Egypt
Video: Salima Ikram talks about animal mummies
Heritage Key
Ancient Egyptian grain-based pregnancy test found to be 70% accurate by archaeologists
Ground Report
Anne Hart
I thought I had posted this already but I cannot find the post, so apologies if this is a repeat.
- Back In The Lab - Archaeobotany From Amara West
British Museum blog (Philippa Ryan) With photos. Archaeobotany is the study of ancient plant remains, and I joined the field team at Amara West in Sudan earlier this year to collect samples for archaeobotanical analysis. Charred plant materials...
- Growing And Grinding
IHC An advert for an upcoming talk by Willeke Wendrich, but it contains some information about the Faiyum and is quite well timed given the above discussions about the risks to the archaeology of the Faiyum. The north shore of Lake Qarun in the Egyptian...
- Math Puzzles’ Oldest Ancestors Took Form On Egyptian Papyrus
New York Times (Pam Belluck) I met a man with seven wives. ...” You may know this singsong quiz, But what you might not know is this: That it began with ancient Egypt’s Early math-filled manuscripts. It’s true. That very British-sounding St. Ives...
- Ancient Grain Borer Reveals Biblical Pest Control: Study
Scopical/AU An Israeli academic team says it has resolved the Biblical riddle of how Joseph the Dreamer preserved Egypt's vast, but unsealed grain stores against invading pests during the seven year drought and saved the country's inhabitants...
- Lecture: Beloved Beasts: Ancient Egyptian Animal Mummies, Salima Ikram
Daily Beacon (Elizabeth Storey) This page reports on a lecture delivered by Salima Ikram in Cairo, about animal mummification in ancient Egypt. Animal mummies, long overshadowed by human mummies, hold much more useful information about ancient Egypt than...
Egypt
In the Lab
Video: Salima Ikram talks about animal mummies
Heritage Key
Salima Ikram is an excellent presenter and this is a great introduction to the process of animal mummification, accompanied by some footage of animal mummies. Dr Ikram shows two handfuls of natron, the key substance in Egyptian mummification (only enough for mummifying a lizard). She also discusses her experiments with mummifying rabbits, catfish and Nile perch.
Ancient Egyptian grain-based pregnancy test found to be 70% accurate by archaeologists
Ground Report
Anne Hart
I thought I had posted this already but I cannot find the post, so apologies if this is a repeat.
The earliest recorded pregnancy test has been found by archaeologists examining ancient Egyptian medical training documents using barley and wheat grains/seeds. The test dates from around 1350 B.C.E. Archaeologists found a hieroglyphic document that when translated described how to find out whether someone is pregnant. The woman who thinks she may be pregnant urinates on wheat and barley whole grains/seeds.
The ancient papyrus translated something like, “If the barley seeds sprout or grow, it means a male child will be born. If the wheat sprouts and thrives, it means a female child will arrive in a few months. If the barley and wheat grains never sprout and grow when a woman urinates on the grain seeds, the woman is not pregnant and therefore, will not give birth this time around. That part of the test that's 70% accurate is when either type of grains actually sprout and thrive when urinated upon by a pregnant woman, even in the earliest stages of pregnancy.
- Back In The Lab - Archaeobotany From Amara West
British Museum blog (Philippa Ryan) With photos. Archaeobotany is the study of ancient plant remains, and I joined the field team at Amara West in Sudan earlier this year to collect samples for archaeobotanical analysis. Charred plant materials...
- Growing And Grinding
IHC An advert for an upcoming talk by Willeke Wendrich, but it contains some information about the Faiyum and is quite well timed given the above discussions about the risks to the archaeology of the Faiyum. The north shore of Lake Qarun in the Egyptian...
- Math Puzzles’ Oldest Ancestors Took Form On Egyptian Papyrus
New York Times (Pam Belluck) I met a man with seven wives. ...” You may know this singsong quiz, But what you might not know is this: That it began with ancient Egypt’s Early math-filled manuscripts. It’s true. That very British-sounding St. Ives...
- Ancient Grain Borer Reveals Biblical Pest Control: Study
Scopical/AU An Israeli academic team says it has resolved the Biblical riddle of how Joseph the Dreamer preserved Egypt's vast, but unsealed grain stores against invading pests during the seven year drought and saved the country's inhabitants...
- Lecture: Beloved Beasts: Ancient Egyptian Animal Mummies, Salima Ikram
Daily Beacon (Elizabeth Storey) This page reports on a lecture delivered by Salima Ikram in Cairo, about animal mummification in ancient Egypt. Animal mummies, long overshadowed by human mummies, hold much more useful information about ancient Egypt than...