A University of Illinois professor has found rock art from an unknown source in the Egyptian desert. He went out trying to prove that there was an off-shoot of the local Egyptian civilization in the desert, but ended up finding evidence that the people out in the desert were much closer to the main civilization than previously thought. Perhaps the civilization was simply larger, or more well-traveled than previously assumed? I've seen evidence of the Egyptians getting on ships and sailing all around the world before, so why wouldn't they have rock art a little ways out in the desert?
One part I found a little disturbing, though...
In one of his most unexpected discoveries in Egypt over the years, Brewer and his fellow researchers once decided to get rid of a notorious speed bump that had always given them bone-rattling jolts whenever they drove over it near their dig site. As it turned out, this “speed bump” was really a 12-foot statue of the pharaoh Ramses II buried close to the soil surface. The statue now stands in an Egyptian museum at Luxor.
It begs the question...How many archaeologists in cars does it take to discover a 12-foot statue in the middle of the road?
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3 Comments:
That is downright comical. I guess they will look closer at speed bumps in the future.
I certainly don't think we have even brushed the surface of understanding the Egyptians.
It is rather funny, but in a way it doesn't surprise me.
Egypt is so chock full of artifacts that I read somewhere that you could pick a random spot in the desert, dig, and you'd more than likely find something.
I think a lot of archaeologists start taking finds in Egypt for granted after a while.
I really find the ancient Egyptians a fascinating bunch, but I have a hard time believing that they were the only "advanced" people way back when as a lot of people seem to think. I think I'll write a little about Gary David's research today on the American Hopis in the southwest using the stars as a "map" for their villages much like the Egyptian pyramids and Orion.
I don't think we've scratched the surface of ancient Egypt either, and, unfortunately, at the pace the Egyptian government likes to explore their local history, I doubt we will in our lifetimes.
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