9 Most Mysterious Recent Discoveries From Egypt

hi it's katrina from a rare silver sarcophagus to possibly generating electric charges here are nine of the most mysterious recent discoveries from egypt number nine the dark sarcophagus in 2018 archaeologists in alexandria unearth a massive black sarcophagus the largest ever found within the city naturally rumors spread like wildfire with one speculating that the missing remains of alexander the great had been found and another claiming that the box contained a curse that would be unleashed if it were opened when scientists opened the eight and a half foot by five foot sarcophagus they found three skeletons immersed in a putrid red-colored liquid sewage which had seeped into the box at some point two of the skeletons belonged to men and the other was a woman they were placed into the tomb at different times one stacked atop another and one of the men's skulls contained a hole indicating that he had survived brain surgery earlier in his life the remains date back to sometime between 332 bc and 30 bc during the greek-ruled ptolemaic dynasty or from 30 bc to 642 a.d when rome ruled egypt researchers are unsure who these individuals were or why they were buried in such an unusual fashion as it was not customary to lay someone to rest in such a large sarcophagus they plan to continue their research including through dna testing and ct scans in hopes of gleaning more information about the mysterious trio number 8. pink pharaoh statue late last year archaeologists discovered a pink granite statue of the pharaoh ramses ii along with a miniature limestone sphinx egypt's ministry of antiquities announced that the pink statue is one of the rarest archaeological discoveries ever that's big words coming from egypt both artifacts were found near the giza pyramids west of cairo while excavating a man's yard after he was arrested for carrying out illegal treasure hunts the three and a half foot tall 1.8 foot wide statue is the first known statue of its type made from granite that has been found it contains a hieroglyphic on the back meaning strong bull which is a testament to the ruler's strength and vitality mustafa waziri secretary general of the supreme council of antiquities said in a statement further explaining that the statue was intended to provide a resting place for the kaw the life force or spirit of the person after death also known as ramses the great ramses ii ruled egypt from 1279 bc to 1213 bc during egypt's 19th dynasty he vastly expanded egypt's empire throughout his 60-year reign and is also commonly regarded as the pharaoh in the biblical exodus story the long-lived pharaoh who lived to be around 90 years old also made his mark in history by building more monuments and having more children than any other pharaoh number 7 khufu ship there are lots of things buried with pharaohs but this one was kind of unexpected in 1954 archaeologist kamal el-malak discovered a dismantled ship buried inside the pharaoh khufu's funeral pyramid the great pyramid of giza the materials included ropes cedar wood planks and other parts necessary for building a barge at the time researchers knew next to nothing about how the ancient egyptians built their ships forcing restoration experts to figure it out on their own over a period of more than a decade the finished product which was put together without using a single nail is a 140 foot long 19.6 foot wide barge assembled from 1224 parts the 4 600 year old vessel is so well constructed and remarkably preserved experts claimed it would still function today if it set sail on the nile river historians speculate that the boat was placed in the tomb for khufu to sail across the heavens with the sun god raw after his passing as it was customary for pharaohs to be buried with items to use in the afterlife but over 65 years after the vessel's discovery its original purpose remains unclear it bears signs of being used before it was buried suggesting that the ship was possibly used to transport khufu's remains from the ancient capital of memphis to their ultimate resting place or maybe the pharaoh traveled in it while he was still alive other researchers believe that this ship may also hold the key to how the pyramids were built perhaps khufu's barge carried the two to three ton stone blocks that were used for building the great pyramids on open water it could easily carry this kind of weight and its asymmetric design could be used as a sort of lever to dip in and out of the water in 2011 reconstruction began on another disassembled ship that was found inside the same pyramid number 6 the silver pharaoh susan's the first nicknamed the silver pharaoh was buried in a royal tomb that supersedes almost all others in value including king tut but you've probably never even heard of him french archaeologist pierre montan unexpectedly discovered the lavish tomb in 1939 in northern egypt inside was susen's silver sarcophagus the only one ever discovered making it one of the most unique and expensive egyptian artifacts and baffling researchers who wondered why he received such grand treatment even compared to other pharaohs silver was not readily available in ancient egypt it had to be imported making it more valuable than gold the silver sarcophagus along with other artifacts of superior craftsmanship that were found in susan's tomb reflect his immense wealth and his power to command highly valuable resources and manpower susan's ruled from tennis during the 10th century bc egypt's 21st dynasty a period of instability marked by conflicting leadership that divided the kingdom into upper and lower egypt as a result the pharaoh's power was limited to the geographical confines of lower egypt his reign was remarkably long lasting somewhere from 41 to 51 years montan and his colleagues did not expect to find any spectacular artifacts from the period given the kingdom's weakened status one theory suggests that the great deal of wealth susen's likely accumulated during his lengthy reign may have footed the bill for his uniquely extravagant burial even while the kingdom was in a period of decline as the world braced itself amid growing tensions that would soon culminate into the onset of world war ii few people were concerned with much else and montan's discovery attracted little attention to this day it remains largely overlooked number five petite sarcophagus back in 2010 archaeologists working in egypt's baharia oasis uncovered an unusually small sarcophagus depicting a wide-eyed woman wearing a tunic within a newly discovered tomb complex that they were excavating the one meter tall carved plaster sarcophagus constitutes the first roman style mummy ever found in the region with the cemetery dating back to the greco-roman era around 2000 years ago altogether there were 14 tombs but the petite artifact was the only sarcophagus of its type found at the site the woman's eyes contain colored stones giving the sarcophagus the appearance of being awake and she is adorned with a headscarf bracelet shoes and a beaded necklace at first scientists thought they had stumbled upon a child's burial considering the coffin's small size but its painstakingly carved features indicated that the remains inside belong to an adult probably a wealthy and influential citizen mahmud afifi director of cairo and giza antiquities for egypt's supreme council of antiquities told national geographic when i saw it for the first time i thought it was a dwarf maybe she was a small girl but even now we don't know number four serapium of sakhara the seraphim of sakara is a vast underground necropolis located south of cairo and it has been steeped in mystery since its discovery this place contains 24 giant sarcophagi much too large for humans the theory is that this necropolis was actually a burial place for sacred apis bulls that the ancient egyptians consider the reincarnation of the deity utah it contains massive tomb filled galleries filled with unusually large sarcophagi and that are interconnected via 0.75 miles of winding tunnels the subterranean burial complex dates back to around 1400 bc with the oldest tombs dating back to the reign of ammon hotep iii perhaps the most famous feature of the serapium is the great vault a sandstone passage with 24 chambers containing unusually large sarcophagi each carved from a single block of black oswan granite and weighing between 77 and 110 tons some of the sarcophagi bear inscriptions of hieroglyphics and bulls french egyptologist auguste mariette rediscovered the serapium at saqqara in 1850 he only found one undisturbed burial while the rest were empty and appeared to be looted mariette's excavation notes were lost further obscuring researchers understanding of the temple and its contents there are many questions about the serapium and its large black and heavy sarcophagi they are much larger than what was necessary to fit the remains of a bull and why were they made of granite and not limestone which was much more common a new theory is that these large sarcophagi weren't made to honor bulls at all and were instead made to ferment things the lids are so heavy they would be practically hermetically sealed since granite is not porous the gas would not seep through keeping the ingredients inside to do their thing scientist constantine borisov has posed another theory that the giant sarcophagi were used to generate electric charges with pressure built inside by co2 gas this phenomena would have lit the sky above saqqara what do you think did the ancient egyptians have the ability to create this phenomenon let me know in the comments below number three faiyum mummy portraits portraits are conspicuously absent from ancient egypt's historical record so when british archaeologist w m flinders petrie discovered 150 detailed paintings buried with mummies it was certainly surprising he found them while excavating a 1st century bc roman era cemetery in the fayoum oasis region excavated between 1887 and 89 the portraits are painted on wood panels and display eerily lifelike qualities they also demonstrate how egyptian roman and greek customs became blended leaving experts puzzled for decades about how to classify them while they sat barely studied in an academic limbo of sorts following cleopatra's death in the end of the ptolemaic dynasty rome took over egypt which had been under greek rule for nearly three centuries bayum's population became increasingly multicultural as the region prospered resulting in a hybrid culture containing elements of greek roman and egyptian practices the mummy portraits which are done in naturalistic greek and roman painting styles often with egyptian pigments feature a mix of fashion and hair styles from all three ancient cultures there are numerous mysteries surrounding the paintings especially since only a few are matched to their mummy leaving most portraits unidentified it's also unknown whether the artwork was created during someone's lifetime or after they died if the portraits accurately resemble their deceased counterpart if they were created in designated studios and if artists worked together on them in 2013 getty museum conservator maurice voboda started ancient panel paintings examination analysis and research appear which seeks to compile a database of the little studied mummy portraits scattered throughout the world this is helping researchers develop a better understanding of their history by studying patterns related to the materials painting styles and other aspects of the artwork so far they've uncovered evidence that the paintings were created in studios with multiple artists often working on the same painting just like in europe they were also created using imported materials reflecting egypt's expansive trade network by analyzing paintings that can be traced to their mummies researchers determined that the individuals passed away at around the same age they're depicted as in their portraits indicating that the paintings were created at the time of death but a lot of unanswered questions remain and as the database grows each promising lead generates even more curiosity amongst bobota and her colleagues number two high priest tomb when an egyptian high priest named watie died at zakara 4 400 years ago he was buried with utmost care and respect inside a lavish tomb that remained undiscovered and untouched until late 2018. when archaeologists encountered the burial sealed doors and carefully worked their way inside unlike anything else discovered in several decades the vibrantly decorated tomb which sits 16 feet underground is remarkably well preserved this burial is one of a kind in the last decade said mustafa aziri the secretary general of the supreme council of antiquities at a press conference the color is almost intact even though the tomb is almost 4400 years old it contains a rectangular gallery measuring 33 feet long and 10 feet wide and roughly 10 feet tall with artwork like painted reliefs carvings and sculptures within depicting water with his wife and family in various everyday scenes like hunting sailing wine and pottery making musical performances and furniture building there are also dozens of statues of wattier the number and variety of which is unusual according to egyptologist aiden dotson who spoke with national geographic about the discovery dodson said what we have is a rock-cut tomb chapel and what has been revealed so far is the public part of the complex where family friends and priests could come and leave offerings for the dead there are five other shafts inside water's tomb one was empty while others were sealed and had not yet been explored when news broke of the discovery archaeologists are continuing with their investigation in hopes of finding the remains of the tomb's owner as well as other valuable grave goods who knows what else they might find water served under king neferikare who ruled during the old kingdom's fifth dynasty which lasted from 2500 to 2350 bc inscribed within the priest's tomb are his name and various titles including royal purification priest royal supervisor and inspector of the sacred boat number 1. valley of the golden mummies in 1996 a donkey stumbled while walking along a road in egypt's bajaria oasis and its leg fell into a hole turns out it had fallen into one of many multi-chambered tombs comprising what came to be called the valley of the mummies a 2 000 year old cemetery 230 miles southwest of cairo dating back to roman era egypt the two square mile necropolis contain at least 250 mummies which are estimated to be over 2 000 years old and date as far back as 232 bc experts believe there may be more perhaps several thousand the well-preserved mummies were adorned and buried in various styles including elaborate gilded masks and waistcoats depicting different deities wrapped in simple cartonage or linen and laid to rest in pottery coffins they contained elements of both egyptian and roman cultures for example the mummies were preserved in a traditionally egyptian style but their hair styles and other adornments were largely roman approximately 30 000 people lived in baharia during its heyday according to egyptologist dr zahi hawas who participated in the exploration of the site now known as the valley of the golden mummies which would have possibly never been discovered if a donkey hadn't literally stumbled into it thanks for watching which discovery was your favorite let me know in the comments below and remember to subscribe if you haven't already see you soon bye

Channel: Origins Explained

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Keywords: mysterious, recent, discoveries, egypt, archaeological finds, explored, ancient, artifacts, archaeology, origins explained, mysterious discoveries, ancient discoveries, ancient artifacts, mysterious artifacts, recent discoveries, recent finds, mysterious finds, egyptian discoveries, ancient egypt, discoveries from ancient egypt, discoveries from egypt, archaeological discoveries, recent archaeological discoveries, ancient archaeology, bizarre discoveries, amazing discoveries, top 10

Id: 3C9X1_8-EWQ

Length: 15min 34sec (934 seconds)

Published: Fri Aug 07 2020