Talking Pyramids: Ancient Egyptian Pyramids

More discoveries at Saqqara.

A painted 19th dynasty sarcophagus belonging to Maayi, a scribe in the palace of Maat during the reign of Ramesses II (1279 BC to 1213 BC)
Several painted wooden coffins as well as statues representing their owners have been discovered by Egyptian archaeologists. Tunnels containing carved stones were also found in […]

Next Monday the History Channel will air a documentary called “The Lost Pyramid”.
The documentary sensationally refers to the pyramid of Djedefre as “The Lost Fourth Pyramid of Giza”, even though Egyptologists have been well aware of this pyramid for over a hundred years, it first being investigated by John Perring and later by Flinders Petrie […]

More news on the search for Menkaure’s missing sarcophagus.

Franck Goddio discovered artefacts submerged in Alexandria and is also favoured in the search for the Beatrice

Spain and Egypt have made some advancements on the arrangement of a joint mission to search for the sarcophagus of Menkaure, lost on the sea floor somewhere between Malta and Gibralta. […]

More on the discovery of the pyramid of Menkauhor at Saqqara, a video from the National Geographic website:

Video of the excavation of what is thought to be Menkauhor’s pyramid at Saqqara

From today’s story in the Guardian:
“In 1842, German archaeologist Karl Richard Lepsius mentioned it among his finds at Saqqara, referring to it as number 29 […]

18th Dynasty stele depicting Menkauhor
The Egyptian Supreme Council for Antiquities (SCA) reported today that the bottom part of an unknown pyramid in the Saqqara area has been discovered.
Secretary General of the SCA, Zahi Hawass stated that it was thought to belong to fifth Dynasty King Menkauhor who ruled from 2444 B.C. to 2436 B.C. (not […]

Menkaure’s Basalt Sarcophagus
Spain and Egypt will commence a search later this year for the Beatrice, the 19th century ship that was wrecked at sea while attempting to transport the black basalt sarcophagus of Menkaure to England.
Please note, the news story wrongly reports the sarcophagus as having once contained the body of Khafre instead […]

I thought I’d start a new schedule of reviewing an Egyptology website each week.
This week’s website review is on the Giza Archives Project.

The Giza Archives Project Website

The Giza Archives Project is a very useful and comprehensive online resource for anyone interested in the Giza Necropolis. Excavations that have occurred in the area are documented […]

‘They Were Not Slaves’ - Mark Lehner

Marking the end of the 6 part series How Were the Egyptian Pyramids Built?’ is an article written by Jonathan Shaw for Harvard Magazine on the discovery of the ‘city of the pyramid builders’ by Mark Lehner.
Lehner tells how he first travelled to Egypt in 1973 with the hope […]

Saqqara Online is an excellent website for keeping up to date with the the excavations in the New Kingdom necropolis at Saqqara.
The Leiden Excavations are a joint project of the National Museum of Antiquities at Leiden, the Netherlands & the Leiden University, Faculty of Arts, Department of Egyptology and Faculty of Archaeology in […]

There is always something happening in the world of Egyptology. Today’s story concerns the possible discovery of Imhotep, architect of Djoser’s Step Pyramid:
“The Saqqara Geophysical Survey Project may be on the verge of discovering the remains of Imhotep, the architect of the Step Pyramid.
Project Director Ian Mathieson said, ‘We’ve now found two large tombs where […]