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Oldest Intact Sarcophagus Found in Egypt

Posted by timothy on from the just-like-new-except-old dept.

soulctcher writes: "Archaeologists in Egypt have found what looks to be the oldest intact sarcophagus. To give an idea of how old, this particular sarcophagus is believed to be about 1100 years older than King Tut. You can read the full story over at Yahoo!

23 comments

  1. a history of embalming by littlerubberfeet · · Score: 4, Informative

    the quality of embalming techniques follows a rough bell curve. quality being on the Y axis
    quality --
    -- --
    -- --
    -- --
    -- ------------
    Time--------->
    excuse ascii art please. Now, the peak of the curve is about at King Tuts reign. The latter part can be seen in Abussir (spelling?) and other later tombs, especially the hastly constructed ones around the time of roman interaction. The early part of the bell curve is represented by this find and many early specimans, many of which just don't exist. It took centuries for the Eqyptians to discover all the techniques, i.e. which vital organs to remove, what clay compound to embalm and fill with, what chemicals...etc. This is what makes this find truly amazing.

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    1. Re: a history of embalming by Black+Parrot · · Score: 2


      > This is what makes this find truly amazing.

      What makes it amazing is that it wasn't hax0red several thousand years ago.

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      Sheesh, evil *and* a jerk. -- Jade
  2. *MAYBE* the oldest by tm2b · · Score: 2
    If you actually read the article:
    "It may be the oldest intact sarcophagus ever found," said Hawass, secretary-general of Egypt's Supreme Council of the Antiquities.

    It's still cool, but it would be nice if Slashdot didn't remove such qualifiers as "may" - they're an important part of the story
    --
    "It is our blasphemy which has made us great, and will sustain us, and which the gods secretly admire in us." - Zelazny
    1. Re:*MAYBE* the oldest by jnana · · Score: 1

      i think 'what looks to be' is pretty close to 'may be.' the writeup isn't definitive.

  3. Work of terrorists? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    You decide!

  4. Mummys! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Mummys in Texas!?! Run for your lives.

  5. Why open it? by Gregg+Alan · · Score: 3, Interesting


    I realize it must be almost impossible to resist opening it to see exactly what's inside but wouldn't it be really cool for a future generation to find something someday?


    How about instead of opening it they bury it deeper? I suppose there is always the threat of plunderers and what not, but at some level, is an archeologist any better?


    I guess I see it like a future race opening every casket in a graveyard simply because it's there and there might be another gold ring inside. I'd rather we didn't destroy everything until something like a holodeck can be built to preserve these sites in at least one sense.

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    Here before all but 8486 of you.
    1. Re:Why open it? by dpp · · Score: 3, Informative
      How about instead of opening it they bury it deeper? I suppose there is always the threat of plunderers and what not, but at some level, is an archeologist any better?

      I guess that modern archaeologists are probably quite a bit better, even if earlier generations were a bit haphazard in their techniques. These days there are non-invasive techniques like computerised X-ray tomography (CAT scans) or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for examining the mummy itself, but I suppose you'd still have to open the sarcophagus.

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      This post is strictly my own opinion and not necessarily that of my employer.
  6. Some more Egyptology resources by dpp · · Score: 2, Informative

    What was allegedly the first Egyptology site on the web(!) looks like a good starting point for Egyptology resources. They also have some comments on "The Mummy" and "The Mummy Returns" :-)

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    This post is strictly my own opinion and not necessarily that of my employer.
  7. Plunder by hokanomono · · Score: 3, Interesting

    The Egypt government has to decide who may do the excavations and what will become of everything they find. An archeologist may not sell the sarcophagus for his own profit. Of course the Egyptian obelisks found all over Europe are plunder, maybe plundered by archeologist, maybe by militaries. The point is not, who finds it, but who it belongs to. A plunderer is a kind of thief.

    Not all archeologists are white. There are Egyptian archeologists working for Egypt's government. I can understand resentments against archeology, but this is about a sarcophagus found recently by Egypt archeologists. Egypt is not a colony anymore. What's the problem?

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    1. Re:Plunder by jawtheshark · · Score: 1
      Of course the Egyptian obelisks found all over Europe are plunder

      Now, I only know one famous Egyption obelisk in Europe (not that I say there aren't any others) and that is the one in Paris on the Place de la Concorde. This particular obelisk was a present from the Egyptian government to France. Actually they gave two obelisks but the transport costs were too high to get them both to Paris, so the other still stands in Egypt.

      It's hardly plunder when it's a gift from a government. (Of course, I don't know what kind of government it was...might be that it was some colony government) Or would you call the Statue of Liberty plunder? It was a gift from the French government to the US after all.

      --
      Ahhh...the great dumpster continuum. Many a free computer will be found there. -- sowth (748135)
    2. Re:Plunder by hokanomono · · Score: 1

      If it was a gift from the Egypt government, you are right in that it's not plunder, of course. I am sorry for my mistake. I chose obelisk as an example, obviosly a bad example as you pointed out. I have to admit, that i don't know how many artefacts in european or american museums actually are plunder, if any, which does not effect the main point of my post.

      Thanks for the correction

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      This sig is a true statement, but I cannot prove it.
  8. Not opened yet... by phazei · · Score: 1, Funny

    So we won't know untill September to see if it actually is "further proof that the Pyramids were built by Egyptians and not by people of a lost civilization." Who knows what in it.... hehe

  9. Re:Dumb americans by soulctcher · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    I had to put that there. I'm American myself, but I know that there are alot of morons in the world in general. To act as if people out there really know about Egypt would be naive. Had to be done...

  10. General Rundown by mess31173 · · Score: 3, Informative

    Firstly this mummy is of an "overseer of workers who built the pyramids" not a king. They know this because of the hieroglyphics found in his tomb. So, even though it may be a splendid specimen of a mummy and scientifically important, it is not a very culturally significant mummy compared to the king tut mummy or any other mummy for that matter really.

    The mummy is 4,600 years old, and although it may be the "oldest intact sarcophagus ever found" it isn't the oldest mummy ever found.

    That said, it is still cool to find an intact sarcophagus. Shows that there are still important things to be found in Egypt and that their efforts to research that area are not misspent.

    1. Re:General Rundown by texchanchan · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Re, ... it is not a very culturally significant mummy compared to the king tut mummy...

      Hey now, I don't think a mummy is more culturally significant because in life it was a royal personage. A regular worker or manager mummy is pretty interesting too.

      Although ancient people of any social rank are interesting to learn about, to me the very small middle class is extra-fascinating. Royalty left plenty of written and pictured records of themselves; and peasant life is oppressed peasant life. I can't identify with either. I can, however, identify with scribes, architects, and engineers of the ancient world, and it's them I would like to know more about. Therefore, this find is culturally significant to me.

  11. Send it to Stargate SG-1... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Funny

    Awesome! Hopefully it still works (and doesn't contain any Goa'uld hiding inside.)

    With any luck they can resurrect Dr. Daniel Jackson. Just in time for Season 6, too! Whew. :-)

  12. Why they are so rare... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    It's very rare to find intact sarcophagi especially because of the tomb plundering that occurred throughout the centuries. It was rampant during the Middle Ages when countless tombs were defiled and robbed both of artifact and body. At the time, mummy flesh was thought to cure various diseases and was mixed into potions.

    Brings new meaning to Natalie Portman, naked and petrified. Sorry, just couldn't resist.

  13. Well it had to happen... by jazman · · Score: 1

    No, not that. I mean the required comment about finding the StarGate if they keep digging. I'm just surprised I appear to have made it first...