Ancient Egypt’s treasures were always known – it would be impossible to hide a pyramid almost 147 meters (481 feet) tall. Tombs and temples were ‘visited’ (and plundered) for thousands of years after classical Egypt fell to Greek and Roman rule. Western interest in Egyptian antiquities changed the way Egypt was explored and preserved. William Flinders Petrie, an English Egyptologist, developed the methods of systematic excavation, cataloging and recording sites and preserving artifacts. By the 1800s, interest in Egypt’s ancient culture meant Egyptologists from all over the world flocked to areas along the Nile Valley to see what they could find. With each major discovery came renewed interest, reaching a fever pitch in 1922 when Egyptologist Howard Carter discovered the intact tomb of King Tutankhamun.
Today’s new archaeological, medical, and engineering technologies have given archaeologists a new way to explore the remains of ancient Egypt. Expeditions around ancient Nile cities such as Saqqara, Deir El-Medina, Amarna (also known as Akhetaten), Memphis, and Alexandria in the past decades have revealed a new way of looking at the ancient Egyptians, offering a deeper understanding of who they were beyond their religious and burial practices. These recent archaeological finds prove Ancient Egypt is not done giving up her secrets.
Jewelry (2022)
Archaeologists excavating the Tell el-Amarna site in 2022 found the remains of a young woman buried with her jewelry. She wore a necklace and soapstone and gold rings decorated with images of Bes, the protector of households and defender of good. The woman dates back to the 18th dynasty, around 1550 – 1292 BCE. She was wrapped in textiles and plant-fiber matting. Her burial gives modern researchers more information about the people of Amarna, which was known as Akhetaten during Pharaoh Akenaten’s rule in the Eighteenth Dynasty. He controversially practiced monotheism, creating his own religion (Atenism), primarily worshiping one god, Aten, the sun god. A controversial move in a polytheistic society.