Talking Pyramids » Photos Archives – Talking Pyramids

A Beautiful New Years Day to Thee

Vincent — Sun, 01 Jan 2012 01:22:28 +0000

“It is Re who opens this beautiful New Year’s Day to thee”.
“It is Ptah who opens this beautiful New Year’s Day to thee”.

New Year's Jars Dynasty 26 664-525 BCE Faience

Such flasks were traditionally offered on New Year’s Day, filled with water from a sacred pool. This spectacular faience masterpiece exemplifies the refinement of Dynasty 18 craftsmanship. It is lentil-shaped, with a short spout and delicate handles. A double geometrical frieze wraps around the spout. Beneath the spout, a large collar with three rows of beads, the last row shaped as drops, decorates each side with understated elegance. Running down the edges are exquisitely calligraphed hieroglyphic inscriptions delivering the following messages:

“It is Re who opens this beautiful New Year’s Day to thee”
(ra-wpt-nefer-rnpt-k).

“It is Ptah who opens this beautiful New Year’s Day to thee”
(ptah-wpt-nefer-rnpt-k).

Virtual Museum

Photo by Mary Harrsch CC By NC SA

Rare Tomb Opened After 4,500 Years A Czech team has opened an intact burial chamber from...

Illegal Road Built North of Abusir

Vincent — Wed, 07 Sep 2011 06:01:37 +0000

I’ve received a report from Maryanne Stroud Gabbani, who lives in Egypt, of an illegal road being built through the desert north of Abu Sir. Maryanne included many photos of the new road as well as some sensitive areas that are being quarried.

Rubbish is also being dumped in the area. Trucks are dumping here illegally rather than pay the fee to use the Giza dump. The governorate has no one checking to ensure that trucks don’t do this.

Maryanne writes:

In 13 years the plateau at the top of the hill has been taken away for construction materials. The Army (and I also hear the Antiquities authorities) have been in the habit of taking enormous bribes (like hundreds of thousands of LE a week) from the miners to allow them to take the sand away without authorization or supervision.

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Maryanne continues with some good news sent the next day:

I talked today to one of the members of the clan who run this area and there was a family council last night wherein the offending members were taken to task. I was told that they would probably be leaving the clay road in place but wouldn’t be quarrying or using it. The clay happens to be tofla which when mixed with vinegar makes an effective poultice for horse legs, so I expect it to be harvested in pretty short order.

Follow Maryanne’s blog where she posts daily photos of life in Egypt: Cairo/Giza Daily Photo

Giza Necropolis Threatened by Road The greater Cairo ring road on the edge of the...
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Pyramids Closed After Museum Vandalised

Vincent — Sun, 30 Jan 2011 03:08:53 +0000

Pyramids Closed. Chaos in Egypt generates fear of attacks on monuments

After the ransacking of the Egyptian Museum and due to the current situation in Egypt the pyramids of Giza have been closed and the Egyptian army on guard against any attacks. Rather than attempt to gather all the events here I’ll direct you to some of the best sources.

Reports on Museum damage:
Egyptian Museum Damage

Margaret identifies the broken museum pieces:
Statues of Tutankhamun Damaged Stolen From The Egyptian Museum

Andie has ongoing updates: Egyptology News

So does Kate: News From the Valley of the Kings

Photos:

Video:

People on Twitter to follow:
@bencnn
@dancefromiraq
@jonjenson
@eloquentpeasant
@kv64info

..oh, and of course, Talking Pyramid’s own @bennu

Live Video: Al Jazeera English: Live Stream

Photo by escalepade. Some rights reserved.

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Zahi Hawass and the Museum Gift Shop The Egyptian Museum in Cairo The new Museum gift shop...

Photos: Third British Egyptology Congress

Vincent — Fri, 17 Sep 2010 11:21:28 +0000

Following up on the last post about the Third British Egyptology Congress, the Egypt Exploration Society (EES) have posted a stack of photos of the event on their Flickr page. I’ve presented them here for your viewing pleasure as a slideshow:

The Third British Egyptology Congress, organised by the Egypt Exploration Society, the Department of Ancient Egypt and Sudan at the British Museum and University College London, took place at the British Museum on 11th and 12th September 2010, with around 200 delegates and over 60 papers.   On Friday 10 September a welcoming reception was hosted at UCL by the Friends of the Petrie Museum, giving delegates a chance to register in advance.  Plenary talks were given by Dr Patricia Spencer (EES), Professor John Tait (UCL), Dr John Taylor (BM) and Mr Michael Jones (American Research Centre in Egypt). On the Saturday evening Dr Mark Lehner (Ancient Egypt Research Associates) gave a keynote lecture on the Tomb of Khentkawes at Giza, attanded by around 260 people. The talk was followed by a reception in the Sculpture gallery at the British Museum.  At the end of the Congress Professor Alan Lloyd (Vice President of the EES) summed up the proceedings.  BEC4 will probably be held in Oxford in 2012.

Egypt Exploration Society on Flickr

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Barriers To Stop Pyramid Climbers at Giza

Vincent — Thu, 20 May 2010 01:30:27 +0000

No Climbing sign on the Pyramid of Khafre

Shortly after I posted the story of the eye-witness video of the removal of the man from the top of the pyramid of Khafre I received a report from another traveller on the Giza Plateau that day. Kassy sent in some photos of the incident as she watched the Egyptian Military helicopter remove the man.

Since then I have been chatting on Twitter with Andrew, who is currently living and working in Cairo.

I had heard that a fence of some sort has been erected around the pyramid of Khafre, apparently in response to the incident to prevent others from climbing the pyramid. So I asked Andrew if he was able to confirm this.

He travelled to Giza the next day and responded that both the northern and eastern sides of the pyramid have rope strung between metal bollards that have been cemented into the bedrock. Guards with walkie-talkies can be seen sitting around the pyramid…waiting.

The northern face of Khafre's pyramid showing rope strung between bollards

Guards positioned around the pyramid look out for anyone attempting to climb the pyramid

These are not new additions though, these bollards have been here for some years now and can also be seen around Khufu’s pyramid. It does seem as though they might have increased the number of guards positioned around the pyramid.

On the western side of Khafre’s pyramid, however, a new metal fence has been erected. This western barrier appears to be a new addition, perhaps a result of the recent climbing of the pyramid. Andrew was kind enough to take a batch of photos especially for Talking Pyramids readers.

Photo of the metal barrier on the western side of the Khafre's pyramid with a close up inset

Andrew’s photos are used with permission. Some rights reserved.
No Climbing photo by Jay Bergesen. Some rights reserved.

Photos: Military Helicopter Rescue at Giza Following on from the story a couple of weeks ago...
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Photos: Military Helicopter Rescue at Giza

Vincent — Sat, 01 May 2010 02:04:13 +0000

Following on from the story a couple of weeks ago of the removal of a man from the top of the pyramid of Khafre at Giza, a recent visitor Kassy Humphreys has sent in some photos that she snapped of the event.

Military remove man from the top of Khafre's pyramid after a night at the top

Kassy explains:

“We heard that he was an Egyptian man who got stuck up there and had to spend the night at the top. According to one of our armed escorts, the army took him away and they think that he will spend a few months in jail.”

Considering the remaining casing stone that still caps the top of the pyramid it is difficult to imagine how he made it to the very top of the pyramid.

“From what we could see, he was right at the top. We too were quite perpelexed as to how he managed to get all the way up there as there is a bit of an overhang which looked near impossible to get around!”

I could imagine the thought of looking down at all the smooth limestone casing after having made it to the top, wondering how to get down with the realisation that one wrongly place foot could send you falling to your death.

As a result of this incident the pyramid is now surrounded by new fencing.

View more photos of the pyramid of Khafre on the Pyramid of Khafre page.

Barriers To Stop Pyramid Climbers at Giza No Climbing sign on the Pyramid of Khafre Shortly after...
Millitary Helicopter Arrests Man On Top of Pyramid A man has been arrested by a military helicopter after...
Giza Pyramids 2 out of 3 It seems that Khufu and Khafre are the only pyramids...

Friday Photo: A Room With a View

Vincent — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 22:24:15 +0000

“I’d like a room with a view of the pyramids with a splash of palm trees please.”

A Room With a View

Some have it tough.

A Room With a View by Jay Bergesen. Some rights reserved.

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