city of Luxor, officials said. The 3,000-year-old head of Amenhotep III - grandfather of Tutankhamun - was dug out of the ruins of the pharaoh's mortuary temple. Read more
The other significant discovery is that the study emphasised that KV55 belongs to a normal male who did not suffer any deformities and his body showed no signs of feminine traits. Some believed that King Akhenaten might have had feminine traits based on the statues and drawings that depicted him in this way. This was represented in his flabby abdomen and thighs and his feminine chest. It is our duty now to explain such artistic characteristics during Akhenaten's reign and we can find the answer in the Great Hymn to Aten, who was worshipped by Akhenaten, and whose power is depicted in an image that shows the disk of the sun with rays that end in human hands. The Great Hymn to Aten says "you are male and female..." We now know where the monotheistic King Akhenaten lies. Read more
The University of Manchester is hosting a day school to discuss the scientific study of ancient Egyptian mummies, which will include the question, was the great Pharaoh Ramesses II a true redhead? Ramesses II - the third Egyptian pharaoh of the nineteenth dynasty - lived to the grand old age of 91 and is regarded as one of Egypt's greatest pharaohs. He became King in 1279 BC, when he was in his early 20s, and ruled for over six decades during which time his fame was extraordinary, it remained legendary throughout classical antiquity and today this remarkable pharaoh still holds an enduring fascination. As a builder he covered the land from the Delta to Nubia with buildings in a way no ruler had ever done before. He had many wives, fathered scores of children, and declared himself a god early on in his reign. On his death, he was buried in a tomb in the Valley of the Kings; his body was later moved to a royal cache where it was discovered in 1881, and is now on display in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo.
Luxor is set to become one of the world's largest open-air museums when a multimillion dollar project to restore the "Sphinx Alley" is complete in March, the governor of Luxor, Samir Farag, said Sunday. Read more
Relics in a newly discovered Greek queen's temple in Alexandria show how Egyptian deities were still revered by Egypt's later Greek conquerors, archaeologists said on Tuesday. The temple of Queen Berenike, wife of Ptolemy III, dating back to the 3rd century BC, was discovered along with 600 statues in the Kom el Dikka area of the Mediterranean city, the Supreme Council of Antiquities said. Alongside those Greek-era finds, a large collection of statues of Bastet, the ancient Egyptian goddess of protection and motherhood, was found along with bronze and ceramic statues of Egyptian deities such as Harpocrates and Ptah, indicating Egyptian religious beliefs remained influential. Read more
Archaeologists have unearthed a 2,000-year-old temple that may have been dedicated to the ancient Egyptian cat goddess, Bastet, the Supreme Council of Antiquities said Tuesday. The ruins of the Ptolemaic-era temple were discovered by Egyptian archaeologists in the heart of the Mediterranean port city of Alexandria, founded by Alexander the Great in the 4th century B.C. Read more