Archaeology, features and articles | Educational Science

Aug 9, 2023

What did Cleopatra, Egypt's last pharaoh, really look like?

Cleopatra VII may have been the most famous woman in the ancient world. She was the last of a dynasty that ruled ancient Egypt for around 300 years, from the death of Alexander the Great to the rise of the Roman Empire. Her face has been immortalized on a handful...

Aug 29, 2023

How old are the Egyptian pyramids?

Pyramids are iconic symbols of the ancient pharaohs' power and technological prowess that still dominate the Egyptian skyline. But when were pyramids first built? And why were they constructed in the first place? The first pyramid in Egypt was built by the pharaoh Djoser, who reigned nearly 4,700 years ago....

Aug 31, 2023

Elite ancient Egyptian woman was embalmed with exotic ingredients smelling of vanilla and larch, new analysis reveals

Ancient Egyptians were masters at embalming and created elaborate concoctions to mummify the dead. Now, a new study reveals the lengths these innovators went to obtain exotic ingredients as part of this cultural practice — especially if the deceased were of high status. This was the case for Senetnay, a...

Sep 20, 2023

Sunken temple and sanctuary from ancient Egypt found brimming with 'treasures and secrets'

While exploring a canal off the Mediterranean coast of Egypt, underwater archaeologists discovered a sunken temple and a sanctuary brimming with ancient treasures linked to the god Amun and the goddess Aphrodite, respectively. The temple, which partially collapsed during a cataclysmic event during the mid-second century B.C., was originally built...

Oct 17, 2023

See gorgeous ancient Egyptian 'mummy portraits' from nearly 2 millennia ago

In the early first millennium, many mummies in Egypt were affixed with lifelike portraits showcasing the deceased's once-vivid eyes, styled hair and elaborate jewelry. Over the past few centuries, archaeologists have unearthed more than 1,000 of these mummy paintings, largely from the city of Fayum, earning them the name Fayum...

Oct 18, 2023

Egypt had an unusually powerful 'female king' 5,000 years ago, lavish tomb suggests

New excavations of the ancient Egyptian queen Meret-Neith's tomb have yielded riches, suggesting she may have been Egypt's first female ruler, archaeologists say. However, some experts question whether she actually reigned. Although Meret-Neith's tomb was discovered in 1900, recent excavations reveal that the queen's monumental grave was piled with hundreds...

Oct 19, 2023

Ancient New Year's scene from Egypt uncovered on roof of 2,200-year-old temple

A stunning New Year's scene painted by ancient Egyptians has been uncovered by researchers restoring artwork on the ceiling of the Temple of Esna — a temple built around 2,200 years ago that underwent a major renovation about 2,000 years ago when the Romans controlled Egypt. The paintings show the...

Oct 25, 2023

Ancient Egyptian cemetery holds rare 'Book of the Dead' papyrus and mummies

Archaeologists in Egypt have discovered a 3,500-year-old cemetery that contains a Book of the Dead papyrus. The cemetery, at Tuna al-Gebel in central Egypt, dates back to the New Kingdom (circa 1550 to 1070 B.C.) and contains mummies, sarcophagi, amulets and numerous shabti (also called ushabti) figurines that were meant...

Nov 5, 2023

Sphinx may have been built from a natural rock feature eroded by wind, study claims

The ancient Egyptians may have crafted the Sphinx, a 4,500-year-old monument at Giza that stands in front of the pyramid of Khafre not completely from scratch but rather on a natural feature that already looked surprisingly sphinx-like, a new study suggests. In an Oct. 17 study published in the journal...

Nov 7, 2023

Rare tumor with teeth discovered in Egyptian burial from 3,000 years ago

While excavating an ancient Egyptian cemetery, archaeologists made a rare discovery: an ovarian tumor nestled in the pelvis of a woman who died more than three millennia ago. The tumor, a bony mass with two teeth, is the oldest known example of a teratoma, a rare type of tumor that...

Nov 9, 2023

Ancient Egyptian tomb was filled with magical spells to ward off snake bites

Egyptologists have discovered a 2,500-year-old tomb just south of Cairo containing numerous magical sayings meant to ward off snake bites. The tomb's entrance was covered with sayings aimed to both ward off serpent bites and enlist snakes as tomb protectors, the archaeologists said in a translated statement. Such a strong...

Nov 20, 2023

Baboon mummy DNA from ancient Egypt reveals location of mysterious port city not on any maps

Ancient Egyptians traded with people in what is today coastal Eritrea to bring baboons to their temples, according to a new study of baboon mummy DNA. Ancient Egyptians were big fans of baboons, which they associated with the god Babi, a god of the underworld and the deity Thoth, who...

Nov 24, 2023

Scottish boy digging for potatoes found 'masterpiece of Egyptian sculpture' on his school grounds. How did it end up there?

Seventy-one years ago, a schoolboy in Scotland was digging up potatoes as a punishment when he discovered an ancient Egyptian statue — the first in a collection of ancient Egyptian sculptures and artifacts buried in the grounds of his school. Now, researchers have finally worked out how the artifacts got...

Jan 4, 2024

Ancient Egyptian teenager died while giving birth to twins, mummy reveals

The ancient remains of an unborn fetus found in the headless mummy of an Egyptian teenager shows she died while giving birth to twins, a new study confirms. When archaeologists excavated and unwrapped the mummy in 1908, they discovered the bandaged body of a fetus and the remains of a...

Jan 10, 2024

Ancient Egyptian mummy masks, tombs and 'god of silence' statue discovered at Saqqara

Archaeologists in Egypt have discovered a series of tombs dating from about 1,800 to 4,800 years ago, some of which contain colorful mummy masks and even the childlike statue of the god of silence, according to the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities. The colorful mummy masks, which would have...