Egypt
Madrid Digital
UCLA are currently also working in the Faiyum and some of their discoveries over the last few seasons of work have been detailed on their excellent Fayum Project website.
Geoffrey Tassie has written a good piece about the dangers to the archaeology of the area by development plans entitled The Endangered Faiyum.
If you're interested in the prehistory of the Faiyum and related sites in the area I put a website together on the subject a few years ago, which is at www.faiyum.com. Unfortunately many of the images are refusing to load.
- More Re Recent Faiyum Discoveries
The Spanish media have been far more interested in the discovery of a stone tablet with the name of the early king Scorpion. Most of the news accounts refer to the king as "mythological" but there is evidence for his existence in the form of the Scorpion...
- Part Of Avenue Of Sphinxes Discovered At Saqqara
Los Tiempos.com Noticias The SCA have announced that a team of Egyptian archaeologists have found a part of an ancient avenue of Sphinxes at Saqqara. According to the information released by the SCA the avenue was entioned in Graecoroman manuscripts and...
- New Discoveries In Egypt Announced By Hawass
El Periodico A short piece which doesn't seem to have hit any other English-language news services yet (although I am open to correction!). Zahi Hawass has been in the Mexican capital to open an exhibition. He made an announcement that the discovery...
- More Re Discoveries At Beni Suef
Actualidad Terra This piece adds a few details to previous reports on the discovery. My rough interpretation of this piece is fragmented - partly because of my rusty Spanish but partly because the story itself seems a bit vague. If anyone can do a better...
- Neolithic Settlement Found In The Faiyum
If anyone finds any other publicly available information about this story PLEASE let me know. Arabian Business A team of US archaeologists has discovered the ruins of a city dating back to the period of the first farmers 7,000 years ago in Egypt's...
Egypt
More re Faiyum discoveries
Madrid Digital
It is interesting that the Spanish media seem to be much more interested in this set of finds than the English language media. It will be good to hear more about the discoveries being made, which appear to belong to a number of major periods of Egyptian prehistory and history. The sheer range of the discoveries appears to be very impressive. Hopefully a detailed and coherent interim account of all this will appear in the not too distant future.
Arqueólogos de Egipto descubrieron joyas, accesorios domésticos y utensilios médicos en un área al norte del lago Qarun, en la región del oasis de Faiyum (foto), informó ayer el Consejo Supremo de Antigüedades (CSA).
Una nota de esa institución difundida en El Cairo señala que el hallazgo fue posible gracias a excavaciones actualmente en marcha en una zona de 10 kilómetros, rica en restos arqueológicos y paleontológicos que -se asegura- datan de hace unos 40 millones de años.
El secretario general del CSA, Zahi Hawass, explicó que el equipo de arqueólogos localizó artesanías pétreas del período prehistórico que incluyen finas piezas de los tipos Musteriense, Levallois y uno más arcaico llamado Ateriense, así como piezas de alfarería y cuentas de collares.
Asimismo, descubrieron vestigios de refugios usados por cazadores del período de la prehistoria y de épocas posteriores, incluido un cementerio probablemente de tiempos grecorromanos, islámicos y faraónicos en los que había monedas, platos, textiles, pipas, balanzas y otros objetos.
De acuerdo con Hawass, en el antiguo camposanto también se pudo explorar tumbas que terminaban en dos cámaras y en las que aparecieron piezas de los fatimídas y mamelucos, además de herramientas cosméticas, utensilios médicos y artefactos de piedra usados para la caza en la era islámica.
También fósiles de ballenas y otra fauna marina de unos 40 millones de años fueron ubicados en el oeste de Faiyum, en el famoso Valle de las Ballenas.
Igualmente, los arqueólogos encontraron un cartucho con el nombre de un rey de la Dinastía cero (3150 a.n.e.) y joyas de cristal de la misma época.
El comunicado del CSA agregó que el jefe del grupo de especialistas, Khaled Saad, concedió "gran importancia" al hallazgo, sobre todo por una aguja hecha de hueso, demostrativa de que el hombre ya había creado instrumentos útiles para coser el cuero.
En ese sitio también aparecieron 25 tumbas de piedra y numerosos esqueletos humanos, lo cual confirma que esa zona estuvo habitada.
Hawass agregó que la excavación fue iniciada en virtud de un plan del Ministerio egipcio de Turismo para construir hoteles y sitios de recreación en la costa norte del lago Qarun, pero las labores de búsqueda continuarán sin afectar las valiosas evidencias arqueológicas.
UCLA are currently also working in the Faiyum and some of their discoveries over the last few seasons of work have been detailed on their excellent Fayum Project website.
Geoffrey Tassie has written a good piece about the dangers to the archaeology of the area by development plans entitled The Endangered Faiyum.
If you're interested in the prehistory of the Faiyum and related sites in the area I put a website together on the subject a few years ago, which is at www.faiyum.com. Unfortunately many of the images are refusing to load.
- More Re Recent Faiyum Discoveries
The Spanish media have been far more interested in the discovery of a stone tablet with the name of the early king Scorpion. Most of the news accounts refer to the king as "mythological" but there is evidence for his existence in the form of the Scorpion...
- Part Of Avenue Of Sphinxes Discovered At Saqqara
Los Tiempos.com Noticias The SCA have announced that a team of Egyptian archaeologists have found a part of an ancient avenue of Sphinxes at Saqqara. According to the information released by the SCA the avenue was entioned in Graecoroman manuscripts and...
- New Discoveries In Egypt Announced By Hawass
El Periodico A short piece which doesn't seem to have hit any other English-language news services yet (although I am open to correction!). Zahi Hawass has been in the Mexican capital to open an exhibition. He made an announcement that the discovery...
- More Re Discoveries At Beni Suef
Actualidad Terra This piece adds a few details to previous reports on the discovery. My rough interpretation of this piece is fragmented - partly because of my rusty Spanish but partly because the story itself seems a bit vague. If anyone can do a better...
- Neolithic Settlement Found In The Faiyum
If anyone finds any other publicly available information about this story PLEASE let me know. Arabian Business A team of US archaeologists has discovered the ruins of a city dating back to the period of the first farmers 7,000 years ago in Egypt's...