One of *those* topics.
Posted on 12/11/2021 11:03:48 PM PST by SunkenCiv
A settlement that was buried beneath the sand for thousands of years—and eluded archaeologists for centuries—is believed to be one of the largest ancient Egyptian cities ever unearthed. The site was discovered by a stroke of good luck when archaeologists began searching for the mortuary temple of the boy pharaoh Tutankhamun (r. ca. 1336–1327 B.C.) along the west bank of the Nile in Luxor. What they found instead was a well-preserved urban settlement filled with houses, streets, and walls, some of which still stand 10 feet tall. Hieroglyphic inscriptions indicate the city was called tehn Aten, or “dazzling” Aten, and that it was founded by Tutankhamun’s grandfather Amenhotep III (r. ca. 1390–1352 B.C.)...
Aten was Egypt’s main administrative and industrial center. The city’s remarkable state of preservation is providing researchers with an unprecedented view of life there more than 3,000 years ago. Although only about one-third of the site has been excavated thus far, archaeologists have uncovered houses containing everyday objects including ceramic vessels, children’s dolls, and limestone gaming pieces. They have also identified bakeries, kitchens, and other areas associated with food production, as well as a vessel containing more than 20 pounds of dried meat prepped by a butcher named Luwy. There are also workshops that produced mudbricks and decorative amulets, and a residential and administrative neighborhood that was encircled by distinctive zigzag walls. Scholars do not yet understand why Aten fell into decline, but it may have been abandoned when Amenhotep III’s son, Akhenaten (r. ca. 1349–1336 B.C.), moved the Egyptian capital from Luxor to Amarna, 250 miles away.
(Excerpt) Read more at archaeology.org ...
The artists and sculptors of ancient Egypt may not be household names like Michelangelo, Raphael, or Caravaggio, but a new study of a female pharaoh’s temple suggests they had a lot in common with their Renaissance brethren. Instead of being solo artisans, sculptors worked in teams, with talented masters overseeing large crews of rookie chiselers and other assistants. Archaeologists say the study’s approach of scrutinizing the sculptors’ thousands of strokes is novel in Egyptology, which has long focused on interpreting written records. It reveals both the resources—and passion—ancient Egyptians poured into their art.Female pharaoh’s temple reveals how Egypt’s ‘ancient masters’ carved their art | Andrew Curry | November 16, 2021
Polish researchers at the Temple of Hatshepsut in Luxor in the south of the country, came across the extraordinary find while working on the reconstruction of the 3,500-year-old Chapel of the Goddess Hathor.Ancient ‘garbage dump’ reveals hundreds of artefacts dating back thousands of years | Szymon Zdziebłowski | November 26, 2021
How do the archaeologists know that Tutankhamun had a mortuary temple? The Egyptians seem to have forgotten their boy-king by the end of the XVIII dynasty, after all. That’s one reason why his tomb was lost until the twentieth century A.D. That, and the fact that when the tomb of another pharaoh, Ramses VI, was built nearby, the rubble dug out of that tomb was dumped on top of Tut’s.
thanks!
Tut had enough time and power to build that big colonnade at Karnak that Ramses the (supposedly) Great appropriated by having his cartouches replace those of Tut. But at that time, it was roofed, and no one could see that additional cartouches were still up there by the ceiling, so Ramses' chicanery was discovered about 30 years ago.
And, he has a condo made of stone-ah.
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