Tag Archives: Egypt

Egyptological: Unfortunate News

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I just saw the news that the e-journal Egyptological, which I have blogged about several times on this blog, has had to suspend operations due to radicalized hackers in Egypt. Here is the announcement, part of which reads as follows:

Kate and Andrea are very sad to announce that Egyptological will be unavailable for the forseeable future.  It has been targeted by a professional hacking group as part of an onslaught on Egypt-related web sites during the current unrest in Egypt.

Although we have been in negotiations with the hackers, which seemed to be going well, they have now announced their intention of resuming hostilities against us.  They apparently see Egyptology sites such as ours as representing a form of political threat.

 

Egyptology enthusiasts worldwide can thank the Muslim Brotherhood and their ilk for this. While the recent backlash against Egypt’s president for decreeing himself Pharaoh shows that there is truly a desire for democracy amid the chaos in Egypt (Morsi was forced to reverse his self-declared omnipotence), this sort of thinking (I use the term loosely) is sadly not uncommon. Hopefully Egyptological will be back online sooner than supposed.

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Mummies and Other Dead Ancient Egyptians

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As is my practice, I try to post things periodically that aren’t paleobabble. Sure, the archeo-bunk is fun and entertaining, but I need to do something useful now and again.

I recently came across two online resources for research on Egyptian mummies, courtesy of the Russian Academy of Sciences’ Centre for Egyptological Studies (CESRAS; Moscow):

G. Elliot Smith, The Royal Mummies, Catalogue Général du Musée du Caire. 1912

  • This resource has an index where you can search for and find information on specific mummies (pharaohs and otherwise). For example, when we click on the index page for mummy # 61066 (Thutmose II) we are taken to the page(s) in Smith’s book discussing that mummy.
  • The same site also posted an update index here.

CESRAS also posted a brief online Directory of Ancient Egyptian Persons (mummy or not).

Enjoy!

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Ancient Astro-Nuttiness, Al-Maqrizi, and Giorgio Tsoukalos’ Pseudo-Research

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Jason Colavito has called Giorgio Tsoukalos’ bluff — precisely what needs to be done to all ancient astronaut BSers. The research they produce is impressive only to non-specialists and those who never check their work. It’s pure paleobabble. Here’s the introductory paragraph of Jason’s post:

Ancient astronaut proponent Giorgio Tsoukalos claims that the fourteenth century Al-Khitat of Al-Maqrizi (1364-1442 CE) contains evidence that ancient astronauts assisted human beings in the construction of Egypt’s pyramids. This book, the most significant collection of medieval Arabian and Coptic pyramid lore ever assembled, has never been translated into English, so I have translated the passages dealing with pyramids to make this text accessible to interested readers. The following contains all of the significant references to the pyramids in the volume, though some minor allusions have been omitted. A fair review of the voluminous legends collected by Al-Maqrizi reveals no extraterrestrials, and no coherent story. In reading this material, I could come to no better conclusion that Al-Maqrizi himself: “There is no agreement on the time of their construction, the names of those who have raised them, or the cause of their erection. Many conflicting and unfounded legends have been told of them.”

Readers can click here to read the translations of these texts.

So it’s put up or shut up time for Giorgio and other purveyors of ancient astronaut paleobabble. Jason deserves thanks from all of us who care that the intellectual heritage of the ancient world isn’t raped and pillaged to put forth modern myths.

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Ancient Chronology Critiques: Not Always PaleoBabble

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I used to be really into ancient chronology (Near East, biblical). The chronology of the ancient Near East prior to 1000 BC and its basis has genuine uncertainties. Consequently, this is one area where alternative theorists have some real contributions to make. While I don’t buy a number of the proposed reconstructions, the notion that there’s nothing that merits new approaches and re-investigation is wishful thinking on the part of the academy.

In light of all that, I recommend the archive to ISIS, the journal of the ancient chronology forum. The contributors are all serious scholars with good credentials. I’ve read a number of the articles in this journal and there’s a lot of good stuff here that challenges consensus thinking with real data – not the hokum that so often comes with alternative research.

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Latest Online Issue of Egyptological Available

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I’m a bit behind the curve here. The latest issue is already three weeks old, but obviously still very valuable. For PaleoBabble readers, I’d recommend (again) the latest installment of the series on Egyptian religion, the review of a book on Egyptian quarries and quarrying, and the article on solar eclipses in Egyptian material.

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Baghdad Battery, the Saqqara Plane, and Other Not-So-Mysterious Artifacts

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I just discovered the Archaeological Fantasies blog, a site that warmed my PaleoBabbling heart. The author has a short series entitled, “The 10 Most Not-So-Puzzling Ancient Artifacts” in which many of you will be interested. Two caught my eye right away:

1. The so-called Saqqara plane

I’ve posted about this and other mis-identified objects elsewhere on my homepage, but it’s worth a re-do here, especially since the blog’s author also posted this picture of the Egyptian Opet procession, which features the “plane” (it’s a bird, not a plane) on the masts of sailing ships:

Here’s a close-up of one of the masts:

2. The Baghdad battery

Clever, but not evidence of alien technology.

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Radical Muslim Clerics Call for Destruction of the Pyramids

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In the latest news from “democratic” Egypt, certain factions among Egypt’s Muslim community are demanding that the new Egyptian president, the Muslim Brotherhood’s political leader, get rid of those awful ”pagan” pyramids.

Perfectly reasonable.

 

 

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“We Couldn’t Build the Great Pyramid Today” – We Could Do Better

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I’m nearly finished with the book by David McCullough, The Path Between the Seas: The Creation of the Panama Canal, 1870-1914. I don’t ever want to hear any such nonsensical statement again about how the Great Pyramid is beyond modern reach.  Ever. To not laugh when I hear it would be to suffer a fool, and that wasn’t my strong suit before I read the book.

Just one statistic will suffice for this post. It has been estimated that, if the Great Pyramid were built today it would require 3 million cubic yards of concrete. Sounds like a lot, doesn’t it? A drop in the bucket compared to the Panama Canal.

In just the American phase of the construction (1903-1914) a total of 238,845,587 cubic yards were excavated. In 1907, men were moving 1,000,000 cubic yards every month. Three million cubic yards pales in comparison. It would have been a vacation for the tens of thousands of men working in Panama. And the cubic yardage doesn’t even begin to describe the engineering logistics and obstacles, not to mention this was all done through waves of malaria and yellow fever.It’s truly a colossal feat of engineering.

But, Mike, you say, it’s not a fair comparison. The people building the canal had machines like steam shovels and trains. Uh … that’s my point. We *could* build the Great Pyramid today and it wouldn’t require aliens, just like it didn’t back in ancient Egypt. As impressive as the Great Pyramid is, its engineering problems are known and solvable. Sure, a couple of dim-witted scientists in a NOVA television special weren’t up to the task — which only shows they weren’t up to the task. Engineers like Jean Pierre Houdin have articulated in great (and coherent) detail how the pyramid could have been built without modern machinery. Other engineers (namely Davidovits and Barsoum) have proposed that the pyramid blocks were fabricated ancient concrete. Scholars of Egyptian engineering are well informed in Egyptian construction methods, including the pyramids.

And isn’t it odd how ancient astronaut theorists never seem to talk about the failed pyramid projects, like the pyramid of Huni (the Meidum collapsed pyramid), built during the reign of Sneferu, the father of Khufu? Maybe the aliens were on vacation for that one. And also the Bent Pyramid . . . and the Step Pyramid of Djoser, which was built in stages after altering the non-pyramid burial mastaba style. These are all examples of human engineering — the Egyptians learned how to build pyramids gradually, trying new techniques and learning from failures. Pyramid engineering evolved through various transitions. The pyramids themselves demonstrate this quite clearly. To say they needed alien help is just insulting.

 

 

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