Portal:Ancient Egypt

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Ancient Egypt was an ancient civilization of eastern North Africa, concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in what is now the modern country of Egypt. The civilization coalesced around 3150 BC with the political unification of Upper and Lower Egypt under the first pharaoh, and it developed over the next two millennia. Ancient Egypt reached its pinnacle during the New Kingdom, after which it entered a period of slow decline. Egypt was conquered by a succession of foreign powers in this late period, and the rule of the pharaohs officially ended in 31 BC when the early Roman Empire conquered Egypt and made it a province.

Egypt has left a lasting legacy for all to see. Its art and architecture has been widely copied, and its antiquities have been carried off to the far corners of the world. Egypt's monumental ruins have inspired the imaginations of travelers and writers for centuries. A newfound respect for antiquities and excavations in the early modern period led to the scientific investigation of Egyptian civilization and a greater appreciation of its cultural legacy for the earth.

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The Nefertiti Bust is a 3300-year-old painted limestone bust of Nefertiti, the Great Royal Wife of the Egyptian Pharaoh Akhenaten and is one of the most copied works of ancient Egypt. Due to the bust, Nefertiti has become one of the most famous women from the ancient world as well as an icon of female beauty. It is believed to have been crafted in 1345 BC by the sculptor Thutmose.

A German archeological team led by Ludwig Borchardt discovered the Nefertiti bust in 1912 in Thutmose's workshop in Amarna, Egypt. It has been kept at several locations in Germany since its discovery, including a salt mine in Merkers-Kieselbach, the Dahlem museum (then in West Berlin), the Egyptian Museum in Charlottenburg and the Altes Museum. It is currently on display at the Neues Museum, Berlin, where it was displayed before World War II.

The Nefertiti bust has become a cultural symbol of Berlin, Germany as well as of ancient Egypt. It has also been the subject of an intense argument between Egypt and Germany over the Egyptian demands for its repatriation. It was dragged into controversies over the Body of Nerfertiti art exhibition and also by allegations regarding its authenticity.

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Did you know...

• ... that in spite of the extensive work it required to be made, the Gebel el-Arak Knife (pictured) was never used?
• ... that the death of pharaoh Huni is reported in the instructions of Kagemni?
• ... that ancient Egyptians believed that an opening of the mouth ceremony was necessary for a person's soul to survive in the afterlife?
  More did you knows...

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Thutmose I (sometimes read as Thothmes, Thutmosis or Tuthmosis I) was the third Pharaoh of the 18th dynasty of Egypt. He was given the throne after the death of the previous king Amenhotep I. During his reign, he campaigned deep into the Levant and Nubia, pushing the borders of Egypt further than ever before. He also built many temples in Egypt and built a tomb for himself in the Valley of the Kings; he is the first king confirmed to have done this (though Amenhotep I may have preceded him). He was succeeded by his son Thutmose II, who in turn was succeeded by Thutmose II's sister, Hatshepsut. His reign is generally dated from 1506 to 1493 BC. Thutmose I's mummy was ultimately discovered in the Deir el-Bahri Cache above the Mortuary Temple of Hatshepsut, revealed in 1881. He had been interred along with those of other 18th and 19th dynasty leaders Ahmose I, Amenhotep I, Thutmose II, Thutmose III, Ramesses I, Seti I, Ramesses II, and Ramesses IX, as well as the 21st dynasty pharaohs Pinedjem I, Pinedjem II, and Siamun. The original coffin of Thutmose I was taken over and re-used by a later pharaoh of the 21st dynasty. The mummy of Thutmose I was thought to be lost, but Egyptologist Gaston Maspero, largely on the strength of familial resemblance to the mummies of Thutmose II and Thutmose III, believed he had found his mummy in the otherwise unlabelled mummy #5283. This identification has been supported by subsequent examinations, revealing that the embalming techniques used came from the appropriate period of time, almost certainly after that of Ahmose I and made during the course of the Eighteenth dynasty.

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Ancient News

January 2011: Archaeologists discovered a tomb - KV64 - in the Valley of the Kings. The coffin found in the tomb contained an intact mummy of Nehmes Bastet, a temple singer during Egypt's 22nd Dynasty.(1)

November 2010: The Supreme Council of Antiquities in Egypt says archaeologists have unearthed 12 more sphinx statues along the ancient avenue connecting Luxor and Karnak temples.(2)

April 2010: A new 19th Dynasty tomb in Tell el-Maskhuta is discovered. The tomb belongs to a noble named Ken-Amun

March 2010: A new translation of the Philae Victory Stele reveals the name of Augustus in cartouches.

March 2010: More statues of Amenhotep III are found at Kom el-Hettan.

March 2010: The ruins of the pyramid of Queen Behenu are discovered.

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• History
  • Ancient Near East
    • Ancient Egypt
      • Religion work group
  • Archaeology

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Here are some tasks you can do: Article requests: We should have an article on every pharaoh and every nome (law) in ancient Egypt. Let's check to see whether every important Egyptologist has an article. Surely, we can think of other articles that we should have. Cleanup: To begin, most of the general-history, and at least some of the dynasty, articles badly need work. Are there any other candidates? Expand: "Standardize the Chronology": This is a boring task, but the benefit of doing it is that you can set the dates! Why say Khufu lived between 2589 and 2566 BCE? As long as you keep the length of his reign correct, or cite a respected source, you can date it 2590-2567 BCE or 2585-2563 BCE. Expand Ancient Egyptian philosophy Infobox: Add an infobox or navbox to any article that doesn't have one yet. Stubs: Anyone? Update: Any article with dated (obsolete) information. Verify: Fix / reclaim the Great Pyramid of Giza. Wikify: "Data sorting": Take one of the standard authorities of history or culture -- the writings of Herotodus, the Elder Pliny, J. H. Breasted, or Kenneth Kitchen -- and see whether you can smoothly merge quotations or information into relevant articles. This is probably a good exercise for someone who owns one of those impressive texts yet can't access a research library.

Hi Wikiproject members: Ihf cruised on to the portal to find information on "Egyptians as presented in the Bible" (ideally correlated with research), but I didn't find anything as such. I'm possibly just using the wrong search terms, but on the off-chance this isn't covered, I'd like to recommend it as an article topic. Cheers Manning (talk) 05:23, 8 March 2013 (UTC)

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