Ancient World Review

Facial Reconstruction Reveals Egyptian "Mummy Portrait" Was Accurate Except For One Detail

Video from 2018.

"Just after the turn of the first millennium A.D., a young child living in Egypt contracted a deadly illness — most likely pneumonia — and died. His tiny body was prepared for mummification and burial; some of his organs were removed, his remains were wrapped in criss-crossed linen bindings and a portrait of his face was affixed to the front of his mummy." Source: Live Science.

"This so-called 'mummy portrait' was part of a popular tradition among some Egyptians in Greco-Roman times, from about the first through the third centuries A.D. But how accurate were these portraits? To find out, a team of scientists in Austria and Germany CT scanned this little boy's body and created a 3D digital reconstruction of his face.

"The results show that the portrait was fairly accurate, except for one aspect — the artist made the youngster look older than his 3 or 4 years."

Note: I wouldn't take this new reconstruction as the gospel truth. Digital facial reconstruction using data from 3D scans is apparently fairly accurate now, but it still has its limitations:

"Facial reconstruction is destined to remain an art, albeit an increasingly informed one. The shape of the face bears only a restricted resemblance to the underlying bone structure. Facial reconstructions are inherently inaccurate, therefore, and cannot be used as a positive proof of identification – certainly not in a court of law." Source: Archaeology Data Service.

Thirteen Sealed Mummy Coffins Found Stacked In Well In Egypt

Coverage starts at 1:07.

"Archaeologists have discovered more than 13 ancient Egyptian coffins piled one on top of the other within a burial well at the desert necropolis of Saqqara, according to the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities." Source: Live Science.

"The 2,500-year-old wooden coffins are so well preserved that the intricate designs on them, painted in blue, gold, white, black and red, are still visible.

"The identity of the deceased who were buried within the coffins remains a mystery; archaeologists have yet to look inside the sealed coffins, which haven't been opened since the bodies were interred within, the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities reported in a Sept. 6 Facebook post."

"These newfound coffins are the largest finding at Saqqara since 30 wooden coffins were discovered in a cache at Al-Assasif cemetery within the necropolis in October 2019, the ministry said."

Egyptian Mummies With Red And Blonde Hair

Video from 2017.

"According to Dr. Janet Davey from the Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine in Australia, some ancient Egyptians were naturally blonde or red haired. Her research has brought an answer to an intriguing question connected with Egyptian mummies and the effects of the mummification process." Source: Ancient Origins (2016).

"An article published recently by The Sydney Morning Herald says that the mystery of the red and blonde hair discovered on some ancient Egyptian mummies may finally be solved. The new research was necessary to check the common perception that no ancient Egyptians had hair that wasn’t colored dark brown or black. Until now, most researchers had claimed that the different colors of the mummy hair were a result of the mummification process itself."

Note: According to Wikipedia, the ancient Egyptians used natron, a "salt mixture from dry lake beds," as a drying agent during mummification ceremonies. Until recently, experts believed that this treatment could have changed the color of the mummy's hair, but Dr. Davey, with the help of industrial chemist Alan Elliot, ran an experiment which demonstrated that this wasn't the case:

"Davey and Elliot covered [hair] samples in the salty powder for 40 days. It is believed that this was the same amount of time that was needed in ancient times to dry out the bodies. The donors of the hair were men and women aged from 4 to 92 years old. Most of the samples were dark hair, with one grey, one fair, and one with henna on it for comparison.

"After 40 days, all the hair was removed from the salty powder and they appeared unchanged. Microscopic analysis also showed no change in the hair."

These findings are consistent with recent DNA analyses which show that the ancient Egyptians were more closely related to Europeans and inhabitants of the Near East than modern Egyptians. 

Related: Coffin of Tutankhamun's Great-Grandmother Opened to Show Preserved Body With Blonde Hair. This Daily Star story was posted on June 14, 2019, but I think it's old news. The story quotes one Egyptologist who claims that natron bleaches hair, a claim that was apparently disproved by Davey's research in 2017.

Roman Graffiti In Egyptian Temples

"Tourists left reviews carved into stone in Egypt that have been compared by experts to an ancient version of Trip Advisor." Source: Daily Mail (2017)

"The marks have been studied by archaeologists working in the Valley of the Kings, where visitors etched their thoughts into artworks and on walls millennia ago.

"Among the carvings were the phrases 'I visited and I did not like anything except the sarcophagus!', 'I admired!', and 'I can not read the hieroglyphs!'"

Next video shows examples of more recent graffiti in Egyptian temples. (Audio incomprehensible.)

Video from 2015.

The Roman Town Of Cuicul In Algeria

"The site of Djémila is located 50 km north-east of the town of Sétif [in Algeria]. Known under its antique name Cuicul, Djémila is an establishment of an ancient Roman colony founded during the reign of Nerva (96 - 98 A.D.). The Roman town occupied a singular defensive position. Cuicul is one of the flowers of Roman architecture in North Africa. Remarkably adapted to the constraints of the mountainous site ... the town has its own Senate and Forum. Around the beginning of the 3rd century, it expanded beyond its ramparts with the creation of the Septimius Severus Temple, the Arch of Caracalla, the market and the civil basilica. The site has also been marked by Christianity in the form of several cult buildings: a cathedral, a church and its baptistry are considered among the biggest of the Paleochristian period. The site of Djémila comprises an impressive collection of mosaic pavings, illustrating mythological tales and scenes of daily life." Source: UNESCO World Heritage List.

Cuicul was formerly a Berber fort. Later it became dependent on Cirta, "the ancient Berber and Roman settlement which later became Constantine, Algeria." (Wikipedia) "Cirta was the capital city of the Berber kingdom of Numidia ... Although Numidia was a key ally of the ancient Roman Republic during the Punic Wars (264–146 BC), Cirta was subject to Roman invasions during the 2nd and 1st centuries BC. Eventually it fell under Roman dominion during the time of Julius Caesar. Cirta was then repopulated with Roman colonists by Caesar and Augustus and was surrounded by a 'confederation of free Roman cities' such as Tiddis, Cuicul, and Milevum."

The Amphitheater Of El Jem In Tunisia

"El Djem or El Jem ...  is a town in Mahdia Governorate, Tunisia ... It is home to some of the most impressive Roman remains in Africa, particularly the world-famous 'Amphitheater of El Jem.'" Source: Wikipedia.

"The amphitheatre was built around 238 AD in Thysdrus, located in the Roman province of Africa Proconsularis ... It is one of the best preserved Roman stone ruins in the world, and is unique in Africa. As other amphitheatres in the Roman Empire, it was built for spectator events, and it is one of the biggest amphitheatres in the world. The estimated capacity is 35,000 [1], and the sizes of the big and the small axes are respectively 148 metres (486 ft) and 122 metres (400 ft). The amphitheatre is built of stone blocks, located on a flat ground, and is exceptionally well conserved." (Wikipedia)

[1] If this estimate is accurate, the amphitheater could hold about as many people as Cajun Field in Lousiana and other smaller football stadiums around the US.

Monkey Pets From India Buried Like "Sleeping Babies" In Ancient Egypt

"The remains of monkeys found buried at an ancient port in Egypt reveal that they were imported from India as household pets, say archaeologists." Source: Archaeology News Network.

"The monkeys, discovered in an animal cemetery in the ancient port of Berenice and found to have been carefully arranged like sleeping babies, were initially thought to have been local to the area.

"But by using 3D scanners and comparing the bones with others, researchers found the primates were actually rhesus macaques from India."

Note: Apparently the monkey's owners were Romans rather than native Egyptians:

"Zooarchaeologist Dr. Marta Osypińska from the Institute of Archaeology and Ethnology of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Poznań said: 'This is a unique find. Until now, no one has found Indian monkeys at archaeological sites in Africa. Interestingly, even ancient written sources don’t mention this practice.'

"She added: 'When Egypt was annexed to the Roman Empire 2,000 years ago, we believe that the wealthy Romans who stayed in Berenice, a distant outpost, in the first and second centuries AD, wanted to spend time in the company of various animals. Among them were monkeys.'"

Animal Mummies Unwrapped With 3D X-Rays

"Three mummified animals from ancient Egypt have been digitally unwrapped and dissected by researchers, using high-resolution 3D scans that give unprecedented detail about the animals' lives -- and deaths -- over 2000 years ago. The three animals - a snake, a bird and a cat - are from the collection held by the Egypt Centre at Swansea University. Previous investigations had identified which animals they were, but very little else was known about what lay inside the mummies." Source: Science Daily.

Comment: If this technology had been available in the early 1900s, the officials of the Cabot Museum of Archaeology in Boston would have gotten a nasty surprise when they saw the first hi-def 3D X-ray images of a particular mummy in the museum's collection.

Related: Mummied Kitten "Strangled" To Death Before Being Offered To The Gods, New 3D Scans Reveal

Grass Beds Found In 200,000-Yr-Old Cave

Border Cave, South Africa. Views of the cave begin at around 2:38.

"Researchers in South Africa's Border Cave, a well-known archaeological site perched on a cliff between eSwatini (Swaziland) and KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa, have found evidence that people have been using grass bedding to create comfortable areas for sleeping and working on at least 200,000 years ago." Source: Science Daily.

"These beds, consisting of sheaves of grass of the broad-leafed Panicoideae subfamily were placed near the back of the cave on ash layers. The layers of ash was used to protect the people against crawling insects while sleeping. Today, the bedding layers are visually ephemeral traces of silicified grass, but they can be identified using high magnification and chemical characterisation."

Note: There are lots of videos out there describing how to make grass mats. The ones I've seen always involve the use of modern tools like saws, knives, etc. Back in the Stone Age, I imagine people would've either cut the grass with flint blades or simply pulled it out of the ground and piled it up to make their bedding.

The grass mats found in Border Cave were used for more than just bedding:

"'We know that people worked as well as slept on the grass surface because the debris from stone tool manufacture is mixed with the grass remains. Also, many tiny, rounded grains of red and orange ochre were found in the bedding where they may have rubbed off human skin or coloured objects,'" according to one of the researchers.

The Temple of Hathor At Dendera

"[The] Dendera temple complex ... is located about 2.5 kilometres (1.6 mi) south-east of Dendera, Egypt. It is one of the best-preserved temple complexes in Egypt." (Wikipedia) "... The all overshadowing building in the Complex is the main temple, namely Hathor temple (historically called the Temple of Tentyra). The temple has been modified on the same site starting as far back as the Middle Kingdom, and continuing right up until the time of the Roman emperor Trajan. The existing structure was built no later than the late Ptolemaic period. The temple, dedicated to Hathor, is one of the best preserved temples in all Egypt. Subsequent additions were added in Roman times."

Note: "Dendera was Hathor's oldest temple in Upper Egypt, dating back at least to the Fourth Dynasty [~2613 - 2494 BC]." (Wikipedia)

"More temples were dedicated to Hathor than to any other Egyptian goddess. During the Old Kingdom her most important center of worship was in the region of Memphis, where "Hathor of the Sycomore" was worshiped at many sites throughout the Memphite Necropolis." (Wikipedia)

The Dendera "Light Bulb": "Beneath the Temple of Hathor at Dendera there are inscriptions depicting a bulb-like object which some have suggested is reminiscent of a 'Crookes tube' (an early lightbulb). Inside the 'bulbs' a snake forms a wavy line from a lotus flower (the socket of the bulb). A 'wire' leads to a small box on which the air god is kneeling. Beside the bulb stands a two-armed djed pillar, which is connected to the snake, and a baboon bearing two knives." Source: Ancient Egypt Online.

"Hathor was a goddess of joy, feminine love, and motherhood. She was worshiped by both royalty and the common people. She was thought to have supported women in childbirth and also looked after music, dance, and fertility. She was a goddess of miners as well." Source: Ancient Origins.

"The goddess was known as the Mistress of the West, Mistress of Turquoise, and Mistress of Foreign Lands. The oldest information about her comes from the Fourth Dynasty (c. 2613 -2494 BC), but there is some information suggesting that her cult may be older. She was also worshiped by the pharaohs of the New Kingdom (c. 1550 – 1069 BC)."

Related: Ancient Goddesses of Love and Fertility.