Zahi Hawass

CAIRO - Egypt will soon file an official request with US authorities to return a 3,000-year-old wooden coffin illegally smuggled out of the country more than a century ago, the country's top archeologist said yesterday. In a statement, Zahi Hawass said the nearly 5-foot-long coffin was taken from Egypt in 1884 after it was stolen from a tomb in Luxor, an ancient pharaonic capital in southern Egypt. Hawass said the ornamented coffin belonged to Pharaoh Ames of the 21st Dynasty, which ruled over Egypt from 1081-931 BC. The coffin is currently in the possession of the...

CAIRO — Egypt’s museums and ancient monuments, including the Pyramids of Giza, are secure despite upheaval in the streets, and officials recovered nearly 300 archeological items that were plundered by armed Bedouins in the Sinai Peninsula, the government said yesterday. The week-old uprising, marked by huge street protests, deadly clashes with police, economic paralysis, and a mass exodus of foreigners, raised fears of major theft or destruction of Egypt’s treasures. Some museums and antiquities were threatened in a series of close calls.

CAIRO - Egyptian archeologists discovered a new set of tombs belonging to the workers who built the great pyramids, shedding light on how the laborers lived and ate more than 4,000 years ago, the national antiquities agency said yesterday. The thousands of men who built the last remaining wonder of the ancient world ate meat regularly, worked in three months shifts, and were given the honor of being buried in mud-brick tombs within the shadow of the sacred pyramids on which they worked.

SAQQARA, Egypt — Egyptian archeologists unveiled a newly-unearthed double tomb yesterday with vivid wall paintings in the ancient necropolis of Saqqara near Cairo, saying it could be the start for uncovering a vast cemetery in the area. The tomb includes two false doors with colorful paintings depicting the two people buried there, a father and a son who served as heads of the royal scribes, said Abdel-Hakim Karar, a top archeologist at Saqqara. “The colors of the false door are fresh as if it was painted yesterday,’’ Karar told reporters.

CAIRO — Archeologists have unearthed 57 ancient Egyptian tombs, most of which hold an ornately painted wooden sarcophagus with a mummy inside, Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities said. The oldest tombs date back to around 2750 BC during the period of Egypt’s first and second dynasties, the council said in a statement. Twelve of the tombs belong the 18th dynasty which ruled Egypt during the second millennium BC. The discovery throws new light on Egypt’s ancient religions, the council said.

SAQQARA, Egypt - Egyptian archeologists unveiled a 4,000-year-old pyramid yesterday that was believed to have been discovered by an archeologist 165 years ago and not seen since. Zahi Hawass, Egypt's antiquities chief, said the pyramid appears to have been built by King Menkauhor, an obscure pharaoh who ruled for only eight years. In 1842, German archeologist Karl Richard Lepsius mentioned it among his finds at Saqqara, referring to it as number 29 and calling it the "Headless Pyramid" because only its base remains.

SAQQARA, Egypt — Egyptian archeologists unveiled a newly-unearthed double tomb yesterday with vivid wall paintings in the ancient necropolis of Saqqara near Cairo, saying it could be the start for uncovering a vast cemetery in the area. The tomb includes two false doors with colorful paintings depicting the two people buried there, a father and a son who served as heads of the royal scribes, said Abdel-Hakim Karar, a top archeologist at Saqqara. “The colors of the false door are fresh as if it was painted yesterday,’’ Karar told reporters.

ALEXANDRIA, Egypt - Egyptian archeologists yesterday lifted an ancient temple pylon out of the waters of the Mediterranean, where it had lain for centuries as part of the palace complex of Cleopatra, submerged in Alexandria’s harbor. The granite pylon, which once stood at the entrance to a temple of Isis, is to be the centerpiece of an ambitious underwater museum planned by Egypt to showcase the sunken city, which is believed to have been toppled into the sea by earthquakes in the 4th century.

CAIRO - Egypt’s decision to cut ties with the Louvre museum had nothing to do with the loss last month in the country’s bid to head Paris-based UNESCO, the country’s chief archeologist said yesterday. Zahi Hawass of the Supreme Council of Antiquities said the spat with the Louvre started eight months ago, when the Paris museum refused to return painted wall fragments of a 3,200-year-old tomb from near the ancient temple city of Luxor. Hawass has been pushing to reclaim what he says are antiquities stolen from the country and purchased by some of the...

CAIRO — Egypt’s museums and ancient monuments, including the Pyramids of Giza, are secure despite upheaval in the streets, and officials recovered nearly 300 archeological items that were plundered by armed Bedouins in the Sinai Peninsula, the government said yesterday. The week-old uprising, marked by huge street protests, deadly clashes with police, economic paralysis, and a mass exodus of foreigners, raised fears of major theft or destruction of Egypt’s treasures. Some museums and antiquities were threatened in a series of close calls.

CAIRO — Archeologists have unearthed 57 ancient Egyptian tombs, most of which hold an ornately painted wooden sarcophagus with a mummy inside, Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities said. The oldest tombs date back to around 2750 BC during the period of Egypt’s first and second dynasties, the council said in a statement. Twelve of the tombs belong the 18th dynasty which ruled Egypt during the second millennium BC. The discovery throws new light on Egypt’s ancient religions, the council said.

CAIRO - Egyptian archeologists discovered a new set of tombs belonging to the workers who built the great pyramids, shedding light on how the laborers lived and ate more than 4,000 years ago, the national antiquities agency said yesterday. The thousands of men who built the last remaining wonder of the ancient world ate meat regularly, worked in three months shifts, and were given the honor of being buried in mud-brick tombs within the shadow of the sacred pyramids on which they worked.

ALEXANDRIA, Egypt - Egyptian archeologists yesterday lifted an ancient temple pylon out of the waters of the Mediterranean, where it had lain for centuries as part of the palace complex of Cleopatra, submerged in Alexandria’s harbor. The granite pylon, which once stood at the entrance to a temple of Isis, is to be the centerpiece of an ambitious underwater museum planned by Egypt to showcase the sunken city, which is believed to have been toppled into the sea by earthquakes in the 4th century.

CAIRO - Egypt’s decision to cut ties with the Louvre museum had nothing to do with the loss last month in the country’s bid to head Paris-based UNESCO, the country’s chief archeologist said yesterday. Zahi Hawass of the Supreme Council of Antiquities said the spat with the Louvre started eight months ago, when the Paris museum refused to return painted wall fragments of a 3,200-year-old tomb from near the ancient temple city of Luxor. Hawass has been pushing to reclaim what he says are antiquities stolen from the country and purchased by some of the...

GIZA, Egypt - Sed Ali dug his heels into the hindquarters of a small, gray, Arabian-style horse, weaving through a pack of dilapidated camels as he trotted across the sand. Ali was giving our group of Northeastern University students a guided tour of the great pyramids in Giza, a family business he has been a part of since he was 6. Before we set out, Ali asked that we send the Egyptian government letters praising his business. He is concerned that the government’s modernization efforts at the historic site will mean the end for the independent...

CAIRO - Egypt will soon file an official request with US authorities to return a 3,000-year-old wooden coffin illegally smuggled out of the country more than a century ago, the country's top archeologist said yesterday. In a statement, Zahi Hawass said the nearly 5-foot-long coffin was taken from Egypt in 1884 after it was stolen from a tomb in Luxor, an ancient pharaonic capital in southern Egypt. Hawass said the ornamented coffin belonged to Pharaoh Ames of the 21st Dynasty, which ruled over Egypt from 1081-931 BC. ...

SAQQARA, Egypt - Archeologists have discovered a new pyramid under the sands of Saqqara, an ancient burial site that has yielded a string of unearthed pyramids in recent years but remains largely unexplored. The 4,300-year-old monument most likely belonged to the queen mother of the founder of Egypt's 6th Dynasty, and was built several hundred years after the famed Great Pyramids of Giza, antiquities chief Zahi Hawass told reporters in announcing the find yesterday. The discovery is part of the sprawling necropolis and burial site of the rulers of ancient Memphis, the capital of...

GIZA, Egypt - Sed Ali dug his heels into the hindquarters of a small, gray, Arabian-style horse, weaving through a pack of dilapidated camels as he trotted across the sand. Ali was giving our group of Northeastern University students a guided tour of the great pyramids in Giza, a family business he has been a part of since he was 6. Before we set out, Ali asked that we send the Egyptian government letters praising his business. He is concerned that the government’s modernization efforts at the historic site will mean the end for the independent...

SAQQARA, Egypt - Archeologists have discovered a new pyramid under the sands of Saqqara, an ancient burial site that has yielded a string of unearthed pyramids in recent years but remains largely unexplored. The 4,300-year-old monument most likely belonged to the queen mother of the founder of Egypt's 6th Dynasty, and was built several hundred years after the famed Great Pyramids of Giza, antiquities chief Zahi Hawass told reporters in announcing the find yesterday. The discovery is part of the sprawling necropolis and burial site of the rulers of ancient Memphis, the capital of...

SAQQARA, Egypt - Egyptian archeologists unveiled a 4,000-year-old pyramid yesterday that was believed to have been discovered by an archeologist 165 years ago and not seen since. Zahi Hawass, Egypt's antiquities chief, said the pyramid appears to have been built by King Menkauhor, an obscure pharaoh who ruled for only eight years. In 1842, German archeologist Karl Richard Lepsius mentioned it among his finds at Saqqara, referring to it as number 29 and calling it the "Headless Pyramid" because only its base remains.