The dual cartouches of Ramesses III discovered in Jordan’s Wadi Rum. Courtesy Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, Jordan.

The Jordanian Minister of Tourism and Antiquities announced the discovery of the cartouche of Pharaoh Ramesses III (1186–1155 BCE) carved into a rock face near Wadi Rum in southern Jordan. A first-of-its-kind discovery in the country, it has been hailed as “rare, tangible evidence of pharaonic Egypt’s historical presence in the region.” Although it is the first such inscription discovered in Jordan, a series of cartouches belonging to Ramesses III have been discovered elsewhere, marking out an ancient trade route between Egypt and the Arabian Peninsula.

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Leaving a Mark

Among the countless carvings found throughout Wadi Rum, the inscription features two cartouches, one with the birth name of Ramesses III and the other with his throne name. “This is a landmark discovery that enhances our understanding of ancient connections between Egypt, Jordan, and the Arabian Peninsula,” said Lina Annab, the Jordanian Minister of Tourism and Antiquities.

Several other inscriptions of Ramesses III have been discovered outside of Egypt, carved along a lengthy trade route that connected Egypt with the Arabian Peninsula. These inscriptions have helped archaeologists pinpoint the route itself, with several cartouches found throughout the Sinai and Israel and one as far south as Tayma in Saudi Arabia. The Wadi Rum inscription, which is located close to the border between Jordan and Saudi Arabia, provides yet another marker on that route.

According to Zahi Hawass, the former Egyptian Minister of Tourism and Antiquities, “The discovery is crucial. It could open the door to a deeper understanding of Egypt’s interactions with the southern Levant and Arabian Peninsula over 3,000 years ago.”

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Canopic jars discovered in the area of the Ramesseum. Courtesy Egypt’s Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities.

A joint Egyptian-French expedition made an incredible discovery while carrying out excavations and restoration work at the mortuary temple of Ramesses II, the pharaoh often associated with the Exodus. The excavations revealed several new areas of the massive temple complex and numerous tombs dating to a few centuries after the temple’s original construction.

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Commemorating the Great Pharaoh

The mortuary temple, known as the Ramesseum or the “Temple of Millions of Years,” was one of the grandest construction projects carried out by Ramesses II (r. 1279–1213 BCE), one of the greatest pharaohs to ever reign over Egypt. Located in the Theban necropolis across the Nile from the modern city of Luxor, the temple served as a place of commemoration and worship of the pharaoh, both before and after his death. Today, the temple is recognized as part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

While carrying out excavations inside the temple, the Egyptian-French team uncovered the “House of Life,” an ancient scientific school that was attached to most major temples. Inside, they discovered the remains of drawings and school games. The team also identified administrative buildings, workshops, and cellars to the east of the temple. The workshops included kitchens, bakeries, and areas for stonework and textile production. The cellars served as storage for olive oil, honey, wine, and more. According to a press release by Egypt’s Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, the various buildings indicate that the temple featured a complex administrative apparatus and served as both a place of worship and a local distribution center for manufactured goods.

Ushabti figurines discovered in the area of the Ramesseum. Courtesy Egypt’s Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities.

Excavations to the northeast of the temple also revealed many tombs dating to the Third Intermediate Period (c. 1070–664 BCE). Most of these were shaft tombs that contained well-preserved canopic jars, funerary tools, coffins, and ushabti figurines.

The Egyptian-French expedition has been working at the mortuary temple since 1991 and has systematically carried out excavations and restoration work. Although one of the grandest construction projects of Ramesses the Great, the temple suffered more damage through history than some of Ramesses’s other construction projects, such as the famous temple at Abu Simbel. This may be because the location of the mortuary temple near the Nile’s floodplain damaged its foundations, leading to large areas of collapse.

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Egyptian scarab discovered at Azekah. Courtesy Emil Aladjem IAA.

While on a walk with her family at the site of Azekah in central Israel, three-year-old Ziv Nitzan made a remarkable chance discovery: a nearly four millennia-old Egyptian scarab seal. As recounted by her older sister, Ziv bent down to look at rocks while walking along the path of the archaeological site. Picking up a stone, the toddler began to rub off some of the dirt when her sister suddenly realized it was something special. “I called my parents to come see the beautiful stone, and we realized we had discovered an archaeological find!”

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Identifying a Scarab

After chancing upon the incredible find, the family contacted the Israel Antiquities Authority. According to Daphna Ben-Tor, an expert in ancient seals, the scarab dates to the Middle Bronze Age (c. 2000–1550 BCE) and is approximately 3,800 years old. “Scarabs were used in this period as seals and amulets. They were found in graves, in public buildings, and in private homes. Sometimes they bear symbols and messages that reflect religious beliefs or status.”

Typically, scarab seals were small stone objects carved in the shape of the scarab dung beetle. The beetle, considered sacred in the eyes of the ancient Egyptians, was a symbol of new life, since the insect creates a dung ball in which to lay its eggs. In Egyptian, the beetle’s name derives from the verb “to come into being” or “to be created.”

Ziv Nitzan and her sisters with the certificate of appreciation from the IAA. Courtesy Emil Aladjem, IAA.

Although scarab seals are distinctly Egyptian, at various periods in history they spread far outside Egypt’s borders. Hundreds have been discovered in Israel over the years. Many of these scarabs were imported from Egypt, while others were the work of local craftsmen copying Egyptian styles. In recent years, a number of scarab seals have been discovered by chance near archaeological sites, with many being found by small children like Ziv.

According to Achia Kohn-Tavor, an archaeologist who frequently partners with Israeli middle schools in educational activities, there are pros and cons of working with little kids. One of the pros is that in their excitement to find something, they look closely at every single rock. The con is that most of the things they find are just that—rocks.

Azekah is an important archaeological site near the modern (and ancient) city of Beth Shemesh. Through excavations, archaeologists have discovered evidence for the site’s long settlement history, including during the Bronze and Iron Ages. “The scarab found by Ziv joins a long list of Egyptian and Canaanite finds discovered [at Azekah], which attests to the close ties and cultural influences between Canaan and Egypt during that period,” said Oded Lipschits, director of the Azekah excavations.

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Mentioned in the Hebrew Bible as one of the two cities in which the Israelites labored during their servitude in Egypt, Pi Ramesses—biblical Raamses (Exodus 1:11)—is fascinating for a several reasons, not the least of which is that it could help date the period of the Exodus. At least, that is what some archaeologists think.

Corresponding to the archaeological site of Qantir in northeastern Egypt, Pi Ramesses became Egypt’s capital during the reign of Ramesses II, also known as Ramesses the Great (r. 1279–1213 BCE). Although the city was one of the largest and most splendid in Egypt at the time, it only survived for a little more than a century, as the branch of the Nile it was built on soon dried up, forcing the Egyptians to move their capital to the nearby city of Tanis, about 20 miles to the north. Not letting the building material of Pi Ramesses go to waste, however, the Egyptians took much of the city’s stones and transported them to Tanis, with some of the buildings of Pi Ramesses being rebuilt in their entirety in the new city.

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Given its short period of habitation, Pi Ramesses might well hold clues for dating the Exodus from Egypt, connecting the servitude of the Israelites to a dateable, extra-biblical city. To learn more about Pi Ramesses and how it might connect to the Exodus account, watch this video with Egyptologist Mark Janzen, Associate Professor of Archaeology and Ancient History at Lipscomb University.

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Aerial photo of one of the mysterious tombs. Courtesy Emil Aladjem, IAA.

At the crossroads of ancient trade routes running through the Negev Desert, archaeologists with the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) discovered a complex of mysterious tombs dating from the seventh through fifth centuries BCE. Among the ruins, the team discovered evidence that passing caravans came from as far away as ancient South Arabia (modern Yemen), trading in frankincense, myrrh, and possibly even trafficked women.

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The Desert Spice Route

Discovered near Tlalim junction in the northern Negev Desert, the site consists of two tombs separated by a courtyard. Although not close to any permanent settlements, the tombs sat at the crossroads of two important ancient trade routes, the Scorpion Ascents and the Way of the Sultan, which connected Egypt and Phoenicia to the Arabian Peninsula from at least the third millennium BCE. It was sometime between the seventh and fifth centuries BCE, however, that the two tombs were constructed, likely by merchants passing along the desert route.

Alabaster jar and lid from the excavation. Courtesy Emil Aladjem, IAA.

Among the tombs, archaeologists uncovered a large number of artifacts from across the region. These included Judahite and Edomite pottery, Egyptian amulets and scarabs, alabaster vessels, flint arrowheads, and stone incense burners from South Arabia. The alabaster vessels, each with a lid, would have been used to transport incense such as frankincense and myrrh, as alabaster was thought to be the best way to preserve incense.

Scarabs discovered at the tombs. Courtesy Emil Aladjem, IAA.

The archaeologists also found copper and silver jewelry, hundreds of colorful stone beads, and rare shells. Most of the artifacts were uncovered inside the tombs and had likely been deposited as grave goods. “The discovery is unique,” said Martin Pasternak, the director of the IAA’s excavation, and Tali Erickson-Gini, a senior researcher. “It points to wide-reaching cultural interchange between southern and northern Arabia, Phoenicia, Egypt, and southern Europe. The great variety of finds is evidence that this previously unknown site was a place of burial for trade caravans during that period and burial and cultic practices took place here. Naturally, these journeys would have taken months under difficult circumstances such as climate, the danger of raiders, and other challenges.” It is possible that caravans returned to the site often, to perform rituals and bury those who died during the journey.

Together, the two tombs contained the bodies of around 60 individuals, apparently buried at different times. Interestingly, the individuals appear to have been mainly women. Unlike most graves discovered in the Negev, which are simple stone mounds, these tombs were constructed as square burial chambers consisting of roughly cut stones and stepped or domed ceilings held up by pillars.

Excavating the tombs with a solar power station in the background. Courtesy Emil Aladjem, IAA.

“In light of the presence of special artifacts,” added Pasternak and Erickson-Gini, “we assume that many of the deceased were women, and it is possible that the trade caravans conducted human trafficking; texts of traders from Yemen in the second half of the first millennium BCE (called the Minaeans) describe purchasing women, among them those from Gaza, Egypt, Greece, Moab, and Edom. An inscription discovered in Yemen lists 30 women purchased in the city of Gaza.”

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Shaft tomb from Saqqara. Courtesy Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities.

Continued excavations at the ancient necropolis of Saqqara in Egypt have revealed yet more of the site’s rich history, with tombs and mastabas discovered from both the Old Kingdom (c. 2686–2181 BCE) and New Kingdom (c. 1570–1069 BCE) periods, as well as discoveries from the necropolis’s Greco-Roman catacombs. Two separate teams of archaeologists made the new discoveries, with a joint Egyptian-Japanese mission working on the eastern slopes of the site and a French-Swiss mission excavating on the southern side.

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The joint Egyptian-Japanese mission uncovered two rock-cut tombs and two mastabas (rectangular tombs constructed from mudbrick or stone) dating to the late Second and early Third Dynasties. The tombs date to the 27th century BCE and predate the construction of the Great Pyramids of Giza. One of the rock-cut tombs on the Saqqara plateau’s northern edge included a sealed shaft leading to the burial chamber. The team also discovered more than ten burials dating to the 18th Dynasty of Egypt’s New Kingdom. Additionally, while performing restoration work on a section of Greco-Roman catacombs that had previously been discovered, the team uncovered a collection of artifacts, including models of funerary shrines and fragments of clay heads of the goddesses Isis and Aphrodite.

A model funerary shrine. Shaft tomb from Saqqara. Courtesy Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities.

“This new evidence suggests that Saqqara was not only a major burial site during the Old Kingdom but also became significant during the New Kingdom when Memphis was reinstated as Egypt’s capital following the expulsion of the Hyksos,” said Mohamed Ismail Khaled, Secretary-General of Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities. Khaled further suggested that the discoveries demonstrate that the ancient necropolis extended farther north than previously thought.

Meanwhile, a joint French-Swiss mission, working on the southern side of the necropolis, uncovered the mastaba of the royal official Titi-nebfu, who lived during the reign of Pepi II (r. 2278–2216 BCE). The mastaba included a plethora of vibrant artwork, such as a painted false door and scenes of funerary offerings for the deceased. While the mastaba had been looted in antiquity, the structure remained intact and the team discovered the official’s stone sarcophagus, which recorded his name and many titles, including chief palace physician and priest of the goddess Serket.

False door to the tomb of Titi-nebfu. Courtesy Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities.

The necropolis of Saqqara has continued to provide incredible finds from across the span of Egyptian history. Among the finds have been hundreds of sarcophagi, human and animal mummies, grave goods, statues, and more. In the future, the Egyptian team hopes to discover the tomb of Imhotep, who was deified after his death and is remembered as one of ancient history’s most important architects.

All of the finds from the Saqqara tombs are expected to be brought to the Grand Egyptian Museum, which has recently opened. The artifacts will be studied, preserved, and curated for future display. It is hoped that the creation of this new national museum, along with its hoard of incredible new treasures and their associated media buzz, will help rejuvenate a tourism industry that suffered greatly during the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Collection of gold tongues and nails Oxyrhynchus. Courtesy Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities.

Excavations at the site of Oxyrhynchus in Middle Egypt have uncovered a new tomb complex dated to the Ptolemaic period (c. 304–30 BCE). According to the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, the tomb complex features a number of finds including paintings and statuettes. One of the most fascinating finds, however, is over a dozen mummies with golden tongues.

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A Mythical Practice

The tomb complex consists of three chambers connected to a hall at the bottom of a burial shaft. The whole complex was likely used as a mass cemetery. Among the finds were amulets, scarabs, texts, painted ritual scenes, and 13 mummies with tongues and nails. The practice of adding golden tongues to mummies was intended to aid the deceased in the afterlife by allowing them to speak, as according to Egyptian lore, gold was the flesh of the gods.

“The number of gold tongues here is high, which is interesting,” Salima Ikram, a professor of Egyptology at the American University in Cairo, told Live Science. “Possibly the bodies belong to higher elites that were associated with the temple and animal cults that proliferated in the area,” Ikram said, noting it’s possible that gold tongues “might have been the vogue for the embalming house in the area.”

Tomb painting of several Egyptian deities on a boat. Courtesy Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities.

Another nearby burial shaft also led to another tomb complex made up of three chambers, one of which included several incredible paintings depicting Egyptian deities in various settings. One painting depicts the owner of the tomb, named Wen-Nefer, accompanied by several deities. Another painting depicts a boat with multiple deities.

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The Egyptian scarab. Courtesy Emil Aladjem, IAA.

While walking with her family at Tel Qana near Tel Aviv, a young girl made a fantastic find: a small stone in the shape of a dung beetle with a carving of two scorpions on the bottom. After the family brought it to an archaeologist with the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA), it was determined that the object was an Egyptian scarab dating to around 1500 BCE, during the New Kingdom period.

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Finding a Scarab

“I was looking down at the ground to find porcupine needles and smooth pebbles,” said 12-year-old Dafna Filshteiner. “I picked up an interesting stone. I showed it to my mother, and she said it was just an ordinary stone or a bead. But then I saw a decoration and stubbornly insisted it was more than that, so we searched on the internet. There, we identified more photos of stones similar to what we had found. We realized that it was something special and immediately called the [IAA].”

While scarabs—often carved in the shape of dung beetles and frequently used as seals—originated in Egypt, they also became popular in the southern Levant with the spread of Egyptian influence. Many scarabs have been found in Israel, some having been imported from Egypt while others were crafted locally to mimic Egyptian styles. “The scarab is indeed a distinct Egyptian characteristic,” said Yitzhak Paz, a Bronze Age expert at the IAA. “Their wide distribution also reached far beyond Egypt’s borders,” however. “It may have been dropped by an important and authoritative figure passing through the area, or it may have been deliberately buried. Since the find was discovered on the surface, it is difficult to know its exact context.”

The bottom of the scarab depicts two scorpions, positioned head to tail. “The scorpion symbol represented the Egyptian goddess Serket, who was considered responsible, among other things, for protecting pregnant mothers,” said Paz. “Another decoration on the amulet is the nefer symbol, which in Egyptian means ‘good’ or ‘chosen.’ There is also another symbol which looks like a royal staff.”

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Researchers at the Field Museum scan one of the mummified individuals within their collection. Courtesy The Field Museum, Morgan Clark.

More than just the stuff of Hollywood movies, mummies and mummified remains have been the subject of scientific inquiry for centuries. Although early studies of mummies tended to be rather destructive, technological advances have opened up new opportunities. Recently, specialists with Chicago’s Field Museum have used a mobile CT scanner to gain new insight into ancient Egyptian funerary practices and the lives of individuals who lived thousands of years ago.

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Unwrapping the Mummy

Using the CT scanner, the team scanned 26 individuals within their collection. By taking thousands of X-ray images and stitching them together, the scanner produces a virtual 3D image of an object, inside and out, thus allowing researchers to peek behind the funerary wrappings of the mummies without ever having to unwrap them or risk damage.

“From an archaeological perspective, it is incredibly rare that you get to investigate or view history from the perspective of a single individual,” said Stacy Drake, Human Remains Collection Manager at the Field Museum. “This is a really great way for us to look at who these people were—not just the stuff that they made and the stories that we have concocted about them, but the actual individuals that were living at this time.”

One of the individuals they scanned lived around 3,000 years ago. Named Lady Chenet-aa, she died around the age of 30 or 40 and likely had a hard life, as the bread she ate contained sand particles that slowly destroyed her teeth, especially the enamel. Fascinatingly, however, the scans revealed that upon her death, Chenet-aa had replacement eyes put in her eye sockets so that she would be able to see in the afterlife.

“The ancient Egyptian view of the afterlife is similar to our ideas about retirement savings. It’s something you prepare for, put money aside for all the way through your life, and hope you’ve got enough at the end to really enjoy yourself,” said J.P. Brown, Senior Conservator of Anthropology. “The additions are very literal. If you want eyes, then there needs to be physical eyes, or at least some physical allusion to eyes.”

The CT scans of Chenet-aa also answered a long mystery surrounding her mummy: how she got into her funerary box, called a cartonnage. The papier-mâché-like structure featured no obvious seam and had only a small opening near her feet, not large enough to fit through in one piece. However, the CT scans revealed a previously unnoticed seam along the back of the cartonnage, as well as lacing. Based on the new information, the researchers determined that the cartonnage must have been molded around the body while the material was softened with moisture and the body was standing upright. The seam was then sewn shut and a wooden panel was placed inside through the opening near the feet to keep everything in place. The team hopes that continued analysis and more scans will provide even more information about these individuals and the practice of embalming in ancient Egypt.

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Mummies

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The gate to the temple of Edfu in Egypt. © Vyacheslav Argenberg / http://www.vascoplanet.com/, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

On the west bank of the Nile River, in the city of Edfu, sits a temple to the ancient Egyptian sky god Horus. One of Egypt’s best preserved temples, it is currently being restored by a German team from Julius Maximilian University. Constructed under the Ptolemaic Dynasty (323–30 BCE), a Hellenistic royal line that traced back to the kingdom of Macedon, the temple took nearly two centuries to complete. However, its location, construction, and decoration have led experts to believe it was not only a religious site, but also a hub of knowledge and learning.

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Well preserved and massive (it measures roughly 75,000 square feet), the temple’s walls are covered in reliefs and hieroglyphic inscriptions. The temple was initially discovered and excavated in 1860 and has been open to tourists since 1995. The exposure has resulted in the inevitable dirtying of the stonework, with dirt, dust, and bird droppings accumulating over the years. Remarkably, as the team from Julius Maximilian University has been cleaning and restoring the temple, they have uncovered new evidence that its walls and reliefs were once painted in vibrant colors, while some elements of the temple were covered in gold.

A close-up of hieroglyphs on a wall relief at the temple of Edfu. © Institute for the Study of the Ancient World used under Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic.

There is a common misconception that ancient artisans stayed away from the use of color. This belief is based mostly on the modern appearance of white, marble statuary recovered from many Greco-Roman sites, such as the famous Parthenon. However, scholars now know that most ancient statues and reliefs were painted in brilliant colors, which unfortunately have not survived the passage of time.

Indeed, in the case of the temple of Edfu, understanding how the reliefs once appeared is critical to understanding their original meaning. The inscriptions, reliefs, and colors all interacted to form an image of the cosmos, from earth to sky. Understanding how color was used also reveals more about Egyptian iconography and especially the hieroglyphic writing system. In addition, the team can use the new information to more accurately restore the temple’s reliefs to their original vibrant colors. What is more, traces of gold leaf were found high inside the temple and on a statue of an Egyptian deity. The gilding, which allowed the statue to sparkle in the glow of the sun, served to honor and glorify the deity.

Depiction of Horus with a falcon head, his traditional symbol. Ad Meskens, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Finally, the restoration team found traces of ancient graffiti throughout the temple. While the ancient Egyptians are well known for their hieroglyphic writing, they also developed shorthand scripts for everyday use. After the seventh century BCE, the Demotic script was primarily used by Egypt’s literate population. Priests were some of the few people that could read and write, and this, combined with the location of the writing in the temple, has led researchers to believe priests were the ones responsible. These graffiti address Horus through prayer, further confirming this script was added by priests worshiping and working in the temple. Findings like these not only improve restoration attempts but also enhance the field of Egyptology as a whole.

Lila Wolk, a student in classics and ancient Near Eastern studies at George Washington University, is an editorial intern with the Biblical Archaeology Society.

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