Looting in Egypt Continues - Rare Tomb at Saqqara May Be Destroyed

Report by Andrew Lawler at Science Insider:

Egypt Update: Rare Tomb May Have Been Destroyed
by Andrew Lawler on 3 February 2011, 5:26 PM

[Excerpted] Reports of damage to one of the few ancient Egyptian tombs devoted solely to a woman have tempered the news that most of Egypt's priceless antiquities have escaped damage and that teams of foreign archaeologists are safe amid widespread protests against the regime led by Hosni Mubarak.

One archaeologist present at the famous cemetery of Saqqara, south of Cairo, said that as many as 200 looters were digging for treasure in the area this past weekend before police resecured the area. The excavator, who requested anonymity, added that the tomb of Maya, the wet nurse of King Tutankhamun, was "completely destroyed." Another Western archaeologist said, "We still don't know the extent of the damage, but things have been bad and out of control."

Full article.


The good news is that other major archaeological sites appear to be quiet - at the moment. But as of Saturday "all foreign expeditions were ordered to halt work and leave." Leave? Leave the country? Leave the sites but stay in the country? If all is quiet, why should they stop working and leave? This sounds very suspicious to me.

Cf. reports in this article from Archaeology Magazine online:

Letter from Cairo
February 4, 2011
by ARCHAEOLOGY correspondent Mike Elkin

[Excerpted]What concerns the Egyptologists I spoke to, however, is the funerary site of Saqqara, which suffered a 36-hour gap in security before the army moved in around the site. Hawass insists that no looting took place. Some locks on tombs were broken, but the intruders caused no damage inside nor stole anything. "If anything had happened it would have been a disaster," he said.

Several archaeologists with contacts at Saqqara, who requested anonymity, confirmed this assessment. But they added that storage facilities were robbed, something the Supreme Council of Antiquities has denied. Inspectors, sources said, are evaluating the damage to the site with the army because the looters might be armed. The site is now closed to the public.

I spoke to an archaeologist at the French mission, who works at Saqqara and was in Cairo. "We've heard a lot of conflicting stories and many things on the Internet are wrong," he told me, based on calls to his Egyptian counterparts. "People were saying that my site in south Saqqara was destroyed, but in reality only two tents were damaged. We just have to wait and see, because now we have orders to stay out. On Sunday, looters were shooting at inspectors, who were very brave. Looting in Saqqara is nothing new, but before the army arrived, the site was left unguarded."

3,000 Year Old Tomb Discovered in Egypt

Egyptian noblewoman's 3,000 year-old tomb revealed Tue Mar 3, 8:23 am ET (Image: A handout photo released by the Egyptian Supreme Council for Antiquities (SCA) shows the broken remains of a fine limestone sarcophagus inside an ancient Egyptian burial chamber in Saqqara. Japanese archaeologists have unearthed an Egyptian noblewoman's 3,000 year-old tomb in the necropolis of Saqqara south of Cairo.(AFP/SCA/File/null) CAIRO (AFP) – Japanese archaeologists have unearthed an Egyptian noblewoman's 3,000 year-old tomb in the necropolis of Saqqara south of Cairo, the antiquities department said on Tuesday. The Japanese team believes the tomb belongs to Isisnofret, a granddaughter of Ramses II, the famed 19th Dynasty pharaoh who reigned over Egypt for about 68 years from 1304 to 1237 BC, and who is said to have lived to the age of 90. The tomb contained a broken limestone sarcophagus bearing the name of Isisnofret and the title "noble woman", three mummies and fragments of funerary objects, the department said in a statement. Isisnofret's last resting place is in an area of Saqqara where a team from Waseda University were excavating the tomb of Prince Khaemwaset, a son of Ramses II, it quoted Japanese team leader Sakuji Yoshimura as saying. "Prince Khaemwaset had a daughter named Isisnofret (and) because of the proximity of the newly discovered tomb to that of the prince, it is possible that the owner of the sarcophagus is the daughter of Khaemwaset," he said. However, Egyptian antiquities chief Zahi Hawass told AFP he believes the tomb dates from the 18th dynasty instead of the 19th, because of the style of construction. Hawass also dismissed the "similarities in the names" saying that there were many women called Isisnofret in ancient Egypt. ******************************************************************** Hawass neglects to mention that there have been several well-known discoveries of mummies in tombs that were not originally their own. That cuts both ways, of course. The mummies in this tomb could be totally unrelated to Isisnofret, whose mummy is long gone who knows where? Perhaps ground up as miracle powder sometime during the 19th century. There was so much destruction done, by the ancient peoples themselves and by so-called "civilized" mankind. Every discovery in Egypt deserves headline news as far as I am concerned (ditto China, India, South America, Europe, North America, etc. etc.) and Hawass should be lending support to every new discovery, not sour grapes for political reasons and his own particular agenda.

Recent Discoveries at Saqqara

A review/overview of a couple recent discoveries at Saqqara: Newly-Discovered Pharaonic Tombs Near Cairo Are 4,300 Years Old The Saqqara necropolis is larger than first thought By Tudor Vieru, Science Editor 23rd of December 2008, 11:45 GMT A new pair of Pharaonic tombs that were recently dug up at the Saqqara necropolis near Cairo prove that the ancient burial grounds are far more widespread than previously thought. The two new tombs actually belonged to high-ranking officials in the old Egyptian dynasties. The nation's top archaeologist says that one of them was built in the honor of the master of the stone quarries, where building materials for the neighboring, larger pyramids were harvested from, while the other belongs to a woman who was most likely in charge of procuring entertainers for the pharaohs. "We announce today a major, important discovery at Saqqara, the discovery of two new tombs dating back to 4,300 years ago. The discovery of the two tombs are [sic] the beginning of a big, large cemetery," Zahi Hawass, the archaeologist in charge of the dig told reporters on Monday, during a media tour of the ancient ruins. He added that the portion of ground that was just excavated, near two large pyramids that were the focus of the dig, was largely left untouched up to this point. The new discovery "shows that the blank areas of the maps of Saqqara aren't really empty at all. It's just that archaeologists haven't got round to digging them," added University of Bristol's Department of Archeology and Anthropology research fellow, Aidan Dodson, who is also part of the international team. The necropolis at Saqqara has been constantly excavated for the last 150 years, and yet, there are numerous discoveries made each season. Recently, Egypt's 118th pyramid was discovered here, bringing the grand total of such constructions unearthed at the site alone to 12. Carbon dating showed that while some of the funerary monuments were built millennia ago, others are as recent as the time of the Roman Empire, which means that the site has a very long standing tradition of housing important Egyptian figures. Official national estimates say that, thus far, only 30 percent of the monuments belonging to the history of Egypt have been uncovered, with the rest still under the hot sands. Archaeological work now focuses on several major sites, where the chances of finding structures are fairly large, as proven by the two new finds.

Major Egyptian Find from Reign of Unas

Story from the BBC News December 23, 2008 Pair of tombs discovered in Egypt Egyptian archaeologists say they have discovered a pair of 4,300-year-old tombs that indicate a burial site south of Cairo is bigger than expected. The tombs at the Saqqara necropolis belong to two officials from the court of the Pharaoh Unas, Egypt's antiquities chief said. One was for the official in charge of quarries used for building pyramids, the other for the head of music. Hieroglyphics decorate the entrances of both the newly discovered tombs. Zahi Hawass, Egypt's top archaeologist, told reporters that the tombs represented a "major" find. "The discovery of the two tombs are the beginning of a big, large cemetery," he said. New discoveries are frequently made at Saqqara, including the unearthing of the remains of a pyramid in November. Mr Hawass said 70% of Egypt's ancient monuments remain buried. "We are continuing our excavation and we are going to uncover more tombs in the area to explain the period of dynasty five and dynasty six," he added, referring to a period more than 4,000 years ago. The contents of the newly found tombs have long since been stolen, Mr Hawass said. The entrance of the tomb of the official in charge of music, Thanah, shows carved images of her smelling lotus flowers. The other official whose tomb was discovered, Iya Maat, oversaw the extraction of granite and limestone from Aswan and other materials from the Western Desert for the construction of nearby pyramids.