April 2025

5 comments Djoser King owner of the Saqqara Pyramid , Djoseris most famous Kind in the 3rd dynasty of the ancient Egyptian’s history ; He delegate Imhotep to build the first pyramid in the ancient Egyptian history to be his tomb that is mean Saqqara pyramid is Djose’s Tomb .

Djoser pharaoh

Djoser king ruled or region ancient egypt more 29 years from 2640BC – 2611BC . As per Manetho’s Papyrus ; However , many historian said the reign length was 19 years ( 2630BC – 2611BC ) because Tarin’s Papyrus refereed to 19 years only . Djoser was most strongest king in third dynasty in ancient egypt .

Djoser king in little lines :

1 – Memphis was the ancient egypt capital in that period of time . 2 – Djoser discovered a lot of copper and turquoise in Sinai , That mining was helped him to create a huge construction for example Saqqara pyramid 3 – Djoser was expended Egyptian’s border south and west . The Djoser’s Statue Djoser’s Statue was found in a narrow rooms known as Crypt ( Cerdab )- Crypt photos – locate northeast of the Djoser’s tomb in Saqqara Pyramid .

The King’s Family :

Djoser’s Father: Sanakhte Djoser’s Mother: Nimaethap Djoser’s Wife: Inetkawes Djoser’s Children: Unknown

Saqqara Pyramid : 

Djoser step pyramid

the tomb gradually expanded until the structure included six stepped up today, are still visible, high up to a height of 60 meters. Depicting alleged by the architect Imhotep, the entire complex measures 277 X 544 meters and is surrounded by a high wall in which a real and false doors fourteen. Called secondary mastaba tomb and regardless of the pyramid itself, the compound includes among other things, open courtyards several, some of which is used in connection with the Festival of the dam, and the ‘South Tomb’, and two buildings that have been interpreted as a representation of the shrines and Upper Egypt Lower Egypt, and the basement with a statue of the king, and many other buildings. Sought the pyramid complex built entirely in stone, in the earlier tradition of the structures made of perishable materials. Each of the pyramid and Cemetery South Apartments contain groundwater, used for the burial of the king and one of eleven members of his family, which is partially decorated with blue faience tiles with the imaging performance of the rites of the king during a royal jubilee.

5 comments Djoser King owner of the Saqqara Pyramid , Djoseris most famous Kind in the 3rd dynasty of the ancient Egyptian’s history ; He delegate Imhotep to build the first pyramid in the ancient Egyptian history to be his tomb that is mean Saqqara pyramid is Djose’s Tomb .

Djoser pharaoh

Djoser king ruled or region ancient egypt more 29 years from 2640BC – 2611BC . As per Manetho’s Papyrus ; However , many historian said the reign length was 19 years ( 2630BC – 2611BC ) because Tarin’s Papyrus refereed to 19 years only . Djoser was most strongest king in third dynasty in ancient egypt .

Djoser king in little lines :

1 – Memphis was the ancient egypt capital in that period of time . 2 – Djoser discovered a lot of copper and turquoise in Sinai , That mining was helped him to create a huge construction for example Saqqara pyramid 3 – Djoser was expended Egyptian’s border south and west . The Djoser’s Statue Djoser’s Statue was found in a narrow rooms known as Crypt ( Cerdab )- Crypt photos – locate northeast of the Djoser’s tomb in Saqqara Pyramid .

The King’s Family :

Djoser’s Father: Sanakhte Djoser’s Mother: Nimaethap Djoser’s Wife: Inetkawes Djoser’s Children: Unknown

Saqqara Pyramid : 

Djoser step pyramid

the tomb gradually expanded until the structure included six stepped up today, are still visible, high up to a height of 60 meters. Depicting alleged by the architect Imhotep, the entire complex measures 277 X 544 meters and is surrounded by a high wall in which a real and false doors fourteen. Called secondary mastaba tomb and regardless of the pyramid itself, the compound includes among other things, open courtyards several, some of which is used in connection with the Festival of the dam, and the ‘South Tomb’, and two buildings that have been interpreted as a representation of the shrines and Upper Egypt Lower Egypt, and the basement with a statue of the king, and many other buildings. Sought the pyramid complex built entirely in stone, in the earlier tradition of the structures made of perishable materials. Each of the pyramid and Cemetery South Apartments contain groundwater, used for the burial of the king and one of eleven members of his family, which is partially decorated with blue faience tiles with the imaging performance of the rites of the king during a royal jubilee.

No comments Philae In the midst of an evocative panorama of granitic rocks, the columns and pillars of this island sacred to the goddess Isis rise up towards a cloudless sky, creating the impression that one is in one of those landscapes which exist only in the imagination. The temple of Philae has one of the three best preserved Ptolemaic temples, the other two being those of Edfu and Dendera.

Aswan – Philae

Following the construction of the old dam on the first cataract in 1904, the temple found itself under water for the greater part of the year and it was only during August that it was visitable because it was only during this period that all the sluice gates were open in order to relieve the pressure due to the flooding of the Nile. After the construction of the big dam at Aswan it became necessary in order to save the temple, to dismantle it, move it to the island of Egelika, 150 metres to the north, and then put it up again.

Philae Temple

TTie cult of Isis at Philae goes back a very long way and there was a tradition that at least once in his life every Egyptian should go on a pilgrimage to the sacred island. Philae is the smallest of the three islands at the end of the group of rocks which form the first cataract and it is about 400 metres long and 135 metres wide. The southern part of the island is occupied by the complex of monuments which form the sanctuary dedicated to the goddess. It was maintained that the miraculous and beneficial flooding of the Nile each year had its origin there.

Philae Island

After Justinian completed the task of evangelizing Nubia, the bishop Teodorus in 535 A.D. converted the temple into a church dedicated to St. Stephen. The southern extremity of the island is occupied by the pavilion of Nectanebo I, a building with fourteen Hathoric columns. This same Pharaoh initiated the construction of the first pylon of the temple of Isis which is decorated at the bottom with the famous scene in which the pharaoh Ptolemy XIII is offering prisoners of war as a sacrifice to Hator and Horus.

2 comments Many of the food crops cultivated by the ancient Egyptians needed constant watering and were therefore grown in irrigated gardens. Numerous varieties of plants were grown in this way, including fruits, green vegetables and beans. One of the main garden crops was the vine, used primarily for the production of wine, although grapes were also eaten as well as raisins. The plants were often trained to form arbours or arches. Around the roots well of mud were formed to help contain moisture. The grapes were harvested by hand without the use of a knife, and carried gently to the press in rush baskets. They were emptied into vats large enough to contain up to six men, who would crush the grapes with their feet..

Ancient Egyptian Farmers

The grape juice flowed into a collecting vat, whence or was transferred into open pottery jars for primary fermentation. A second pressing, a bag press, squeezed out the remaining juice fro the skins, seed and stems. After a vigorous primary fermentation in the open vessels, the wine was racked and transferred to other jars. These jars were sealed either with rush bung stoppers o with fermentation locks shaped like a saucer, with a hole in the centre to allow the gas to escape. The mouths and necks f the jars were almost entirely enveloped with mud capsules which were totally sealed after all the carbon dioxide had been released during the secondary fermentation. The jars were then labeled with information about date, type or use of the wine, estate vineyard and vintner.

The main beverage of the ancient Egyptians, however, was beer. This was made from barley, which was first formed into a loaf and then half-backed so as to make the yeast active but nor kill. The loaves were then broken up and mixed with malted barley and water. The resultant mash was allowed to Ferment for a few days and then sieved. The liquid was decanted into beer jars.

The Egyptians’ staple food in ancient Egypt was bread, of which there were at least fifteen varieties in the Old Kingdom, whilst during the New Kingdom about forty names for breads, cakes and biscuits are attested. The difference between these various types was not only in the ingredients but also in shape, as the variety of surviving loaves indicates. The grinding if the grain for flour was a laborious. The grinding of the grain for flour was a laborious process. It was first crushed in a large mortar, and then sifted to remove the bran.

The remainder was ground remove the bran,. The remainder was ground in a saddle quern, which consisted of a concave quern-stone over which a heavy stone rubber was passed back and forth. The flour was sieved and reground until it reached the required degree of fineness. Only sufficient for the daily bake was prepared. The most common type of loaf was conical, made in a mould which was placed over an open fire to cook. Dome-shaped ovens also existed, in which flat loaves could be baked by placing them against the hot interior of the dome.

The eating of meat was probably something of a luxury for most ancient Egyptians. Nevertheless, large numbers of animals were reared and domestication can be traced back to Predynastic times, Cattle were the most common domestic animals, reared not only for their meat but also for dairy produce, as beasts of burden and for ritual use in sacrifice. Great herds were reared on temple domains as well as on royal and noble estate. The chief varieties were long-horned and short-horned cattle, but during the New Kingdom the hump-backed Brahminy bull was introduced from the near east. Other domesticated animals reared for food in ancient Egypt  were duck, geese, goats and pigs , during the Old kingdom there were experiments in domesticated other animals, such as antelope, oryx and hyena, and these are sometimes depicted being forced in order to fatten them up.

However, the experiments seem to have failed, for these creatures were never fully domesticated. Donkeys were also bred from an early time as best of burden but the camel was unknown until the Persian period. Horses did not appear in Egypt until the end of the Second Intermediate Period, introduced from the Near East. They were rarely Ridden by the near East. They were ridden by the Egyptians, being used instead to pull chariots.

Rarity restricted their ownership to Pharaoh, his nobles and the army. For the main means of transport in ancient Egypt we turn once more to he River. A number of distinctive forms of boat were used to move both men and goods up and down the Nile and as there were no brides over the main stream, ferries operated back and forth incessantly. The wind in Egypt blows constantly from north to south and so when traveling to Upper Egypt vessels raised a large rectangular sail to power them against the current. The boats were steered by large oar like rudder or by pairs of oars along the sides neat the stern. When traveling downstream the sail was taken down, as the rectangular shape was of little use when tacking into the wind. The mast was dismantled and the boat propelled by rowers seated along the gun-whales, who were aided by the river’s current.

Detailed models of passenger ships are found in Middle Kingdom tombs. They occur in pairs, on fully rigged, the other with the mast unstepped and the rowers in position. The tomb-owner was thus always prepared for travel both north and south in the afterlife. So established was this pattern of sailing that a ship under sail came to be the hieroglyph for traveling south and a ship without sail or mast the hieroglyph for traveling north …. food in ancient Egypt.

Farming in ancient Egypt

Another type of craft which must have been seen frequently on the river was the papyri-form boat, whose shape was derived from the humble papyrus raft used for darting about along the banks and hunting in shallow, marshy waters. These papyri-form boats had a strictly religious use, either for transporting a god from temple to temple or for carrying mummies and pious Egyptians also had seagoing vessels, known as ‘Byblos ships’ from the port in the Near East(in modern Lebanon) which they visited most frequently, trading for much-needed resources such as timber. These ships were very similar in form to the Nile passenger craft, bur with extra strengthening members to withstand the strain of sailing in the open sea. A fleet of such vessels is depicted in a scene in the mortuary temple of Hatshepsut at Deir el-Bahri, representing a trading expedition which she sent to Punt, modern Somali-land, to obtain spices, incense trees and rare animals

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No comments Hub of the Universe, 1913
Rudyard Kipling At Haifa one feels the first breath of a frontier. Here the Egyptian Government retire into the background, and even the Cook steamer does not draw up in the exact centre of the postcard. At the telegraph-office, too, there are traces, diluted but quite recognisable, of military administration. Nor does the town, in any place whatever, smell which is proof that it is not looked after on popular lines. There is nothing to see in it any more than there is in Hulk C. 60, late of her Majesty’s troopship Himalaya, now a coal-hulk in the Hamoaze at Plymouth. A river front, a narrow terraced river-walk of semi-oriental houses, barracks, a mosque, and half-a-dozen streets at right angles, the Desert racing up to the end of each, make all the town. A mile or so up stream under palm trees are bungalows of what must have been cantonments, some machinery repair shops, and odds and ends of railway track. It is all as paltry a collection of whitewashed houses, pitiful gardens, dead walls, and trodden waste spaces as one would wish to find anywhere; and every bit of it quivers with the remembered life of armies and river-fleets, as the finger-bowl rings when the rubbing finger is lifted. The most unlikely men have done time there; stores by the thousand ton have been rolled and pushed and hauled up the banks by tens of thousand of scattered hands; hospitals have pitched themselves there, expanded enormously, shrivelled up and drifted away with the drifting regiments; railway sidings by the mile have been laid down and ripped up again, as need changed, and utterly wiped out by the sands.

Haifa has been the rail-head, Army Headquarters, and hub of the universe the one place where a man could make sure of buying tobacco and sardines, or could hope for letters for himself and medical attendance for his friend. Now she is a little shrunken shell of a town without a proper hotel, where tourists hurry up from the river to buy complete sets of Soudan stamps at the Post Office.

No comments Great Temple of Ramses II at Abu Simbel Ramses clasping his enemies by the hair and smiting them with a club. He performs this act in the presence of Amon-Ra, who hands him a curved sword of victory at (e), and the hawk-headed Ra-Harakhte at (f). In fact, this division of the temple between Amon-Ra and Ra-Harakhte continues throughout its entire length. Most of the reliefs of the former are on the south side (left) of the temple, and those of Ra-Harakhte are to the north (right).

Great Temple of Ramses II

Both sides of the hall are decorated with scenes of a military nature. The Great Battle Scene is on the northern wall (g). It covers an area of 18 metres in length and 8 metres in height. It is one of the most extraordinary and detailed reliefs to be found in the Nile Valley. There are over 1100 figures depicted and the entire wall space from the ceiling to the bedrock is filled with activity: the march of the Egyptian army with its infantry and charioteers, hand- to-hand combat, the flight of the vanquished, prisoners, slain, wounded and drowning enemy. There are overturned chariots, riderless horses and farmers anxiously driving their cattle into the hills. There are scenes of camp life and inspection of officers. Here in a single mural is all the pomp and circumstance of war. With their traditional stress on balance and symmetry, the artists have separated the wall into registers. Between the war scenes above and the Egyptian army below, is a frieze of charging chariots at full gallop. On the lower half of the wall, between the two doors (1), are scenes of Egyptian camp life. The camp is square and enclosed by a stockade of soldiers’ shields. The royal tent is shown, and at the centre of the camp is Ramses’ pet lion that is cared for by a keeper. Horses are being fed in rows from a common manger. Some wait impatiently pawing the ground. Others lie down. Some are being harnessed. One horse scampers around the enclosure. One makes off dragging an empty chariot, pursued by a couple of grooms. There are joints of meat (in the corner) and a tripod brazier. Soldiers eat from a common bowl as they crouch on their heels. One officer is having his wounded foot dressed by a doctor. Another sits with his head resting on his hand. Hurrying towards him is a soldier bringing news of the battle. To the right (2) the seated Ramses holds a council of war with his officers. In the lower register (3) two spies are being interrogated. According to textual evidence, these two men of the Shasu tribe came into the Egyptian camp then situated in the land of Tchal, not far from Kadesh. They claimed to have been sent by their chiefs to inform Ramses that the Hittites wished to come to terms with the Egyptian army. They declared that the enemy were yet some distance away and afraid to make contact. The two men were, in fact, sent by the Hittite leaders with false information in order to establish the exact position of the Egyptian army. At that very moment, the enemy was actually drawn up in full battle array behind Kadesh. No sooner had the men been dismissed than an Egyptian scout requested urgent presence with the king and brought the two spies with him. They finally admitted that the chief of Kheta was encamped behind Kadesh with soldiers and chariots ready to strike. Naturally Ramses blamed his own intelligence for neglect of duty, and after admitting their fault, the Egyptian army made immediate preparation to march on Kadesh.

Great Temple of Ramses II

The clash of arms is depicted on the upper reaches of the wall, where the river Orontes winds through the picture and almost surrounds the beseiged city. Commanding the scene is Ramses II in a pitched battle (4). Watching the scene from the strongly defended fortress of Kadesh (5) are some of the enemy who peer from the embattlements. Ramses stands undaunted in his chariot surrounded by the enemy. With the sure confidence of a warrior, he whips up his horses and dashes into the Hittite ranks, launching arrows at them and crushing many beneath the wheels of his chariot. Among the slain and the fallen are some who beg for mercy. So wonderful was his bravery that a poem composed by Pen-ta- urt was inscribed on the walls of many of the temples Ramses built. It recorded for posterity how the great pharaoh, in full armour and mounted on his chariot, drove into battle with a ‘growl like that of his father Montu, Lord of Thebes’. How, suddenly finding himself completely surrounded and cut off from his own troops, Ramses called on the name of Amon-Ra, whipped up his horses and slaughtered the enemy until some fell ‘in great heaps on the ground’ while others fell one over the other into the waters of the Orontes. Quite alone and with not one of his infantry to help him, Ramses thus succeeded in forcing his way through the enemy ranks. On the extreme right (6) the king, still in his chariot, inspects his officers, as they count the severed hands of the enemy and bring in fettered prisoners. The walls to the rear of the hall show Egyptians leading rows of captive Hittites towards Ra-Harakhte and his own deified figure at (h); rows of captive Nubians are presented to Amon-Ra, Ramses, as a deity, and Mut at (i). (The large chambers leading offthe Hall were probably storerooms; the reliefs are of inferior quality). The Hypostyle Hall (2) has four supporting square pillars. The reliefs are of offerings made by Ramses II to the various gods, one of which is the deified Ramses II himself, and various ritual scenes that show the sacred barge of Amon-Ra and accompanying priests. Following the Hypostyle Hall is an ante-chamber (3) and the Sanctuary.

Great Temple of Ramses II

The Sanctuary (4) contains four seated statues: Ptah, Amon-Ra, the deified Ramses II, and Ra-Harakhte. The temple is so oriented on an east-west axis that the rising sun sends its rays to strike the rear wall of the sanctuary, 47 metres back from the entrance, or 61 metres inside the mountain surface. At certain times of the year the rising sun illuminates the sanctuary and shines on the four seated statues. Much has been said about this phenomenon; though in fact even when the sun’s rays pass through all the entrances of the chambers, the sanctuary wall and the four statues are never fully illuminated. Twice a year, however, for 25 days after the autumnal equinox of September 23, and 25 days before the vernal equinox of March 20, the axis of the temple enables the statues to be illuminated — though never more than two at a time. The most that can be seen is on February 26th and October 18th when the sun shines on the statues of Amon-Ra and Ramses, with the light touching the sides of the flanking statues of Ptah (on the left) and Ra-Harakhte (on the right). The Great Dome Access is gained via a stairway to the right of the temple that leads to a gallery, from which this impressive, weighty, concrete shrine can be seen from the inside. It was designed to relieve the temple structure below from the very heavy load of the overlying rock walls and rockfill and also to make possible inspection and repair (if necessary) from the rear. It represents a unique technological achievement. Owing to its size and the complex nature of its load, it was necessary to carry out measurements of stress, strain and deformation, in order to check the behaviour and the safety of the structure. Also, to make calculations to evaluate its long-term behaviour and durability.

The height of the dome is 25 metres and the cylindrical part has a free span of some 60 metres. This single span is destined to bear a load of about 100,000 metric tons, and its durability must at least match that of the temple it shelters!

No comments When the pharaohs of the Fourth Dynasty secured their tomb chambers with blind passages and portcullises, they felt that their mummies and their treasures had been well guarded against the thief who might sneak in at night, and even against an armed band of robbers who would overpower the watchman. They evidently had not envisaged any long period of lawlessness during which local chiefs had leisure to mount sustained and large-scale operations against the royal sepulchres. During this Intermediate Period not only the pyramids but practically all the tombs of the princes, the high officials and the rich were rifled. Moreover, it seems that knowledge of the secret location of the tomb chambers had, in many cases, been preserved. When after several unsuccessful attempts Petrie and Wainwright found the tomb chamber hidden in the bulk of an immense mastaba – No. 17 – at Meidum, they discovered that it never had an entrance. It had been completely sealed after the burial and the mastaba had then been built up above it. Nevertheless, the tomb had been robbed and, as Wainwright noticed, the thieves must have known exactly where the burial chamber was located since they had tunnelled straight for it by the shortest possible route.

Ancient Egyptian Pyramids

After Wainwright and Petri had explored the tomb, they closed it again and filled in the shaft that they had dug into the mastaba. The only way in now is to crawl through the narrow tunnel which the thieves had bored into the mud brick of the structure. It cannot be recommended to anyone suffering from claustrophobia, and the crumbling dry mud is an unpleasant reminder that the tunnel may fall in. It was the only place into which our Bedouin guides did not accompany us. However, the visit was well worthwhile. Through a small hole one enters the T-shaped tomb chamber of smoothly dressed limestone which bears no inscription. In it stands an immense sarcophagus of pink granite with its lid swivelled aside, as the tomb robbers left it 4,000 years ago. It is the earliest granite sarcophagus ever discovered and its completely unadorned bulk is deeply impressive. It is significant that here, as in other tombs of the period, after the sarcophagus had been opened the body of the occupant was thrown on the floor where the archaeologists found it. The thieves had only been after his treasure. It is interesting to note that the bodies recovered from these early tombs were not mummies in the generally accepted sense. The art of embalming, that is, of preserving the human body as a whole, as practised in later times, had evidently not yet been perfected in the Fourth Dynasty. Instead, thj skeleton was defleshed and the bones reassembled with linen bandages soaked in resin. Wadding was put into the body cavity and by the use of more bandages the figure of the dead was faithfully reconstructed. Two fingers, which were missing from the Meidum skeleton, had been carefully replaced by rolled-up linen. The effigy of the dead person, built up around his skeleton, was re-created to such detail as the male sex organs and the breasts and nipples of the women. Again there is a parallel with West African custom where the corpse of the king was defleshed and then articulated with gold wire. The systematic robbing of the pyramids and of all rich tombs, lasting for two centuries, has deprived us of practically all the evidence connected with the burial of the kings and their families. We do not, of course, know whether somewhere under the desert sand of Saqqara or Giza some undisturbed tomb still awaits discovery. The trouble is that, unlike the carefully hidden rock burials of the New Kingdom, the Old Kingdom tombs, and particularly the pyramids, were built to be conspicuous. However, there are exceptions. When in 1925 Reisner cleared the sand around Khufu’s pyramid he came across a number of paving stones which had been concealed with plaster. They turned out to cover the mouth of a shaft, 32 m. deep and entirely filled with stones. At its bottom the American archaeologists found a tomb chamber with the alabaster sarcophagus and tomb furniture of Queen Hete- pheres 1, the mother of Khufu and wife of Snofru, the woman who had carried the royal blood from the Third into the Fourth Dynasty. The magnificent gilded tomb furniture was carefully restored by the expedition members and stands today in the Cairo Museum, with a replica set in the Boston Museum of Fine Arts. In the tomb was also found an alabaster canopic chest containing the viscera that had been removed from the Queen’s corpse. The sarcophagus, however, was empty. Reisner suggested that this was a reburial after the Queen’s tomb at Dahshur had been rifled and that her body was stolen, the latter fact having been concealed from Khufu. When, 45 years after Reisner’s explanation, I asked a surviving member of the team, Dows Dunham, whether he still believed in it, he was hesitant, saying that it was the best story they could think of at the time. However, Dunham pointed out to me the important fact that the inside of the sarcophagus showed brown stains which he took to indicate that it may once have contained a body. In any case, the shaft tomb of Hetepheres is so far the only royal burial, even if it was merely a reburial, which has survived intact from the Old Kingdom.

Ancient Egyptian Pyramid :

The Unsolved Problems about Ancient Egyptian Pyramids P1
The Unsolved Problems about Ancient Egyptian Pyramids P2
The Unsolved Problems about Ancient Egyptian Pyramids P3
The Unsolved Problems about Ancient Egyptian Pyramids P4
The Unsolved Problems about Ancient Egyptian Pyramids P5
The Unsolved Problems about Ancient Egyptian Pyramids P6

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Merneptah

(hetephermaat)

Baenre-merynetjeru

Dynasty 19

1212-1202 BC

Merneptah Pharaoh Biography 1212-1202 BC

By the time that Merneptah, Ramesses‘ 13th son, succeeded his long- lived father he must have been into his sixties. Merneptah’s ten-year reign is documented by three great inscriptions: some 80 lines on a wall in the temple of Amun at Karnak; a large stele with 35 lines remaining from Athribis in the Delta; and the great Victory Stele found by Flinders Petrie in 1896 in Merneptah‘s ruined mortuary temple at Thebes, consisting of 28 lines.

All three relate to Merneptah‘s military campaigns and complement each other. For the last years of Ramses II peace had reigned on the Egyptian frontiers and amongst the vassals, but times were changing. A ‘flash’ revolt in southern Syria was quickly crushed. The Hittite king, now facing attacks on his northern territories and also famine through crop failure, invoked the old treaty of support to which Merneptah responded by sending grain – once more, as in the Biblical story, Egypt was a granary for the starving Near East.

Statue of Merenptah on display at the Egyptian Museum

There was unrest on the western borders with the Libyans who had been quietly infiltrating the Delta and in Year 5 (1207 BC) attempted an invasion, fermenting revolt in Nubia and in the western oases. Rapid mobilization and a heavy pre–emptive strike left the Libyans totally vanquished: the Karnak inscription records Merneptah‘s valour and the slaughter, ‘Libyans, slain, whose uncircumcised phalli were carried off 6359’ (the Athribis stele records only 6200!). Nubia had risen to support the Libyans, but so swift was the destruction of the latter that Merneptah could immediately turn south and inflict a crushing blow on the rebels. Merneptah, although elderly, had made the point that insurgents could not tamper with Egypt’s security.

Merneptah realized that his time on the throne might be short. He rapidly commenced building his mortuary temple on the edge of the desert at Thebes and his tomb in the Valley of the Kings. Like many of his predecessors, he was not averse to using earlier buildings as a quarry. His masons turned to the nearby mortuary temple of Amenhotep III, now largely disused, and removed much of it, including the large stele that was turned round to take Merneptah‘s Victory Hymn. Merneptah‘s tomb in the Valley of the Kings (KV 8) lies close to that of his father, but at a slightly higher level, so it has not suffered the effects of flooding that assailed Ramesses‘ tomb. Fragmentary remains of funerary equipment, including alabaster ushabtis, have been recovered from the tomb, but the curious fact is that Merneptah apparently had several sarcophagi, each carved in various stones that included alabaster, rose and black granite. One of Merneptah‘s granite sarcophagi was found reused in the intact tomb of the pharaoh Psusennes (c. 1033 BC), discovered at Tanis in the Delta (pp. 180-81).

Merneptah‘s mummy was not found in the tomb, parts of which may have been open from antiquity, neither was it in the great cache of royal mummies discovered in 1881. His absence led many Biblical scholars to underline the fact that he must have been the pharaoh of the Exodus and had perished in the Red Sea,- his tomb was merely a cenotaph since the body was not recovered. These arguments were confounded in 1898 when the mummy of Merneptah appeared amongst the 16 bodies found in the royal mummy cache concealed in the tomb of Amenhotep II (KV 35). There is some evidence that Merneptah’s queen, Isisnofret, was also buried in his tomb rather than in the Valley of the Queens, and that she predeceased him, but her body has not been identified.

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No comments The Rise of the Nile: The Nilometer, 1833
Robert Curzon

Rise of the Nile

In England everyone talks about the weather, and all conversation is opened by exclamations against the heat or the cold, the rain, or the drought; but in Egypt, during one part of the air at least, the rise of the Nile forms the general topic of conversation. Sometimes the ascent of the water is unusually rapid, and then nothing is talked of but inundations; for if the river overflows too much, whole villages are washed away; and as they are for the most part built of sunburned bricks and mud, they are completely annihilated; and when the waters subside, all the boundary marks are obliterated, the course of canals is altered, and mounds and embankments are washed away. On these occasions the smaller landholders have great difficulty in recovering their property; for few of them know how far their fields extend in one direction or the other, unless a tree, a stone, or something else remains to mark the separation of one man’s flat piece of mud from that of his neighbour. But the more frequent and the far more dreaded calamity is the deficiency of water. This was the case in 1833, and we heard nothing else talked of. Has it risen much today?” inquires one. “Yes, it has risen half a pic since the morning.” “What! no more? In the name of the Prophet! what will become of the cotton?” “Yes, and the doura will be burnt up to a certainty if we do not get four pics more.” In short, the Nile has it all its own way; everything depends on the manner in which it chooses to behave, and El Bahar (the river) is in everybody’s mouth from morning till night. Criers go about the city several times a day during the period of the rising, who proclaim the exact height to which the water has arrived, and the precise number of pics which are submerged on the Nilometer.

The Nilometer is an ancient octagon pillar of red stone in the island ofRhoda, on the sides of which graduated scales are engraved. It stands in the centre of a cistern, about twenty-five feet square, and more than that in depth. A stone staircase leads down to the bottom, and the side walls are ornamented with Cufic inscriptions beautifully cut. Of this antique column I have seen more than most people; for on 28th of August, 1833, the water was so low that there was a great apprehension of a total failure of the crops, and of the consequent famine. At the time nine feet more water was wanted to ensure an average crop; much of the Indian corn had already failed; and from the Pasha in his palace to the poorest fellah in his mud hovel, all were in consternation; for in this country, where it never rains, everything depends on irrigation the revenues of the state, the food of the country, and the life and death of the bulk of the population.

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Taharqa the Nubian king – Taharqa pyramid – Taharqa in the bible

Taharqa was the 5th Pharaoh in ancient egypt 25th dynasty ; Taharqa was king of Kush Kingdom (Taharqa The Nubian King ) , Kush located in southern Egypt or Northern Sudan.

Taharqa the Nubian King Statue

Taharwa’s father (Piye) was the first king conquered Egypt and founder the 25th dynasty so Taharqa came from Nubian as we said before . Taharwa ruled Egypt more 26 years (690 BC – 664 BC) after Shebitku .

Taharqa’s Family

Taharqa Family

Taharqa’s Father : Piye Taharqa’s Mother : Abar Taharqa’s Wives : Unknown Taharqa’s brothers and sisters : Har , Pharaoh Taharqa , Queen Takahatenamun ,God’s Wife Shepenupet II, Queen Naparaye , Queen Qalhata, Queen Arty , Queen Tabekenamun and Khaliut Taharqa’s Children : Amenirdis II, Ushankhuru, Nesishutefnut

Invasion of Egypt by Assyrian and Taharqa’s Defending

It was during his reign that the Assyrian enemies of Egypt in the last invasion of Egypt. Esarhaddon led several campaigns against Taharqa, which he recorded on several monuments. His first attack in 677 BC, to pacify Arab tribes around the Dead Sea, took him as far as the brook of Egypt. Esarhaddon then to invade Egypt in the right year of the reign of Taharqa 17, after Esarhaddon had settled a revolt at Ashkelon. Taharqa defeated the Assyrians on that occasion. Three years later in 671 BC, the Assyrian king captured and sacked Memphis, where he captured many members of the royal family. Taharqa fled south, and Esarhaddon reorganized the political structure in the north, establishing Necho I as king at Sais. When returning to Assyria Esarhaddon he erected a victory stela showing Taharqa Ushankhuru the young son in bondage. From the beginning of the Assyrian king, however, Taharqa intrigued in the affairs of Lower Egypt, and fanned numerous revolts. Esarhaddon died en route to Egypt, and it was left to his son and heir Assurbanipal again invade Egypt. Assurbanipal defeated Taharqa, who later fled to Thebes. Taharqa died in the city of Thebes in 664 BC and was replaced by his designated successor, a son of Shabaka Tantamana. Taharqa was buried at Nuri – Northern Sudan

Taharqa’s Constructions ( Taharqa’s Pyramid at Nuri )

Taharqa’s Pyramid at Nuri

Taharqa built the Great Pyramid in the Napatan region . It was not particularly impressive additions made to the temple in the temple of Karnak and the new Kawa, and the temple on Mount Barkal