Discovery of a tunnel inside the tomb of king "Seti I"

Great success in the complete excavation of a 174 m long tunnel in the tomb of king" Seti I" after several seasons of work that began in November 2007, was achieved by dr. Hawass, Secretary general of the supreme council of antiquities and his mission. They've been searching for this tunnel for over twenty years in the west bank necropolis. The tunnel was cut into the bedrock near the end of the beautifully decorated tomb of "Seti I". In addition to excavating the tunnel, the team braced the walls and ceiling with metal supports. They also built a wooden walkway over the original stone staircase of the tunnel to preserve it and installed a mining car system to remove rubble from the team’s excavations. During their work, the mission uncovered many shabtis and pottery fragments that dated to the eighteenth dynasty (1569-1315 BC). Several limestone fragments, as well as a small boat model made of faience were also found. During their excavation of the staircase, the team found that three of the steps were decorated with red graffiti.

Another unique excavation of the tunnel took place in 1960 under the direction of "Sheikh Ali Abdel Rassoul". His team was able to reach a depth of 136m but they had to stop their excavation because it was too hard to breath. Upon reaching the end of the 136m section , which had been partially excavated by Abdel-Rasoul's workmen , dr.Hawass’s team was shocked to uncover a descending passage which measures 25.60m in length and 2.6m wide. The mission eventually uncovered a fifty-four step, descending staircase. After the first descending passage, a second staircase measuring 6 meters long was cut into the rock. At the beginning of this passage the team found a false door decorated with hieratic text that reads: “Move the door jamb up and make the passage wider." These written instructions must have been left from the architect to the workmen who were carving out the tunnel.

On entering inside the tunnel of King Seti I for the first time, It was noticed that the walls were not well finished and there were remains of preliminary sketches of decoration that would be placed on the walls.. A second staircase was found inside the tunnel. It appears that the last step was never finished and the tunnel ends abruptly after the second staircase. The conclusion of dr. Hawas was that the workmen and artists first finished the original tomb of "Seti I" during his twelve-year reign and then began to construct the tunnel. It appears that "Seti I" was trying to construct a secret tomb inside a tomb. It is likely that when "Seti I died", his son, Ramesses II (1304-1237BC), had to stop the work and bury his father. dr. Hawass believes that Ramesses II continued where his father had left off and constructed his own tunnel within his tomb in the Valley of the Kings. The Egyptian mission is currently working in the tomb of Ramesses II to preserve the wall paintings and to look for a similar tunnel to the one in the tomb of Seti I.

Mysteries of Khufu's Pyramid and Djedi

"Djedi" is a joint international-Egyptian mission, which dr. Zahi Hawas, secretary general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, named after Djedi, the magician who "Khufu" consulted when planning the layout of his pyramid.

The purpose of this project is to send a robotic tunnel explorer into the two “air shafts” that lead from the Queen’s Chamber of the Great Pyramid of Khufu to gather evidence to determine the purpose of the shafts.He selected the "Djedi team" during a competition that he coordinated to pick the best possible robot to explore the shafts in the Great Pyramid.

This international team is experienced in the development and deployment of systems to meet real world challenges, including systems for space, search and rescue and medical devices, as well as inspection of stone structures.

"Djedi team" hopes to uncover the meaning of these airshafts by drilling through the doors that are blocking them. The team has made to previous examinations of the airshafts in July and December of 2009. The team is hoping to gather as much evidence as possible to try to piece together the purpose of the airshafts, while at the same time ensuring that the Great Pyramid is not damaged in any way.

The story of the discovery of the hidden doors began in 1992, when "Zahi Hawas" made the decision to close the Great Pyramid to visitors in order to begin a project to reduce the humidity inside and to correct the damage that was occurring from the accumulation of salt. Each visitor who enters the pyramid leaves behind about 20 grams of moisture from their breath and sweat. When it evaporates, this moisture leaves behind salt deposits, which erode the stone over time.

In 1992, It was found that the humidity inside the pyramid was hovering around 85%, and salt deposits covered the walls of the Grand Gallery hence the salt was cleaned from the walls of the Grand Galley, but it was known that to save the pyramid from irreversible damage, a way should be found to reduce the humidity inside.

Dr." Zahi Hawa" contacted some specialists for installing a ventilation and humidity control system in the pyramid. The first step was to clear the two shafts, each about 20 cm wide and 14 cm high, that lead from the King’s Chamber to the exterior of the monument. Then they installed ventilation equipment in the shafts. This project was very successful, allowing reduction and stabilization of the humidity inside the pyramid.

The shafts themselves are a great mystery. In addition to the two that extend from the King’s Chamber, there are two in the Queen’s chamber as well - one in the northern wall, and one opposite it in the southern wall. No one knows why these shafts were included in the pyramid’s design. An important part of the work in the shafts in the King’s Chamber was sending a small robot inside with a camera attached, to

inspect them along their entire lengths.

Reference: from an article , by Zahi Hawas

Cleopatra's Items in Franklin institute on exhibit

An exhibit focusing on one of ancient Egypt's most enigmatic rulers, Cleopatra, and featuring never-before-displayed artifacts, has opened in Philadelphia.

Cleopatra: The Search for the Last Queen of Egypt, on exhibit at the Franklin Institute, is a splashy show with videos, a glass walkway and lots of sound and light.

At the heart of the 150-artifact collection, which opened its doors Saturday, is an attempt to uncover the mystery behind the queen. None of the items at the exhibit have ever before been shown to the public.

Little evidence has survived of Cleopatra, who at 39 years of age chose a suicidal snake bite rather than surrender to the conquering Romans in 30 BC. The Roman general Octavian, later known as Augustus Caesar, ordered all her images destroyed. Her life story has been subjected to much speculation and interpretation, largely through popular depictions, notably in a 1963 Elizabeth Taylor film.

The first part of the exhibit concentrates on discoveries made by underwater archeologist, Franck Goddio, who has spent 20 years off the coast of Alexandria, Egypt, excavating Cleopatra's palace and two temples. Earthquakes and tsunamis submerged ancient Alexandria more than 1,500 years ago.

Items on display from Goddio's work include gold coins and 4.5-metre-high granite figures.

The second part of the exhibit includes finds of "Zahi Hawass", a celebrated archeologist who is secretary general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities in Cairo.

He has been searching for the lost tomb of Cleopatra and her lover, the Roman general "Mark Antony", and has uncovered mummies, jewelry and sculptures at three sites west of Alexandria.

The show will be at the Philadelphia museum until January, and then is expected to tour the U.S. at five locations yet to be announced.

Reference: CBC- News