KV 63  

Une mise au point a été effectuée le 29 avril au meeting annuel de l'American Research Center in Egypt (ARCE). L'ouverture du sarcophage d'enfant (G) fut une surprise : il ne contenait pas de momie mais on y avait entassé cinq coussins (on parle beaucoup de coussins sur les forums d'égyptologie en ce moment). Et une surprise attendait les fouilleurs : au milieu des coussins se trouvait un petit sarcophage doré, vide. Bien trop petit pour contenir un enfant (42 cms), il aurait par contre pu contenir un foetus. Du coup, certain se posent la question des rapports éventuel avec la momie de foetus retrouvée dans la tombe de Toutankhamon.
En effet il semble de plus en plus que cette tombe ait un rapport avec celle du célèbre pharaon. Il a par exemple été remarqué une parenté d'exécution du puits d'accès avec ceux de la tombe KV46 (Youya et Touyou, parents d'Aménophis III) et de la fameuse tombe KV55 dont l'occupant (Smenkhare, Akhenaton, autre?) n'est pas formellement identifié. Les sceaux retrouvés dans la tombe sont intéressants. Certains comportent le chacal au dessus de neuf prisonniers, sceau traditionnel des prêtres de la nécropole. Un autre comporte un groupement crocodile - lion - prisonnier, comme chez TTA. Une des céramiques porte l'inscription "an 5" mais ne précise pas de quel règne.
De plus, les chercheurs ont pu affirmer d'après la disposition des pierres de blocage qu'on avait pénétré au moins une fois dans la tombe après qu'elle ait été initialement fermée, et qu'aucune intrusion de pillards n'y a apparemment eu lieu. Du moins les sarcophages n'ont pas été forcés.
Tous les sarcophages ont été soigneusement enduits d'une résine goudronneuse noirâtre, mais on ne sait si c'est pour les protéger ou pour dissimuler des inscriptions.
Une chose paraît sûre : la tombe date de la fin de la XVIIIème dynastie, ou au maximum du tout début de la XIXème dynastie.
Pour la suite, il faut attendre. Les fouilleurs espèrent beaucoup du plus grand des sarcophages, le dernier du fond.

Clarification has been made on April 29, at the annual meeting of the American Research Center in Egypt (ARCE). The opening of the child's sarcophagus (G) was a surprise: it didn't contain a mummy but filled with five cushions (one speaks a lot of cushions at the moment on the forums of Egyptology). And a surprise waited the excavators: in the middle of the cushions was a small golden sarcophagus, empty. Well too small to contain a child (42 cms), on the other hand it could have contained a fetus. As a result some asked the question of possible connections with the mummy fetus recovered in the tomb of Tutankhamun.
Indeed it seems more and more that this tomb has a connection with the one of the famous Pharaoh. Has it been noticed for example that a relationship of execution as well as access with those of tomb KV46 (Yuya and Tuyu, parents of Amenophis III) and of the famous tomb KV55 of which the occupant (Smenkhare, Akhenaton, other?) is not positively identified. The seals recovered in the tomb are interesting. Some include the jackal above of nine prisoners, the traditional seal of the priests of the necropolis. Another includes a grouping of crocodile - lion - prisoner, as at TTA. One of the door ceramics has the inscription "year 5" but doesn't specify of what reign.
Besides, the researchers could affirm according to the disposition of the stone blockages that no-one had entered the tomb after it has been initially closed, and that no intrusion of pillagers took place there apparently. At least the sarcophaguses have not been forced.
All sarcophaguses have been smeared carefully with a blackish tarry resin, but it is uncertain whether it was to protect them or to conceal some inscriptions.
One thing appears certain: the tomb dates of the end of the 18th Dynasty, or at most, the beginning of the 19th Dynasty.
For the moment, it is necessary to wait. The excavators hope for a lot from the largest of the sarcophaguses, the ones at the bottom.

KV63 site and NYT and MSN
Il y a une très belle description interactive sur Discovery channel.

There is a very beautiful interactive description on Discovery channel.

Et une video sur la découverte du petit sarcophage doré, encore sur Discovery.

And a video of the discovery of the small golden sarcophagus, again on Discovery.

 High Tech Laser Cleaning Egyptian Tomb 

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Egyptology Blog
Une nouvelle approche pour le nettoyage des tombes Thébaines : l'utilisation du laser. Selon les spécialistes elle semble très prometteuse, mais nécessite une grande adaptabilité.

A new approach for Theban tomb cleaning: the use of lasers. According to the specialists it seems very promising, but requires a great adaptability.

 "Hatshepsut mummy found" 

Zahi Hawass soutient que la momie de la fameuse reine Hatchepsout aurait été retrouvée dans les réserves du musée du Caire. Le monde Égyptologique reste dubitatif.

"The true mummy of the ancient Egyptian queen Hatshepsut was discovered on the third floor of the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, Secretary General of Supreme Council for Antiquities Zahi Hawas revealed". The Egyptological community remains doubtful.

 Useful URL's for egyptology 

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EEF NEWS
La librairie de l'Université d'Oxford a mis a jour sa liste de liens vers les meilleurs sites d'Égyptologie. OsirisNet y figure..

The University of Oxford library has updated its links to the best egyptological sites. OsirisNet is referenced in it.

 Akhmim Mummy Studies Consortium 

Un nouveau site web est né : celui consacré à l'étude non invasive des momies du site d'Akhmim.

The mission of the Akhmim Mummy Studies Consortium (AMSC) is to advance knowledge of the ancient Egyptian city of Akhmim through the scientific study of mummies recovered from the site's great necropolis. AMSC promotes the use of CT as a tool for biomedical analysis of the population dispersed from the site, and supports large scale forensic reconstruction of Akhmim's ancient inhabitants for purposes of research into that population's diversity. AMSC is dedicated to the recovery of the data set associated with Akhmim's looted cemeteries and to site protection and stabilization of less disrupted zones.

 L'Égypte ancienne de Bastet 

Le site excellent et bien connu de Corinne Smeeters vient d'être mis à jour. Les visites de plusieurs musées sont -entre autres- au programme.

Corinne Smeeters' excellent web site has been updated. Of particular interest are the visits of new museums.

 Online publication 

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EEF NEWS
Une publication en ligne intéressante : Décoration égyptienne. Plafonds et frises végétales du Nouvel Empire thébain (1400 à 1000 avant J.-C.) par Gustave Jécquier.

An interesting on-line French publication: "Décoration égyptienne". Ceilings and plant friezes of the Theban New Kingdom (1400 to 1000 before B.C.) by Gustave Jécquier.
Well worth a visit, just to see the designs.

 The last Nile flood 

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EEF NEWS
Un reportage très intéressant avec de belles photos sur la dernière inondation du Nil en 1964 avant la mise en service du grand barrage d'Assouan.

Photographs and text on the last Nile flood in 1964, before the Great Dam at Asswan entered in service. Flowing out of a barren desert, from a source “beyond all known horizons,” the Nile had baffled the world for thousands of years. Regular as sun and moon, in the middle of burning summer, without a drop of rain in sight, when all other rivers on earth were drying up, for no apparent reason at all, the Nile rose out of its bed every year, and for three months embraced all of Egypt.

 A new website 

Un nouveau site par Anneke Bart qui propose des passerelles vers des sujets divers, notamment les tombes d'Égypte.

A new site by Anneke Bart, who gives the following description : I have put together a website with some information about ancient Egypt: a list of Theban tombs, a list of high priests of Amun, and similar compilations that might be nice jumping off points for further research.

 A copy of the Egyptian vizier's tomb in the National Museum 

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Egyptology Blog
La tombe du vizir Merefnebef a été découverte à Saqqara par une équipe Polonaise en 1997. Elle remonte au 3ème millénaire avant JC. Sa copie conforme est en cours de réalisation pour être présentée au public au musée de Varsovie à la fin de l'année ou au début de l'année prochaine.

The only copy of the Egyptian vizier Merefnebef’s 3rd millennium B.C. tomb will be in Warsaw’s National Museum. The real tomb, containing unique reliefs and paintings was found in 1997 in Saqqara, Egypt by Polish archaeologists headed by Prof. Mysliwiec. This was one of the biggest Polish archaeological successes. Constructing the copy and giving viewers access to it is a form of homage to Polish archaeologists. The initiators hope that the first visitors will be able to see the tomb by the end of the year or at the beginning of the following year.

 The dark side of King Tut 

Le critique d'art Kevin Nance du Chicago sun-times n'y va pas avec le dos de la cuillère dans son reportage sur l'expo sur Toutankhamon qui traverse les USA actuellement. S'il admet le caractère exceptionnel des objets, il s'interroge sur la philosophie de la société qui les a produit. : des siècles de politique impérialiste agressive, des complots internes meurtriers, l'esclavage, ... La Maat ne règnait pas en Égypte!
Je ne veux pas commenter ici en détail ce point de vue, à la fois exact mais simpliste et qui fait fi de toute la valeur symbolique de l'art Égyptien. Les anciens Égyptiens n'étaient ni meilleurs ni pires que leurs voisins à la même époque.
Il faut néanmoins lire cet article.

Wow! Kevin Nance is an arts critic at the Chicago sun-times. And he is reporting here on the king Tut's exhibition currently travelling in the US.
And the least that can be said is that he is far from thinking that Maat reigned on Ancient Egypt.
"As the exhibit itself makes clear, the fabled wealth and advanced culture of ancient Egypt were largely fueled by centuries of imperialist military policy, cutthroat domestic politics, cruel subjugation of enemies and mass enslavement of prisoners of war. Moreover, the existence of the Tut artifacts today is the result of a state religion that combined a major death fixation with an intense materialism that led the elite to pack up their worldliest goods for the trip to the afterlife, complete with forced labor by servants. And the splendor of the artifacts is perversely undimmed by what they tell us about the society that created them".
I do not want to comment this article extensively here; let me just say that the statements are correct, but oversimplified, and the author has completely put between brackets the symbolic meaning of the Egyptian art. Ancient Egyptians were neither better nor worse then their neighbours.
Nevertheless, you should read this article.

 Found! King Tut's penis 

Le pénis de la momie de Toutankhamon n'a jamais disparu, comme on le croyait depuis 1968. Il vient d'être clairement mis en évidence par la dernière étude scannographique du célèbre pharaon.

Harry Burton (1879-1940) photographed the intact royal penis during Howard Carter's excavation of King Tut's tomb in 1922. But it was reported missing in 1968, when UK scientist Professor Ronald Harrison took a series of x-rays of the mummy. There was speculation that the penis had been stolen and sold. "Instead, it has always been there. I found it during the CT scan last year, when the mummy was lifted. It lay loose in the sand around the king's body. It was mummified," says Professor Zahi Hawass, chief of Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities.

 What's old is new 

Le temple de Medinet Madi dans l'oasis du Fayoum a un intérêt particulier : c'est le seul temple conservé du Moyen Empire. Une nouvelle zone vient d'être mise à jour à l'arrière du temple qui servait apparemment à l'administration. Une découverte intéressante, dont les fouilleurs espèrent beaucoup. En 1995 déjà, un second temple consacré au dieu crocodile du Fayoum, Sobek, avait été mis à jour.

Archaeologists have discovered a yard at the back of the Medinet Madi Temple structure thought to have been used by ancient Egyptians for administrative work and as a residential area for the temple priests. With it was found a number of related artefacts. The Medinet Madi Temple is the only Middle Kingdom temple still in existence. It was built by Pharaoh Amenemhat III during the 12th Dynasty, when he shared the throne with his son Amenemhat IV. The oldest parts of the temple are its inner chambers. It houses a small columned hall leading to three shrines which contain statues of the triad deities and the two Pharaohs. After 1960 the area around the temple was a subject of excavations by an Italian team who discovered two separate cities beside the temple, a large Roman town and several early Christian churches. In 1995 a Ptolemaic gate was found to the east of the temple, and on further excavation another temple dedicated to Sobek was discovered beneath the rubble. This second temple was built of mud brick with stone doorways and lintels, and had its axis at right angles to the older temple. Tablets and papyri were also found in the debris, including an important oracular document written in demotic script.

 JSesh 

Ceci va ravir les personnes qui cherchent un logiciel pour éditer leurs hiéroglyphes. Le logiciel JSesh de Serge Rosmorduc est maintenant disponible dans une nouvelle version. Il est toujours gratuit.

Serge Rosmorduc announced on AEL that JSesh version 2.2alpha has just been released. "It contains a big improvement: you can now cut and paste data from JSesh into your favourite word processor. It works with both Openoffice and MSWord. You can configure the size of the exported signs, and even keep two different configurations (one for main text, the other for footnotes, for instance). Cut and paste should work with Java 1.5 onwards. On Macintoshes, it's known to work on Tiger."
And it is still free