Egyptian Tomb Discovery Sheds Light on Mysterious Royal Family

Archaeologists from the University of Pennsylvania were investigating Abydos, one of Egypt's most ancient cities, when they found a 3,600-year-old royal tomb.
From its location near the Mount Anubis necropolis and the surviving inscriptions, Egyptologists know the tomb belonged to a little-known royal family, the Abydos pharaohs. The discovery sheds light on a lost dynasty whose very existence scholars have debated.
It's difficult to imagine how long the Ancient Egyptian civilization persisted. In England, there have been seven different ruling dynasties since the Middle Ages. Egypt had roughly 33 dynasties.
This makes it a little easier to understand how an entire ruling family could slip through the cracks of history. The existence of the Abydos dynasty was first proposed in the 1990s and only confirmed by the discovery of a tomb in 2014. This second tomb provides more evidence.
Egyptologists believe the Abydos pharaohs ruled from 1700 to 1550 BCE. This Second Intermediate Period marked the chaotic transition between the Middle and New Kingdoms, a time of famine, warring dynasties, and rapid regime change.
The last Middle Kingdom dynasty was when the Hyksos people swept into Egypt. They conquered the Nile Delta area known as Lower Egypt, becoming the 15th Dynasty.
Upper Egypt, meanwhile, was split in two. The 16th dynasty ruled Thebes and its surrounding area. The area around Abydos was ruled by, you guessed it, the Abydos Dynasty. The area was fairly small, and the Abydos reign short. They left few monuments behind.
The Turin King List, compiled by the famous 19th Dynasty King Ramesses II, only chronicles four Abydos rulers. The list detailed every pharaoh before Ramesses II.
However, the list was discovered in fragments, with some sections lost, so a degree of guesswork is involved. Pharaoh Senebkay, whose tomb was discovered in 2014, is not one of the four Abydos rulers on the Turin King List.
The new grave belonged to someone who was likely an ancestor of Senebkay, as they were buried in a similar style. Beyond that, Egyptologists can only guess.
Looters stole the grave goods and the mummy and damaged the inscriptions. On either side of the tomb entrance, yellow bands once showed the pharaoh's name and images of the goddesses Isis and Nephthys. You can still make out the sister deities, but the name has vanished.
The Pennsylvania team, led by Josef Wegner, believes the tomb could belong to either Senaiib or Paentjeni. Both have monuments in the area, and researchers have not found either of their tombs.
The Abydos tomb is the second royal grave Egyptologists have unearthed this year. The first belonged to Thutmose II, husband of the famous female pharaoh Hatshepsut.
Wegner and his team will continue excavations near Mount Anubis. More Abydos dynasty and Middle Period kings may be in the necropolis, Wegner believes.
For the Ancient Egyptians, Abydos was the burial place of the god Osiris, ruler of the afterlife. This made it a sacred city and the burial site for many of the earliest pharaohs. The kings buried here are much older than Thutmose II or the famous Tutankhamun, and their lives are much more mysterious. The Mount Anubis excavations may unearth their long-buried history.

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Fox News

11 hours ago

• Fox News

Archaeologists discover untouched tomb linked to King Midas' dynasty: 'High level of wealth'

A tomb likely linked to the family of King Midas was recently uncovered in Turkey — offering more details about life during the reign of the legendary leader. The discovery was made at the Gordion archaeological site some 60 miles southwest of the Turkish capital of Ankara. The royal tomb dates to the 8th century B.C. and was found after a grueling four months of excavating. Gordion was the capital of the Phrygian kingdom, which controlled most of western and central Anatolia in the first millennium B.C. Its most famous king is King Midas, the ruler known for his "golden touch." He controlled the kingdom between 740 and 700 B.C. With the burial chamber dating back to 750 B.C., evidence suggests the new discovery belonged to his family. University of Pennsylvania professor C. Brian Rose, who directs excavations at the site, spoke with Fox News Digital about the recent discovery. The tomb, dubbed Tumulus T-26, contained a great display of wealth, including various well-preserved bronze objects and iron tools, said the historian. Interestingly, the remains of the decedent were also cremated. "Royal tombs are often organized in clusters, so it seems likely that the newly excavated tombs belonged to his family." Rose said the bronze vessels "attest to a high level of wealth," on top of the tomb's proximity to the burial mound of Midas' father. "Royal tombs are often organized in clusters, so it seems likely that the newly excavated tombs belonged to his family," he said. Miraculously, the royal chamber was untouched by burglars, so several artifacts were still intact. A notable find was a pair of large bronze cauldrons that were used to serve food and drink during a funeral feast. Rose said that although no food residue was found on the vessels, previous discoveries at the site have shed light on what ancient Phrygians ate. "There was surviving food residue from the funeral ceremony of Midas' father in 740 BCE," he noted. "We therefore know that they served a spicy lentil and barbecued sheep or goat stew that was washed down with an alcoholic beverage – a mixture of grape wine, barley beer and honey mead." He added, "Some of the vessels had wax strips applied to their sides and the name of the owner was written. If you put your bowl down, you could easily find it again." The recent find follows others made at the same archaeological site. Archaeologists previously found a burial named Tumulus T-52, which housed over 3,000 amber beads. While the bronze objects in Tumulus T-26 indicate wealth, Rose said the discovery of the beads in Tumulus T-52 was unprecedented. "This constitutes one of the largest assemblages of amber found anywhere in the ancient world, and scientific testing shows that it was imported from the Baltic," he noted. "This is the kind of feature that one would expect in a royal assemblage, and the discovery supplies welcome information regarding the long-distance trade networks to which Gordion was connected." Archaeologists across the world uncover an untold number of ancient tombs every year – and some are lucky enough to find well-preserved artifacts, too. Last month, Egyptian officials announced the discovery of several high-ranking Ancient Egyptian officials' tombs. In Syria, a contractor recently stumbled across an expensive Christian tomb complex dating back to the Byzantine Empire.

Yahoo

4 days ago

• Yahoo

How did Ramesses II die — and did his more than 100 children fight for the throne?

When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. The pharaoh Ramesses II is one of the best known warrior rulers of ancient Egypt, famous for his military victories and great public works. He ruled Egypt for two-thirds of a century (roughly 1279 to 1213 B.C.) during the New Kingdom period, and died when he was around 90 years old, an astonishing age for the time. But how did Ramesses II die and what happened following the celebrated pharaoh's death? First, let's start with Ramesses II's ascension to the throne. He became pharaoh after his father Seti I (ruled circa 1294 to 1279 B.C.) died. At the start of his reign, Ramesses II was at war with the Hittites, a kingdom based in Anatolia (modern-day Turkey), and fought a major battle against them, now known as the "Battle of Kadesh", in what is now Syria around 1275 B.C. While Ramesses II claimed victory, modern-day historians tend to believe that neither side won the battle. Ramesses II made peace with the Hittites around 1258 B.C. and took a Hittite princess as one of his wives. Like other Egyptian pharaohs, he practiced polygamy and had many wives and concubines. Toby Wilkinson, an Egyptologist at the University of Cambridge, estimates in his book "Ramesses the Great: Egypt's King of Kings" (Yale University Press, 2023) that he had around 100 children. The pharaoh also built a new capital called "Pi-Ramesses" (also known as "Per-Ramesses") in the eastern Nile delta near the modern-day village of Qantir. The "entire city bore the unmistakable footprint of its pharaonic foundation," Wilkinson wrote, noting that it had at least 50 colossal statues of Ramesses II, most of which were built during his lifetime. When Ramesses II died, he was buried in a tomb in the Valley of the Kings. After this tomb was plundered, his mummy was placed, along with other royal mummies, in a cache at Deir el-Bahari. His mummy is now located in the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization in Cairo. Analyses of Ramesses II's mummy have provided insights into his cause of death. Sahar Saleem, a professor of radiology at Cairo University who has studied the mummy of Ramesses II extensively, told Live Science in an email that "Ramesses II was likely crippled by arthritis and walked with a hunched back for several years in later life. He also suffered from severe dental disease, which may have caused chronic pain or infection. However, no definitive cause of death was identified on CT (computed tomography) scans." In all likelihood he died of natural causes, Saleem said. The fact that Ramesses II lived to around age 90 was, in itself, quite a feat in ancient Egypt. At the time "most people died well before their 40th birthday and he was on the throne for two or three generations," Susanna Thomas, an Egyptologist who works at the Grand Egyptian Museum, told Live Science in an email. Ramessees II outlived many of his wives and children and it was Merneptah, his 13th-oldest son, who succeeded him as pharaoh. Thomas noted that there is no evidence of any fighting over the throne when Merneptah became pharaoh. "Twelve of his elder brothers had died before him and frankly he [Merneptah] was just next in line," Thomas said. Merneptah was probably already in his sixties when he became pharaoh and he launched a program of building new palaces and other buildings, Thomas said. While Merneptah's accession occurred without incident, his successors did face internal strife. "Ramesses II grandson Seti II has to deal with an usurper [named Amenmesse] who seems to have been successful in ruling over Upper Egypt for a couple of years" Henning Franzmeier, a senior research affiliate at the Cyprus Institute who is the field director of excavations at Pi-Ramesses, told Live Science in an email. Some of Seti II's successors also faced quarrels over the throne. The vast number of children that Ramesses II had complicated questions over succession as his descendants vied for power. There were "hundreds of members of the royal family who might have felt inclined to seek for power," Franzmeier said. In addition to internal turmoil, Egypt experienced invasions from a group known as the "Sea Peoples." One invasion occurred during Merneptah's reign while another occurred during the reign of Ramesses III (reign circa 1184 to 1153 B.C.). The internal quarrels over the throne, along with problems dealing with the Sea Peoples invasions, "ultimately led to the decline of royal power in Egypt," Franzmeier said. Ramesses II was so powerful, he was worshipped in life as a living god. And even after death, his cult continued to some degree. RELATED STORIES —Ramesses II's sarcophagus finally identified thanks to overlooked hieroglyphics —Ancient tomb of Pharaoh Ramesses II official discovered at Saqqara —Archaeologists find top half of giant Ramesses II statue, completing a century-long puzzle "Surprisingly his cult is not attested widely after his death — although bits and pieces of evidence do appear," Campbell Price, a curator of Egypt and Sudan at the Manchester Museum, told Live Science in an email. A sarcophagus mentions a priest devoted to the worship of Ramesses II who lived at the site of Abydos during the Ptolemaic period (circa 304 to 30 B.C.) Price said. This means that some people were still worshipping Ramesses II 1,000 years after he died. Price noted that pharaohs named themselves "Ramesses" or "Usermaatre" (his throne name) for centuries after Ramesses II's death. Pharaohs also treated items of his with great respect. "Objects from his robbed tomb were clearly prized heirlooms and were incorporated into later royal burials at Tanis [an ancient city], surely with a sense of reverence for their illustrious ancestor," Price said.

Hamilton Spectator

13-06-2025

• Hamilton Spectator

From flints to NHL players — permanent museum exhibit shows the evolution of Grimsby

Flint tools and projectiles dating back to 900 BCE, a cannon ball from the War of 1812 and an NHL jersey worn by a Grimsby native are among about a hundred artifacts that make up a new exhibit at Grimsby Museum . Sofia Beraldo, the museum's exhibition and design co-ordinator, said the 'Grimsby: Our Story' display is the first permanent exhibit at the facility that opened in 1984. She said through surveys it became evident the community wanted a permanent place for its 'diverse history.' Beraldo did much of the research for the exhibit that opened at the Murray Street museum on May 29. There are four sections: Ancestral Lands and Peoples, Forming Grimsby, Transforming Grimsby, Made in Grimsby. Ancestral Lands and Peoples focuses on the area's first inhabitants. Beraldo said with input from Indigenous experts to ensure accuracy, it 'shines a light on the Neutral Nation grave excavation which happened here in Grimsby around 1976 to '77.' Forming Grimsby looks at some of the first European settlers . 'After The American Revolution in around 1787, there was an influx of American loyalists (who supported the British Crown),' Beraldo said. The section includes displays about settler women, enslaved people and freedom seekers, and Grimsby Beach. 'The different phases that Grimsby Beach has gone through,' Beraldo said, '(there was) cottaging, then it was an amusement park and it's still a really vibrant part of Grimsby's history.' Transforming Grimsby focuses on the 19th and 20th centuries. 'We have a (War of 1812) cannon ball there that was discovered on one of the Nelles (family) properties,' Beraldo said. There are also displays about historical sites and buildings and the Farmerettes who played an important role during the First and Second World Wars. 'Young girls and women could actually skip their final exams in high school and work on farms when the men were overseas fighting and contribute to the war effort through feeding people locally and the troops,' Beraldo said. Made in Grimsby includes displays about fruit farming, businesses and Grimsby Peach Kings Hockey Club, and includes some notable Grimsby folk including former NHLer Kevin Bieksa and musician Kevin Hearn of Barenaked Ladies. Beraldo said the exhibit features an interactive component whereby people can ask questions about Grimsby's history using a posted QR code. 'I'm hoping (visitors) take away that Grimsby's history is a lot more diverse and unique, I think, than a lot of people realize,' said Beraldo. She said some of the artifacts will be switched out annually with some of the thousands of other materials the museum has in storage. She said the exhibit is also supported by artifacts from Sustainable Archaeology McMaster (University), Royal Ontario Museum and Niagara Falls Underground Railroad Heritage Center in Niagara Falls, N.Y. 'This has been in the works since 2022,' said museum manger and curator Janet Oakes, adding the exhibit is supported by $135,000 over three years from Town of Grimsby and $88,000 from the federal government. Oakes said the town, Nelles Manor Museum and Grimsby Historical Society also contributed to the exhibit. 'We wouldn't have been able to accomplish this without the support of the community,' Oakes said. See (click on the Parks, Recreation and Culture link to get to the museum) for more information. Meanwhile, the museum is hosting Coffee with the Curator on Thursday, June 19, 5:30-7 p.m. On this special evening Beraldo will take visitors on a guided tour of 'Grimsby: Our Story' and answer questions about the exhibit. This is an admission by donation event and requires a ticket. Go to for ticket information.