Tag: Egyptian pharaoh

Ancient Egyptians were Black – Egypt unveils tomb still bursting with color after 4,300 years

On By Dr. Y.In Great Art, Great Civilizations, Great Moments, Great People7 Comments
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This picture taken on April 13, 2019 shows a view inside the newly-dicovered tomb of the ancient Egyptian nobleman “Khewi” dating back to the 5th dynasty (24942345 BC), at the Saqqara necropolis, about 35 kilometres south of the capital Cairo. (Photo credit should read MOHAMED EL-SHAHED/AFP/Getty Images)

As I read the article about the discovery of this 4,300 years-old Egyptian tomb bursting with colors, I was stunned to see that NO article stated the obvious conclusion: Ancient Egyptians were Black! NO articles stated it: they wonder who the nobleman, Khewi, in whose tomb this was found is, what his link to the Pharaoh is, … they ask a thousand other questions, instead of addressing the reality! This reinstate what we already knew and what the great Cheikh Anta Diop always said, that Ancient Egyptians were black and that their descendants are today’s Subsaharan Africans! One of the statues found inside the tomb beautifully shows its very broad nose, clear symbol of its Black-ness/African-ness, and of course its skin color.  Enjoy! Below are excerpts; for the full article, please go to Fox News.

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A view inside the newly discovered tomb of the ancient Egyptian nobleman “Khewi” dating back to the 5th dynasty at the Saqqara necropolis, about 35 kilometers south of Cairo. (Photo by Mohamed el-Shahed / AFP)

Egyptian officials announced a stunning discovery over the weekend: a 4,000-year-old tomb of a dignitary bedazzled in colorful paintings and inscriptions.

Egypt’s Ministry of Antiquities unveiled Saturday the ancient resting place of the senior official named “Khuwy, [Khewi in other sources]” noting that he served during the reign of King Djedkare, a pharaoh who ruled Egypt during the Fifth Dynasty — from the late 25th century to early 24th century BC. The next day, the Egyptian government released footage that showcased what it called “exceptionally painted” limestone walls.

“The remarkable well-preserved colours on the inscriptions are considered royal colours,” the ministry said in an original video posted online.

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Mohamed Mujahid, head of the Egyptian mission that discovered the tomb of the ancient Egyptian nobleman “Khewi,” inspects the tomb’s walls inside the Saqqara necropolis on April 13. (Photo by Mohamed el-Shahed / AFP)

[…] “The L-shaped Khuwy tomb starts with a small corridor heading downwards into an antechamber and from there a larger chamber with painted reliefs depicting the tomb owner seated at an offerings table,” Mohamed Megahed, who led a team of archaeologists in digging up the tomb, told the Egyptian newspaper.

Every inch of the tomb is covered in markings, which archaeologists are carefully studying. So far, the inscriptions have raised questions about Khuwy’s impact on the ancient community as well as his specific relationship with the pharaoh — whose elaborate tomb sits just “a stone’s throw away,” per the ministry.

[…] Mostafa Waziri, secretary general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, called the burial “one of a kind in the last decades.”

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Statue inside the tomb. (Photo by Mohamed el-Shahed / AFP)

 

“The color is almost intact even though the tomb is almost 4,400 years old,” Waziri said in a statement at the time.

Ancient City unearthed in Egypt

On By Dr. Y.In Great CivilizationsLeave a comment
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Pyramid of Giza in the 19th Century

An ancient city has been unearthed in Egypt and dates back more than 5,000 years and contains houses, tools, pottery, and huge graves. The city lies by the River Nile, close to the temple of Seti I in Abydos. It is said to have been the city of tomb builders and architects. The rest below is from the BBC:

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It is believed the city was home to important officials and tomb builders and would have flourished during early-era ancient Egyptian times.

Archaeologists have made a range of finds in the newly-discovered city including buildings, shards of pottery and tools.

It is believed that this location was home to important officials and tomb builders who may have been engaged in the construction of royal graves in the nearby sacred city of Abydos – a place of many temples, and a capital in an early period of ancient Egyptian history.

The area is in the southern province of Sohag, in Upper Egypt, home also to the city of Luxor, one of the country’s most popular tourist sites.

“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,” Prof Chris Eyre, an Egyptologist based at the University of Liverpool, told the BBC.

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

The discovery was made by an archaeological mission that belongs to the country’s Antiquities Ministry, and not a foreign group, officials quoted in Egypt Independent website said.

Looted Ancient Egyptian Artifacts are Returning Home

On By Dr. Y.In Great Civilizations2 Comments
Coffin of Shesepamuntayesher, mummified 2600 years ago (National Geographic)
Coffin of Shesepamuntayesher, mummified 2600 years ago (Source: National Geographic)

It is true: some ancient Egyptian artifacts smuggled into the US are returning home. For many years, people looted the graves of pharaohs in Egypt and smuggled their finds by express shipping to the US (and other countries – particularly in Europe). Excerpt of an article in National Geographic reads:

“Some 2,600 years ago, an Egyptian woman named Shesepamuntayesher was mummified and laid to rest in an elaborate three-part coffin to ensure the continuation of her life force and the beginning of an eternal afterlife.

Stylized face of Shesepamuntayesher depicted on her coffin (Source: National Geographic)
Stylized face of Shesepamuntayesher depicted on her coffin (Source: National Geographic)

Shesepamuntayesher’s afterlife has unfortunately included a trip to Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates, and an ignominious stop in a garage in Brooklyn, New York. On Wednesday, thanks to a five-year investigation by U.S. Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the empty sarcophagus that once cradled her mummy is being returned to Egypt, where it will be housed in the Grand Egyptian Museum in Cairo.”

The damages done to Egyptian culture, and many African cultures, by art smugglers and looters cannot be quantified. It is important to fight to preserve these ancient cultures which tell us so much more about some of the world’s greatest civilizations, and about humanity in general. So it feels good to see art going back to their land of origin: like the looted art from Benin Kingdom which was returned to its people, or the great Obelisk of Axum, which was stolen by the Italians in 1935, and later returned after countless demands from the Ethiopian government in 2005. Please do check out the rest of the article on National Geographic.

The African Origin of Extradition

On By Dr. Y.In Great Civilizations1 Comment
Ramesses II
Pharaoh Ramesses II

I just learned today that the first ever written extradition agreement – and peace treaty- was written in Egypt centuries ago by Pharaoh Ramesses II (The Great) between the Egyptians and the neighboring Hittites in 1259 BC.  It is the world’s oldest and first extradition treaty.  Mostly known as the Treaty of Kadesh, after the battle of Kadesh fought 16 years earlier, the agreement bound both sides to repatriate criminals and political refugees from the other side.  It was concluded between Egyptian Pharaoh Ramesses II, and Hittite King Hattusili III.  The purpose of the treaty was to establish and maintain peaceful relations between the parties.

The Treaty of Kadesh (the Hittite version) engraved on baked plates and currently housed in Istanbul
The Treaty of Kadesh (the Hittite version) engraved on baked plates and currently housed in Istanbul

In Egypt it was inscribed on the walls of temples in hieroglyphics, while in the Hittite capital of Hattusa (in present day Turkey) it was preserved on baked clay tablets.  Archaeological excavations at the Hittite royal palace uncovered it among the palace’s sizable archives.  The Egyptian version of the peace treaty was engraved on the walls of Pharaoh Ramesses II’s mortuary temple in Thebes.  Translation of the text revealed that this engraving was originally translated from the silver tablet given to Ramesses II, but had since been lost to contemporary historians. The scribes who engraved the Egyptian version of the treaty included descriptions of the figures and seals that were on the tablet that the Hittites delivered.  A complete version of the Hittite text is currently housed within Istanbul‘s Ancient Orient section of its Archaeological Museums.

Think about it, our ancestors the Egyptians were quite ahead of time… they even thought of extradition.  As the likes of Julian Assange or Edward Snowden run around the world in search of a place with no extradition, it is good to know that ancient Egyptians were men of honor, and light who had thought about such a law centuries ago.