Dr. Zahi Hawass
Today would be the first of five meetings Archaleogical Paths has planned for us to meet with Dr. Zahi Hawass. For the very few people on this planet who do not know who he is, pull up any National Geographic or Discovery Channel show on Egypt and you will see and hear his commentary. He is a legend, and rightfully so.
I originally met him in 2018 on my first visit to Egypt and always cherish any opportunity to hear him speak. His passion for Egypt and Egyptology is all-consuming, and he is a stickler for a punctuality-a trait I admire and emulate myself.
Tuna El-Gebel, Minya
“Temples, houses and tombs, animal worship and human necropolis – Tuna el-Gebel is a fascinating site about 270 km south of Cairo, as long as the crow flies. For more than 100 years archaeologists attempt to discover the secrets in the sand of the desert. Most of the buildings belong to the Ptolemaic and Roman period between 300 BC and 300 AD.
To the south of the site, a large cemetery is located. The first tombs were erected in this area around 300 BC. Being built of local shell-limestone and having a temple-like structure, the excavator Sami Gabra named them »temple tombs«. The early Roman period, if not before, saw the building of the first mud-brick tombs at the site called »house tombs« according to the material and the design. Finally, the necropolis converted to a city-like structure from north to south, within its core the famous tomb of Petosiris. ” https://www.tuna-el-gebel.com/en/
A scene from Peteosiris tomb A scene of an offer being made to the God
I have loads of respect for these beautiful, strong young women on a college fieldtrip-future Egyotologists.
The Lecture
After we visited the Roman tombs, Dr. Hawass arrived and started his lecture with our group. He talked about this site, and all the adventures he had been exploring and living at this site when he was younger. I really enjoyed learning more about the Ibis and Baboon catacombs. It is an underground necropolis for animals sacred to Thoth.
Thoth is the Egyptian god of magic, writing, wisdom, and the moon. Since I am working at becoming a published author, I guess I should have brought an Ibis with me as an offering. Oh well, next time. lol
Dr. Hawass also explained to us that the area has at least 30 acres of underground tunnels, and it just recently experienced a fire that damaged some tunnels.
He also told us about some new discoveries: https://www.ancient-origins.net/news-history-archaeology/egyptian-sarcophagus-0011719
After he concluded his lecture, he bid us ado, and we went with our guide to explore the catacombs. See the pics below.
Babboon skulls on the ground Ibis mummies
Creepy false door where you would stick your offering in the hole
Incredibly spooky Baboon mummy
Where you place your offerings-no, not where you place your feet! Chapel for Thoth
Slots for all the animal mummies Fire damage – we could not see all the tunnels due to fear of collapse
Even our Tour Operations Leader Mo looks scared- What’s behind that door?
We then went off to visit Beni Hasan. I will post about this tomorrow.
If you enjoy reading my posts about Egypt, STEM, Drones, MIT, mountains, or mysteries I hope you will want to run out and purchase my first book, “Osiris Returns”. With some luck, it should come to market late 2020 / early 2021. Please consider staying in the loop. An email sign-up form is located at the bottom of my home page along with my social media links. Your email will only be used to alert you when my book comes out. I will not use or share your email for any other purpose.