The first known excavation in Egypt, was instigated by Djehutymes (IV) - 8th pharaoh of the 18th dynasy - he recorded the reason for this event on the Dream Stela, which he later had erected between the paws of the great Sphinx.
The stela tells of the young prince (Djehutymes) out hunting in the desert, when he stops to rest in the shade beneath the Sphinx's head, which at the time was the only part of the Sphinx poking out from under the sand, as over the past 1000 years the sand had blown around it and buried it. Sleep overcame the prince and he started to dream:
The great god (Sphinx) spoke to him ''Behold me, look at me, thou, my son Djehutymes. I am your father Horemkhu, Kheper, Ra, Tmu. The kingdom shall be given to you .... and you shall wear the white crown and the red crown on the throne of the earth-god Seb, the youngest (among the gods) .... The sand of the district in which I have my exsistence has covered me up. Promise me that you will do what I wish in my heart; then shall I know whether you are my son, my helper.'' The young prince took this to mean that, if he removed the sand which had collected around the body of the Sphinx, - therefore restoring it to its oiginal beauty - the god would make Djehutymes the next Pharaoh of Egypt.
Some Egyptologists believe that Djehutymes may not have been formally introduced as the heir to the throne by his father - Imenhotep (II) - at this time, because he had an elder brother that had died before he could inherit the throne. Therefore the Dream Stela is often seen as an act of propaganda.
Djehutymes did, however, excavate the sand from around the Sphinx, restoring it, and he did become the next Pharaoh of Egypt. During his first year on the throne he had the Dream Stela erected, where it still stands today.
1906
In 1906 Arthur E P B Weigall (English Egyptologist 1880-1934) and Ernesto Schiaparelli (Italian Egyptologist 1856-1928) discovered the tomb of Kha and his wife Meryet. Kha was the architect of the pharaoh - Imenhotep (II), and he lived from the reign of Imenhotep (II) to the reign of Imenhotp (III). The tomb was found at Set Ma'at 'The Place of Truth', or Deir el-Medina, as it is now better known, and it was allocated TT8. In this tomb they found many items, including clothing, pottery, and in one of Kha's coffins there was a copy of the 'Book of the Dead.' The items of most importance in this tomb had been covered with a dust-sheet.
Here are some links to my favourite archaeology themed websites:
Archaeology Wordsmith - gives definitions of many archaeological phrases.
Emuseum - has detailed descriptions of the works of many famous archaeologists
Zahi Hawass - his official website, complete with the latest updates
Deir el-Medina database - details of the village, and link to the Theban Mapping Project
_____________________________________________________________
Picture's links are from: Egyptarchive and Pyramids and Sphinx.
No comments:
Post a Comment