EGYPT: November-December 2013. Dendera. The Eastern Arch.
Each time we visit Denderah, the Ancient Past reveals more and more new facts, gradually forming a general picture of the ancient History of Egypt, which is partly "encrypted" here, in 60 kilometers to the North of Luxor in the ancient fortress, known as the Temple of Hat-Hor.
EGYPT: November-December 2013. Abydos. The Temple of Ramsess II.
In 300 meters from the Temple of the Kings, built by Seti I, on the western side of the Beni-Mansur settlement, there are ruins of of the Temple of Ramsess II, the son of the Pharaoh Seti I.
For the first time the Temple of Ramsess II was discovered during the archaeological mission of the French egyptologist Auguste Mariette. Until that time, the Temple of Ramses II and other ancient buildings of Abydos were unknown.
EGYPT: November-December 2013. Abydos. The Temple of the Kings (Seti I).
"The construction of the Temple of the Kings by Sety I and Ramess II involves many interesting problems which we can begin now to unravel, but which require also still more examination of the structure before they can be fully solved.."
During the period of rising of the Architecture and Construction in Ancient Egypt, the demand for building material for the Pyramids and Temples led to the development of a number of quarries, located along the Nile Valley. In this chapter we shall focus on one single fact - the 11-kilometer Road, connecting Egypt's largest basalt quarry Widan-el-Farras with the Nile River through the Moeris Lake.
The ruins of the Graeco-Roman city, which name in Greek language means "The Crocodile Island" are located in 8 kilometers to the south of Qasr-el-Saga. At the present time this place is known as Dimeh-el-Siba. It is believed that the city was built in Ptolemaic Period on the foundation of an ancient settlement.
There is a small building, located in the desert, to the north-east of the Fayum Oasis. It is built of sandstone blocks, arranged in a style of "polygonal masonry." The walls of the building are not decorated with any drawings or inscriptions. First archaeological works here took place in 1884 by Baltic-German researcher George Schweinfurt.
EGYPT: November-December 2013. Fayoum. Stone Balls.
Stone Balls - is one of the spectacular mysteries of Nature, which can be found in New Zealand, Romania, Kazakhstan, Brazil, Russia, Costa Rica, the archipelago of Franz Josef Land, and also in Egypt. Here in Egypt, such spherical geological formations can be found in South Saqqara and Fayoum. Such nature "artifacts" are common to underwater lavas of extrusive rocks such as basalts, spilites, diabases, trachytes and porphyry. But, along with igneous rocks, the similar formations are laso observed among the sandstones. This chapter of our expedition report is devoted to such sandstone balls, "settled" in the sands of the Fayoum desert.
During the Oligocene (33.9 - 23.03 million years ago) the territory of Fayoum was represented by subtropical and tropical lowlands. The moist soils of the coastal plain, fed by heavy seasonal rainfalls, were favorable for a variety of flora and fauna, inhabited here. Large concentrations of petrified (or silificated) trees were found in the area of Gebel Katrani.
EGYPT: November-December 2013. Fayoum. Ancient Ocean Bed.
... About 250 million years ago, the World Ocean occupied almost the entire surface of the Earth. The whole African continent in those ancient times was under its waters. The layers of sedimentary rocks, such as limestones and sandstones gradually formed the plateau of Sahara Desert...
EGYPT: November-December 2013.
Memphis. The Temple of Ptah.
The Temple of Ptah, made of blocks of pink and gray granite is totally destroyed. Now the foundation and the remains of the majestic ancient building are barely visible among the reeds in a swampy area, located in the north-west of the Museum of Ramses II.
