The agency said that the discovery, made by a team from the Supreme Council of Egyptian Antiquities, could be dated back to the Old Kingdom (3,000 B.C.) -- the golden age of pyramid building in ancient times.
The team "has found what could be a royal complex of 13 tombs of different shapes and sizes that could have belonged to high officials from that period or people who contributed to building these tombs," MENA said.
The agency said that human bones were found inside the coffins, although it did not specify how many coffins were discovered.
What an amazing place. I posted some photos a few weeks ago from my visit to Saqqara last August and was in awe of the beauty throughout that site. The video links on the article page say the pyramid was hidden for years because villages were on top of the old site. While in Luxor, I was told that there are many more important tombs yet to be discovered because of small villages overhead. What will they re-discover next?
Although archaeologists have been exploring Egypt for some 200 years, Hawass says only a third of what lies underground in Saqqara has been discovered.
"You never know what secrets the sands of Egypt hide," he said. "I always believe there will be more pyramids to discover."
So much of what we take for granted had to be started somewhere. In architecture/construction, this is what we believe to be the site of firsts. It's neighbor, Giza, tends to get the majority of the visitors and press but Saqqara and Dhashur are where the first pyramids were constructed. Saqqara is also where the first stone columns were built as well as the first stone frieze and the first stone arch that we know of today. The first stone building complex (that we know of) on the planet were constructed here.
The architecture throughout this site reminded me of Art Deco style, but perhaps there is a historian out there that knows more and could expand in the comments. More from Saqqara after the jump. The main (current) entrance at Saqqara. It's hard to believe it's over 4000 years old. A partially restored building inside the complex.
Another partially reconstructed building at Saqqara. Look at the beauty of those lines. This site is ancient yet the style could easily fit in the 20th century. The Greeks later borrowed heavily from the Egyptians though less from Saqqara and more from later sites.
Closeup of one of the columns.
Ongoing digs are everywhere though this was from August, so it's painfully hot and not as busy in the summer. Modern graffiti on the newly restored temples. Nothing says world history appreciation quite like scratching graffiti onto a temple. The scratchings are in all languages proving yet again that ignorance and stupidity isn't limited to any one country.
View looking at the pyramid where we entered. From the ground level, it's not obvious just how high the entrance is. This was good news since I'm not keen on heights. The car is an old model that is refitted to run on natural gas. Egypt has very little oil though it does have large quantities of natural gas.
Instead of going in the pyramids at Giza we opted to go inside here where fewer tourist buses were around. The smell inside was terrible, like a mix of bat poop, four thousand year old sweat and ammonia. The following day our legs were in pain after the awkward angle (and stooping) to go down and back up from the tomb. Well worth the experience though.
Admittedly, I'm not a religious person though I am always intrigued by religion and how cultures recognize religious events and locations. A few years ago while visiting a friend in a small village in the south of France, the village had their annual procession for the Stations of the Cross to start the Easter weekend. The villagers have been doing this for decades, dressing in costumes and leading the entire village to each station. It really was quite a site to see.
Last summer I had the opportunity to visit Israel including Jerusalem and spent time visiting the original Via Dolorosa and the Stations of the Cross right in to the Holy Sepulchre. Regardless of what you believe walking the streets of Jerusalem (in all districts) is one of the most amazing places on earth. It's heavy - very heavy - but every stone has history that scans history right up until today. Even entering the city through the (now closed, I believe) crossing point from Jordon through the DMZ and the West Bank was amazing. Anyway, the night photos are from Roquebrune village (officially Roquebrune-Cap Martin) and the rest, from Jerusalem. More photos after the jump.
Lighting the candles for one of the Stations of the Cross.
One of the Stations of the Cross during the procession.
The procession in the village on Good Friday.
A Jerusalem street sign for the famous street.
Above, Station VI on the Via Dolorosa where Veronica met Jesus and wiped his face as he carried the cross.
In the Holy Sepulchre where Jesus was cleansed after death. Crowds of people would gather to touch the stone, often crying and placing objects on it. The occasional outbursts of crying with hair pulling and laying parts of their body on the slab could be somewhat odd to an outsider like myself. Interesting to observe though.
The British teachers union, thankfully, is not as enthusiastic about teaching the glories of invading a country and killing tens of thousands of civilians. How long before this tripe ends up in US schools, though it's probably already part of the program for home schoolers and in the deep South. The British school program has been provided by the UK Ministry of Defence.
At the heart of the union's concern is a lesson plan commissioned by an organisation called Kids Connections for the Ministry of Defence aimed at stimulating classroom debate about the Iraq war.
In a "Students' Worksheet" which accompanies the lesson plan, it stresses the "reconstruction" of Iraq, noting that 5,000 schools and 20 hospitals have been rebuilt. But there is no mention of civilian casualties.
In the "Teacher Notes" section, it talks about how the "invasion was necessary to allow the opportunity to remove Saddam Hussein" but it fails to mention the lack of United Nations backing for the war. The notes also use the American spelling of "program".
Addressing whether the MoD should be providing materials for schools, Mr Sinnott said that he did not object, as long as the material was accurate, presented responsibly and contained a balanced view of opinions.
The union has protested to the Schools Secretary, Ed Balls, who has referred the complaint to the MoD. In a letter to Mr Balls, Mr Sinnott said: "I have to say that were the MoD pack to be distributed and followed without the legally required 'balanced presentation of opposing views' there would, in my view, be very serious risk of a finding of non-compliance with section 406 (of the 1996 Education Act) at least.
Putting aside the stupidity of the "Freedom fries" and anti-French hysteria from the pre-war days (hey, they were right!) I find this article hard to believe. I believe La Fayette (also known sometimes as Lafayette, one word) is the most often used name for towns, cities and counties in America after Washington. The man was a true hero and provided leadership and connections to France, both of which were critical to the success of the America War of Independence. Without the deep pockets of France and the military assistance from the likes of La Fayette and Admiral de Grasse (see victory at Yorktown) who knows if the US would have won.
In the US there's an often discussed idea that if people are upset with the government, they will turn and somehow manage to succeed. The facts are quite different. A burning desire for change and improvement are but a few of the necessary factors. Look at Iraq, for example. Plenty of foreign assistance, but a lack of leadership and desire for a better system has everyone stuck in an ugly cycle of violence for the sake of violence.
Back to La Fayette and his proper place in America. If this is in fact true, that Americans don't know who he was or what he did, this explains our pre-war arrogance and ignorance. This also raises the issue of why Americans are so often disliked around the world. Here today, gone tomorrow and what have you done for me lately? Like it or not, America has a shoddy reputation for forgetting about our friends, with La Fayette being but one example. This attitude certainly does nothing to help us realize that yes, we have relied on friends around the world, even in the toughest times. By forgetting about people such as La Fayette, it only feeds into the arrogance that the US alone is the best and the greatest. Indeed, it's not just the French who have a reputation around the world for being arrogant. This perhaps also explains the friction between our two great nations over time.
Remembering our friends and being respectful of our traditional allies doesn't make America any weaker or less important. As we move forward with a re-emerging Russia and the fast-moving China it's going to be even more important that we go back and work on our global relationships. We tried "going it alone" and look at where it got us. Whoever our next president will be, they are going to need to build bridges and lots of them. Let's not forget about the La Fayettes of the world.
Earlier this year there were numerous articles about George Washington's house in Philadelphia and the recent excavations linking the passage from the house to his slave quarters. The excavations launched a lively debate about Washington and his views on slavery as well as slavery in America. Washington supposedly soured on the idea of slavery in his final years and did in fact free them. Unfortunately he did not feel strong enough about the disgusting practice to take a stand while he was alive and waiting until after his death. He also did nothing about Martha Washington's slaves who remained after his death, which is not exactly the profile in courage that we like to think of with one of our founding fathers though it is the painful reality.
Much like the ongoing debate in Philadelphia, there is a fresh new examination under way at Mount Vernon as well. It may not be the glorified and sugary Washington that we heard about in grade school, but this debate is exactly what makes history interesting. History is always evolving and debating an important issue such as slavery and its lasting impact on America is healthy for all of us. Considering the pedestal that our current president was put on just a few years ago - and the trouble that presented for the country and the world - debates such as this can only help. Read on...
