The Egyptian History, Reference on the use of female warriors in battlefields.

The Egyptian History, Reference on the use of female warriors in battlefields.


Maybe it is not so common to imagine in the ancient battlefields that the female role would exceed the nursing service and its subcategories but the ancient Egyptian wars were familiar with some female fighters. History mentions queen Aiahhotep “alternatively spelled as Aahhotep” who had a great role in the Egyptian wars of liberation against the Hyksos, 1700 B.C and mainly after the death of her husband king Seqnenra while fighting his foes. According to her mummy examination she looked physically strong and muscular which referred to her physical participation in the actual battle. And due to her brave fight she was rewarded the golden flies’ necklace which used to sign for the unique valor for ancient Egyptian warriors. Another rich example that goes back to the reign of king Ramses II is found in Bait-Elwali temple, south of Aswan which is about 1200 B.C. A wall carving that represents king Ramses II wars in upper Nubba” southern Sudan “ where he is depicted in his triumph and receiving the spoils of war and a lot of Nubian handmade goods” such as incense, Myrrh , ivory, ebony, furniture, bows and so on”. Also it shows his sons while leading the army regiments and vanquishing their enemy. Surprisingly, a princess is shown while sharing an officer leading a chariot and the sign “ Heqa” which means ruler appears beside her. According to the text which is carved beneath she herself led a regiment,” Daughter of the king, from his body, his beloved Nu-Netri is going forth -while her lead- given power, the justified princess”.




Indeed observing the princess on her chariot was almost imposable as she is depicted with so masculine body and a single hair-lock similarly to any prince.




The inscription may emphasize her early death which could happened during the battle or just before making that carving as it was traditional to provide the title “Maa Khrew” or the justified to the deceased. Copyrig ©Musegypt. 2006

The Journey into the Sun, the Solar Boats of Ra.

The Solar Boat of Cheops


The original rowlock.


The Journey into the Sun, the Solar Boats of Ra.

The most ancient dream for mankind was the everlasting and so was it for the ancient Egyptians. Since the beginning of the Egyptian ancient cultures the search for the eternity never had stopped, the worship of the Sun-God Ra had been the initiation for the settle. Ra was the main creator god and force that had vanquished the dark, the chaos and the time. His journey into eternity was represented by his death or disappearance and his rebirth by his rise from death. The Egyptian myths describe the king to the mortal reincarnation of Ra and in post mortem melts in the sun. The world heritage of antiquates was enriched in the year 1954 by the discovery of the first solar boat. The discovery of the solar boats at Giza was the most stunning event for the archaeological organizations mere luck helped to establish that discovery. The first Ark was discovered in a deep ditch to the south of the great pyramid of Cheops, the ditch contained a dismantled ship of cedar wood. The Egyptian archaeological team had faced a puzzle once they managed to extract it, the countless cedar fragments “around 1200 peace” that represent the whole ark. Surprisingly. The condition of the ship was as perfect as 95 % included its original ropes. The first assumption on the ship main function was suggested to be used for loading and transferring the royal funeral belongings, that thought was abandoned once the boat’s anatomy was examined by the experts. Meanwhile working on assembling the ancient ark by Ahmed yousif and his team four other ditches were discovered around the great pyramid. Two of the ditches were found loaded with similar cedar piles of fragments that represent two more ships while the other two ditches were found empty. Book of the dead describes Ra full journey to be completed by the use of great arks, so according to that reference the idea of the symbolism of the ship had projected. The first ship was restored and assembled in almost ten years the restorers they took advantage of the ancient hieratic signs that were incised by the original builders in order to reassemble it. The solar boat of Cheops is the most gigantic ship that the ancient world had created as it is 54.5 meters long and dates back to the fourth dynasty which is about 2500 B.C. Copyrig ©Musegypt. 2006

Esna Temple needs an urgent rescue!

Esna Temple needs an urgent rescue!

Esna temple is located few miles south of Luxor city, the temple is surrounded by the local houses and the village. Esna Temple foundations go back to the 18th dynasty of the Egyptian history which is about 1400 B.C. Its earliest excavations started by August Mariette in late 1800 as he managed to unearth most of the temple. Visitors to Esna are often stunned with its glamorous and vivid colours which exceeded 2000 years old. The temple has a rich inscriptions that record too many royal names for the kings who shared building the temple of Esna such as Thutmoses III , Ptolemy VI , Ptolemy VIII , Marcus Aurelius, Decius, Septimus Servus , Trajan and others. The temple is in very poor condition as it had been left surrounded by the village and its sewage as well as water table which caused obvious erosion to temple’s base and foundation. Also great part of Esna temple is still covered by the local houses. Museumegypt wishes to call the attention required from the Egyptian Supreme Council of Antiquities to be seriously and urgently concerned of saving Esna temple. Copyrig ©Musegypt. 2006

Picture & Comment

Carving from the chapel of Hathor in Komombo Temple, the 1st century B.C. It represents the Roman Emperor Trajan while offering the goddess Hathor a pair of Sistrums” rattles “.Copyrig ©Musegypt