ancient Egyptians

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When Humans First Treated Cancer Just Got a Big Update

Cut marks around brain lesions in 4K-year-old Egyptian skull suggest surgical intervention

(Newser) - A new study describes a potential awe-inspiring achievement of the ancient Egyptian civilization far apart from the pyramids. According to the research, ancient Egyptians may have been the first to explore and treat cancer. The finding is based on two skulls discovered in Giza and held at the University of...

What Did the 3K-Year-Old Mummy Say? 'Eeuuughhh'

Sound emerges from reconstructed vocal tract of ancient Egyptian priest Nesyamun

(Newser) - "Every Egyptian hoped that after death their soul would be able to speak," says University of York Egyptologist Joann Fletcher—who just sort of made that happen, at least for one 3,000-year-old Egyptian. But the priest who served under Rameses XI didn't confess of a good...

HPV-Fueled Cancer Might've Killed Ancient Egyptians
HPV-Fueled Cancer Might've
Killed Ancient Egyptians
NEW STUDY
Jun 26, 2018 10:20 AM CDT

HPV-Fueled Cancer Might've Killed Ancient Egyptians

Still, our cancer rate is '100 times greater'

(Newser) - Diagnoses have just been made for patients who've been dead for thousands of years. Researchers digging in Egypt have uncovered six cases of cancer among ancient Egyptians, including a young child with leukemia, a middle-aged woman with a carcinoma—most likely ovarian, breast, or colorectal cancer—and a middle-aged...

It Looks Like a Smudge. But Its Significance Is Huge

Mummy tattoos among the oldest ever found, say scientists

(Newser) - The ancient Egyptian mummy has been a favorite attraction at the British Museum since it was discovered a century ago in Gebelein, but only keen-eyed passers-by would've wondered at the dark smudges on the male's upper arm. Turns out, they were worth noticing. Infrared scans have revealed them...

Ancient Egypt Sprang Up Faster Than We Thought

Carbon dating, computer models shorten estimate at least 300 years

(Newser) - Ancient Egypt wasn't built in a day, but it was built a heck of a lot faster than researchers thought. Based on radiocarbon dating and computer models, a team of researchers has concluded that Egypt's pre-dynastic agricultural period along the Nile began later than previously believed, in 3700...

Ancient Pharoah Ramses III Was Assassinated
 Ancient Pharaoh 
 Ramses III Was 
 Assassinated 
in case you missed it
Dec 22, 2012 7:00 PM CST

Ancient Pharaoh Ramses III Was Assassinated

X-ray points to severe throat wound, say researchers

(Newser) - The mystery of an ancient Egyptian pharaoh's death may have been solved. Experts knew of an assassination and coup attempt on Ramses III, but never ascertained whether the attackers had succeeded, USA Today reports. Now, new X-ray analysis suggests they did: "The extent and depth" of a wound...

Nefertiti Had a 'Facelift'
 Nefertiti Had a 'Facelift' 
Sep 20, 2010 2:05 AM CDT

Nefertiti Had a 'Facelift'

Better nose, fewer wrinkles

(Newser) - It turns out the lovely Nefertiti wasn't quite the sylph-like sphynx we all imagine her to be. The sun-worshiping Egyptian queen appears to be the beneficiary of what amounts to ancient Photoshopping, notes the Independent . A 3,000-year-old bust of Nefertiti in a Berlin museum that the world knows as...

King Tut's Chariot Heads to NY
 King Tut's Chariot Heads to NY 
death wagon dept.
Jul 30, 2010 9:52 AM CDT

King Tut's Chariot Heads to NY

The ash cloud is no match for King's chariot

(Newser) - An ash cloud can't stop King Tut, or his ancient chariot. After being held up by Eyjafjallajokul l (and, really, who wasn't?) the boy king's 3,300-year-old ride is en route to New York, reports ABC News . The chariot, which goes on exhibit next week, may be a key piece...

King Tut's Penis Has Gone AWOL

(Newser) - It seems that King Tut and his penis have parted ways despite spending several thousand years joined at the, er, hip. When he was discovered in 1922 the king was fully intact, Time reports. Sometime in the last almost 90 years, his kingly member was removed, some hypothesize, to maintain...

Radar Uncovers Ancient Egyptian City
 Radar Uncovers  
 Ancient Egyptian City
in case you missed it
Jun 26, 2010 12:42 PM CDT

Radar Uncovers Ancient Egyptian City

Researchers map long-buried city of Avaris

(Newser) - Archaeologists have used satellite radar images to map a long-lost Egyptian city, reports the BBC. The team discovered a detailed outline of Avaris, the summer capital of the Hyksos invaders some 3,500 years ago. The picture reveals streets, houses, tombs, and the remains of a port area. The site...

57 Ancient Tombs Found in Egypt

Many remarkably intact, include religious texts

(Newser) - Archeologists have discovered a cache of ancient tombs in Egypt, some of which are almost 5,000 years old. Most of the 57 tombs hold an ornately painted wooden sarcophagus that houses a mummy; the oldest among them dates back to the rule of Egypt's first and second dynasties. One...

Egyptian Oasis Yields Roman-Era Mummy

'Unique find' appears to be 3-foot-tall adult: archaeologists

(Newser) - Egyptian archaeologists have discovered an intricately carved plaster sarcophagus portraying a wide-eyed woman dressed in a tunic in a newly uncovered complex of tombs at a remote desert oasis, Egypt's antiquities department says. It is the first Roman-style mummy found in Bahariya Oasis some 186 miles southwest of Cairo, said...

Egyptian Desert Yields 'Door to Afterlife'

Massive granite slab was moved from tomb to Roman building

(Newser) - A decorative granite door that dates to the 15th century BC has come to light in Egypt, illustrating the importance the ancient society attached to connections to the afterlife. The 6-foot-tall granite slab came from the tomb of User, a top adviser to Queen Hatshepsut. It would have been intended...

Enormous Pharaoh Head Found
 Enormous Pharaoh Head Found 
Mar 1, 2010 6:00 AM CST

Enormous Pharaoh Head Found

8-foot artifact is best likeness yet of Amenhotep III

(Newser) - A remarkably intact stone likeness of the head of the Pharaoh Amenhotep III has been found in the Egyptian city of Luxor. The granite statue is 8 feet tall and gives the most complete picture of the ruler's face. "Other statues have always had something broken—the tip of...

Pyramids Not Built by Slaves: Scientists

Tombs found near king's suggest laborers were free workers

(Newser) - The Great Pyramids of Egypt were built not by slaves, as is commonly believed, but by free workers of such high status that their tombs lie near the king's. The laborers built the Khufu and Khafre pyramids, and the research made public today sheds new light on graffiti describing the...

Egypt Demands Rosetta Stone Back

But the British Museum's intent on keeping it

(Newser) - Egypt’s top antiquities official will head to Britain tomorrow in his quest to goad the British Museum into returning the Rosetta Stone. Dr. Zahi Hawass calls the stone an “icon of Egyptian identity,” and says the museum doesn’t really value it. “They kept it in...

Heart Disease: Pharaohs Had It, Too
 Heart Disease: 
 Pharaohs Had It, Too 
RE-EXAMINING THE FOOD PYRAMID
Nov 17, 2009 7:20 PM CST

Heart Disease: Pharaohs Had It, Too

'Part of the human condition,' so fast food not only culprit

(Newser) - In a finding that pokes holes in the thinking that our modern fast-food lifestyle is behind heart disease, scientists have discovered that Egypt’s mummies, too, had hardened arteries. “Atherosclerosis is not just a disease of modern times,” one researcher tells WebMD . “It’s part of the...

Run, Spot, Run: Max and Bella Now Top Dog Names

Pooches get kids' names now

(Newser) - Traditional dog names like Spot and Buster have been abandoned for human names such as Max and Lucy, according to a survey of most popular pet names. The list was compiled by a pet health insurance company from the names of dogs in its database, reports USA Today. Max, Buddy,...

18 Stories