#the richest pharaohs

[liberationwasboundtohappen]

Just Another Libera AU

Soooo, my wife is amazing and when I was talking to her today, she said a doozy and it sort of...snowballed. Imagine this: The Spirit of the Puzzle is not a dead Pharaoh, but is rather the Queen Mother of the heir of the throne, Atem. The Unknown Queen, who gave her life and soul and sealed herself in the Millennium Puzzle after the death of her only son at the hands of Zorc Necrophades, who manipulated another innocent child (TKB) in order to facilitate his evil plans. Her son got reborn as Yuugi Mutou, who solved the puzzle. The Queen does not know who she is, but she knows that the boy whose body she is inhabiting is her son. She doesn't know how she knows this, but she does; and she will protect and nurture this child with everything she has. So instead of a masculine badass pharaoh coming out whenever Yuugi's 'other self' emerges, you get a sophisticated femme fatale serving so much cunt that she could teach Marik Ishtar a thing or two. (Funny: Her true appearance also looks quite a bit like if Ishizu and Marik fused) She also -- after Duelist Kingdom, anyway -- ships Yuugi and Kaiba. After all, only the best is allowed to marry her son, and Kaiba is literally one of the richest people in the world and an extremely strong duelist to boot. Kaiba dueling her in the afterlife would be extremely awkward (for Kaiba): Queen: Well, well. You didn't beat me, but you proved yourself worthy. Kaiba: Don't patronize me! Queen: I'm not. I'm giving you my blessing. Kaiba: Your what? Why would I need-- Queen: To marry my son. You are in love with Yuugi, aren't you? Kaiba: *Choking CEO noises*

[middle-ans]

omg just wanna say ancient egypt au sounds so insanely interesting (sorry i just loved ancient egypt as a kid and i'm a bit of a history nerd now) so i'm ready to learn anything about this story!💫

Good for you, precious, I’m very much the same that way! I had so many thoughts on this idea, so I came up with this precise world picture - 90 BC, Roman Emperor shares a world domination with Egyptian ruler, came to rather fall into another war or build peace with him.

Don’t let the names confuse you - Lewis is the inheritor to the Egypt’s first ruler and God of the Sun - Ra, given the name Lewsaen (Sa-En-Ra meaning “Son of Ra”). George has a more Roman-like version of his name, Georgián, a son of Roman Emperor Octavian, so that he’s taking a family name tradition with its ending. (2202 words)

A caravan of ships parted the deep waters of Nile in a lavish gold framework, dozens of them traveling upstream, from the port with sails of Roman Empire to the very heart of the Egyptian ruler's domain. A palace of which the Emperor Octavian's majesty could not help but squint his eyes in resentment. A bright blinding white stone in the middle of the desert, a diamond cruelly cutting an eye in the sprawling freshness of the oasis around it - gardens, labyrinths, tangled paths with fountains and statues, all raised in honor of the ancestors of the ancient Lewsaen dynasty. It was as if the great Pharaoh was trying to signify his superiority even before the very encounter.

He did not wear a crown like the kings Octavian had met, nor did he frame his head with the gold of elaborately wrought laurel branches, but shone brighter than the sun itself, named as the son of God Ra, the Sun God, the first ruler of Egypt. Chest proudly exposed in painted steady ink, woven into the history of his peoples and armies, cloak in richly embellished weaved designs of the finest fabrics, kept in place by stones and a wide necklace holding his neck to the collarbones. A belt bearing the symbol of the celestial daylight, all glory of his heritage with wings majestically spread open around his waist, a heavy leather skirt fell in strictly cut wisps down to mid-thigh. Bracelets and anklets with lapis lazuli as a token - as soon as he sets foot on foreign soil, all its goods belong to him. He is death and life itself, creator and destructor, having swept half the world under the soles of his sandals. And yet, unable to live in peace while the other half would so persistently seek out the cracks in his power to hit the fractures harder.

Octavian had been bathed in luxury more than any other ruler who had stepped onto the desert sands before the gates of Pharaoh's palace, and yet he had the most meticulous eye to catch the imperfections in the mosaics on the floor and the shapely engraved columns of every hall he walked down. A whole wing was given over to the entire delegation that had arrived as part of the Emperor's court, and even with canvases in Roman designs over the beds, Octavian was unwilling to submit to hospitality.

His tongue was a vial carrying poison, releasing a drop into every dish on table, loose and unleashed even before the servants fed them wine. Something sadistic in his nature reveled in the tension of every muscle in Pharaoh's face, and though they sat at different ends of the long table, the message was unmistakable. Both Alphas, both greedy for every bit of power that threatened to slip from their grasp. Pride played skillfully against the other, and one could find themselves in a state close to what they should have been trying to steer away from - one word dividing the world between war and peace.

“Enough,” Pharaoh growls, pushing the chair back to bump against the milky marble.

He storms out of the hall, staring straight ahead as none of the guards' gazes dare rise to his firmly striding form. He had stepped on the throat of his own pride, arranged things as no one had ever been welcomed into his richest of creations, his palace, the heart of the kingdom, the walls that held the greatest honor to his essence, and this very guest was insolent enough to continue his manipulative games with him even here. Pharaoh could not be humiliated so openly and defiantly. Rushing through the hallways past the rooms of Romans, Alpha sought warm flesh and blood as a snake coiled in the garden, in need of quenching its thirst by shooting venom into a fortuitous victim. All the doors in the wing closed except for one.

Pharaoh peered inside through the slightest gap, seeing the Roman banner on the walls and Octavian's scattering of jewelry, must be someone of supreme importance to the Emperor. A figure stood at the neatly paved column leading to the balcony, a slender, tall form curved in a relaxed stance, a Roman tunic girt at the notable waist and among the jewels around his wrists and ankles, Pharaoh suddenly caught sight of bare feet gracing the marble of the rooms of his palace. None other than Omega of beauty and elegance such that any harem would pale against him was turned with his back to the door and surveyed the rich realms of the Egyptian ruler right up to the horizon burning with flames of setting sun. Lewis didn't hesitate as he pushed the door open wider.

He thought the silhouette startled him, but when Omega turned around at the sound of his footsteps, Pharaoh could find himself nowhere but already captured in the depths of blue eyes.

“Pharaoh,” a voice so soft and calm, as if the Alpha's very figure did not inspire a shiver of fear in him. “I did not expect such company.”

“And who can you be?”

Lewis took a few steps toward him, drawn to the slightest motion of hands that circled the curve of his hips against the column of the balcony.

“Georgian. Son of the Roman Emperor Octavian.”

Yes, now Lewis could match the details. His posture was noble, every breath Omega turned into words radiated regality, he was no ordinary ornament to the overall picture, rather the one and only center of it. Touching him phantomly with only cautious sweeps of his lashes in shifting glances, Pharaoh already wished he could see his profile carved in stone on the walls of his palace.

“He brought you here?” Alpha hummed intrigued. “Into the heart of the kingdom of his sworn worst enemy? While so shamelessly and carelessly playing with me, urging me to war?”

Omega sighed, letting a faint breeze ruffle his curls. They framed the well-defined and sharp edges of his face with angelic curls, falling low down the back of his head, supported only by a laurel wreath of shining gold around his head. Not beautiful enough to match the fair youthful appearance of the young heir to the throne of Rome.

“My father is no doubt a great ruler. Managing to conquer more lands than his predecessor, but great men like you, Pharaoh, know well what power does to minds. He sees no other way but war to keep force. The more he takes, the more he demands.”

“Do you assume my ambitions aren't soaring higher than his?” Lewis teases him with the curve of a smile, mesmerized the moment he sees the answer on a face made of milky rivers and rose petals in the blush of lips.

“You are a man of deeds, not words. You have no need to voice your ambitions when you can show them by expanding the boundaries of your reign.”

Georgian leans on the column fully, winding his arms behind his back and gliding barefoot across the stone floor as if the air itself obeyed his grace, cradling the hem of the tunic molded to his figure.

“I rarely have the pleasure of someone speaking so wisely and freely,” Pharaoh follows him like a bewitched man, always within a stone's throw of the invisible boundary from the tips of Omega's toes. “You don't know fear at all?”

“Fear is such an aimless waste of emotion,” from an outsider's mouth he'd regard it as flattery and braggadocio, but Georgian is sincere, in every opening of his mouth, he of all people wouldn't need a chant to his father's nightmare. “Besides, should I fear a man who offers hospitality so generously even to his obvious enemies? We expected swords and soldiers in the harbor; in lieu of that, you sent five dozen of your ships, trimmed in gold, to carry us down the Nile to your home. Chose this very palace, open as a palm in the middle of pyramids, rather than imprison us in an impregnable fortress as hostages and seize the chance to end Roman rule. But here I am. In the richly adorned rooms you have provided for us. I owe you no fear, only gratitude.”

“I find myself one step away from questioning the generosity,” Lewis drops his voice to commanding lows, willing to carry even a shadow of threat, rustling the hem of his cloak as he breaks the first boundary of their unspoken distance, taking a step closer. “With the way I am treated in my domain, I must take this as a direct declaration of war from the Empire.”

“Then I see it as my duty to ask you to give your thoughts another turn. Like deep waters of Nile, you can let a different channel flow, looking toward peace.”

“Peace,” Pharaoh exhales almost contemptuously, his tilt casting a shadow over Omega's form and obscuring him from the flickering glow of candlelight. Touching him in that way, too - at least with his shadow. “You speak of peace, but you make me want to start a war. For you.”

His features don't flinch, as if day after day the rulers are ready to throw world domination at his bare feet. Georgian softens in his gaze, tilting his head so that the fall of his curls to the side beckons Pharaoh even closer to him.

“If you truly desire me, son of Ra, you will make every effort to see peace prevail. War is easy, it requires weakness of a character. Peace asks for strength.”

Alpha's nostrils flare in greedy wisps of Omega's sweet scent, Lewis sees no impediment to putting his hands on him, pressing him close and planting him on the armrest of his throne, having him, losing himself in him, but Georgian is not something he can easily get his hands on. Omega grabs a hunch of his movements and shuffles aside, leaving the cold white stone of the column for the man's greedy palms instead of his skin. He retreats into the depths of the room with a gait not inferior in the slightest to the grace of his nature already so temptingly on display for Pharaoh.

“I see the way you look at me,” he says, even the flutter of his lashes from the wary glance over his shoulder calculated to the last detail. “But I am the bearer of nothing of yours. Until I do so, your hands can't claim what isn't theirs yet.”

Lewis closes his eyes, clenching fist against the wall and transferring the strength of his muscles to ground himself in dignity, to keep from falling into the shameful abyss of intoxicating power and authority.

“Very well,” he turns his back to the balcony, dancing his steps on the borders of proximity to Omega. No one has caught his breath with such bold defiance before, he would not have found another of such a spirit of openness and honesty if he had traversed the conquered lands with his army again a dozen times. “I will bathe you in every fiber of me. I will give you the finest robes, I will wrap you in the choicest silks, you will wear the greatest of Egypt's gifts, each one that pleases your eye. Rose quartz, turquoise lapis lazuli, the rarest of the treasures of my lands, things that no one can give you but Pharaoh. And then, by letting them become part of what adorns your being, you will know that you belong to me.”

Omega smiles knowingly at him, tangling his fingers in the ties of his belt. He didn't even falter for a second, as calm and collected as he was, whereas even the most noble Omegas of Egypt would have fallen into the ruler's bed without any resistance. Still, none of them had still managed to become his Queen.

“Belonging has very little to do with being bestowed with silks or treasures. I may wear them if they please me. But that will not make me yours.”

Lewis felt something that was unfamiliar to him even in the moments when he had been closer to death than life, holding the cold metal of the sword in his hands - a shiver tickling his fingers. He gazed intensely at Omega, studying every curve of his shape, seeing the imprints of his lips everywhere around him, not there yet, but in his dreams Georgian no longer had anything of Rome, only the gifts of Egypt on his shoulders.

“I'll let intentions speak louder,” Pharaoh was trapped between the delicate rise of his collarbones, letting out a shuddering breath. “I will make everything from my possessions yours. And then, precious Omega, we will have our bodies to speak for us. Not the trembling and fallacy of our words.”

A stirring blossoms with noise from the hallways, denoting that there is still life beyond the door of these chambers. Lewis steps toward the entrance, catching every flutter of his eyelashes following his steady steps.

“I cannot deny hope,” Georgian lingers him in the open passageway. “But I wish to talk to you at length, since I find such great pleasure in the way you speak, Pharaoh.”

[blueiscoool]

Over 2,000 Ram Skulls Discovered in Egypt's Temple of Ramses II

Cairo — Archaeologists have announced the discovery of more than 2,000 rams' heads at the temple of the ancient Egyptian pharaoh Ramses II — a find that the man in charge of the dig said surprised even veteran Egyptologists and showed the endurance of Ramses' impact, as the skulls were left there a millennium after the pharaoh's rule.

A team of archaeologists with New York University's Institute for the Study of the Ancient World (ISAW) made the discovery in the city of Abydos, one of the oldest cities and richest archaeological sites in Egypt. It's located about seven miles west of the Nile River in Upper Egypt, some 270 miles south of Cairo.

The ram skulls were found stacked in the northern precinct of the temple, said Egypt's Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, which announced the discovery on Saturday.

"We came across some random pieces of skulls first," Dr. Sameh Iskander, head of the ISAW mission, told CBS News. "We didn't know what they were, but as we continued our excavation and exploration, all of sudden we found a whole area filled with ram skulls."

"These are obviously offerings that were made to the temple of Ramses during the Ptolomaic period, which shows even 1,000 years after Ramses II, that he was still revered." Ramses II ruled over ancient Egypt for about 60 years before his death in 1213 BC.

Iskander explained that some of the ram heads were still mummified, while "others could have been mummified but the wrappings or the covers of mummifications were not there anymore."

The skulls were found among other objects, from papyrus to leather artifacts and statues, about six feet under the contemporary surface of the desert in what had been a storeroom of the ancient temple.

The large number of skulls found in the same place was "surprising even for Egyptologists," Iskander said.

"We are sure they were all dumped at the same time, so this was not an accumulation of skulls that were brought in over the years, but they came from somewhere else and were dumped into this magazine at some point for some reason which we don't know yet," he told CBS News. "It is significant because this place where they ended up is not just any place in the temple, so they were brought there for a reason. They were not just dumped in the desert but were inside this revered domain of the temple."

The archeologists also unearthed a large structure made of mudbricks with walls about 16 feet thick dating back about 4,200 years, to ancient Egypt's Sixth Dynasty.

"It is a major structure that will change our concept of the landscape of Abydos. This wall was built for something, it was at least 30 feet high." Iskander said. "We don't know exactly what this wall is. It's possible that this was a wall of the antient Abydos, which was never found. Could it be something else? Maybe, that's what we are working on now."

The mission also found other mummified animal remains, including dogs, goats, cows and gazelles.

Beside the massive structure, one very small object also captured Iskandar's attention.

"We also found a small bronze bell in excellent condition with the clapper, so we can hear the same sound of the ancient time. I was very happy to find it," he said. "It was probably used to mark a herd."

The head of the American mission, whose team has worked at the Abydos site since 2008, spoke to CBS News after traveling back to New York. He said a lot of research was still needed to find explanations for the latest discoveries.

"I hate to keep saying 'we don't know,' but this is the nature of archaeology. We keep working on findings that might lead to something, or not," he said, adding that he and his team may even need to "leave it to the next generation — they may have a better idea or other discoveries."

"Every year we have lots of finds and we come back very happy with the new finds, but we also come back with a huge sack full of questions," he said.

By Ahmed Shawkat.

[basicsofislam]

BASICS OF ISLAM: Fasting: On the Month of Ramadan.Part2

Third Point

One of the many instances of wisdom in fasting from the point of view of man’s social life is as follows:

Human beings have been created differently with regard to their livelihoods. In consequence of this, God Almighty invites the rich to assist the poor, so that through the hunger experienced in fasting, they can truly understand the pains and hunger which the poor suffer. If there were no fasting, many self-indulgent rich would be unable to perceive just how grievous are hunger and poverty and how needy of compassion are those who suffer them.

Compassion for one’s fellow men is an essential part of true thankfulness.

Whoever a person is, there will always be someone poorer than himself in some respect. He is enjoined to be compassionate towards such a person. If he were not himself compelled to suffer hunger, he would be unable give the person – through compassion – the help and assistance he is obliged to offer. And even if he were able, it would be deficient, for he would not have truly experienced hunger himself.

Truly experience hunger yourself.

Become more compassionate towards others.

Fourth Point

One instance of wisdom in fasting in Ramadan with respect to training the instinctual soul is as follows:

The instinctual soul wants to be free and independent, and considers itself to be thus. According to the dictates of its nature, it even desires an imaginary dominicality and to act as it pleases. It does not want to admit that it is being sustained and trained through innumerable bounties. Especially if it possesses worldly wealth and power, and if heedlessness also encourages it, it will devour God’s bounties like a usurping, thieving animal.

Thus, in the month of Ramadan, the instinctual soul of everyone, from the richest to the poorest, may understand that it does not own itself but is totally owned; that it is not free, but is a slave.

It understands that if it receives no command, it may not do the simplest and easiest thing; it cannot even stretch out its hand for water. Its imaginary dominicality is therefore shattered; it performs its worship and begins to offer thanks, its true duty.

Train your soul.

Offer worship and thanks.

Fifth Point

One of the many instances of wisdom in fasting in Ramadan from the point of view of improving the conduct of the instinctual soul and giving up its rebellious habits is as follows:

Due to its heedlessness the human soul forgets itself; it cannot see its utter powerlessness, want, and deficiency and it does not wish to see them. It does not think of just how weak it is, and how subject to transience and to disasters, nor of the fact that it consists merely of flesh and bones, which quickly decay and fall apart.

Simply, it assaults the world as though it possessed a body made of steel and imagined itself to be undying and eternal. It hurls itself on the world with intense greed and voracity, and passionate attachment and love. It is captivated by anything that gives it pleasure or that profits it. Moreover, it forgets its Creator, who sustains it with perfect compassion, and does not think of the consequences of its life and its life in the hereafter. Indeed, it wallows in dissipation and misconduct.

However, fasting in the month of Ramadan awakens even the most heedless and obstinate to their weakness, impotence, and want.

Hunger makes them think of their stomachs and they understand the need therein. They realize how unsound are their weak bodies, and perceive how needy they are for kindness and compassion. So they abandon the soul’s pharaoh-like despotism and recognizing their utter impotence and want, perceive a desire to take refuge at the divine court. They prepare themselves to knock at the door of mercy with the hands of thankfulness – so long as heedlessness has not destroyed their hearts, that is.

Recognize your utter impotence.

Knock at the door of mercy with the hands of thankfulness.

[indepwom101]

📷 Belgian Monarchy

🇧🇪 Queen Mathilde of the Belgians

Thursday, March 30, 2023

“In the wake of her trip to Egypt with Princess Elisabeth, the Queen visits the "Egypt Expedition" exhibition at the Royal Museums of Art and History. It dates back two centuries of archaeological discoveries in the land of the Pharaohs and dates back to the constitution of the museum's Egyptian collection, one of Europe's richest. The exhibition is placed under the High Patronage of the Queen and can be viewed until October 1st.”

[mid0o]

Ancient Egypt continues to amaze the world with its charm and beauty. Every year, excavations uncover new treasures from the times of the pharaohs, telling stories of an ancient and advanced civilization, from huge temples to ornate tombs, from magnificent statues to luxury jewelry, everything fascinates us with its secrets and details. There is no doubt that ancient Egypt is one of the richest and most fascinating cultures in history.

[miscellaneousvintageobjects]

Pharaoh Reveals Previously Unknown Ancient International Trade Routes

Ancient Egypt had a lot of gold, but very little silver. So how did Queen Hetepheres get her bracelets?

Sometimes in science, a breakthrough comes not with some new discovery, but with the re-examination of something we’ve had under our noses for decades. Take, for example, a new analysis of the jewelry collection of Hetepheres I, a queen of Egypt more than 4,500 years ago – research that has revealed a century-old museum display to in fact be some of the earliest evidence for long-distance trade in the ancient world.

“The origin of silver used for artefacts during the third millennium [BCE] has remained a mystery until now,” said Karin Sowada, researcher at the Department of History and Archaeology at Macquarie University and co-author of the new analysis, in a statement.

“This new finding demonstrates, for the first time, the potential geographical extent of trade networks used by the Egyptian state during the early Old Kingdom at the height of the Pyramid-building age.”

As wife of the Fourth Dynasty pharaoh Sneferu, mother of Khufu – you may know him as the guy responsible for the Great Pyramid of Giza – and carrying a bloodline that united two royal dynasties, Hetepheres was one of Ancient Egypt’s most important queens.

And in Ancient Egypt, that meant that her burial had to be appropriately flashy. Discovered almost by accident by a photographer in 1925, her tomb is “the richest known from the period,” the researchers note, “with many treasures including gilded furniture, gold vessels and jewellery” to see her into the afterlife in style.

It’s one of the more iconic of these finds that is making headlines once again: the collection of 20 silver deben-rings, or bracelets, which – with the exception of a brief analysis back in 1928 – have spent the majority of the past century simply languishing in museums around the world.

But while precise details on the pieces may have been scant, there were already hints that the jewelry may have been the result of long-distance trade between ancient kingdoms. Being more than 90 percent silver, the material for the bracelets was unlikely to have come from Egypt – while the country was rich in gold, there were no local sources for nature’s runner-up metal, meaning it was likely imported from mines in the Cyclades islands of Greece.

And yet the construction is inimitably Egyptian, the researchers explain. “The bracelets, made of a metal rare to Egypt, are a statement of royal privilege and taste,” they write. “The thin metal worked into a crescent shape and the use of turquoise, lapis lazuli and carnelian inlay, stylistically mark the bracelets as made in Egypt and not elsewhere.”

Combined, this makes the bracelets of Hetepheres the oldest known evidence of long-distance trade between Egypt and Greece, say the team.

“This kind of ancient trading network helps us to understand the beginnings of the globalised world,” Sowada told ABC News. “For me that's a very unexpected finding in this particular discovery.”

Not only does the new analysis rewrite the history of ancient international trade, it’s also provided eye-opening new evidence on early Egyptian silver working.

“[T]he bracelets were made by hammering cold-worked metal with frequent annealing to prevent breakage,” explained Damian Gore, a professor in Macquarie University’s School of Natural Sciences and co-author of the analysis.

“The bracelets were also likely to have been alloyed with gold to improve their appearance and ability to be shaped during manufacture,” he added.

While the links between Ancient Egypt and the surrounding kingdoms have been known for centuries – after all, the entire Ptolemaic Dynasty was Greek rather than home-grown – the silver in Hetepheres’s bracelets predates most previous evidence for these international connections by a good few centuries.

“In the Middle Kingdom and the New Kingdom much, much later, we have lots of papyrus that contain administrative records, trade records and so forth,” Brent Davis, a senior lecturer in archaeology at the University of Melbourne, told ABC.

“But for the Old Kingdom, it's just too long ago, those documents for the most part haven't survived.”

That makes the bracelets, and the new analysis of their composition, incredibly valuable – not only shedding new light on the ancient world, but also highlighting just how much we still have to discover.

“This is the start of a line of research that has got a long way to go,” Sowada told ABC.

“These networks wouldn't have happened overnight,” she added. “They would have been built over a long period of time and these bracelets are a window into that wider network.”

The study is published in the Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports.

Source: Facebook

Katie Spaulding Free Lance Writer

[biastrafig]

I mean the pharaohs died the richest man in the graveyard, sooo maybe

whenever i'm trying to talk myself out of buying something i don't need i always hear my old russian professor's voice echoing in my head: "WHAT??? WILL YOU DIE THE RICHEST MAN IN THE GRAVEYARD?" and then i make an unwise financial decision

[egyptonlinetours1]

Cairo and Luxor Classic Tour Package

Cairo and Luxor Classic Tour Package

This tour package offers an unforgettable journey through Egypt’s most iconic historical sites. Start in Cairo, where you'll explore the world-famous Pyramids of Giza, the Sphinx, and the Egyptian Museum. The museum holds a vast collection of ancient Egyptian artifacts, including the treasures of King Tutankhamun. A visit to the Citadel and the bustling streets of Khan El Khalili Bazaar will give you a deeper insight into Cairo's vibrant culture and heritage.

Next, you'll head to Luxor, often referred to as the world’s greatest open-air museum. Luxor is home to some of Egypt’s most breathtaking ancient monuments, including the Valley of the Kings, where pharaohs like Tutankhamun were buried. You’ll also visit the grand Karnak Temple and the impressive Luxor Temple, both of which offer stunning examples of ancient Egyptian architecture. A cruise along the Nile River is a highlight of this part of the tour, offering a unique perspective of the temples and surrounding landscapes.

Throughout the Cairo and Luxor Classic Tour, you’ll be accompanied by expert guides who will share stories and facts about each site, bringing Egypt’s rich history to life. With comfortable accommodations, seamless transport, and personalized service, this tour is perfect for those seeking a deep dive into Egypt’s ancient wonders while also enjoying modern comforts. It’s the ideal package for history enthusiasts and those looking to explore the timeless beauty of Egypt.

Cairo and Luxor Classic Tour Package by Maestro Online Travel is one of our indispensable Classic Holidays Egypt that is the key to exploring the enigma of ancient Egyptian history through Cairo and Luxor Holidays visiting the Great Giza Pyramids and Luxor Sightseeing.

Day 1: Arrival Cairo Egypt

You will start your Cairo and Luxor Tours package with a meeting and assistance service upon arrival at Cairo airport by Maestro Online Travel REP. Transfer to your hotel in Cairo Welcome drink upon arrival at the hotel in Cairo, and Check in with free time to relax, Optional tours are available, Overnight in Cairo

Day 2: Pyramids, Museum, Khan El Khalili Tour

Breakfast at a hotel in Cairo, Meet up with Maestro Online Travel personal Egyptology guide, and explore the wonders of the Great Giza pyramids area which are the most famous monument in the world & in Egypt. Also, you have the chance to take a camel ride (Extra charge). Proceed to the mighty sphinx and ask your guide about the reason for the head of a man and the body of the lion. Take your private car to Egyptian Museum, the richest museum of Egyptian antiquities in the world. After you finish your Cairo Museum drive to have lunch in a good quality restaurant in Cairo including services and charges. Drive to the biggest market in Middle East Khan El Khalili Market. When you finish your day tour in Cairo tell us your feedback about the Cairo tour before arriving at your hotel. Overnight in Cairo Hotel

Day 3: East Bank Tour in Luxor

Breakfast at your Hotel in Cairo, Maestro Online Travel tour leader will drive you to Cairo Airport, fly to Luxor (flight around 1 hour) arrive Luxor, immerse you inside the historical temples and ruins of Luxor, and see around Luxor Temple, is a large temple located in Luxor East bank built for the god Amun, after that have a short ride to the amazing Karnak temple The complex is a vast open-air museum, and the second largest ancient religious site in the world, after the Angkor Wat Temple of Cambodia. Walk around Karnak temple and have a look at Magic Lake and amazing obliques, have free time in Karnak temple, and after that drive to have Lunch in Luxor restaurant. When you finish driving back to your hotel and overnight

Day 4: Luxor West Bank Tour

Breakfast and after that drive to West Bank visiting the wonders of the valley of the kings and Hatshepsut temple passing on Colossi of Memnon, begin your day tour in Luxor west bank with the royal tombs of Thebes (Luxor) and climb down the tombs for kings and nobles (the ticket valid for 3 tombs). Valley of the Kings is your gateway to Royal tombs for 62 Kings and nobles in ancient Pharaonic time, after that drive El Dier El Bahari and visit Hatshepsut temple, the only queen who ruled Egypt, continue your West bank tour in Luxor and stop on Colossi of Memnon for the king Amenhotep III. It's time for Lunch and after finishing your Lunch drive back to Luxor Airport, fly to Cairo, arrive in Cairo, and transfer to your Cairo hotel and overnight

Day 5: Final departure

Breakfast, check out and leave your room before 12PM, Maestro Online Travel representative escort you to the Cairo Airport terminal for the final departure

For more info

·         info@egyptonlinetours.com

·         https://www.egyptonlinetours.com/

[anodyne-despair]

2 | Dec 10, 2024

The Big Question is simple. Most big questions are.

"What's the point of it all?"

And most people will give you some variation of the same answer.

"It is what you make of it."

What, then, is one meant to do when their ability to make something of it is hampered? Narrowed to the point of impossibility?

Each and every one of us, from the richest king to the poorest pauper, has a finite number of days to spend as we see fit. One can alter the total - cut down days with poor choices, or extend them with good ones - but ultimately, Death comes all the same.

That is the most overriding characteristic of this form of existence. Impermanence. Second to that is uncertainty.

We forge bonds. We gain knowledge. Prestige, reputation. Some of us even create. Art, certainly, but science as well; houses, furniture, gardens, children, livestock. We build and we raise and we strive to leave a legacy.

But all legacies fade, and are forgotten. Many of the details of the lives of Jesus Christ, or Pharaoh Ramses, or King Gilgamesh are gone forever. Eventually, so too will their names be lost.

So what do you do when building a legacy feels so... pointless? What do you do when your years have been wasted, your bonds have been broken, and all that remains is a question of which master you will allow to exploit you?

Every moment of every day is consumed with seeking an answer to this question, for me. And I continually reckon with a boring, plain truth.

If I were to find something in life to love, it would be taken from me. If I were to find someone to love, they would leave me.

I don't think anyone or anything is out to get me, so to speak; rather, this is simply the nature of this reality.

All things end, and the good things end far too quickly. For a timid soul afraid of pain, the nature of this world is anathema.

[egyptatours]

Battle of Djahy For Pharaoh Ramses III

Before the battle of Djahy, Egypt maintained its reputation as one of the most powerful and richest kingdoms of the time, which encouraged many different foreign factions and alliances to attack it. One of those forces was the mysterious Sea Peoples who attempted to invade several times during the reign of Ramesses II and his successor Merneptah, but were easily defeated because they were not strong enough to face the powerful military forces of Egypt. But everything changed during the reign of Ramesses III, who saw them as a real threat to the future of Egypt as their number and power increased. Now it’s time to explore the full information about the battle of Djahy.

For more information about the battle, visit our website:

Reach out to us:

Emails

operation@egyptatours.com

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WhatsApp: 015 53119249

[razziecat]

And yet where are the pharaohs today? We may remember some of their names, but they're all dead. They make no policy, influence no living population, control nothing. They're a curiosity, a museum display, or still lie in their tombs. Mortality is still all-powerful. The richest people in the world are still under its thumb.

[blueiscoool]

Tombs Rich in Artifacts Discovered in Cyprus

An archaeological expedition from Sweden's University of Gothenburg has uncovered tombs rich in artifacts and antiquities in Cyprus that makes the discovery among the richest ever found in the Mediterranean region.

Peter Fischer, the leader of the expedition and a professor of archaeology at the University of Gothenburg, said “considering the richness of the grave goods, it is a reasonable assumption that these were royal tombs, even though we do not know much about the form of government practiced in the city at the time."

Fischer believes that the artifacts, found just outside the Bronze Age trading city of Hala Sultan Tekke, indicate the tombs' occupants ruled the city, which was a center for copper trade between 1500–1300 BCE. The tombs, located outside the 50-hectare city, consist of underground chambers of varying sizes, accessed via a narrow passage from the surface.

Cyprus' Department of Antiquities, in an update posted to their website, noted: "The city’s wealth seems to have been based on the production of copper and trade with near and distant cultures. Judging by the rich burial gifts, the tombs belonged to families of the city’s ruling class who took part in the export of copper and intercultural trade."

Unearthed artifacts include imports from Egypt, Baltic region

The Swedish Söderberg expedition has been carrying out excavations in Hala Sultan Tekke near the city of Larnaca on the south coast of Cyprus since 2010. Though the expedition has previously found chamber tombs with valuable grave goods, the latest discovery is unprecedented given the superb quality and quantity of artifacts.

“We found more than 500 complete artifacts distributed among two tombs. Many of the artifacts consist of precious metals, gems, ivory and high-quality ceramics," Fischer said.

About half of the artifacts unearthed during the expedition are believed to have been imported from different civilizations. For example, gold and ivory came from Egypt while precious stones, such as blue lapis lazuli, dark red carnelian and blue-green turquoise, were imported from Afghanistan, India and Sinai respectively. Amber objects from the Baltic region were also found among the artifacts.

The Department of Antiquities said that three chamber tombs, preliminarily dated to the 14th century BC, were exposed. While one of them had been looted, most likely in the 19th century AD, the other two were "undisturbed", apart from the collapse of their chambers.

Items recovered from those include locally produced pottery and ornaments and numerous items of jewelry such as diadems, which are ornamental headbands. Embossed images of bulls, gazelles, lions and flowers adorn the diadems. Bronze weapons, some inlaid with ivory, were also recovered as well as a gold-framed seal made of the hard mineral hematite with inscriptions of gods and rulers.

"Several items of ivory and faience are imports from Egypt during the famous 18th Dynasty, the time of the well-known pharaohs Thutmose III, Amenophis IV (Akhenaten) and his wife Nefertiti," said the department.

The excavation team used magnetometers, a type of instrument that can produce images showing objects and structures up to two meters beneath the surface, to carry out their expedition, according to the university.

Besides artifacts, the research team also unearthed several well-preserved skeletons in the tombs including one of a woman surrounded by dozens of ceramic vessels, jewelry and a round bronze mirror. A one-year-old child with a ceramic toy also lay beside her.

By Saman Shafiq.

[basicsofislam]

BASICS OF ISLAM: Fasting: On the Month of Ramadan.Part2

Third Point

One of the many instances of wisdom in fasting from the point of view of man’s social life is as follows:

Human beings have been created differently with regard to their livelihoods. In consequence of this, God Almighty invites the rich to assist the poor, so that through the hunger experienced in fasting, they can truly understand the pains and hunger which the poor suffer. If there were no fasting, many self-indulgent rich would be unable to perceive just how grievous are hunger and poverty and how needy of compassion are those who suffer them.

Compassion for one’s fellow men is an essential part of true thankfulness.

Whoever a person is, there will always be someone poorer than himself in some respect. He is enjoined to be compassionate towards such a person. If he were not himself compelled to suffer hunger, he would be unable give the person – through compassion – the help and assistance he is obliged to offer. And even if he were able, it would be deficient, for he would not have truly experienced hunger himself.

Truly experience hunger yourself.

Become more compassionate towards others.

Fourth Point

One instance of wisdom in fasting in Ramadan with respect to training the instinctual soul is as follows:

The instinctual soul wants to be free and independent, and considers itself to be thus. According to the dictates of its nature, it even desires an imaginary dominicality and to act as it pleases. It does not want to admit that it is being sustained and trained through innumerable bounties. Especially if it possesses worldly wealth and power, and if heedlessness also encourages it, it will devour God’s bounties like a usurping, thieving animal.

Thus, in the month of Ramadan, the instinctual soul of everyone, from the richest to the poorest, may understand that it does not own itself but is totally owned; that it is not free, but is a slave.

It understands that if it receives no command, it may not do the simplest and easiest thing; it cannot even stretch out its hand for water. Its imaginary dominicality is therefore shattered; it performs its worship and begins to offer thanks, its true duty.

Train your soul.

Offer worship and thanks.

Fifth Point

One of the many instances of wisdom in fasting in Ramadan from the point of view of improving the conduct of the instinctual soul and giving up its rebellious habits is as follows:

Due to its heedlessness the human soul forgets itself; it cannot see its utter powerlessness, want, and deficiency and it does not wish to see them. It does not think of just how weak it is, and how subject to transience and to disasters, nor of the fact that it consists merely of flesh and bones, which quickly decay and fall apart.

Simply, it assaults the world as though it possessed a body made of steel and imagined itself to be undying and eternal. It hurls itself on the world with intense greed and voracity, and passionate attachment and love. It is captivated by anything that gives it pleasure or that profits it. Moreover, it forgets its Creator, who sustains it with perfect compassion, and does not think of the consequences of its life and its life in the hereafter. Indeed, it wallows in dissipation and misconduct.

However, fasting in the month of Ramadan awakens even the most heedless and obstinate to their weakness, impotence, and want.

Hunger makes them think of their stomachs and they understand the need therein. They realize how unsound are their weak bodies, and perceive how needy they are for kindness and compassion. So they abandon the soul’s pharaoh-like despotism and recognizing their utter impotence and want, perceive a desire to take refuge at the divine court. They prepare themselves to knock at the door of mercy with the hands of thankfulness – so long as heedlessness has not destroyed their hearts, that is.

Recognize your utter impotence.

Knock at the door of mercy with the hands of thankfulness.

[llbbl]

A Tale of Taxes

Since ancient times, the tax collector's due A portion of the fruits of labor claimed From Pharaoh's wheat to Caesar's revenue The powers that be have always tax ordained In 1913 the Income Tax Act was born A progressive rate, the more you earn, the more you pay Yet loopholes let the crafty duck becoming the norm While common folk get no such getaway The system seems too big to fight alone We dutifully file each April's eve But unfairness makes the people groan Will there be no reprieve The Panama Papers show how some connive To stash their cash in shell company's name Tax havens help the richest few to thrive A two-tier system - privilege without shame For all the rest, there's no choice but to bear The burden of a tax they cannot dodge A bitter pill - injustice hard to square The government can’t seek self-sabotage Yet schools and roads and much that we hold dear Depend on steady flow to the treasury Fair tax, the framework shall not delay another year We need a system serving you and me

[eagleoftheninth]

Polychrome jewellery like these earrings are part of a really, really old artistic tradition! The first examples come from early Bronze Age, like this pectoral (brooch) worn by a princess in Middle Kingdom Egypt:

Pectoral and necklace of Sithathoryunet with the name of pharaoh Senwosret II (c. 1887–1878 BCE), from his pyramid in Faiyum, Egypt.

So, the process of crafting these pieces (called cloisonné) is exactly as painstaking as you'd expect. First, the jewellers would cut gemstones (in this case garnet, turquoise, carnelian, feldspar and lapis lazuli) into precise shapes according to the design. Then, they would weld or hot-solder thin gold wires onto the gold base (usually cast from a lost-wax mould) to create the "lines" between the stones. Finally, the stones would be carefully glued into the slots, creating complex, multicoloured designs like you'd see here.

The ancient world was a deeply interconnected place: the deep blue lapis lazuli on the above piece was likely brought to Egypt all the way from modern-day Afghanistan. It naturally followed that the cloisonné technique took off in more than one place. While the thin-wire style came to define Bronze Age Mediterranean jewellery, the thick-walled style of medieval Byzantine cloisonné originated in another place: the Inner Eurasian steppe.

Kushan/Yuezhi pendant and neckwear (1st century CE) from the Tillya Tepe (Golden Hill) burial site, northern Afghanistan.

We often think that steppe peoples lived in small, freewheeling tribes, idly wandering endless open plains. This wasn't actually the case! They lived (and still live) a highly technical lifestyle, moving like clockwork between grazing grounds, trading towns and winter quarters sheltered by mountains and forests.

And most importantly: they were enthusiastic metalworkers. Steppe peoples prized their mines and smithies, whether as places they'd drop by on the way to the next pasture or as year-round homes for groups of professional metalworkers employed by nomadic nobles.

The Altai Mountains in Central Asia, the ancestral holy ground of many steppe peoples, were also one of the world's largest and richest mining and metallurgical complexes, going all the way back to the late Bronze Age. Starting in the early 1st millennium BCE, we started to see a flourishing of this style of ornaments, cast from gold or silver and inlaid with complex, often multicoloured gemstone designs:

Left: Sarmatian belt buckle (2nd-1st century BCE) from Sadovy Kurgan, Novocherkassk, Russia. Right: Xiongnu horse ornament (c. 1st century CE) from the Gol Mod burial site, Mongolia.

Steppe peoples were hardly the only ones who knew how to inlay gemstones into gold. Plenty of other cultures did it, too. What set Inner Eurasian cloisonné apart was the sheer complexity of its gemstone arrangements, rarely seen on the continent since the Bronze Age collapse. Many of these pieces were crafted in the shape of animals like horses, stags or leopards; others took more abstract, flowing shapes that evoked animal parts like horns or wings, symbolically calling upon their strengths on the wearer's behalf.

Since the most ancient times, the Greeks and Romans had heard of the Scythians, a nomadic Iranian people from the plains north of the Black Sea (think modern-day Ukraine), famed for their wealth and skills on horseback. In the late 1st century CE, some of these steppe Iranians (variously known to the Romans as the Sarmatians, Roxolani, Aorsi, Iazyges or Alans) started to make their way further west, to the Roman Empire's border on the Danube River. Their hierarchies of kings and nobles met the local Germanic peoples' egalitarian tribes; their polychrome craft met the flowing patterns on the natives' gold and silver.

Though the steppe Iranians fought many border wars against the Romans, there were many years of peace and quiet, too. The Romans paid good money for the nomads' craft through the Black Sea trade, and their skill on horseback made them highly sought after as elite soldiers. Some of them rose to very high ranks in the empire.

Then everything changed when the Hunnic Empire attacked.

Left: Scythian earring (c. 1st-2nd century CE) from Ust-Alma necropolis, Crimea. Objects from this trove were originally displayed at the Simferopol Museum; after the Crimean Peninsula was annexed by Russia in 2014, the Ukrainian government managed to successfully sue for their return from a Dutch museum they were on loan to. Right: White Hunnic dragon-shaped collar (5th century) from Issyk-Kul, Kyrgyzstan

The Huns were a powerful steppe empire, heirs to an old, long-fallen empire far to the east. They were made up of many tribes, rearranged into ranked military units and commanded by nobles who swore their oaths personally to one of their two kings: one in the east, one in the west.

In a few short decades of the 4th century CE, the Huns conquered a vast swathe of land, from north of the Caucasus to the very borders of the Roman Empire on the Danube. The proudly independent Germanic peoples of Central Europe, whom the Romans couldn't quite conquer, now faced two choices.

They could submit to the Huns, pay them expensive tributes and be absorbed into their army, like countless nations before them. Or they could cross the river, into Roman land, and ask for sanctuary from the other empire.

Whichever way they went, the Germanic peoples — Goths, Vandals, Suebians, Langobards, Thuringians — were by now a transformed people. Centuries of trade and elite intermarriage with the Black Sea nomads had steeped them in the culture of the steppe: the strict ranks of kingship and nobility, the ways of the horse and the bow, the cult of mystical swords.

Now Hunnic rule would firmly imprint all those things onto their cultural fabric, along with one more thing: the art of the steppe.

Left: Hunnic noblewoman's diadem (5th century CE) from Kerch, Crimea. Right: Horse harness buckles (5th century CE) from the tomb of Ardaric in Apahida, Romania. Ardaric is traditionally believed to be a king of the Gepid people and a vassal of the Huns, but recent historians have suggested that he might've been a Hunnic prince himself.

In older histories of the Migration Period, you might see this style of cloisonné called by various European terms, like maybe "Visigothic" or "Aquitainian". These names belie the style's Asian roots. By the end of the 4th century, a uniform style of jewellery stretched from the Hungarian Plains to the Caucasus, practiced by the artisans living under Hunnic rule.

For a few decades, the Romans and the Huns sized each other up across the frontier. But in time, the Huns pacified their borders. The flight of Germanic peoples into Roman lands slowed down, and the old cross-border trade routes lurched back into life.

Sometimes the Romans would ask the Huns to break the kneecaps of "barbarian" bands roaming the borderlands (whom the Huns gladly hunted down as "fugitives"), and paid them off with tributes of gold and precious stones, which were turned into colourful jewellery for Hunnic rulers to reward their vassals with.

Which brings us to the proverbial elephant in the room! These splendid works of art mostly belonged to the royals and aristocrats at the top of society. If you were an average peasant living under Roman rule — or a herder living under Hunnic rule — you might see these things displayed at houses of worship and religious rituals, you might even wear one to really big occasions like weddings, whether borrowed or as a family heirloom.

But it would've been a small upper-class who owned these things in droves (enough that their families buried them with their jewels when they died). In some cases, the nobility would even enact strict sumptuary laws to control what kinds of ornaments each social class was allowed to wear. Even though it would've been the commoner's hands that dug out the stones from deep, dark tunnels. Their hands that farmed and herded to pay the elites taxes; maybe their arms that seized gold or exacted it as tribute in the wars they were levied to fight.

And lest you think we left all this behind in the "Dark Ages": the global jewel industry today is still deeply tied with armed conflict and labour abuse. That slab of lapis you saw on CrystalTok? Probably smuggled out of war-torn Afghanistan. Gold rings and bracelets? Could well have come from mines run by warlords in the Sahel.

Not all precious stones and metals are mined at gunpoint, obviously — there are plenty of people in the industry who are proud of what they do and are compensated well for it, now just as then. The passion and skill that went into crafting these incredible works of art were 100% real.

But I think it's important to remember the equally real systems of violence that ensured that so much of them flow so easily and cheaply to the end user. Jewellery, like all other displays of surplus wealth, has a long trail of bloodshed and oppression surrounding it.

Left: Ostrogothic noblewoman's eagle-shaped brooch in the Hunnic style (5th century CE), Domagnano, Italy. Right: Illustration of Danubian (Hunnic) grave goods from the tomb of Frankish king Childeric I (5th century CE), stolen from the National Library of France in 1831. Both the Ostrogothic and Frankish peoples were vassals of the Hunnic Empire.

In 453, Attila, the supreme ruler of the Huns, died suddenly at a feast. Throughout his two decades of rule, Attila had brought his empire into open war with the Romans; inflicted mortal wounds on the Western Empire; brought the Eastern Empire to its knees.

But his reign also laid on unstable foundations. Attila had installed himself as sole dictator by murdering his brother who ruled over the eastern plains and moving the core of his empire west, to the Hungarian Plains. With the king gone, his heirs and vassals quickly lapsed into civil wars as they sought to claim his empire for themselves — in full or in part.

Flash-forward to a century later, around the time the time Byzantine earrings in the OP were made. Europe, by this time, was a very different place. The Western Roman Empire was gone. A smattering of kingdoms stood in its place, ruled by the military elites of migrating Germanic peoples who'd come to an accommodation with the local Roman senatorial elites and church clergy.

For a few short decades, at least, the new kingdoms of Europe traded with the Eastern Empire in peace. That wouldn't last forever (thanks, Justinian); but it was enough time for the steppe-derived style of cloisonné jewellery to permeate Byzantine fashion, adding onto the earlier Germanic and Alan influences.

Left: Enamelled cross. Right: Medallion of St John the Baptist. Both from Constantinople, c. 1100 CE.

So while the northern Germanic kingdoms (like the Carolingian Franks and the Anglo-Saxons) took the craft to the far corners of the continent, the Byzantines worked on combining it with familiar Greco-Roman techniques. Byzantine cloisonné would be marked by fine carved reliefs along the gold's surface, and also textures made by chasing and repoussé.

Throughout the next few centuries, Byzantine artists revived a couple of ancient Egyptian practices. The first was the use of thin gold wires, which they used to create complex (often religious) images.

The second was a Roman specialty: glass! Precious stones like garnet and turquoise are eye-catching, sure. But they cost a lot to mine, a lot more to cut and polish, and there are only so many ways you can work with them. So Byzantine jewellers started pouring coloured glass powder into spaces in the design, and then heating it until it fuses into enamel.

This enamelling technique, combined with thin wires, enabled much more complex designs than were traditionally possible with precious stones. But it wasn't 100% foolproof! The fusing temperature of silicate glass can be quite close to the melting temperature of gold alloys (and doubly so for silver and copper-based alloys), meaning it took a lot of care to fire the powder into translucent glass without damaging the rest of the piece.

So yeah: we might be used to thinking of "Europe" and "Asia" as two separate worlds. But the past was a lot more interconnected than it might appear; even some of the art we associate with "Medieval Europe" have deep roots in the Central Asian steppes. And I think that if we look closely at the world around us, we'd all be surprised by how many markers of wealth and style had roots in equally unlikely places.

References:

Zhixin Sun, James C. Wyatt and Emma C. Bunker, Nomadic Art of the Eastern Eurasian Steppes (2002)

Hyun Jin Kim, The Huns, Rome and the Birth of Europe (2013)

Nicola Di Cosmo, Empires and Exchanges in Eurasian Late Antiquity (2018)

A pair of gold earrings with garnet, pearl, and chalcedony elements, Byzantine, 6th century AD

from Hindman Auctions