Talking Pyramids

Explore the area around Sesheshet’s pyramid A summary of what we know about Sesheshet and her pyramid appeared this morning on the Haaretz website. From the article: Dr. Deborah Sweeney, an expert on ancient Egypt from the archaeology department of Tel Aviv University, says researchers assume that Sesheshet belonged to the close circle of the [...]

More news on the restoration of Djoser’s step pyramid appeared on the website of Zahi Hawass this morning. Over the past year work has been going on to replace some of the missing stones on the pyramid’s exterior: On the outside of the pyramid, the most important component of our work has been identifying and [...]

Djoser’s statues These unfinished caryatid statues depicting Djoser are situated on the west side of the Heb-sed courtyard.

The ka statue of Ti in his serdab at Saqqara The serdab was a chamber built especially for the ka statue that often had peep holes, or small windows for the ka to see out of. The ka is a complex concept but can be simply understood as the king’s spiritual double.

Isis-Nofret. Photo: Reuters The Japanese team from the Waseda University working under the direction of Sakuji Yoshimura have made an important discovery in the north-western area of Saqqara. Just last week the same team were in the news for the discovery of the four wooden sarcophagi, three canopic jars and 38 ushabiti. Now the team [...]

One of the main functions of Talking Pyramids is to provide up-to-date information on the Egyptian pyramids. Last year Zahi Hawass announced that he wanted all Egyptian pyramids to open to the public by 2009 though I do not think this is the case. Although I try to keep the entry prices up to date [...]

One of the wooden sarcophagi Some of the sarcophagi inside the newly discovered tomb at Saqqara have been opened. Yesterday international media were allowed into the tomb to film the opening. Inside the chamber, 22 mummies lay covered only by sand in four niches dug into the chamber’s walls. Most were badly decomposed, showing only [...]