Egypt discovers ancient port and writings....Red Sea port

Egypt discovers ancient port and writings
Posted by TANN Ancient, ArchaeoHeritage, Archaeology, Breakingnews, Egypt, Greater Middle East, Near East 3:00 PM



Egypt's state minister of antiquities says a Franco-Egyptian exploration team has discovered a Red Sea port dating back about 4,500 years to Great Pyramid builder King Cheops of the Fourth Dynasty of the Old Kingdom.


Egypt discovers ancient port and writings



Escavating Wadi el-Jarf [Credit: G. Marwad, Egyptian Archaeology 40]
Mohammed Ibrahim said Thursday the port was discovered at Wadi el-Jarf, nearly 180 kilometers (110 miles) south the coastal city of Suez.In a statement, Ibrahim said the port was used to transfer copper from Sinai to the Nile valley.

Egypt discovers ancient port and writings



A hieroglyphic papyrus discovered at Wadi el-Jarf, nearly 180 km (111 miles) south the coastal city of Suez, Egypt. Egypt’s state of antiquities affairs minister has declared the discovery of a historic coastal port dating back to King Khufu of the fourth dynasty of the old pharaonic kingdom. The Franco-Egyptian team working in the Suez archaeological area also discovered hieroglyphic papyri and stone anchors. Most of the discovered papyri date back to the 27th year of the reign of King Khufu. The papyri included information about number of the port workers and details about their daily lives. They were transferred to the Suez museum for study and registration [Credit: AP/Egypt's Supreme Council Of Antiquities]

The team working in the Suez archaeological area also discovered hieroglyphic papyri, considered the oldest found in Egypt. Ibrahim said the papyri reveal details about port workers and their daily lives. Most date back to the 27th year of the reign of Cheops, also known as Khufu.The documents were transferred to the Suez museum.

Source: Associate Press [April 11, 2013]

http://archaeologynewsnetwork.blogspot.com/2013/04/egypt-discovers-ancient-port-and.html#.UWm0tKLD-Uk

So COOL! I love when they find this stuff!

More on Egypt discovers ancient port and writings
Posted by TANNAncientEgypt, Greater Middle East, Near East 1:30 PM

Archaeologists have stumbled upon what is thought to be the world's oldest port. The harbour, discovered on the Red Sea coast, is believed to date back 4,500 years, to the days of the Pharaoh Khufu (Cheops) in the Fourth Dynasty.



Part of the port at Wadi el-Jarf. Egyptian authorities said the archaeologists found a variety of docks, as well as a collection of carved stone anchors [Credit: British Museum]
Teams believe it was once of one of the most important commercial ports of ancient Egypt, and would have been used for the export copper and other minerals from the Sinai Peninsula.

Alongside it were pieces of ancient papyri, which include fascinating details about the daily lives of ancient Egyptians.



Egyptian authorities said the archaeologists found a variety of docks, as well as a collection of carved stone anchors [Credit: British Museum]
Egyptian authorities said the archaeologists found a variety of docks, as well as a collection of carved stone anchors, NBC reports.

The harbour, which was built on the Red Sea shore in the Wadi al-Jarf area, 112 miles south of Suez, was discovered by a team from the French Institute for Archaeological Studies.



The harbour is thought to be 1,000 years older than any other port structure in the world [Credit: British Museum]
It is thought to be 1,000 years older than any other port structure in the world.

The team also discovered a collection of 40 papyri offering a fascinating insight into the daily lives of ancient Egyptians during the 27th year of Pharoah Khufu's reign. Khufu died around 2566 B.C.

It includes details of the arrangements for getting bread and beer to the workers heading out from the port.



Pieces of worked wood, oar, tenons, pieces of wooden boxes, ropes found at Wadi el-Jarf [Credit: British Museum]
Egypt's antiquities minister, Mohamed Ibrahim, said they were are the oldest papyri ever found in Egypt.

He said one ancient papyrus tells of the activities of an official named Merrer, who was involved in building the Great Pyramid of Giza, the tomb of Khufu.



Hieroglyphic papyrus detailing the arrangements for getting bread and beer to the workers heading out from the port [Credit: EPA]
'He mainly reported about his many trips to the Turah limestone quarry to fetch block for the building of the pyramid.

'Although we will not learn anything new about the construction of the Cheops monument, this diary provides for the first time an insight on this matter.'

http://archaeologynewsnetwork.blogspot.com/2013/04/more-on-egypt-discovers-ancient-port.html#.UXFfl7UsnmM