Egypt tomb: Saqqara 'one of a kind' discovery revealed

Egypt tomb: Saqqara 'one of a kind' discovery revealed
www.bbc.com...

The tomb of a priest from the middle of the Old Kingdom period was unveiled, showing a remarkable state of preservation. See link above for pics!

a reply to: Blackmarketeer

Literally just read this article on the BBC News website.
It's a great find, the colours look so vivid considering how old they are.

Further excavations are due to start tomorrow so there's a good chance there'll be further discoveries.

And I wouldn't be surprised if there's more undiscovered tombs in the Saqqara complex.

Paint still intact.

Perhaps the poppy resin is still potent.

They say that the discovered sealed shafts may contain the personal effects and things that would be useful in the afterlife.
Fantastic discovery, and I cannot wait to see the articles revealed.

a reply to: Blackmarketeer

Notice the face and crossed arms of the statue on the left.

a reply to: ThatDidHappen

Which statue?
Rainbows
Jane

Amazing. This year has been pretty good for discoveries in Egypt. With regards the lastest find, It looks in amazing condidtion for something that's so old.
With more to discover inside the tomb, the next few weeks could be really interesting. That is if they show us what's in there and not hide it away for testing.

originally posted by: ThatDidHappen
a reply to: Blackmarketeer

Notice the face and crossed arms of the statue on the left.

Symbolic poses are part of the way they depicted things in ancient Egypt. In this case, that's echoing the sign (Gardiner A8) which depicts a man performing the "henu" gesture, which means "jubilation" or "praise." The title next to the guy seems to start with the words, "the powerful one" and there's a name in a box (similar to a cartouche but is not a cartouche) that I can't make out.

This is the tomb of a high priest, so the statue depicts a very important man (and if I had majored in ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs, I could tell you who he is.)

Almost at the end of the article is a photo of Wahtye and his wife (it says it's his wife right over her portrait) and they are making the same "jubilation/worship" gesture in front of an offering table piled high with offerings.

a reply to: angelchemuel

This is the frame, the face seems blurry perhaps intended, maybe it was defaced I like the faces, they look exactly as they looked in life.

originally posted by: ThatDidHappen
a reply to: angelchemuel

This is the frame, the face seems blurry perhaps intended, maybe it was defaced I like the faces, they look exactly as they looked in life.

No, it' not defaced - and the faces are stylized (think of them as being like our modern political cartoons. Political cartoons resemble the person to some degree but if you stood the person next to the cartoon, there's only a vague resemblance. It's not a lifelike portrait.) The stone and paint has crumbled somewhat in the thousands of years since it was used. The crossed arm pose of the seated man smelling the lotus blossom is Wahtye himself, breathing in the scent of eternal life (that's what the lotus blossom means) and rejoicing in it. The border design is of lotus flowers (looks kind of like the letter "W"... but isn't) ... in the panel below that one they appear to be writing about a festival (I see the sign that is used for 'festival' there)

Personally, I find the ancient Egyptian paint color scheme to be horribly gaudy. Imagine going back in time to see them and all the grand monuments painted up like some cheap roadside attraction. As delicate and artistic as their carvings were, it's hard to imagine them taking a step back and saying, "It's good, but it could really use a good coat of red and blue and yellow paint."

originally posted by: Blue Shift
Personally, I find the ancient Egyptian paint color scheme to be horribly gaudy. Imagine going back in time to see them and all the grand monuments painted up like some cheap roadside attraction. As delicate and artistic as their carvings were, it's hard to imagine them taking a step back and saying, "It's good, but it could really use a good coat of red and blue and yellow paint."

That's just because we're taught that architecture should be boringly plain (as enforced by homeowners' associations, I might add.) I found it initially jarring, but after having been to Egypt, I see the appeal of brightly painted structures. And in a time when people didn't have street signs and could quite literally plunk their houses down on any available patch of land, having a painted and decorated house made it easy to find in the warren of alleys and winding streets of a city or village.

a reply to: ThatDidHappen

Thank you
Rainbows
Jane

Rex enhanced of the lady, beautiful hair and large closed eyes with elegant arms, adorned with necklaces, she was important.

The enhanced photo shows a large forehead with the saggital crest characteristic of sea dwelling mermaid creatures hidden by her magnificent hair, similar to the mermaid beached with whales due to the militaries underwater detonations.

She is beautiful and elegantly dressed, but not cartoonish, her mouth reminiscent of a fish. There appear to be large gills on the side of her face. The small statues are cartoon-like and replicate the true expressions and appearance of the real people. But, the large statues and paintings of people are realistic.

Was this the queen of the sea who visited Saqqara? If we could see the bottom of the statue would there be a tail?







Please refer to the thread on mermaids for a picture I posted of the beached creature.

originally posted by: ThatDidHappen
Rex enhanced of the lady, beautiful hair and large closed eyes with elegant arms, adorned with necklaces, she was important.

The enhanced photo shows a large forehead with the saggital crest characteristic of sea dwelling mermaid creatures hidden by her magnificent hair, similar to the mermaid beached with whales due to the militaries underwater detonations.

She is beautiful and elegantly dressed, but not cartoonish, her mouth reminiscent of a fish. There appear to be large gills on the side of her face. The small statues are cartoon-like and replicate the true expressions and appearance of the real people. But, the large statues and paintings of people are realistic.

Was this the queen of the sea who visited Saqqara? If we could see the bottom of the statue would there be a tail?

Please refer to the thread on mermaids for a picture I posted of the beached creature.

No, it's not.

What you're seeing is part of a statue of a woman with her husband (shown in many other photos - like this one - you can confirm it by looking at the layout on other photos and looking at the hieroglyphs). There's no saggital crest (that's her wig) and there's certainly no tail. She's got feet, as you can see in other photos (and one photo that shows the inscription under her feet shows the hem of her gown and her feet, which have ten very normal toes (a bit stylistic in the Egyptian mode of statuary but clearly human toes.)

There's no gills.

And there's no "queen of the sea" for ancient Egyptians. They didn't have a god or goddess of the sea Closest thing might be Tefnut, but she was the goddess of all moisture/wetness. Including body fluids.

a reply to: Byrd

Hi, looking at the picture set on the BBC website and see no niche with the large statues that have two people in the niche. There is no photo evidence in the set that proves she has no fin, however some text painted on the wall might leave a clue as to who she was, situated so close and adjacent to the painting of the tomb owner and high priest.

I think the large boxes on the side of her face are
devices to allow breathing through the gills when not in the sea.

I like how some large statues have elongated feet, it's funny looking.

originally posted by: ThatDidHappen
a reply to: Byrd

Hi, looking at the picture set on the BBC website and see no niche with the large statues that have two people in the niche.

It's this one, right behind the man in the turban

I believe that's Wahtye and his mother (can't see the inscriptions.)

There is no photo evidence in the set that proves she has no fin, however some text painted on the wall might leave a clue as to who she was, situated so close and adjacent to the painting of the tomb owner and high priest.

It's his mother.

I think the large boxes on the side of her face are
devices to allow breathing through the gills when not in the sea.

That's her wig.

I like how some large statues have elongated feet, it's funny looking.

That's just the way they depicted them. You can see that in this photo, which includes a better view of her statue plus the ones nearby

In the pictures of the statues, it looks like they are missing the "collars" that are depicted in practically every other image of humans depicted in the tomb. Are they claiming this tomb was untouched? Are there pics of the necklace/collars that appear to have been removed from those statues? Or maybe they were painted there and only that paint has been lost? Not sure... just looks like something is missing from around their necks to me...

Sah

a reply to: Blackmarketeer

That's stunning.

Great find.

originally posted by: Sahasrara
In the pictures of the statues, it looks like they are missing the "collars" that are depicted in practically every other image of humans depicted in the tomb. Are they claiming this tomb was untouched? Are there pics of the necklace/collars that appear to have been removed from those statues? Or maybe they were painted there and only that paint has been lost? Not sure... just looks like something is missing from around their necks to me...

Sah

The collars are there... but they're painted. Look closely and you can see the ring on the upper torso (harder to see on the female statue because of the color of the skin. (example here) In some photos the lighting makes it hard to see the area, but it shows up clearly in other photos with different lighting (and you can tell they're the same statues by the hieroglyphs)