http://cache.io9.com/assets/base/img/thumbs140x140/io9.com.png http://io9.com/tag/egypt http://io9.com/tag/egypt

The legendary 1922 discovery of King Tutankhamen's tomb was the 62nd burial discovered in the Valley of the Kings. Amazingly, it wouldn't be until 2005 that a 63rd tomb was found. Now, a newly announced, pristine tomb is number 64. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5876487&view=rss&microfeed=true

Almost 20 million people live in the Cairo metropolitan area, and housing is tight, even in the suburbs. In a neighborhood known as al-Arafa, residents have moved into a necropolis dating back to 600 A.D. In this City of the Dead, there is limited electricity and sanitation, and the deceased take up residency among the living. Here's how one visitor described the layout of these tombs in 2010:

More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5875158&view=rss&microfeed=true

Pharaohs were far from the only ancient Egyptians to be mummified. An entire ancient industry grew up around supplying people with mummified pets to accompany them into the afterlife. Business was even big enough to drive entire species extinct. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5862019&view=rss&microfeed=true

The pharaohs ruled Egypt for over three thousand years, and the story of the very last pharaoh - you might know her as Cleopatra - is famous to this day. But what about the very first pharaohs? More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5828524&view=rss&microfeed=true

This room might look worthy of pharaohs, but it was built more than eighteen centuries after the last one died. Found in a villa in northern Italy, it's a strange memorial to an Egyptian obsession from three hundred years ago. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5818447&view=rss&microfeed=true

Here's a bizarre milestone. On June 28, 1911, a meteorite fell over the outskirts of Alexandria, Egypt. The meteorite broke into several smaller rocks, one of which may have reduced a dog to a burnt smear. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5816259&view=rss&microfeed=true

A satellite equipped with infrared cameras led to an amazing discovery: archeologists were able to see, for the first time, some of Egypt's long-buried pyramids. Find out how infrared scanning revealed over 3,000 ancient structures deep underneath the sand. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5805637&view=rss&microfeed=true

Among the remarkable treasures found in Tutankhamun's tomb were two ornate trumpets, one made of silver and the other of bronze. In 1939, BBC radio broadcast the trumpets' music to 150 million people, and they're now re-releasing the original audio. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5793270&view=rss&microfeed=true

Although Egyptian hieroglyphics depict a noble class that was forever beautiful and healthy, ancient records tell a far different story, of an aristocracy riddled with heart disease. And now preserved mummy hearts are revealing the full extent of the phenomenon. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5788551&view=rss&microfeed=true

For nearly as long as humans have walked the Earth, they've had beer waiting for them when they got home. Beer and brewing date back thousands of years, but it's still anyone's guess which ancient culture drank the first beer. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5786565&view=rss&microfeed=true

Dwell magazine has a fascinating interview with UC Berkeley architecture professor Nezar AlSayyad, about the peculiar urban design that went into Tahrir Square, the locus of so many protests in Cairo. AlSayyad, who also heads up the university's Center for Middle Eastern Studies, explains that the square - which isn't in fact square at all - is perfectly designed to host a massive anti-government protest. Here's why. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5769002&view=rss&microfeed=true

We've all seen proof that technology can bring people together and change the world. People are crediting Facebook with helping to organize the Egyptian protests that led to the resignation of Hosni Mubarak. It turns out that our faith in technology's ability to empower people wasn't misplaced after all. So where are all the stories about technology helping people to gain their freedom? More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5759399&view=rss&microfeed=true

With the threat of today's protests looming in Egypt, on Thursday Egyptian authorities cut the nation off the internet. No online communication could pass in or out of the country. We investigated whether a similar lockdown could happen in America. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5746338&view=rss&microfeed=true

Almost two millennia before the rest of humanity entered the industrial age, the Greek inventor Hero invented the steam engine, wind-powered machinery, and theories of light that couldn't be improved for centuries. And then he invented some really crazy stuff. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5742457&view=rss&microfeed=true

A curious, large-tusked elephantine creature appears in the tomb of Rekhmire, an Egyptian vizier who died sometime between 1479-1401 BCE. Could this creature be an extinct pygmy mammoth from the Mediterranean or simply the creative license of a temple artist? More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5737369&view=rss&microfeed=true

For years, fish fossils have turned up in the deserts of western Egypt, and nobody could explain why. Now we know: Long ago, the Egyptian desert was home to a body of water the size of Lake Michigan. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5705592&view=rss&microfeed=true

National Geographic has just republished an essay written in 1923, by a journalist who ventured inside King Tut's tomb shortly after it was excavated - and told his tale with low-key swashbuckling flair. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5622994&view=rss&microfeed=true

The Great Pyramid of Giza has been extensively studied (and looted) since its construction 4,500 years ago. But some tunnels are too small or too fragile for human archaeologists to explore - that's when they send in the robots. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5613136&view=rss&microfeed=true

While trying to determine the cause of Egyptian pharaoh Tutankhamun's death, one researcher found that not all of the boy king's parts were present and accounted for. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5574620&view=rss&microfeed=true

Somewhere buried under all those bags of trash is the Egyptian city of Zabbaleen, where garbage reigns supreme. It looks like an object lesson, warning us of some impending garbage apocalypse, but there's something entirely different at work. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5422806&view=rss&microfeed=true

In a few years, you may be able to see Alexandria the way it once was — deep beneath the sea. The areas of classical Alexandria that contained the ancient world's biggest library along with Cleopatra's palace have sunk beneath the waves, but now it looks as if the United Nations may step in and help Egypt show off these structures in a unique underwater museum (architectural drawing above). Above the water, the museum will have illuminated sail-like structures and be connected to the mainland via fiberglass tunnel. Want to gawk at some of the underwater treasures that museum visitors might see? More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5051825&view=rss&microfeed=true