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Egyptian archaeologists working in the Nile Delta have uncovered dozens of rare pre-dynastic tombs dating to the period before Egypt's Pharaonic kingdoms first emerged more than 5,000 years ago.They also found tombs from the later Hyksos period (1650 to 1500 BC) when Western Asian migrants took over the country, putting an end to Egypt's Middle Kingdom.The tombs include 68 from the Buto period, which began around 3300 BC, and five from the Naqada III period, which was just before the emergence of Egypt's first dynasty around 3100 BC, according to a statement from the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities released...

A child skeleton dating to 3,800-3,600 BC discovered in Nag Al-Qarmila, in Aswan, may be the oldest discovered case of scurvy in the world. Within the framework of the Aswan Kom Ombo Archaeological Project (AKAP), which is focused on pre-dynastic sites in the area of Nag Al-Qarmila in Aswan, a new and important discovery has been made. The AKAP Italian-Egyptian mission led by Maria Carmela Gatto from Yale University and Antonio Curci from Bologna University stumbled upon what is believed to be the oldest case of scurvy (vitamin C deficiency) in the world, dated to the era 3,800-3,600 BC. Minister...

About 60 drawings and hieroglyphic inscriptions, dating back around 5,000 years, have been discovered at a site called Wadi Ameyra in Egypt’s Sinai Desert. Carved in stone they were created by mining expeditions sent out by early Egyptian pharaohs archaeologists say. They reveal new information on the early pharaohs. For instance, one inscription the researchers found tells of a queen named Neith-Hotep who ruled Egypt 5,000 years ago as regent to a young pharaoh named Djer. Archaeologists estimate that the earliest carvings at Wadi Ameyra date back around 5,200 years, while the most recent date to the reign of a...

A team of archaeologists and students are excavating a site in the Nile Delta region of Egypt where, set within desert desolation, ruins still bespeak an important port city that flourished by the 2nd and 1st centuries B.C. Near the present-day city of El-Mansoura, a clearly human-made rise with visible ruins mark the spot of Tel Timai, what remains of the city of Thmuis, an ancient port city and capital of the Ptolemies... "Little excavation has been done in Tell El-Timai," reports Littman, "...At the end of the 19th century Edouard Naville discovered what he labeled as a library in...

Scientists have discovered what is believed to be one of the world's oldest doodles - an ancient scrawl carved onto a rock by a caveman 4,500 years ago. Cambridge University experts believe the crudely etched circles are the Neolithic version of a modern office worker's scribbles on a post-it note. The 6.6in (17cm) chunk of sandstone was discovered by an amateur archaeologist from the bottom of a deep quarry in Over, Cambs., during a university fun day.

The Tassili n’Ajjer of Southern Algiers is described as the “largest storehouse of rock paintings in the world”. But could it also be the origins of the ancient Egypt culture ? In January 2003, I made enquiries to visit the Hoggar Mountains and the Tassili n’Ajjer, one of the most enchanting mountain ranges on this planet. The two geographically close but nevertheless quite separate landscapes are located in the Sahara desert in southeast Algeria. I was told that if I could pack my bags immediately (literally), I could join the three weeks’ trip. Unfortunately, I could not, but planned to...

Archeologists in Egypt have unearthed two 5,000-year-old wooden statues, complete with gold wrapping paper... which depict two nude men with precious stones around their eyes... in the northern Nile Delta region of Daqahliya, said a statement by chief archaeologist Krzysztof Cialowicz. The effigies are believed to date from Egypt's predynastic era (3,700-3,200 BC)... the team has found warehouses and tombs in the same Tel al-Farkha area, said the statement issued by the Egyptian Supreme Council of Antiquities.

Written by Chahira Kozma, M.D., of the department of pediatrics at Georgetown University Hospital, the paper examines biological remains and artistic evidence of dwarfism in ancient Egypt, including both elite dwarfs who achieved important status, and ordinary dwarfs. The earliest biological evidence of dwarfs in ancient Egypt dates to a Predynastic Period called the "Badarian Period" (4500 BCE) in addition to several skeletons from the Old Kingdom (2700 – 2190 BCE). Pictorial sources of dwarfism in tomb and vase paintings, statues and other art forms are numerous and indicate that dwarfs were employed as personal attendants, overseers of linen, animal...

Study traces Egyptians’ stone-age roots Dec. 17, 2005 Special to World Science Some 64 centuries ago, a prehistoric people of obscure origins farmed an area along Egypt’s Nile River. Barely out of the Stone Age, they produced simple but well-made pottery, jewelry and stone tools, and carefully buried their dead with ritual objects in apparent preparation for an afterlife. These items often included doll-like female figurines with exaggerated sexual features, thought to possibly symbolize rebirth. Details from a tomb painting from Hierakonpolis, from prehistoric Egypt's Naqada culture. A new study suggests the Naqada people, the earlier Badarians and the later...

CAIRO, Egypt - Archaeologists digging in a 5,600-year-old funeral site in southern Egypt unearthed seven corpses believed to date to the era, as well as an intact figure of a cow's head carved from flint. The American-Egyptian excavation team made the discoveries in what they described as the largest funerary complex ever found that dates to the elusive 5-millenia-old Predynastic era, Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities said Wednesday. "This is a major discovery, and will add greatly to our knowledge of the period when Egypt was first becoming a nation," said Zahi Hawass, Egypt's chief archaeologist. The team working for...

MUSKY, with a woody tone and spicy hints of cinnamon - the perfect fragrance for a Bronze Age date. Italian archaeologists have discovered the world’s oldest perfumery and have identified the smells popular with the people of the time. The perfumery was found at a sprawling archaeological site on a hillside overlooking the Mediterranean at Pyrgos-Mavroraki, 55 miles south-west of Nicosia. "This is 4,000 years old. Without a doubt, it is the oldest production site for perfume in the world," said Maria Rosario Belgiorno, the excavation team leader. The site was destroyed by an earthquake in antiquity but the calamity...

Most of the occurrences of Narmer's name are on jars and jar fragments; an astonishing number of serekhs has emerged in the last 25 years from excavations in Israel and Palestine (Tel Erani, En Besor, Arad, Halif Terrace/Nahal Tillah, Small Tel Malhata, Tel Maahaz, Tel Lod and some more) signifying an apex of commercial contacts between Egypt and Canaan which lasted all through [Early Bronze I] ...These data and the excavation of many Southern Palestine sites, are proof of a very complex series of interrelations between Egypt and peoples centred beyond North Sinai lasting more than two (or three) centuries....

March 3 , 2004Archaeological discovery of unknown pharaonic king inscription The American archaeological expedition working in cooperation with the Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA) in Al-Kharga Oasis discovered a rocky inscription north of the oasis including a royal name dating back to pre-dynastic era (32nd century B.C). The SCA Secretary-General Dr Zahi Hawass said that the name was unknown and the rocky inscription discovery came during the survey actions by the archaeological teamwork in Al-Kharga oasis region. The chairman of the US archaeological expedition Dr Solima Al-Harram pointed out that the discovery would reveal new information about the Egyptian royal...

Alexandria, January 2004. The 2003 joint Aboukir Bay research mission of the Department of Underwater Archaeology of the Supreme Council of Antiquities and the European Institute for Underwater Archaeology (IEASM) led by Franck Goddio has brought to light scientific results of great historic interest. On the site of the sunken city of Heracleion, discovered in May 2001, archaeological excavations performed around the temple of Heracles have enabled to define the topography of the surroundings of the sanctuary. In this monument a cult to the supreme pharaohnic deity Amon and to his son Konshu (respectively Zeus and Heracles for the Greeks)...

A Polish mission at Tel Al-Farkha in Daqahliyah has discovered four pre-dynastic tombs, Minister of Antiquities Mamdouh Eldamaty announced on Tuesday. Eldamaty said three of the tombs are in a very poor condition and include child burials. Meanwhile the fourth tomb is in very good conservation condition and can be dated to the Naqada IIIC2 era. The minister told Ahram Online that the tomb is a small mastaba with two chambers. The southern one was filled with 42 clay vessels, mainly beer jars, bowls as well as a collection of 26 stone vessels of different shapes and sizes. Some of...

Ancient vessel retraces voyages of the past By Stefanos Evripidou IT LOOKS like a tree house stuck on a bamboo banana. In reality it's the incarnation of a pre-Pharaonic reed boat, designed and built to unravel the mysteries of prehistoric navigation. The Abora II drifted in to Larnaca marina yesterday. Weighing in at six- tonnes, the vessel is a totra-reed boat. It is 11.5 metres long, 3.5 metres wide and 1.5 metres deep. The man responsible for building the huge boat is Dominique Goerlitz, a biology teacher at a school in Germany. As a student, Goerlitz was fascinated by the...