Monuments

Major sites and areas covered in this section include: (opens in a new information window)

	Abydos		Alexandria		Amarna		Aswan
	Giza Plateau		Memphis		Pi Ramesse		Saqqara
	Tanis		Thebes		Valley of the kings

There are simply hundreds of monuments, including temples, tombs, necropoli, etc, scattered throughout the whole of Egypt - use the links throughout the page or on the map to find out more about specific pharaonic monuments or sites.

Temples
Central to the ancient Egyptian religion and way of life was the temple. Considered the "home" of the dedicated god or goddess, and also an important element of the economic structure, the activities of the temple revolved around the worship and celebration of the god or goddess, known as the "cult". A remarkable number of these amazing structures have survived today, and remain some of the most popular sites for tourists to visit. 

Tombs
It is ironic that the numerous Ancient Egyptian tombs, once sealed, were not intended to be seen by outsiders. Yet the highly valued and often reproduced tomb decorations have had a profound influence on art and have contributed significantly to our understanding of the Ancient Egyptian culture. The ancient Egyptian civilisation changed and evolved dramatically over the millenia, and many of these changes are reflected in how the tombs of the kings, queens, nobles, and the workers were built and decorated. 

Pyramids
Iconic monuments in their own right, the full scale pyramid complex consisted of a true pyramid with mortuary and valley temples, a causeway between the two, and usually a number of smaller subsidiary pyramids. Fully evolved by the beginning of the 4th Dynasty, the origins of the pyramid complex can be seen in the royal tombs and funerary enclosures at Early Dynastic Abydos and the step pyramid at Saqqara. 

Coptic monasteries and churches
The sheer scale of the pharaonic antiquities of Egypt can often overwhelm the fact that Egypt was also an intrinsic part of the Holy Land. There are many sites throughout Egypt at which the "holy family" are said to have taken shelter and sought refuge during the three years that they spent in Egypt after fleeing from Judea and King Herod. Many ancient churches have been built upon these sites. Monasteries were established in inaccessible and isolated areas, and many of these still survive today, some still complete with monks, icons, furnishings and the trappings of the simple lifestyle that date back almost to the time of Christ. 

abydos

abydos
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Abydos, the cult city of Osiris, lies on the West Bank of the Nile, about 145 km north of Luxor. Ever since the beginning of the Dynastic Period, kings had built tombs or cenotaphs there. 
The kings of the first dynasty, and some of the second dynasty, were buried here, and the temple was renewed and enlarged by them. Great forts were built on the desert behind the town by three kings of the 2nd dynasty. The temple and town continued to be rebuilt at intervals down to the times of the 30th dynasty, and the cemetery was used continuously. In the 12th dynasty a gigantic tomb was cut in the rock by Senusret III. Seti I, in the 19th dynasty, founded a great new temple to the south of the town in honour of the ancestral kings of the early dynasties; this was finished by Ramesses II, who also built a lesser temple of his own. Merneptah added a great Hypogeum of Osiris to the temple of Seti. The latest building was a new temple of Nectanebo I in the 30th dynasty. From Ptolemaic times the place continued to decay and no later works are known.

The original deity of Abydos was the jackal god Kenti-Amentiu, who was absorbed into the cult of Osiris in the Fifth Dynasty. It was here that Osiris regained his power: at Abydos Isis found the last part of his dismembered body - his head, and restored him to life. The earliest royal tomb was found there, as well as the earliest known hieroglyphs. The temple at Abydos dates to about 3150 BCE. It was restored or expanded by various pharaohs, including Ahmose I and Tuthmose III.

Abydos was an important place of pilgrimage for the Ancient Egyptians. They wanted to be buried as close to Osiris as possible, and when they could not be buried at Abydos, they sometimes raised a stela there bearing their name and titles. Amenhotep III, with his taste for antiquities, ordered the royal necropolis of Abydos to be cleared, and his subjects were told to find the tomb of Osiris himself. This they claimed to have found, although in fact it was the tomb of King Djer (c 2800 BC), the third king of the First Dynasty.

The temple of Seti I

The first two pylons of the Abydos Temple have been destroyed. The entrance is now formed of twelve pillars that originally formed the back of the Second Court.	At the rear of the Second Hypostyle Hall are the entrances to seven chapels. They are (left to right): A deified Seti I, Ptah, Ra-Horakhty, Amon, Osiris, Isis and Horus

The temple of Seti I at Abydos was begun early in his reign in the 19th Dynasty. Built on entirely new ground and constructed in limestone about half a mile to the south of the earlier temples, it is probably better known as the "Great Temple of Abydos". An impressive sight, it was still unfinished at Seti's death and his son Ramesses II completed the works, although little of his decoration reaches the supreme standard of that of his father.

The temple, in the shape of an L, once had a landing quay, a ramp, a front terrace, two pylons, though the outer one is mostly lost, with two courts and pillared porticoes, followed by two hypostyle halls and seven chapels (see above), with additional chambers to the south making up the short leg of the L. Storage chambers fill the area from the southern wing to the front of the temple. The main body of the temple was symmetrical back to the seven chapels. While the L shaped floor plan of this temple is unusual, analysis seems to show that the southern wing was no afterthought, but the result of a well thought out alternative to the usual axial temple plan.

A principal purpose of the temple was the adoration of the early kings, whose cemetery, to which it forms a great funerary chapel, lies behind it. On the wall in the "Hall of the Records", Seti I and his young son, the future Ramesses II, are shown worshipping the cartouched names of 76 of their ancestors (unacceptable predecessors, such as Hapshepsut and Akhenaten are conveniently omitted from this list, neither does it record any of the kings from the Second Intermediate Period). At the back were large chambers connected with the Osiris worship. The temple was originally 550ft long, but the forecourts are now scarcely recognisable, and area that remains in part reasonable condition is around 250ft long by 350ft wide, including the L-shaped wing at the side.

The Osireion

Lying undiscovered until an excavation in 1902 by Flinders Petrie, this is the almost unique structure that today we refer to as the Osireion. It has been suggested that the architecture of the Osireion was inspired by the Valley Temple and causeway of Khafre at Giza - by the New Kingdom this was buried underground but was still accessible and known to the Egyptians as a tomb or shrine of Osiris. It is carefully aligned with the main temple of Seti I, and enclosed within a mud brick wall. Most of the actual excavation work was largely carried out by Margaret Murray and Petrie's wife. The whole site was not finally uncovered until 1926 by Henri Frankfort.

The structure was built in an excavation in the sandy clay stratum of the desert, with almost vertical sides. Two parallel limestone walls running over the eastern room of the structure served as retaining walls for the sand bed upon which the temple was built. The foundations are cut many feet below the current level of the water table, and the base of the temple is 30ft below the level of the desert, with the central part being 40ft deep. At this depth it is below the Nile flood plane. This means that the centre part of the temple forms a island with a flooded moat surrounding it. Excavations on the south side passage revealed funerary texts from 'The Book of Gates' and 'The Amduat', depicting the dangers of the Underworld which the deceased has to overcome on his journey to the Hall of Ma'at.

The name 'Osireion' was invented by Petrie for this unique structure, which he interpreted as a symbolic tomb of Osiris. The Osireion, according to myth, was the final tomb of the god Osiris. It dates from the reign of Seti I in the New Kingdom period and is situated to the West of Seti's Temple at Abydos (see plan above). The Osireion is perhaps the most conspicuous example of religious symbolism in Egyptian architecture.

The cult of Osiris was abandoned during the reign of Akhenaten, and the familiar votive figure of a squatting man wrapped in a pilgrim's cloak and the Osiris-shaped bed planted with seeds disappeared temporarily from the inventory of funerary goods.

The Royal tombs

The Royal Tombs of the earliest dynasties were placed about a mile back on the great desert plain, in a place now known as Umm el-Qa'ab. The earliest is about 10ft × 20ft inside, a pit lined with brick walls, and originally roofed with timber and matting. Others also before Menes are 15ft × 25ft. The tomb probably of Menes is of the latter size. After this the tombs increase in size and complexity. The tomb-pit is surrounded by chambers to hold the offerings, the actual sepulchre being a great wooden chamber in the midst of the brick-lined pit. Rows of small tomb-pits for the servants of the king surround the royal chamber, many dozens of such burials being usual.

By the end of the 2nd dynasty, the tomb type changed to a long passage bordered with chambers on either hand, with the royal burial being in the middle of the length. The greatest of these tombs with its dependencies covered a space of over 2500 square metres. The contents of the tombs have been nearly destroyed by successive plunderers; enough remained to show that rich jewellery was placed on the mummies, a profusion of vases of hard and valuable stones from the royal table service stood about the body, the store-rooms were filled with great jars of wine, perfumed ointment and other supplies, and tablets of ivory and of ebony were engraved with a record of the yearly annals of the reigns. The sealings of the various officials, of which over 200 varieties have been found, give an insight into the public arrangements.

The cemetery of private persons begins in the 1st dynasty with some pit-tombs in the town. It was extensive in the 12th and 13th dynasties and contained many rich tombs. A large number of fine tombs were made in the 18th to 20th dynasties, and later ages continued to bury there dead here until Roman times. Many hundreds of funeral stele were removed by Auguste Mariette's workmen when he worked on the site, but without any record of the burials.

Saqqara

saqqara - cemetery of the ancient kings
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The principal necropolis of the ancient city of Memphis, whose most famous monument is probably the  step pyramid of Djoser, the oldest of Egypt's 97 pyramids. It was built by the architect and genius Imhotep, who designed it and the surrounding complex to be as grand as it was unique and revolutionary.

The importance of the site of Saqqara is indicated by the crowded nature of the burials, with some having been used many times, and most having been plundered throughout antiquity.

Mastaba tombs were constructed at Saqqara for the Memphite elite during the Old Kingdom. Pyramids were also built there, including the famous 3rd Dynasty Step Pyramid complex of Djoser, the 5th Dynasty pyramid of Unas, the "lost" unfinished pyramid complex of Sekhemkhet which bears a striking resemblance to Djoser's complex, and the 6th Dynasty pyramid complex of Pepi II which was the last major funerary monument of the Old Kingdom at Saqqara. Djoser's complex is remarkable because not only was it the worlds' first ever pyramid, it is also acknowledged as the worlds' first completely stone building.

Aerial view of the step pyramid complex of Djoser. The Heb-sed court on the lower right hand side of the enclosure is clearly visible. See the full picture, click here >>

Satellite imagery courtesy of Google Imagery, DigiGlobe

Beneath the ground, Saqqara is riddled with tombs, galleries and robber shafts, which are not always visible from the surface.

During the New Kingdom, Memphis took second place to Thebes as Egypt's capital. However, although the administration was established at Thebes, the government officials who ruled Upper Egypt lived in Memphis and were buried at Saqqara.

The Pyramid of Djoser

Djoser, whose Horus name was Netjerykhet, was founder of the Third Dynasty, Old Kingdom. He is one of the most famous kings in Egyptian history, his name being preceded by a rubric of red ink in the Turin Canon.

He was responsible for constructing the world's first monumental stone building, the Step Pyramid at Saqqara. The pyramid's design evolved throughout its construction and its architectural form changed as the Egyptians adapted to their new building material (stone, as opposed to mud bricks). The architect of the Step Pyramid is thought to have been Djoser's son, Imhotep, who was later deified for his achievements. The fact that Djoser was able to build such a massive and innovative structure suggests that during his reign Egypt was politically stable, with a successful economy.

The Step Pyramid is made of six giant steps. It has a ground plan of 459ft x 387ft (140m x 118m) and a height of 197ft (60m). The entire enclosure measures 1,788ft x 908ft (545m x 277m). It contains many chambers, including a court known as the "Heb-Sed" designed to provide the king with the necessary setting to repeat his jubilee ceremony in the afterlife. There is a relief depicting King Djoser in the Step Pyramid performing this rite, which involved him running a fixed course accompanied by Nekhen, 'the priest of the souls'. It is thought that this ceremony may have derived from a primitive belief that the fertility of the fields was dependent on the physical ability of the king.

As well as being the first stone pyramid in Ancient Egypt, the Step Pyramid also boasts a superstructure unparalleled among other Old Kingdom pyramids. During excavations of the many underground passageways and galleries, 40,000 ceramic and stone vessels - dating back to the reigns of Djoser's predecessors - have been found.

Against the Northern face of the Step Pyramid there is a small room known as the Serdab. The front face of the Serdab is angled at 17 degrees, the same angle as the steps of the pyramid themselves. Inside the serdab would have stood the cult statue of Djoser, a copy stand there today and the original is in the Cairo Museum. Two "peep holes" in the Serdab enabled offerings to be made to the statue inside.

The restored impressive entrance to Djoser's pyramid complex.	The Heb-sed court within the enclosure walls of Djoser's pyramid complex.	Cult statue of Djoser viewed through the peep-holes in the serdab on the northern side of the pyramid.

The Serapeum

This was burial place of the sacred Apis Bulls. Strabo, the Greek author, writing in the 1st century AD, had spoken of a sanded up avenue of sphinxes leading to the famous Serapeum. Napoleon's expedition had searched for the Serapeum in vain, however in 1850 Auguste Mariette and his team uncovered an avenue of over a hundred sphinxes. As excavations continued over the following weeks, Mariette and his team eventually came to a buried temple courtyard. Entry to the catacomb was finally achieved on the 12th November 1851, almost a year after Mariette's inspired search had begun.

Entrance to the Serapeum	Underground galleries of the Serapeum

The subterranean galleries of the Serapeum consisted of a long gallery inset with numerous votive stelae and sealed by a huge sandstone door. Side chambers contained 24 magnificent granite sarcophagi, which had been prepared between year 52 of Psammetichus I of the 26th Dynasty and the end of the Ptolemaic period. The sarcophagi would have contained the mummified remains of the Apis Bulls, which were considered by the Ancient Egyptians to be the earthly incarnations of the city god of Memphis. All the sarcophagi in this gallery had been emptied in antiquity.

In 1852, further galleries, known as the Lesser Vaults, were discovered, with similar rock hewn chambers. These chambers had contained bulls in wooden coffins, dating from year 30 of Ramesses the Great down to the 22nd Dynasty. In one of these chambers, a burial of Apis XIV, made in year 55 of Ramesses the Great, had survived intact.

Mariette's work at the Serapeum continued throughout 1852, and resulted in the discovery of a third series of smaller bull burials, the earliest yet uncovered, ranging in date from Amenophis III of the 18th Dynasty down into the 19th Dynasty. Again, one of these burials, which contained two coffins of Apis VII and Apis IX, was discovered intact. Various shabtis, canopic jars and amulets were also discovered.

Other pyramid complexes at Saqqara

The Step Pyramid of Djoser. The world's first ever pyramid.	Mastaba el-Faraun, the tomb of Shepseskaf, who was the last Pharaoh of the 4th Dynasty and the son of Menkaure.	Pyramid of Userkaf who was considered to be the founder of the 5th Dynasty. His pyramid is little more than a ruined heap of rubble.

There are a considerable number of pyramid complexes at Saqqara, although many are now ruined and appear to be little more than heaps of rubble.

The Lost Pyramid of Sekhemkhet at Saqqara - 3rd Dynasty. This unfinished pyramid complex is the largest of a series of "lost" pyramids. Whilst there was a known successor to Djoser, Sekhemkhet's name was unknown until 1951, when the levelled foundation and vestiges of an unfinished Step Pyramid were discovered at Saqqara by Zakaria Goneim. Only the lowest step of the pyramid had been constructed at the time of his death. The unfinished complex bears a close resemblance to that of Djoser's Step Pyramid, both in layout and design.

The Mastaba el-Faraun at Saqqara - 4th Dynasty. The mastaba is situated in the south of Saqqara in an isolated area. It is the tomb of Shepseskaf, who was the last Pharaoh of the 4th Dynasty and the son of Menkaure. Unlike his immediate predecessors and his successors, Shepseskaf chose the form of a mastaba rather then a pyramid for his tomb. It's quite possible he was responsible for the completion of his father's pyramid at Giza. Shepsekaf ruled for only a very short time, maybe as little as four years.

Pyramid of Userkaf at Saqqara - 5th Dynasty. Userkaf was considered to be the founder of the 5th Dynasty. His pyramid was called "Pure are the (cult) places of Userkaf", but today it is little more than a ruined heap of rubble. Possibly for political reasons as well as the religious ones, he sited his pyramid in the shadows of Djoser's Step Pyramid. Userkaf's pyramid was most likely built in horizontal layers, and rough local limestone was used in the pyramid's core, with a fine, while limestone casing.

	The Pyramid of Unas at Saqqara - Late 5th Dynasty. The last ruler of the 5th Dynasty Unas seems to have been the first to inscribe the pyramid texts on the internal walls of his pyramid. The standard of workmanship in pyramid building declined along with the political and economic structure of the Old Kingdom. Known as "Beautiful are the places of Unas" it is now ruined, and looks more like a small hill than a royal pyramid.
	Pyramid of Teti I at Saqqara - 6th Dynasty. Teti was the founder of the 6th Dynasty. His pyramid was discovered in 1853 by Mariette, but it is mostly a pile of rubble in constant danger of being covered by the sand. The pyramid was known as "Teti's (cult) places are enduring". The valley temple of Teti's pyramid, together with the 300 metre long causeway leading to the mortuary temple have yet to be archaeologically investigated. They are located to the southwest of the pyramid, as opposed to east. Part of the causeway is visible however, as it meets the mortuary temple.
	Pyramid of Pepi II at Saqqara - 6th Dynasty. Pepi II's pyramid in South Saqqara was the last to be built in the best traditions of the Old Kingdom. It was named "Pepi's life is enduring", which indeed it was, for he reigned for many years. Pepi II was the last ruler of Egypt's 6th Dynasty, and in fact the last significant ruler of the Old Kingdom prior to the onset of the First Intermediate Period. His mortuary complex was built and decorated in what is considered to be a much poorer manner than those of his predecessors.

aswan and elephantine

aswan and elephantine
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Aswan is a border town, 900km (558 miles) south of Cairo, and is situated at the First Cataract,  where modern Egypt begins. To the north, the Nile flows downwards towards Cairo and the Delta, to the south it extends behind the High Dam into the vast and into the seemingly infinite Lake Nasser, disappearing deep into the Sudan.
The Nile at Aswan is studded with numerous granite islands. The largest, Elephantine Island has various monuments, and a Nubian settlement. Another well known island close by is Kitchener's Island, home to the green oasis of the botanical gardens, and variously known by locals as "plant island", "flower island" and "botanic island". Lord Kitchener, British Consul of Egypt was deeded the island by the Egyptian government for his campaigns in the Sudan in the 19th century.

Elephantine Island

The largest island at Aswan, Elephantine is situated opposite the modern town, and is one of the most ancient sites in Egypt, dating back to the predynastic period. It was known as Elephant Island (or Abu or Yabu) probably because it was a trading post for ivory. An excellent defensive site for a city, the island commanded the First Cataract that formed a natural boundary to the south, and noblemen bore the title "Guardians of the Southern Gate."

The ram headed god of the cataracts, Khnum, one of the creator gods and part of the triad of the goddesses Satet and Anuket, had his main cult centre on Elephantine Island, and the ruined temple of Khnum on the southern tip of the island dates to the 18th Dynasty. Other the main attractions on the island include an ancient Nilometer, one of only three on the Nile, the Elephantine Museum, the old town, and the colourful Nubian village.

Unfortunately many of the artifacts are now in ruin, although ongoing excavations at the town by the German Archaeological Institute have uncovered many findings, including a mummified ram of Khnum, that are now on display in the museum located on the island. Artifacts dating back to predynastic times have been found on Elephantine. The oldest ruins still standing on the island are a granite step pyramid from the third dynasty and a small shrine, built for the local sixth-dynasty nomarch Hekayib.

Elephantine Island, with its luxury resort hotel, seen from Aswan at night.

A rare calendar, known as the Elephantine Calendar, dating to the reign of Thutmose III, was found in fragments. Also on the island is one of the oldest nilometers in Egypt, last reconstructed in Roman times and still in use as late as the 19th century. The ninety steps that lead down to the river are marked with Hindu-Arabic, Roman, and hieroglyphic numerals, and inscriptions carved deep into the rock during the 17th dynasty can be seen at the water's edge.

Prior to 1822 there were temples of Tuthmosis III and Amenhotep III which were destroyed by the then Turkish (Ottoman) occupying government. Both were relatively intact at that time.

The Elephantine papyri are caches of legal documents and letters written in Aramaic, which document the community of Jewish soldiers stationed here during the Persian occupation of Egypt. They maintained their own temple that functioned alongside that of Khnum. The Jewish community at Elephantine was probably founded as a military installation in about 650 BCE during Manasseh's reign, to assist Pharaoh Psammetichus I in his Nubian campaign. The documents cover the period that the Jewish garrison was stationed on the island, between the years of 495 and 399 BC.

Qubbet el-Hawa was the burial ground of the Old Kingdom noblemen from Elephantine, and their tombs were hewn out of the rock, about halfway up the hill facing the river.
 

The Aswan Dam, the High Dam and the UNESCO project

The British began construction of the first dam in 1899 and it was completed in 1902. A gravity dam, it was 1900 metres long and 54 metres high. However, the initial design was soon found to be inadequate and the height of the dam was raised in two subsequent phases, from 1907–1912 and then again between 1929–1933. With each successive heightening, the waters built up, and monuments and people were threatened.

The Aswan High Dam, with the power station on the left hand side, and the reservoir, Lake Nasser on the right. The dam is 3600 metres in length, 980 metres wide at the base, 40 metres wide at the crest and 111 metres tall. Lake Nasser is 550 km long and 35 km at its widest point. The dam powers twelve generators each rated at 175 megawatts, which meant that many Egyptian villages had access to a permanent source of electricity for the first time.

When the dam almost overflowed in 1946, it was decided that rather than raise the dam a third time, a second dam would be built six kilometres upriver. Proper planning finally began in 1952, just after the Nasser revolution. Initially both Britain and America were to help finance construction of the second dam, however both nations then cancelled the offer in July 1956 for reasons not entirely known. Soon after, Nasser nationalised the Suez Canal, intending to use its tolls to subsidize the High Dam project. This prompted Britain, France, and Israel to attack Egypt, occupying the Suez Canal and precipitating the Suez Crisis. The United Nations, US, and USSR forced the invaders to withdraw and the canal was left in Egyptian hands. The Egyptian government continued to intend to finance the dam project alone by using the revenues of the Suez Canal to help pay for construction. But as part of the cold war struggle for influence in Africa, the then Soviet Union stepped in in 1958, and possibly a third of the cost of the dam was paid for as a gift. The Soviets also provided technicians and heavy machinery. The enormous rock and clay dam was designed by the Russian Zuk Hydroproject Institute.

NASA satellite image of the Aswan High Dam. The first stage of the dam was finished in 1964, but the dam itself was fully completed on 21st July 1970. The reservoir began filling in 1964 whilst the dam was still under construction and first reached its capacity in 1976.

Satellite image courtesy of Google Imagery, DigitalGlobe, TerraMetrics

In 1960, when work finally began on what was now to be the new Soviet financed High Dam, it meant that the Nubian people were in danger of losing all their land, and that major sites would be lost under the creation of the largest reservoir in the world, Lake Nasser. A UNESCO co-ordinated project was launched, not only to record the threatened Nubian monuments, but to dismantle and reassemble on higher ground, piece by piece, 24 major ancient monuments such as the temples of Philae, Abu Simbel and Kalabsha.

The Nubians from Lower Nubia were resettled in Kom Ombo and Aswan, and those from Upper Nubia were taken to Qasr el-Girba in northern Sudan. Social studies on both groups have shown how well they have adjusted to their new conditions.

The advantages of the dam include no inundation (flooding), twice yearly cropping and more land availability. However advantages are often balanced by disadvantages, in this case the increased salinity of the water has adversely affected crops, in particular in the Delta region, which now requires constant irrigation and drainage.

Environmental issues

Apart from the obvious benefits of the damming the Nile, it must also be noted that the dams have caused a number of environmental issues, including:

	Damming the Nile flooded much of lower Nubia and displaced over 90,000 people. The creation of Lake Nasser flooded many valuable archaeological sites.
	The silt which was deposited in the yearly inundation and made the Nile floodplain fertile, is now held behind the dam. Silt deposited in the reservoir is lowering the water storage capacity of Lake Nasser.
	Poor irrigation practices are water logging soils and bringing salt to the surface.
	Mediterranean fishing declined after the dam was finished because nutrients that used to flow down the Nile into the Mediterranean were trapped behind the dam.
	There is some erosion of farmland down-river. Erosion of coastline barriers, due to lack of new sediments from floods, will eventually cause loss of the brackish water lake fishery that is currently the largest source of fish for Egypt.
	The subsidence of the Nile Delta will lead to the inundation of the northern portion of the delta with seawater, in areas that are currently used for rice crops. The delta itself, no longer renewed by Nile silt, has lost much of its fertility. The red-brick construction industry, which relied heavily on delta mud, is also severely affected.
	The need to use artificial fertilisers supplied by international corporations is controversial too, causing chemical pollution which the traditional river silt did not.
	The dam has been implicated in a rise in cases of schistosomiasis (bilharzia), due to the thick plant life that has grown up in Lake Nasser, which hosts the snails who carry the disease.
	There is a significant erosion of coastlines all along the eastern Mediterranean - this is due to a lack of sand, which was once brought by the Nile.

pi-ramesse

pi-ramesse
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In the eastern Delta near the modern town of el-Qantir, once stood the ancient harbour city of Pi-Ramesse. Founded by the New Kingdom pharaoh Seti I, it was his son Ramesses II who transformed the town into a royal residence and seat of government. It is thought that he moved the capital from Upper Egypt up into the Delta in an attempt to sever some of the influence and power of the Theben priesthood, and also to be able to better protect Egypt's borders with modern Turkey and Syria.
The location of this city, well known from documentation, was long in question. However, in the 1920s, decorated tiles, including some with the name of Seti I and Ramesses II were discovered in the area. A mud brick palace, dating to the earliest phase of the town was discovered in 1929.

More recently, beginning in the mid 1960s, the site was examined by a German expedition, and the Austrian Archaeological Institute under the direction of Manfred Bietak. 

They have been using a magnetometer (gradumeter) to map out the long lost city. This relatively new method of archaeological discovery is mostly non-intrusive, and in many cases where the land is agricultural in nature, is the only suitable method of exploring a site. By late 1999, some 75,000 square metres had been measured in the fields around el-Qantir. Domestic areas, administrative quarters of a vast palace-temple compound, a possible cemetery and a region with poorer houses were defined.

In ancient times, there were many more branches of the Nile river located in the Delta, but only two remain. Pi-Ramesse was located on an extinct branch that dried out beginning in the 20th Dynasty. Faced with this problem, the pharaohs of the 21st Dynasty moved virtually all the monuments, item by item, to the new capital at Tanis. 

It is probable that a number of temples were located within this ancient city. These religious centres included a great temple of Re, along with other temples to Amun, Ptah and Sutekh (Set, or Seth). The remains of the temple dedicated to Sutekh have been located in the southern part of the city. There were probably many other smaller temples and chapels, some dedicated to Wadjit and Astarte.

Ancient Avaris

Many centuries before Pi-Ramesse had been established by the pharaohs of the 19th dynasty, the city of Avaris had been founded on the east bank of the Pelusiac branch of the Delta in the same area.

In 1966, work began on excavating the site by Manfred Bietak of the Austrian Institute in Cairo. Evidence of an extensive occupation by a non-Egyptian populace was found, and these discoveries directed Dr Bietak to identify the cultural objects he found as almost identical to Middle Bronze Age artefacts from Syro-Palestine. Consequently it was concluded that the site of Tell el-Dab'a was the lost town of the Asiatic Hyksos. Avaris was the capital of the Hyksos kings of the Second Intermediate Period. Their fortified city was built over a Middle Kingdom town they had captured. They built a Canaanite-style temple and had Palestinian-style burials there, including burials of horses. They also brought with them elements of their Syro-Palestinian culture, such as their superior weapons and their distinctive style of pottery, although they were to a certain extent "Egyptianised".

During the 1990s excavations by the Austrian team concentrated upon an area on the western edge of the site, known as Ezbet Helmi where a large palace-like structure dating to the Hyksos period was discovered. The ancient gardens revealed many fragments of Minoan wall-paintings, similar in style to those found in the palace at Knossos in Crete. It has been suggested that these paintings, with their distinctive red background may pre-date those of Crete and Thera. They may well have influenced some of the Dynasty XVIII tomb paintings which appear to include Minoan themes, such as the "flying gallop" motif of horses and bulls. In the Dynasty XVIII strata of Ezbet Helmi, Dr Bietak discovered many lumps of pumice stone, which may be present as a result of the volcanic explosion on the island of Thera.

Several cemeteries belonging to the Second Intermediate Period have been determined during recent excavations at Tell el-Dab'a. Burials dating from late Dynasty XIII to the end of the Hyksos Period have been uncovered. One of the more remarkable finds is a mudbrick vaulted tomb of a warrior, located to the west of the main temple enclosure.

Burial of a warrior at Avaris

The warrior was placed in his tomb in the typical "flexed knee" position of an Asiatic settler, with his head towards the entrance. On his left hand was an amethyst scarab. He was buried with his weapons and various types of pottery. On a dish next to his head are the remains of a meat offering. He wore a copper belt with an attached dagger with five middle ribs on his left side. In his arms he held a scimitar still in its sheath. The copper sword was well preserved, with a leather sheath and a bone handle. The blade is cast with a riveted socket, with a unique voluted point. It is the oldest specimen of this type yet found in Egypt.

Towards the end of the 17th dynasty, Ahmose I, the founder of the Eighteenth dynasty, captured Avaris just before the Hyksos were finally expelled from Egypt. A palace compound was constructed in the early 18th dynasty. It consisted partly of mudbricks from the Hyksos citadel and seems to have functioned as a royal residence. The palace area was settled up to the reign of Amenhotep III, or possibly up to the reign of Ramesses II.

The Valley of the Kings

The Valley of the Kings
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Hidden behind the Theban Hills, on the West Bank of the Nile, lies the Valley of the Kings (Wadi el-Muluk in Arabic), a limestone valley where tombs were built for the Pharaohs and powerful nobles of the New Kingdom during the 18-21st Dynasties. It was chosen as the burial place for most of Egypt's New Kingdom rulers for several reasons. As the crow flies, the Valley is very close to the cultivated banks of the river. It is small, surrounded by steep cliffs, and easily guarded. The local limestone, cut millions of years ago by torrential rains to form the Valley, is of good quality. And towering above the Valley is a mountain, al-Qurn (the horn in Arabic), whose shape may have reminded the ancient Egyptians of a pyramid, and is dedicated to the goddess Meretseger. The valley is separated into the East and West Valleys, with most of the important tombs in the East Valley, but as yet to date, not all the tombs in the Valley have been fully excavated.

There were 62 numbered royal and private tombs, ranging from a simple pit (KV 54) to a tomb with over 121 chambers and corridors (KV 5). Most were found already plundered. A few, like the tomb of Tutankhamen (KV 62) or that of Yuya and Thuyu (KV 46), and Maiherperi (KV36), contained thousands of precious artifacts. Some tombs have been accessible since antiquity, as Greek and Latin graffiti attest, some were used as dwellings or a church during the Graeco-Roman and Byzantine Periods, and others have been discovered only in the past two hundred years. Some, like KV 5, had been "lost," and their location rediscovered only recently.

The official name for the site was "The Great and Majestic Necropolis of the Millions of Years of the Pharaoh, Life, Strength, Health in The West of Thebes", or more usually, Ta-sekhet-ma'at (the Great Field). The Valley was used for primary burials from approximately 1539 BC to 1075 BC, starting with Thutmose I and ending with Ramesses X or XI. The Valley also had tombs for the favourite nobles and the wives and children of both the nobles and pharaohs. Around the time of Ramesses I (c.1300 BC) work began on the Valley of the Queens, although some wives were still buried with their husbands.

Important tombs

The tombs are numbered in the order of 'discovery' from Ramesses VII (KV1) to the recently discovered KV63, although some of the tombs have been open since antiquity, and KV5 has only recently been rediscovered. A number of the tombs are unoccupied, the owners of others remain unknown, and some are merely pits used for storage.

KV1	Ramesses VII	KV20	Thutmosis I and Hatshepsut
KV2	Ramesses IV	KV22	Amenhotep II
KV3	Son of Ramesses III	KV23	Ay
KV4	Ramesses XI	KV34	Tuthmosis III
KV5	Sons of Ramesses II	KV35	Amenhotep III
KV6	Ramesses IX	KV38	Tuthmosis I
KV7	Ramesses II	KV39	Amenhotep I ??
KV8	Merenptah	KV42	Hatshepsut Meryet-Re
KV9	Ramesses V and Ramesses VI	KV43	Tuthmosis IV
KV10	Amenmeses	KV45	Userhat
KV11	Ramesses III	KV48	Amenemipet
KV15	Seti II	KV54	Tutankhamun cache
KV16	Ramesses I	KV55	Tiye or Akenaten ??
KV17	Seti I	KV57	Horemheb
KV18	Ramesses X	KV62	Tutankhamun

By the end of the New Kingdom, Egypt had entered a long period of political and economic decline. The priests at Thebes grew in power and effectively administered Upper Egypt, whilst kings ruling from Tanis controlled Lower Egypt. The Valley began to be heavily plundered, so in response to this during the 21st Dynasty, the priests of Amun opened most of the tombs and moved the mummies into three tombs in order to better protect them, even removing most of their treasure in order to further protect the bodies from robbers. Later most of these were moved to a single cache near Deir el-Bahri (see below). During the later Third Intermediate Period and later periods, intrusive burials were introduced into many of the open tombs.

Tomb robbers

Almost all of the tombs have been ransacked, including Tutankhamun's, though in his case, it seems that the robbers were interrupted, so very little was removed.

The valley was surrounded by steep cliffs and heavily guarded. In 1090 BC, or the year of the Hyena, there was a collapse in Egypt's economy leading to the emergence of tomb robbers. Because of this, it was also the last year that the valley was used for burial. The valley also seems to have suffered an official plundering during the virtual civil war which started in the reign of Ramesses XI. The tombs were opened, all the valuables removed, and the mummies collected into two large caches. One, the so-called Deir el-Bahri cache, contained no less than forty royal mummies and their coffins; the other, in the tomb of Amenhotep II, contained a further sixteen.

What's happening there now?

There are several archaeological projects currently at work in the Valley of the Kings. Christian Leblanc is excavating the tomb of Rameses II (KV 7) for the CNRS, while across the road, the Theban Mapping Project (TMP) is excavating, recording and conserving KV 5 (the sons of Rameses II). The tomb of Amenmeses (KV 10) is being cleared by the Memphis University mission led by Otto Schaden. Elina Paulin-Grothe is directing a project of the Ägyptologische Seminar der Universität Basel, clearing and documenting in the tombs of Rameses X (KV 18), Siptah (KV 47), and Tiaa (KV32).

Nicholas Reeves and Geoffrey Martin are examining the area between the tombs of Horemheb (KV 57) and Rameses VI (KV 9). Edwin Brock continues his studies of royal sarcophagi with particular emphasis now on the remains in the tombs of Merenptah (KV 8) and Rameses VI (KV 9), where he is reconstructing the inner sarcophagus. Richard Wilkinson of the University of Arizona has been involved in an examination of symbolic alignments in the royal tombs. An expedition from Waseda University, Tokyo, under the direction of Jiro Kondo is clearing, documenting and conserving the area in and around the tomb of Amenhetep III in the West Valley (KV 22).

Rather intriguingly, and contrary to original expert opinion that the valley had yielded all of its tombs, the valley continues to "throw up" surprises!  This latest happens to be the suspected finding of yet another tomb; this in the vicinity of KV62 (Tutankhamun), preliminary called KV64 ...

el-amarna

el-amarna (akhetaten)
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The site of Amarna (commonly known as el-Amarna) is located on the east bank of the Nile River in the modern Egyptian province of al-Minya, some 58 km (38 miles) south of the city of al-Minya, 312 km (194 miles) south of the Egyptian capital Cairo and 402 km (250 miles) north of Luxor. The site of Amarna includes several modern villages, chief of which are el-Till in the north and el-Hagg Qandil in the south. The area contains an extensive Egyptian archaeological site that represents the remains of the capital city newly–established and built by Akhenaten. The name for the city employed by the ancient Egyptians is written as Akhetaten which translates literally as "the Horizon of the Aten".
Akhetaten was abruptly abandoned following Akhenaten's death after an occupation of only 25-30 years, and it is for this reason that the ruins of el-Amarna are probably the best preserved example of an Egyptian settlement during the New Kingdom. The city included temples, palaces, and large areas of mud-brick housing, and archaeologists have been able to study these ruins and ground plans to see how an ancient city developed. The plundered and vandalised remains of the royal tombs of Akhenaten and his family were discovered several kilometers outside the city in the late 1880's.

Amarna has been examined by a succession of excavators, including Flinders Petrie, Howard Carter and Leonard Woolley (Royal city of Ur). Current investigations have been in annual operation since the late 1970s, directed by Dr Barry Kemp from the university of Cambridge, under the auspices of the Egypt Exploration Society (EES).

The Amarna Letters

Important cache of documents from el-Amarna, discovered in 1887 by a village woman digging for sebakh (decomposted organic material) for use as a fertiliser. There are 382 known clay cuneiform tablets, most of which derive from "the place of letters of Pharaoh", a building identified as the official "records office" and record selections of diplomatic correspondence from the Pharaoh. The exact chronology of these tablets is still debated, but they span a 15-30 year period beginning around the year of Amenhotep III (1390-1352 BC) and continuing through to no later than the first year of Tutankhamun's reign (1336-1327 BC), with the majority dating to the time of Akhenaten.

These tablets shed light on Egyptian relations with Babylonia, Assyria, the Mitanni, the Hittites, Syria, Palestine and Cyprus. They are important for establishing both the history and chronology of the period. Letters from the Babylonian king Kadashman-Enlil I anchor Akhenaten's reign to the mid-14th century BC. Also within the tablet was the first mention of a Near Eastern group known as the Habiru, whose possible connection with the later Hebrews remains debated. Other rulers include Tushratta of the Mittani, one Lib'ayu whom David Rohl has argued should be identified with the Biblical king Saul, and the extensive correspondence of the querulous king Rib-Hadda of Byblos, who constantly pleads for Egyptian military help.

Most of these tablets are written in a dialect of the Akkadian language, (the popular language of the time) although the languages of the Assyrians, Hittites and the Hurrians are also represented.

Amarna Art

A sculptor's study showing Akhenaten and possibly Smenkhare. Cairo Museum	A study piece of a princess eating roast duck. Cairo Museum

Styles of art that flourished during this short period are markedly different from other Egyptian art, bearing a variety of affectations, from elongated heads to protruding stomachs, exaggerated ugliness and the beauty of Nefertiti. Significantly, and for the only time in the history of Egyptian royal art, Akhenaten's family was depicted in a decidedly naturalistic manner, and they are clearly shown displaying affection for each other.

Artistic representations of Akhenaten usually give him a strikingly feminine appearance, with slender limbs, a protruding belly and wide hips. Other leading figures of the Amarna period, both royal and otherwise, are also shown with some of these features, suggesting a possible religious connotation, especially as some sources suggest that private representations of Akhenaten, as opposed to official art, show him as quite normal.

The result is a realism that breaks away from the rigid formality and stylisation of earlier official depictions. It is characterised by a sense of movement and activity in images, with figures having raised heads, many figures overlapping and many scenes are crowded and very busy. Individuals such as the young princesses are shown as almost "alien like" with characteristic elongated skulls and protruding stomachs. The illustration of hands and feet were obviously thought to be important, shown with long and slender fingers, and great pains were gone to be show fingers and finger nails. Flesh was shown as being dark brown, for both males and females (contrasted with the more normal dark brown for males and light brown for females) - this could merely be convention, or depict the ‘life’ blood. As is normal in Egyptian art, commoners are shown with 2 left feet (or 2 right feet). There is a delicacy to it that at times can border on the grotesque.

Detail from a stele showing Akhenaten holding and kissing his baby daughter	Fragmentary statue of Akhenaten	Akhenaten, Nefertiti and their daughter shown adoring the Aten sun disc

Akhenaten, Nefertiti and their daughters were consistently shown making offerings to Aten, whose rays stretched down into hands, often offering the ankh symbol of life to the royal family (see above). The depiction of the Royal Family is often seen as being informal, intimate and with a family closeness, but this hides the conventions of the style. Central to most scenes is the disc of the Aten, shining down on the Royal Family and literally giving life and prosperity to Akhenaten and Nefertiti. Royalty are shown with left and right feet, each with a big toe.

Detail from a wall painting from a private house at Amarna, showing two of Akhenaten and Nefertiti''s daughters.

The discovery of the workshop of the king's sculptor Thutmose in 1912 uncovered one of the most important collection of works encountered anywhere in Egypt. A total of more than 20 prototype plaster casts taken at various stages of production, from clay masters, together with a whole range of incomplete and finished sculptures carved in a variety of hard and soft stones. Most principal members of the court can be recognised, including Akhenaten, Nefertiti, Kiya (another of Akhenaten's queens) and several of the royal princesses. The quality of all of these works is superb, but the unrivalled centrepiece of the collection is one of ancient Egypt's most famous icons: the unfinished limestone painted bust of Nefertiti wearing her characteristic flat-topped crown.

The famous bust of Nefertiti also depicts her with an elongated neck, although she is not subjected to quite the same extremes as others in Amarna art. An unusually prominent figure in official art, she dominates scenes carved on the blocks of the temple to the Aten at Karnak. One such block shows her in the warlike posture of pharaoh grasping captives by the hair and smiting them with a mace. Not what one would usually expect of a "peaceful" queen and mother of six daughters! Nefertiti obviously played a far more prominent role in her husband's rule than was perhaps considered the norm.

Limestone column fragment showing Nefertiti making offerings to Aten. Ashmoleon Museum, Oxford.	Unfinished limestone painted bust of Nefertiti by the sculptor Thutmose. Ägyptisches Museum Berlin.	Relief of Nefertiti in the Cairo Museum, discovered during excavations in the great temple of Aten at Amarna.