Archaeologists uncover an ancient Egyptian tomb belonging to a ‘mystery king'
A newly uncovered ancient Egyptian tomb is shedding light on royalty that once ruled the region over 3,600 years ago.
Archaeologists discovered the massive limestone burial chamber, which has multiple rooms and a decorated entryway, in January in Abydos, Egypt. But the lavish tomb's intended occupant remains a mystery. Graverobbers had damaged the hieroglyphic text painted on bricks at the entryway, leaving the name unreadable, according to a news release issued March 27 by the Penn Museum at the University of Pennsylvania.
The impressive tomb didn't contain skeletal remains that could help identify its owner. However, the researchers who made the discovery believe it is likely the resting place of a king who ruled upper Egypt during the Second Intermediate Period between 1640 and 1540 BC as part of the Abydos Dynasty, one of the least understood dynasties of ancient Egypt. The mystery king might be one of several who are notoriously missing from the traditional records of monarchs who once ruled the region.
'It's a very sort of mysterious, enigmatic dynasty that seems to have basically been sort of forgotten from the ancient records of Egypt, because it was in this period of political decay and fragmentation,' said Josef Wegner, an Egyptologist and professor of Egyptian archaeology at the University of Pennsylvania, who led the excavation. 'This mystery tomb … opens a new kind of avenue of investigation (into the Abydos Dynasty).'
The burial chamber is the largest to be discovered from any known ruler from the same dynasty, illuminating a previously misunderstood period of history that can only be revealed through material remains, experts say.
Archaeologists found the tomb nearly 23 feet (about 7 meters) underground at the site of an ancient necropolis, or 'city of the dead.' The necropolis is situated at Abydos' Anubis Mountain, a natural pyramid-shaped formation that was considered sacred by the ancient Egyptians and served to conceal the tombs built beneath it.
In historical records, Abydos was referred to as a sacred city that was the final resting place of Osiris — the god of the underworld — and the preferred resting place for the first pharaohs. The necropolis developed over the course of centuries as more dynasties built tombs and buried their kings within the royal cemetery.
Over a decade ago, Wegner and his team came across the first tomb within this necropolis that confirmed the existence of the Abydos Dynasty, a ruling lineage that had been first hypothesized about in 1997 by Egyptologist Kim Ryholt. Ryholt believed the smaller dynasty would have ruled the region of Abydos during a time when ancient Egypt was broken into rival kingdoms.
That first tomb's owner, King Seneb-Kay, was an entirely unknown pharaoh who was never mentioned in historical records. Of the eight tombs from the dynasty discovered thus far, Seneb-Kay's is the only one found with a name preserved in the burial chamber.
The newly found tomb is similar in architecture and decoration but is much larger than Seneb-Kay's — the main compartment of the three-chambered crypt is about 1.9 meters (6.2 feet) wide by 6 meters (19.7 feet) long. Because the tomb was built in a section of the necropolis that the researchers believe was established earlier in time, they think that the wealthy king buried there was likely a predecessor to Seneb-Kay.
The scientists suspect that the tomb might have belonged to King Senaiib or King Paentjeni, two monarchs represented in the sparse archaeological record of the dynasty that exists as part of a dedicated monument at Abydos.
'It is equally possible there could be some entirely unknown king,' said Wegner, who is also curator of the Penn Museum's Egyptian section. 'We don't think we have all of (the Abydos kings) names — evidence hasn't survived consistently for them.'
While any markings that might help pinpoint the freshly unearthed burial chamber's former occupant didn't survive, the tomb does still have two painted images of the goddesses Isis and Nephthys, who were commonly depicted in funerary rites as if they were mourning the deceased.
The researchers plan to investigate about 10,000 square meters (over 100,000 square feet) more of the area's desert terrain in an effort to uncover additional tombs, Wegner said. 'There could easily be 12 or 15 kings that compose this group of kings,' he said.
In addition to further excavation, the researchers will scope out the area using ground penetrating radar, technology that uses sound waves to map structures below Earth's surface, as well as magnetometry, which creates maps of structures underground that have magnetic signatures.
'The discovery of another ruler of the Abydos dynasty is very exciting,' said Salima Ikram, a distinguished university professor of Egyptology at the American University in Cairo, in an email. 'It establishes that there was a significant royal … cemetery here of that time, provides us with more details about royal tomb architecture, (and) gives us a clue as to the members of this dynasty and the order in which they ruled.'
Ikram was not involved with the burial chamber's discovery but said she is hopeful that future excavations will yield more tombs that will help to 'further our understanding of this once-obscure period of Egyptian history.'
Abydos Dynasty kings such as Seneb-Kay are unique because they do not appear on the king lists that were once kept by the ancient Egyptians.
'The Egyptian kings liked to present their history as straightforward and linear and they recorded (king) names in order. These kings aren't on there. So if we look at this sort of strict historical record, we have no place for these kings,' said Laurel Bestock, an Egyptologist and associate professor of archaeology at Brown University in Rhode Island. Bestock was not involved with the new tomb discovery.
'When we find these monuments, it shows us how inadequate that strict, linear historical record is — it was really written, not to be accurate, but to support a particular point of view of later kings who went and reunified Egypt,' Bestock added. 'They wrote of themselves as great victors and as having won ethnic wars, and they just kind of ignored all the little players.'
Discoveries such as this latest Abydos tomb are 'incredibly exciting' because they provide context for a richer history, regardless of whether this king's identity is revealed or not, Bestock noted.
As of now, the king to whom the burial chamber belonged remains a mystery, but Wegner's goal is to one day identify the ruler to help anchor him within the historical timeline. 'With archaeology you hope for evidence,' Wegner said. 'The archaeological record, you know, it gives you surprises and twists and turns along the way, so you never know what you can find.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
4 hours ago
- Yahoo
Deadly fungus in Tutankhamun's ‘cursed' tomb can help fight cancer
The toxic fungus behind the 'curse' of Tutankhamun's tomb can fight cancer, scientists have found. Aspergillus flavus is a mould that often grows in long-sealed tombs and can trigger deadly breathing problems or allergic reactions in people with weakened immune systems. It is thought to be partly responsible for the deaths of several people who entered tombs, including Tutankhamun's in 1923, and the 15th-century Polish king Casimir IV Jagiellon's in 1973. Now scientists have found that its deadly spores are also lethal to leukaemia and are hoping to begin testing in animals, before eventually moving on to humans. 'Nature has given us this incredible pharmacy, it's up to us to uncover its secrets,' said Dr Sherry Gao, an associate professor in chemical and biomolecular engineering at the University of Pennsylvania. 'Fungi gave us penicillin. These results show that many more medicines derived from natural products remain to be found.' Aspergillus flavus can lie dormant for centuries, only becoming active again once disturbed. It is known to grow on cereals, which were often sealed up as grave goods inside tombs. After archaeologists opened Tutankhamun's tomb a series of untimely deaths among the excavation team - including those of British patron Lord Carnarvon, George Jay Gould, the financier, and Egyptologist Arthur Mace - fuelled rumours of a pharaoh's curse. But experts later theorised that it could have been the fungus, which may have lain dormant for millennia. In the 1970s, a dozen conservationists entered the tomb of Casimir IV in Poland and within weeks, 10 of them had died. Later investigations revealed the tomb contained Aspergillus flavus. In the new study, scientists studied a dozen strains of Aspergillus to see if they produced anything that might be repurposed as a medicine. They discovered potent cancer-fighting molecules, which they named asperigimycins. Even with no modification, the asperigimycins showed strong medical potential against leukaemia cells. When researchers added a molecule found in the royal jelly - the substance that nourishes developing bees - the asperigimycins performed as well as cytarabine and daunorubicin, two drugs that have been used for decades to treat leukaemia. Through further experimentation, the researchers discovered that asperigimycins seem to work by disrupting the process of cancer cell division. 'Cancer cells divide uncontrollably,' added Dr Gao. 'These compounds block the formation of microtubules, which are essential for cell division.' The team also found that the cancer-fighting properties only seemed to work on leukaemia, and had little to no effect on other cancers such as breast, liver or lung cancer. The researchers identified similar clusters of genes in other fungi, suggesting that more potential drugs from fungi remain to be discovered. It suggests that natural remedies to individual cancers may be present already in nature and the scientists are keen to explore whether other fungi also produce similar molecules. 'Even though only a few have been found, almost all of them have strong bioactivity,' said Dr Qiuyue Nie, of the department of chemical and biomolecular engineering at the University of Pennsylvania. 'This is an unexplored region with tremendous potential.' The research was published in the journal Nature Chemical Biology. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
Yahoo
7 hours ago
- Yahoo
Deadly ‘pharaoh's curse fungus' could be used to fight cancer
A deadly fungus linked to deaths in archeologists excavating ancient tombs has been turned into a new cancer-fighting compound. A team at the University of Pennsylvania modified some of the chemicals in the toxic crop fungus Aspergillus flavus, aka the 'pharaohs' curse' fungus, and created a new compound that kills leukemia cells. The findings are detailed in a study published June 23 in the journal Nature Chemical Biology and are an important step towards discovering new fungal medicines for cancer. 'Fungi gave us penicillin,' said Sherry Gao, a study co-author and UPenn chemical and biomolecular engineer, said in a statement. 'These results show that many more medicines derived from natural products remain to be found.' Aspergillus flavus is one of the most frequently isolated mold species in both agriculture and medicine. It is commonly found in soil and can infect a broad range of important agricultural crops. The toxins in this fungus can lead to lung infections, especially in those with compromised immune systems. It is named for its dangerous yellow spores and has been considered a microbial villain for at least a century. In the 1920s, after a team of archaeologists opened King Tutankhamun's tomb near Luxor, Egypt, a series of untimely deaths occurred among the excavation team. Rumors swirled of some kind of pharoah's curse. Doctors later theorized that fungal spores that had been dormant for thousands of years might have played a role in the deaths. During excavations In the 1970s, a dozen scientists entered the tomb of Casimir IV in Poland. Within only a few weeks, 10 of the researchers died. Investigations later revealed the tomb contained the fungus A. flavus. The same deadly fungus is now being looked at as a potential cancer treatment. The therapy detailed in this new study is a class of ribosomally synthesized and post-translationally modified peptides, or RiPPs. The name 'RiPP' refers to how the compound is produced. It starts in the ribosome–a small cellular structure that makes proteins–and is later modified by peptides or intervention in the lab. In this case, the RiPP is altered to enhance its cancer-killing properties. 'Purifying these chemicals is difficult,' said study co-author and UPenn doctoral fellow Qiuyue Nie. While thousands of RiPPs have previously been identified in bacteria, only a handful have been discovered in fungi. One reason for fewer fungal RiPP finds is because past researchers likely misidentified fungal RiPPs as non-ribosomal peptides and did not quite understand how fungi created the molecules. 'The synthesis of these compounds is complicated,' adds Nie. 'But that's also what gives them this remarkable bioactivity.' [ Related: College student discovers mysterious fungus that eluded LSD's inventor. ] To find more fungal RiPPs, the team first scanned a dozen strains of different Aspergillus fungi. By comparing the chemicals produced by these strains with known RiPP building blocks, the team identified A. flavus as a promising candidate for additional study. The genetic analysis pointed to a particular protein in A. flavus as a source of fungal RiPPs. When the team turned off the genes that create that protein, the chemical markers that indicated the presence of these RiPPs also vanished. Combining both metabolic and genetic information pinpointed the source of the useful fungal RiPPs in A. flavus and could be used to find other fungal RiPPs in the future. The team then purified four different RiPPs. They found that the molecules all shared a unique structure of interlocking rings. The researchers named these previously undescribed molecules after the fungus in which they were found: asperigimycins. Even without genetic modifications, the asperigimycins demonstrated medical potential when mixed together with human cancer cells. Two out of the four variants had potent effects against leukemia cells. The researchers added a fatty molecule called a lipid to another variant and found that it performed as well as cytarabine and daunorubicin, two FDA-approved drugs that have been used to treat leukemia for decades. Next, the team wanted to understand why the lipids enhanced asperigimycins' potency. To do this, the researchers selectively turned genes on and off in the leukemia cells. One gene (SLC46A3), proved critical in allowing asperigimycins to enter leukemia cells in the right amount. That SLC46A3 gene helps materials exit lysosomes, or tiny sacs that collect foreign materials entering human cells. 'This gene acts like a gateway,' said Nie. 'It doesn't just help asperigimycins get into cells, it may also enable other 'cyclic peptides' to do the same.' Those chemicals have medicinal properties just like asperigimycins. Nearly 24 cyclic peptides have received clinical approval since 2000 to treat diseases from cancer and lupus, but many of them need modification in order to enter cells in sufficient quantities. 'Knowing that lipids can affect how this gene transports chemicals into cells gives us another tool for drug development,' said Nie. Further experimentation showed that asperigimycins likely disrupt the process of cell division. 'Cancer cells divide uncontrollably,' said Gao. 'These compounds block the formation of microtubules, which are essential for cell division.' The compounds had little to no effect on breast, liver, or lung cancer cells or on a range of bacteria and fungi. According to the team, this suggests that asperigimycins' disruptive effects are specific to certain types of cells, which is a critical feature for any future medication. In addition to showing that asperigimycins do have some future medical potential, the team pinpointed similar clusters of genes in other fungi. This means even more fungal RiPPS could be out there. 'Even though only a few have been found, almost all of them have strong bioactivity,' says Nie. 'This is an unexplored region with tremendous potential.' The next step towards potentially becoming a therapeutic, asperigimycins need to be tested in animal models, with the hope of one day moving into regulated human clinical trials. 'Nature has given us this incredible pharmacy,' says Gao. 'It's up to us to uncover its secrets. As engineers, we're excited to keep exploring, learning from nature and using that knowledge to design better solutions.'
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Yahoo
Is today the longest day of the year? What to know about summer solstice.
The longest day of the year, and the official start of summer, has arrived in the U.S. The summer solstice takes place Friday, June 20, and will be both the longest day and shortest night of 2025 in the Northern Hemisphere, according to the National Weather Service (NWS). Recognized as a day of extra sunlight that ushers in warmer weather to come, the solstice is also celebrated in multiple cultures and religions. It marks the start of the Pagan holiday Litha, also known as Midsummer, which is famously celebrated at the ancient Stonehenge ruins in Wiltshire, England, where many gather to herald the season. Here's what to know about the solstice. The summer solstice marks the beginning of summer in the Northern Hemisphere and the longest day of the year. Meanwhile, the Southern Hemisphere will greet winter with its winter solstice. The summer solstice will take place on Friday, June 20, at 10:42 p.m. ET, according to The solstice itself only lasts moments, according to the Old Farmer's Almanac. The date of the summer solstice can fall at any point between June 20 and June 22, depending on the year. During the summer solstice, the Earth's tilt brings our planet's northernmost point closer to the sun, resulting in more hours of sunlight and fewer hours of night. "The Northern Hemisphere's tilt toward the Sun is greatest on this day," according to NASA. "This means the Sun travels its longest, highest arc across the sky all year for those north of the equator." Several locations around the world are particularly known for celebrating the solstice, including Newgrange in Ireland. Solstices are often associated with pagan religions and draw revelers of different faiths. Pagans come by the thousands to Stonehenge, the prehistoric ruins of a monument built between approximately 3100 and 1600 BC in Wiltshire, England. It is one of the most famous landmarks in the U.K., but little is known about the civilization that built it or why, as these ancient peoples left no written records behind. It was during the 20th century that Stonehenge became a site of religious significance to people who subscribed to New Age beliefs, including Neopaganism and Neo-Druids, according to USA TODAY's previous reporting. When constructed, the stone circle was aligned with the sun, and to this day, thousands of people gather to witness the moment the sun peeks perfectly through its pillars. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Why is today the longest day of the year? Explaining summer solstice
