#1 This Is How Hieroglyphs And Figures In Ancient Egyptian Temples Looked Before Their Colors Faded
#3 I Captured This Photo Of The Temple Of Hatshepsut Last Week. Such A Unique Building For Perhaps The Most Powerful Woman In Antiquity
Hatshepsut, pharaoh queen of Eqypt during the 18th dynasty (in the 1400’s BC), led the kingdom into some of Egypt's most prosperous years ever. The architect behind the construction of this temple is Senenmet, Hatshepsut's most trusted advisor who held over 90 titles, despite coming from a non-royal birth.
However, shortly after the death of the queen and the disappearance of Senenmut, a deliberate erasure of all their statues and inscriptions was carried out by the next pharaoh (the queen's stepson) - Thutmoses III. Archaeologists have been puzzled for centuries as to what prompted Thutmoses III, and then briefly his son, to commit these acts. Perhaps, is there more to the story of Hatshepsut and Senenmut than meets the eye? I believe so...
It's incredible how paintings on Ancient Egyptian tomb walls still appear colorful to this day. How did Ancient Egyptians make their painting materials to make the tones vibrant even thousands of years later? They got the pigment by crushing different stones.
For red and yellow hues, Egyptians used ochre. For green, they had malachite, calcite for white, and carbon for black. They could find all these minerals in the Earth, so, they were natural dyes. However, the color blue had to be "invented."
Ancient Egyptians loved the lapis lazuli gemstone, which they imported from Afghanistan. It was rare and expensive, so, using it for paintings and makeup was quite costly. That's why they invented a synthetic "lapis lazuli": by heating sand, lime, sodium carbonate, and a copper compound, they created a synthetic blue pigment they used for paintings.
#4 A New Tomb Discovery In Egypt!
The tomb is adorned with stunning carvings and vibrant artwork, including a beautifully painted false door and scenes of funerary offerings. Teti Neb Fu held prestigious titles such as Chief Palace Physician, Priest and “Magician” of the Goddess Serket (expert in venomous bites) , Chief Dentist and Director of Medicinal Plants
Despite evidence of ancient looting, the tomb’s walls remain intact, offering a rare glimpse into daily life and cultural practices during the Old Kingdom. The team also discovered a stone sarcophagus with inscriptions bearing the physician's name and titles.
This incredible find adds to Saqqara's rich legacy as one of Egypt's most significant archaeological sites.
Ancient Egyptians also used colors very intentionally. Different colors symbolized different things, and their meanings aren't that dissimilar to their meanings today. Egyptians used red to represent power and life, but also chaos and anger at the same time. Green, much like it does today, was the color of growth and rebirth, symbolizing nature's cycle of regeneration and awakening.
Blue was the otherworldly color, perhaps because it wasn't found in nature as easily as other pigments and had to be made synthetically. Ancient Egyptians used blues to paint the afterlife, as it represented heaven and protection. Blue was also the color of rivers, especially the Nile, which was the source of life for the ancient civilization.
But the most important color of all was gold. Ancient Egyptians used it to decorate the sarcophagi of the pharaohs, literally making their skin golden. Gold was the color of eternity and the gods.
#7 My Great Grandfather Was One Of The Engineers That Worked On The Relocation Of Abu Simbel. Today I Went Through Some Of His Photo Slides From When He Was Working On It
In the paintings in temples and tombs, pharaohs were painted with gold skin to represent how they were sent to Earth by the gods to be the mediators between them and their people. The god of the underworld, fertility, and the deceased, Osiris, often had green skin in paintings, as green symbolized regeneration and renewal.
#12 The Phenomenon Of The Sun Aligning With The Face Of Ramses II At The Grand Egyptian Museum
You'll come across a few photographs of Abu Simbel in this list. There are many fascinating things about the temples: the reason they were built, the story of their relocation, and how it's still a modern tourist icon.
But perhaps the most interesting fact about it is the sun phenomenon that happens in the temple twice a year. Weather permitting, of course. Around February 22 and October 22, the sun illuminates three of the statues in the temple, and one remains in darkness.
In one of the photographs on this list, you can see the face of the statue of King Rameses II illuminated by the morning sun. Two other statues are bathed in sunshine at that moment, too: those of the gods Ra-Horakhty and Amun. But the statue of Ptah, the god of darkness, remains in shadow. It's a testament to the genius of ancient Egyptian astronomers and engineers.
#13 Students Of Ramses College For Girls Wearing Ancient Egyptian Attire In 1934
#14 Untouched Tomb
This is one of the intact tombs discovered in Saqqara this month by Egyptian archaeologists. You can even see a little pile of ash on the floor by the left-hand wall, which is likely the remains of a burning offering left there by the family of the last person to be interred here.
The tombs were reused over many generations, which is quite normal. The newest coffins are the ones piled at the front. This group is dated to Egypt's 26th Dynasty (664-525 B.C.)
So far 59 coffins have been pulled out of the three unplundered shaft tombs discovered by the Egyptians, with the expectation that there are many more to come...
"Nile Magazine"
Abu Simbel was built in the 13th century BC in Nubia, on the west bank of the River Nile. It took 20 years to build the massive monument that includes two massive temples and a smaller one for Ramses' wife, Nefertari.
In the 1960s, after the water began to rise in Lake Nasser due to the Aswan High Dam, an international team of engineers moved Abu Simbel higher up on an artificial mountain so it wouldn't be submerged. They disassembled the monument piece by piece in what experts today call an incredible feat of engineering. It now sits 60 meters above its original location.
#17 Imhotep’s Book Of The Dead
#18 Royal Ducks Of Gold: Bracelet Of Ramesses II ✨
Inscribed beside the clasp are the royal cartouches of Ramesses II and the words “right” and “left” — a clear indication that these were not simply votive temple offerings but the actual bracelets worn by the king before they were dedicated to the goddess Bastet of Bubastis.
Discovered in 1906 among the treasures of Tell Basta (ancient Bubastis), the piece dates to the New Kingdom, 19th Dynasty (reign of Ramesses II, c. 1279–1213 BC). The bracelet is catalogued in the Egyptian collections as JE 39873 and has been displayed in the Egyptian Museum, Cairo. )
What's your favorite fact about Egypt that you've learned today, Pandas? Is it about ancient Egyptian architecture, art, or history? Let us know in the comments! If you find out even more fascinating stuff about Ancient Egypt, check out these stunning Egyptian artifacts--and the mystery behind how the Giza pyramid was built!
