Egypt Archives - Page 94 of 94

Jerusalem, Rome, and Alexandria

Zachi Zweig recently produced photographs of a Byzantine mosaic floor discovered under Al Aqsa Mosque between 1938 and 1942. Zweig is certain that this was part of a Byzantine church on the Temple Mount. To this point, it has generally been held that the Byzantines left the Temple Mount in ruins. The 6th century Medeba Map does not show any buildings in this area. Underneath the mosaic floor was a Jewish ritual bath (mikveh). The story is in the Jerusalem Post, and Leen Ritmeyer comments at his blog.

Google Earth has added a layer for Ancient Rome as it stood in A.D. 320. Judging from a 2-minute video preview, this is an extraordinary resource. As with the rest of Google Earth, it is free. It probably would not be difficult to remove a few buildings and create a layer for Rome in the 1st century. Perhaps someone will be so motivated.

Leen Ritmeyer has created a less detailed Jerusalem layer that shows the city in the 1st century.

(UPDATE 11/20: This layer is no longer available.)

This story has been around before, but perhaps its re-circulation indicates that progress is being made.
The JPost reports that plans are underway for the world’s first underwater archaeology museum in Alexandria.

“The whole Bay of Alexandria actually still houses the remains of very important archeological sites. You have the place of the Pharaohs – the ancient lighthouse of Alexandria – which is one of the seven ancient wonders of the world. You have the Polonike Palace, which was the palace of Cleopatra, and there might also be the grave of Alexander the Great,” she said.

Tagged Discoveries, Egypt, Jerusalem, Resources, Temple Mount

“Christ” Inscription in Egypt

Here’s a strange one: An archaeologist in Alexandria, Egypt claims to have found a cup with a Greek inscription, “Dia Chrestou Ogoistais” (“through Christ the Magi”). What’s stranger is that he’s claiming that he found it in a stratified context dating to A.D. 50.

You can read the article (in Spanish) here. Some comments and nice photos are here. More comments are here.

HT: Gene Brooks

Tagged Discoveries, Egypt

Pyramid Pests Prohibited

If you’ve ever been harassed, cheated, bullied, pestered, deceived, or nagged and declared that even one of the wonders of the world was not worth the incessant and undesired attention of the locals, you may now have cause to consider a return visit to the Pyramids of Giza.

The monuments may be glorious, but visiting Egypt’s famed Giza Pyramids has long been a nightmare, with hawkers peddling camel rides and pharaonic trinkets hustling tourists relentlessly at every turn.
But now the hustlers are gone, as Egypt unveiled on Monday the first stage of an elaborate project to modernize the site and make it more tourist-friendly, complete with security cameras and a 12-mile fence with infrared sensors surrounding the site.
“It was a zoo,” Zahi Hawass, Egypt’s chief archaeologist, said of the usual free-for-all at the pyramids. “Now we are protecting both the tourists and the ancient monuments.”
The three Giza Pyramids have long been unusually open for a 5,000-year-old Wonder of the World, especially compared to other world-renowned sites like Greece’s Acropolis, Jerusalem’s Western Wall or Rome’s Colosseum, where security is tight and the movement of visitors is controlled.

The ABC News story continues here.

Pyramids of Giza

Tagged Egypt