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Topics in this section:
egyptology-how it all began
| great
discoveries |
great egyptologists
|
rosetta stone
Historical information, not material gain
1914-1945
With the appointment in 1914 of a new Director
General of the Egyptian Antiquities Service, Pierre Lacau, the days of the
"archaeological free-for-all" were finally drawing to a close.
Egyptologists and the Egyptian authorities would clash over the ownership of
finds, and the rights of the excavators to work as they saw fit. The "equal
division of finds" policy was now no longer tolerated by the authorities,
and archaeologists gradually had to accept that they were now excavating for
historical facts and information, and not purely for material gain.
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|
YEAR |
MAJOR
FINDS |
EXCAVATION
AND DISCOVERY |
AREA |
| 1915 |
Zenon Archive. Many thousands of
Ptolemaic documents: letters, petitions, and accounts written in Greek
spanning the period 260-240 BC. A wonderful picture of life in Egypt at
this time. |
Egyptian farmers |
Darb el-Gerza, on the site of
ancient Philadelphia in the Faiyum. |
| 1916-1920 |
Nubian pyramids and tombs of the
25th Dynasty (Saite Period). |
George A Reisner excavating
tombs at the Nubian pyramids of Nuri and the cemetery of el-Kurru. Some
tombs had been robbed, but others had been preserved. |
Cemetries of Nuri and
el-Kurru
beyond the 6th Cataract, where the Kushite kings of the 25th Dynasty were
buried. |
| 1916 |
Tomb of the "Three
Princesses", three minor wives of Tuthmosis
III. Jewels,
head-dresses, wigs, amulets, mirrors, canopic jars. |
Egyptian locals. Following
violent rainstorms, water pouring down the rock face was seen to disappear
into the cliff base without trace. |
Qabbanat el-Qurud, Thebes. |
| 1920 |
The Models of Meketre. A
pristine collection of finely detailed wooden funerary models. A wonderful
picture of Egyptian everyday life. |
Harry Burton, Herbert Winlock's
site photographer discovered a hidden chamber in the previously robbed
tomb. |
Deir el-Bahri, Thebes. |
| 1920 |
The golden Uraeus of Sesostris
II. Solid gold cobra inlaid with lapis lazuli, turquoise and carnelian. |
Qufti worker, Hosni Ibrahim,
helping to clear the Offering Chamber of the pyramid of Sesostris. |
Pyramid of Sesostri II at el-Lahun. |
| 1922 |
The Tomb of Tutankhamun.
Spectacular treasures beyond belief. |
Howard Carter. After several
years of fruitless digging, a rock-cut step was discovered on 4th November
1922. |
Valley of the Kings, Thebes.
Tomb KV62. |
| 1924-1933 |
Statues and tiles at the Step
Pyramid of Djoser. The cult statue of Djoser, and inscribed base of a
second statue which also included the name of Imhotep. |
Cecil Firth discovered an
underground chamber adorned with tiles. Later, Dows Durham, who had been
seconded to Cecil Firth's work by George Reisner's Giza camp, discovered
the cult statue. |
The Step Pyramid complex of
Djoser, Saqqara. |
| 1925 |
The Amarna statues: 25 colossal
statues of Akhenaten and his queen Nefertiti. |
Henri Chevrier, during the
cutting of a drainage ditch at the Temple of Karnak. |
The east of the enclosure wall
of the Great Temple of Amun at Karnak, Thebes. |
| 1928 |
The Library of Kenherkhepshef,
Scribe of the Tomb to Ramesses II and Seti II. Collection of literary,
magical and medical papyri. |
Bernard Bruyère, director of
the French excavations at Deir el-Medina, village of the workmen. |
Deir el-Medina, Thebes. |
| 1931 |
Tutankhamun's Colossi. Two giant
statues of painted quartzite. |
Chicago Oriental Institute
team. |
The mortuary temple prepared for
Ay but used by Horemheb at Medinat Habu, Western Thebes. |
| 1937 |
The Unas Causeway, linking the
mortuary temple with the Pyramid of Unas. Decorated with fine artistic
scenes in raised relief. |
Selim Hassan. |
The Pyramid complex of
Unas,
Saqqara. |
| 1939-1940 |
Royal tombs at Tanis, treasures
from the Third Intermediate Period. |
Pierre Montet, excavating the
Delta city of Tanis. |
Temple of Anta at Tanis in the
Delta. |
| 1939 |
Amarna reliefs from Hermopolis.
Blocks decorated with reliefs and the names of Aten, Akhenaten and
Nefertiti. |
Günther Roeder excavating at
Hermopolis discovered the blocks which had been quarried from el-Amarna. |
El-Ashmunein, ancient Hermopolis
Magna, close to modern Mallawi. |
A new era of exploration: after 1945
With the tightening of antiquities laws, the
Second World War, and revolution in Egypt, excavation in Egypt understandably
slowed. Renewed international involved came with the building of the Russian Dam
in 1960. As a result of the necessary change of emphasis, the number of
spectacular finds may have been reduced somewhat, but the discoveries by chance
are still continuing today.
|
YEAR |
MAJOR
FINDS |
EXCAVATION
AND DISCOVERY |
AREA |
| 1952 |
The lost pyramid of
Sekhemkhet,
the substructure of a step pyramid. The underground chambers contained
hundreds of funerary vessels, and some gold treasures. |
Muhammed Zakaria Goneim, Keeper
of the Saqqara Necropolis. First discovered a section of the enclosure
wall, then the first "step" of the pyramid. |
Located next to the Step Pyramid
complex of Djoser at Saqqara. |
| 1954 |
Intact boat pits at the Great
Pyramid of Khufu, Giza. |
Kamal el-Mallakh, an inspector
with the Antiquities Service. |
South side of Khufu's Great
Pyramid at Giza. |
| 1960's |
Hoard of Middle Kingdom bronze
statues. |
Circumstances surrounding this
discovery are unknown. |
Pyramid complex of Amenemhet III
at Hawara in the Faiyum. |
| 1964-1971 |
The Animal Necropolis. Extensive
catacombs containing mummified ibis, cows, baboons, falcons, rams, cats
and dogs. |
Walter Bryan Emery, Edwards
Professor of Egyptology, University College London. |
Early Dynastic Necropolis at
Saqqara. |
| 1974 |
The unfinished pyramid of
Raneferef. Major finds from the unfinished complex include sculptures of
the king and a hoard of papyri. |
Miroslav Verner, of the Czech
team from the Charles University, Prague. |
Pyramid complex of Raneferef at Abusir. |
| 1975 |
New Kingdom tombs at Saqqara,
the lost tomb of Horemheb. |
Geoffrey T Martin |
Saqqara. |
| 1987 |
Tomb of the sons of Ramesses II.
Finds include sarcophagi, coffins, canopic jars, jewellery and pottery. |
Relocated by Kent R Weeks.
Partially opened in 1825 by James Burton, and in 1902 by Howard Carter.
The
entrance was then lost to sight. |
Valley of the Kings, Thebes.
Tomb KV5. |
| 1989 |
The Luxor Statue Cache. Over 25
statues buried beneath the Luxor Temple during the Roman Period in the
late 3rd century BC. |
Mohammed el-Saghir. Discovered
during routine maintenance cleaning operations by the Luxor Antiquities
Inspectorate. |
Beneath the Solar Court of
Amenhotep III at the Luxor Temple, Thebes. |
| 1990 |
Tombs of the Pyramid Builders at
Giza, the worker's tombs. |
Zahi Hawass, Undersecretary of
State for the Giza plateau. |
South of the Great Sphinx of Giza. |
| 1994 |
Underwater
Alexandria.
Architectural elements, statuary, sphinxes, Greek and Roman shipwrecks. |
Jean Yves-Empereur and Frank
Goddio. |
Beneath the harbour, and the
Qait Bey site, Alexandria. |
| 1996 |
Valley of the Golden Mummies.
Cemetery in Bawit, containing upwards of 10,000 Greco-Roman mummies. |
Zahi Hawass excavating in the
Western Desert. Discovery announced 1999 to avoid plunder of the tombs. |
Bawit in the Bahariya Oasis, the
Western Desert.
|
| 2006 |
In February 2006 another
ancient Egpytian tomb was found a mere 50 feet from where Tutunkhamun's tomb
was discovered, its discovery was entirely unexpected and sent shockwaves
around the scientific and archaeological world. |
An international team of
archaeologists were doing routine excavation work when they discovered what
seemed to be a man-made shaft. A small chamber was subsequently unearthed
and found to contain five wooden coffins. |
Tomb KV63 in the
Valley of the Kings, just 50ft from Tuntankhamun's tomb. |
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