Things from fayoum you don't know about

the goddess Aphrodite and her companion Eros (also known as Cupid). This beautiful bronze statuette of the goddess comes from Karanis, Egypt (KM 10728)

Ancient flip-flop, with knife blade.  ("Knife Blade.  Bronze." and "Sandal. Palm Fiber."  both from "Roman Period (1st-4th century AD).  Karanis, Egypt.")

Bust of Serapis (Furniture Ornament).  Wood, clay, gold leaf.  Roman Period (late 2nd-early 3rd century AD.  Fayum Region, Egypt

Box with Lid.  Wood.  Roman Period (1st-4th century AD).  Karanis, Egypt

Professor Laurel Bestock is one of Sue Alcock's colleagues at Brown University.  I mentioned that Sue interviewed her colleagues about each unit's archaeological topic, allowing us to hear about the differences in doing their work in totally different parts of the world.  Dr. B. works in Abydos, in Egypt.  She told us that almost everything is preserved perfectly in Egypt, with the exception of wood.  There are termites in Egypt which almost always get the wood.

The archaeological site of al-Khalwa area Fayoum

The archaeological site of al-Khalwa area Fayoum  Egypt: Burial well dating back to Middle Kingdom uncovered in the archaeological site of al-Khalwa area, Fayoum.    

    It is worth mentioning that the archaeological mission working in the archaeological site of al-Khalwa area, Fayoum, has uncovered a burial well, located to the east of the Prince Waji’s tomb dating back to the Middle Kingdom, Ministry of Antiquities announced on Thursday, December 6.    Waziri said that al-Khalwa, located at southern Fayoum, contains a cemetery dating back to the Middle Kingdom era, namely Amenemhat III era (1842-1799 BC).    

He added that the cemetery has the tomb of Prince Waji, the ruler of Fayoum in the Middle Kingdom, as well as the tomb of his mother "Nabat Mout", which lies to the east of it.    Meanwhile, Head of the archaeological mission Ayman Ashmawy referred that the well contains three burial chambers, in which the mission found the upper part of a statue (40 cm height) made from sandstone of a person holding his hand on his chest along with the middle part of a basalt statue (30 cm height).    

The mission also discovered inside the three burial chambers a number of pottery vessels and three heads of Canopian vessels, but some of them were broken into pieces.    
Ashmawy pointed out that these chambers were likely to have been looted in the ancient history and reused for burial in later eras.    
In this regard, Hani Abul Azm, the head of the Central Administration for Antiquities of upper Egypt, remarked that Waji's tomb was carved in rock and was discovered by the Italian mission of the University of Pisa in 1981 through the archaeological survey project in the area.    
He added that the mission found inside the tomb a limestone statue, on which the name of the prince was written, a part of a wooden coffin and a pottery vessel. He explained that the statue is currently kept inside the museum store of Kom Oshim, Fayoum.




“The ceiling of the tomb was completely collapsed, maybe due to a massive earthquake in the ancient history or the weight of the roof stones,” said Sayed Al Shoura, General Director of Antiquities Sector.    He said that Italian mission has built a new ceiling to protect the tomb’s inscriptions under the supervision of the Supreme Council of Antiquities. 

الفيوم| البعثة الروسية تعثر على مومياء في الفيوم

عثرت البعثة الأثرية التي تضم خبراء تنقيب من مصر وروسيا، في منطقة دير البنات في محافظة الفيوم جنوب القاهرة، على مومياء محنطة داخل تابوت.
ويرجح الخبراء أن هذه المومياء تعود إلى العصر اليوناني البطلمي للدولة المصرية القديمة، التي تغطي الفترة الأخيرة قبل الميلاد، والسنوات الأولى من الألفية الأولى.

ووفقا للأمين العام للمجلس الأعلى للآثار مصطفى وزيري، فإن البعثة عثرت على التابوت وبداخله المومياء، ملفوفة بالكتان، ويعلو الرأس قناع من الكرتوناج (مادة من الكتان والبردي، استخدمها المصريون القدماء لصنع الأقنعة الجنائزية) الملون باللونين الأزرق والذهبي، والمومياء في حالة جيدة، بينما يحتاج التابوت إلى ترميم.

الفيوم| البعثة الروسية تعثر على مومياء في الفيوم

 قام أعضاء البعثة الموجودين بإشراف سيرغي إيفانوف، رئيس بعثة معهد أبحاث المصريات التابع لأكاديمية العلوم الروسية، بإجراءات الترميم الأولية في الموقع، لعزل المومياء عن الجو المحيط، تمهيدا لإرسالها إلى مركز الترميم التابع للمجلس الأعلى للآثار، حيث سيقوم الخبراء المختصون بترميمها.

في تصريحات خاصة لـ RT قالت يلينا تولماتشوفا، نائب رئيس بعثة معهد أبحاث المصريات التابع لأكاديمية العلوم الروسية، إن البعثة عثرت، منذ بدء عملها وحتى الآن، على ما يقرب من 400 مومياء، لكن المنطقة تتضمن في الأغلب مومياوات لشخصيات من عموم الشعب، إلا أن المومياء التي عثر عليها مؤخرا تتميز بوجودها داخل تابوت ملون بالأزرق والذهبي، ما يشي بأن صاحب/ صاحبة المومياء من علية القوم.

وتتابع تولماتشوفا أن هذه المومياء هي الرابعة من نوعها، حيث أن عددا كبيرا من المومياوات سرقت في القرن العشرين (في السبعينيات والثمانينيات)، وهناك أخبار في الجرائد المصرية، تتحدث عن هذه السرقات.

لكن ما يميز هذه المومياء تحديدا، هو ظهور النسيج القبطي عليها، وهو نسيج موجود في المتاحف العالمية، لم يكن أحد يعلم مصدره، لكننا الآن حصلنا عليه، ما يمكننا من البحث في نوع النسيج، وعلاقته بالحياة اليومية لقدماء المصريين.

وتقول نائب رئيس بعثة معهد الأبحاث أيضا أن نوع المومياء لا يمكن تحديده من الرسم الموجود على التابوت. لكن وباستخدام الأشعة السينية، يمكن فيما بعد معرفة معلومات أكثر عن المومياء.

First Hellenistic gymnasium in Egypt discovered at Watfa village in Fayoum

Egypt's antiquities ministry says archaeologists have discovered remnants of an ancient gymnasium dating back about 2,300 years, from the Hellenistic period.

The discovery was made by a German-Egyptian mission at the site of Watfa in Fayoum province, about 80 kilometres, or 50 miles, southwest of the capital, Cairo.

Watfa is the site of the ancient village of Philoteris, founded by King Ptolemy II in the 3rd century BC.

Ayman Ashmawi of the ministry says the gymnasium consists of a large meeting hall, once adorned with statues, a dining hall, a courtyard and a nearly 200-meter-long racetrack.

Cornelia Roemer, head of the mission, says the discovery clearly shows the impact of Greek life in Egypt, not only in Alexandria, but also in the countryside.

A German-Egyptian archaeological mission has discovered the first Hellenistic gymnasium ever found in Egypt, located at Medinat Watfa, in the northwest of Fayoum Oasis.

The mission from the German Archaeological Institute (DAI), headed by Professor Cornelia Römer, made the discovery as part of its ongoing excavations at the Watfa site.

Watfa is the location of the ancient village Philoteris, founded by king Ptolemy II in the 3rd century BCE and named after his second sister Philotera.

Aymen Ashmawi, head of the Ancient Egyptian Antiquities sector at the Ministry of Antiquities, said that the gymnasium included a large meeting hall, once adorned with statues, a dining hall and a courtyard in the main building.

There is also a racetrack of nearly 200 metres in length, long enough for the typical stadium-length races of 180 metres.

Generous gardens surrounded the building, completing the ideal layout for a centre of Greek learning.

These gyms acted as centers of Greek learning, where wealthy, Greek-speaking young men would gather.

Similar foundations have been seen in Athens, Pergamon and Miletus in Asia Minor, and Pompei in Italy.