Ancient Egypt

Ancient Egypt is famous for its pyramids, pharaohs and mummies, but archaeologists are still learning about this sophisticated society. The 5,000-year-old kingdom left behind a written record and countless artifacts, allowing archaeologists to learn about its culture, including its elaborate ideas on the afterlife and gods and goddesses, as well as its taxes and trading and farming practices. Here's the latest news on Egyptian archaeology and what it can tell us about the people who lived there.

Related Topics: Archaeology, Dead Sea Scrolls, Mummies

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View from the Giza Plateau of the three pyramids known as Queens' Pyramids with three smaller three satellite pyramids in front. In order from left to right: the Pyramid of Menkaure, Khafre and then Khufu.

Pyramids of Giza and the Sphinx: Facts about the ancient Egyptian monuments

By Owen Jarus published

Reference Facts about these ancient Egyptian monuments, still a source of speculation and debate.

The Great Pyramid of Khufu

New cosmic-ray scan of the Great Pyramid of Giza could reveal hidden burial chamber

By Owen Jarus published

The ultra-powerful scan of the Great Pyramid of Giza could reveal the 4,500-year-old secrets of two mysterious voids inside.

Here, one of the many statues within the Karnak Temple complex, Luxor, Egypt.

Ancient Egypt: History, dynasties, religion and writing

By Owen Jarus published

Ancient Egypt in North Africa was one of the most powerful and influential civilizations in the region for over 3,000 years.

Forensic reconstruction of the mummies JK2911, JK2134 and JK2888.

3 Egyptian mummy faces revealed in stunning reconstruction

By Mindy Weisberger published

Using genetic data, a forensic artist rebuilt the faces of three ancient Egyptian mummies, revealing each individual's likely appearance as a 25-year-old.

This stela, dating back about 2,600 years, was found in a farmer's field near the city of Ismailia in Egypt. It contains 15 lines of hieroglyphic writing.

Farmer discovers 2,600-year-old stone slab from Egyptian pharaoh

By Owen Jarus published

A farmer living near Ismailia in Egypt has uncovered a 2,600-year-old stela erected by pharaoh Apries, who ruled from about 589 B.C., to 570 B.C.

About 250 tombs have been found cut into the sides of a hill in Egypt's Eastern Desert. They date between roughly 4,200 and 2,100 years ago.

Huge cemetery with at least 250 rock-cut tombs discovered in Egypt

By Owen Jarus published

About 250 tombs, some with fancy layouts and hieroglyphics, have been discovered cut into a hill at Al-Hamidiyah cemetery in Egypt.

Researchers took scans of the mummy and found that the remains belonged to a pregnant woman.

First-known pregnant mummy discovered

By Yasemin Saplakoglu published

Researchers have discovered the world's first-known pregnant mummy, dating from the first century in Egypt.

The reconstruction of KV 55, thought to be the pharaoh Akhenaten.

King Tut's father revealed in stunning facial reconstruction

By Mindy Weisberger published

An astonishingly lifelike facial reconstruction reveals the face of an enigmatic mummy who may have been the biological father of the renowned pharaoh Tutankhamen.

A VR headset provides Jessica Johnson, a doctoral candidate in Egyptology at UC Berkeley, with a tour of a 2,500-year-old Egyptian tomb.

Enter the mysterious ancient Egyptian tomb of 'the Doctor' in this new VR experience

By Mindy Weisberger published

An ancient Egyptian tomb, sarcophagus and funerary artifacts could soon be accessible through virtual reality.

Section of the papyrus that deals with swellings of the skin.

Ancient papyrus holds the world’s oldest guide to mummification

By Mindy Weisberger published

A newly discovered instruction manual for embalming mummies in ancient Egypt contains the earliest known description of these mysterious techniques.

"Meidum Geese' was found in the Chapel of Itet in the tomb of Nefermaat and Itet.

Ancient Egypt's Mona Lisa? An elaborately drawn extinct goose, of course

By Yasemin Saplakoglu published

Nearly five millennia ago, an artist inked an incredibly detailed painting of geese in the tomb of an Egyptian vizier and his wife.

The mummy of Seqenenre Taa II was first discovered in the 1880s. Even then, archaeologists noticed several prominent wounds on the pharaoh's face.

Egyptian pharaoh was executed on the battlefield, mummy reveals

By Stephanie Pappas published

Egyptian pharaoh Seqenenre Taa II seems to have been overwhelmed by multiple attackers on the battlefield, perhaps after being captured and bound.

This beautifully decorated coffin (right) doesn't belong to the unusual mud-wrapped mummy (left) that was found inside it.

Never-before-seen 'mud mummy' from Egypt discovered in wrong coffin

By Laura Geggel published

An ancient Egyptian mummy was damaged and then wrapped in an unusual mud carapace.

A 13-foot-long (4 meters) copy of chapter 17 of the Book of the Dead was found in the burial shafts. The name of the papyrus's owner Pwkhaef is written on it. The Book of the Dead helped guide the deceased through the afterlife.

13-foot-long 'Book of the Dead' scroll found in burial shaft in Egypt

By Owen Jarus published

A funerary temple belonging to Queen Nearit has been discovered in the ancient Egyptian burial ground Saqqara next to the pyramid of her husband, pharaoh Teti.

This Pan hamadryas provided three tissue types: hair, bone and enamel. It's also missing its canines.

Mummified baboons may identify lost land of Punt, ancient Egypt's trading partner

By Stephanie Pappas published

Ancient Egyptians got those baboons from somewhere.

The small cigar tin held pieces of cedar that Scottish archaeologists took from the Great Pyramid in the 19th century.

Lost artifact from Great Pyramid was just found in a cigar tin in Scotland

By Mindy Weisberger published

After a small piece of wood from the Great Pyramid was donated to a museum in Scotland, it vanished for decades. A curator found it hiding in plain sight.

X-ray diffraction showed the mummy's unerupted adult teeth and a mass of resin inside the skull.

Roman-era Egyptian child mummy scanned with laser-like precision

By Mindy Weisberger published

High-energy X-ray scans of an intact Egyptian mummy mapped a detailed glimpse of the bones and objects inside.

A close-up showing one of the mummy filled coffins. The colors are remarkably well preserved despite the passage of over 2,000 years of time.

Mummy count continues to grow at ancient Egypt burial site

By Owen Jarus published

The number of mummy-filled coffins found in a series of burial shafts at Saqqara in Egypt keeps growing, archaeologists with the Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities reported.

HIeroglyphic writing indicates that many of the people buried in the coffins were priests.

59 priest mummies and statue of unusual god unearthed in Egypt

By Owen Jarus published

Archaeologists have now discovered 59 mummy coffins in Saqqara in Egypt. Many of the mummies are likely the remains of priests.

"Meritamun" was inscribed on the mummy's wrappings. And the researchers believe that when she was alive, Meritamun would have stood just under 5 feet (151 centimeters).

'Screaming mummy' may have died of a heart attack, researchers say

By Stephanie Pappas published

An Egyptian woman who was mummified with her mouth open in a silent scream probably died of a heart attack, new research finds.