"A 4,500-year-old cemetery has been discovered southeast of the famous Giza Pyramids, the Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities announced this morning (May 4)." Source: Live Science.
"Several tombs and burials were discovered in the cemetery, with one of the oldest tombs holding the remains of two individuals — one named 'Behnui-Ka' and another named 'Nwi.' Their sarcophagi were found intact and their remains are likely inside; however, no information on them has been released. Analysis of the tomb's artifacts and hieroglyphic inscriptions revealed that the two men lived almost 4,500 years ago, during what historians often call the Fifth Dynasty, a time after the Giza Pyramids had been built."
Note: I'm not sure if this is related, but the discovery of another Fifth Dynasty tomb was announced last month:
"Our knowledge about Egyptian pottery is derived from various sources, either ancient or modern. Scattered tombs and temple representations, workshop models, stelae, ostraca and some texts have provided valuable contemporary testimony on ancient Egyptian ceramic production , technology and function."
"Egypt has unveiled the 2,500-year-old mummy of a high priest at an ancient cemetery south of Cairo. Egyptologist Zahi Hawass and an Egyptian team opened three sealed sarcophagi from the 26th Dynasty." Source: Archaeology News Network (April 9, 2019).
"One contained the well-preserved mummy of a powerful priest, wrapped in linen and decorated with a golden figure depicting Isis, an ancient Egyptian goddess ... The team also opened two other sarcophagi, one containing a female mummy decorated with blue beads and another with a father in a family tomb."
Note: It looks like the archaeologists dropped the ball on this one:
"In 1927, a huge limestone sarcophagus was found in the area and placed in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, but the site was then forgotten [emphasis added] ... But two years ago an unauthorized digger was found at the site and stopped ... That’s what alerted archaeologists and excavation began." (Archaeology News Network)
In other words, archaeologists forgot all about the site for almost a century. If an "unauthorized" digger -- a criminal tomb raider -- hadn't been caught exploring the area, this find might never have been made at all.
I'm not sure what's going on in this video. It was apparently filmed inside the step pyramid of Djoser in Saqqara, but since there's no narration and I can't make out what's being said, I'm at a loss to explain the trash and piles of bones these two encountered. This private tour of the pyramid may have been illegal. According to the video description, "these tombs are closed to tourists and no filming is allowed."
Note: Some of the graffiti on the passage ceiling, shown at the 2:45 mark, were apparently left by early explorers. The name "Burton," clearly visible, could have been left by the famous explorer, Richard Francis Burton, but I haven't been able to verify this.
Next video shows several examples of the Apocynaceae or Dogbane family. The audio's terrible, the narration almost incomprehensible, but this is one of the best Apocynaceae videos I could find. For some reason, most of the YouTube videos about these plants were made in India. I'm not sure how many of the plants shown here actually contain Ibogaine, but at least the video shows what they look like.
"The psychoactivity of the root barks of [the] Iboga tree, from which Ibogaine is extracted, was first discovered by the Pygmy tribe of Central Africa who passed the knowledge to the Bwiti tribe of Gabon [see below] ... Ibogaine-containing preparations are used for medicinal and ritual purposes within African spiritual traditions of the Bwiti, who claim to have learned it from the Pygmy peoples." (Wikipedia)
Video from 2015.
The origins of the pygmies is a mystery. "A commonly held belief is that African Pygmies are the direct descendants of Late Stone Agehunter-gatherers of the central African rainforest, who were partially absorbed or displaced by later immigration of agricultural peoples, and adopted their Central Sudanic, Ubangian, and Bantu languages. This view has no archaeological support, and ambiguous support from genetics and linguistics." (Wikipedia)
Considering the fact that these are hunter-gatherers living in the African rainforest, the lack of archaeological evidence isn't surprising. The prehistory of Ibogaine is just as obscure, but it seems likely that the Stone Age ancestors of the pygmies used the plant for ritualistic and healing purposes. According to the Crossroads Treatment Center, "The Iboga plant — found in West Africa’s Gabon and Cameroon — has existed, most likely, for thousands of years. As a psychoactive guide, traditionally, the root bark of the plant was eaten to induce visions and heal an assortment of ailments."
Next video shows a traditional Bwiti ritual in Gabon which makes use of the Iboga plant.
"Bwiti practitioners use the psychedelic, dissociative root bark of the Tabernanthe iboga plant, specially cultivated for the religion, to promote radical spiritual growth, to stabilize community and family structure, to meet religious requirements, and to resolve pathological problems. The root bark has been consumed for hundreds of years in a Bwiti rite of passage ceremony, as well as in initiation rites and acts of healing. The experience yields complex visions and insights anticipated to be valuable to the initiate and the chapel."
Note: Some people believe that Ibogaine can be used to treat heroin addiction and other problems like alcoholism, but from what I've read there isn't enough evidence to support these claims. According to Wikipedia, "clinical studies of ibogaine to treat drug addiction began in the early 1990s, but concerns about cardiotoxicity led to termination of those studies."
Hunter Thompson, in his classic book, Fear & Loathing on the Campaign Trail '72, famously claimed that there was a "rumor" floating around that Democratic presidential candidate Ed Muskie's strange behavior was caused by his secret use of ibogaine. Thompson later expressed incredulity that so many people took the rumor (which he started himself) seriously. In the next video, he talks about the ibogaine rumor at 1:30.
"There are at least 415 cataloged tombs, designated TT for Theban Tomb. There are other tombs whose position has been lost, or for some other reason do not conform to this classification. See for instance the List of MMA Tombs. Theban tombs tended to have clay funerary cones placed over the entrance of the tomb chapels. During the New Kingdom they were inscribed with the title and name of the tomb owner, sometimes with short prayers. Of the 400 recorded sets of cones, only about 80 come from cataloged tombs."
One of the more spectacular structures in this area is the 18th-dynasty mortuary temple of the Egyptian queen-regent and pharaoh Hatshepsut:
"The eldest daughter of King Thutmose I, Hatshepsut first assumed the role of queen regent during the 18th dynasty after the death of her husband, Thutmose II. Although her stepson, Thutmose III, eventually came of age, she adopted the title of pharaoh and ruled for more than two decades." Source: National Geographic.
Hatshepsut was Egypt's second known female pharoah. (The first was Sobekneferu, according to Wikipedia.)
The massive and ancient Colossi of Memnon can also be found in this region.
"The Colossi of Memnon are a pair of giant statues made of stone that are located in the Theban Necropolis in Luxor, Upper Egypt. The statues were made during the 14th century BC, during the period in ancient Egyptian history known as the New Kingdom. The best-known legend about the Colossi of Memnon is that of the ‘Vocal Memnon’, in which one of the statues was reputed to ‘sing’ every morning at dawn." Source: Ancient Origins.
"Mummified mice are among the artefacts discovered in a decorated tomb recently unearthed near the Egyptian town of Sohag." Source: BBC.
"The mice and other animals surrounded two mummified human bodies and the burial chamber contains detailed paintings of funeral processions and people working in the fields.
"Experts say the tomb is more than 2,000 years old and is thought to be the resting place of a senior official called Tutu [1] and his wife. It was discovered in October when smugglers were caught illegally digging for artefacts."
"The mummified remains of a high-ranking official named Khuwy [Khuwyptah?] were discovered in a colorful tomb that dates back 4,400 years. Archaeologists made the discovery in south Saqqara, in Egypt, the Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities announced April 2." Source: Live Science.
"Next to the burial is a pyramid complex built for the pharaoh Djedkare Isesi, who reigned from 2381 to 2353 B.C. The colors of the tomb's hieroglyphs and decorations are incredibly well-preserved, despite the passage of over 4 millennia."
"One of the most elusive boats from the ancient world — a mysterious river barge that famed Greek historian Herodotus described nearly 2,500 years ago — has finally been discovered." Source: Live Science.
"Herodotus dedicated 23 lines of his 'Historia' to this type of boat, known as a baris, after seeing the construction of one during his travels to Egypt in 450 B.C. In his writings, Herodotus described how the long barge had one rudder that passed through a hole in the keel, a mast made of acacia wood and sails made from papyrus."
"The fossilised bones of a group of prehistoric hunter-gatherers who were massacred around 10,000 years ago have been unearthed 30km west of Lake Turkana, Kenya, at a place called Nataruk." Source: University of Cambridge (2016).
"...The findings suggest these hunter-gatherers, perhaps members of an extended family, were attacked and killed by a rival group of prehistoric foragers. Researchers believe it is the earliest scientifically-dated historical evidence of human conflict – an ancient precursor to what we call warfare."
Comment: Finds like this -- and there have been a lot of them -- should put to rest the anarcho-primitivist fantasy that humans lived in a state of peaceful coexistence before the invention of agriculture.