28/06/2023, 11:18 Ancient Egypt's 10 Most Jaw-Dropping Discoveries | HISTORY

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Ancient Egypt’s 10 Most Jaw-

Dropping Discoveries
From King Tut's tomb to the pyramids, here are the greatest
archaeological finds from Egypt.

BY: SARAH PRUITT

PUBLISHED: MAY 9, 2019

Ancient Egypt may be long gone, but archaeologists keep finding its treasures.

For more than 3,000 years, one of history’s greatest civilizations flourished along
the winding Nile River in northeast Africa. But after Egypt fell under first Greek,
then Roman, and finally Muslim control, the ancient civilization’s glories were
buried under layers of these different cultures, only to surface again centuries later
as archaeologists and historians embraced the study known as Egyptology.

Beginning in the 19th century, bombshell discoveries such as the Rosetta Stone
and the lavish tomb of Tutankhamen in the Valley of the Kings, as well as the
excavation of the Pyramids at Giza, opened the doors to a new understanding of
ancient Egypt’s mysteries, fueling an explosion of interest—and tourism.

Many of ancient Egypt’s rulers—known today as pharaohs—built themselves

elaborate monuments and tombs, inscribing them with their names and
achievements in hieroglyphics. Through painstaking excavations, research and
translation, modern scholars have used these written records to trace Egypt’s
history and divide it into three distinct periods—known as the Old, Middle and New
Kingdoms—with periods of relative instability in between.

With each new tomb or secret underground chamber discovered, Egyptologists

began to gain a clearer understanding of the ancient civilization’s fascination with
death and the afterlife, including its highly sophisticated mummification practices.

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Unfortunately, looters got to many tombs centuries before modern archaeologists

arrived, robbing them of gold, jewelry and other valuable goods intended to
accompany the dead in their journey to the afterlife. Many of the mummies
themselves had gone missing as well, making those who were found (like King Tut,
Ramses II and Hatshepsut) even more valuable.

Excavations of Egypt’s ancient sites have continued steadily since the early 20th
century, with each new discovery offering insight into the intricacies of a civilization
that made striking advances in nearly every area of human knowledge, including
art, mathematics, agriculture, engineering and written language. Even today, many
tombs remain to be excavated, promising yet more amazing finds to come.

Want more HISTORY? Check out these stories:

See Stunning Photos of King Tut's Tomb After a Major Restoration

10 Awe-Inspiring Photos of the Ancient Egyptian Pyramids

Ancient Egyptians Were Making Mummies Much Earlier Than Thought

It's Official: King Tut's Tomb Doesn't Contain Any Secret Chambers

BY: SARAH PRUITT

Sarah Pruitt is a writer and editor based in seacoast New Hampshire. She has been a
frequent contributor to History.com since 2005, and is the author of Breaking History:
Vanished! (Lyons Press, 2017), which chronicles some of history's most famous
disappearances.

Citation Information
Article Title Ancient Egypt’s 10 Most Jaw-Dropping Discoveries

Author Sarah Pruitt

Website Name HISTORY

URL https://www.history.com/news/ancient-egypt-10-best-discoveries-king-tut-pyramids

Date Accessed June 28, 2023

Publisher A&E Television Networks

Last Updated May 9, 2019

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28/06/2023, 11:18 Ancient Egypt's 10 Most Jaw-Dropping Discoveries | HISTORY

Original Published Date May 9, 2019

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