132
votes
Accepted
How would a 16-year-old girl from Cleopatra's era curse?
Alexandria is sometimes called the New York of the ancient world. That means you might very well use almost any ancient old-world language you like, as the people were incredibly diverse.
But the ...
- 80.8k
90
votes
Accepted
Why do the pyramids show less erosion than the Sphinx?
The Giza pyramids originally had a white outer shell of polished limestone. In other words, what you are seeing is not the eroded remnants of the original surface, but rather the underlying structure ...
- 97.4k
66
votes
Were Egyptian Pharaohs literate?
First, a few general observations:
The time period covered here is more than 3,000 years and we know very little about many of the Pharaohs. Also, there were different scripts which evolved over time ...
- 108k
65
votes
Accepted
How did they cook on ancient ships?
That's a good question. As far as we know, most ancient voyages didn't venture that far from land. Ships like the Bronze Age Uluburun and Cape Gelidonya shipwrcks are thought to have been coastal ...
- 77.3k
52
votes
Accepted
Is there any evidence that Cleopatra and Caesarion considered fleeing to India to escape the Romans?
The source for Sanjeev Sanyal's account is most likely Plutarch. In his Life of Anthony, Plutarch wrote:
Caesarion, who was said to be Cleopatra's son by Julius Caesar, was
sent by his mother, ...
- 108k
51
votes
Are the pyramids too old?
Robert Temple has zero credibility in archaeology. He's written multiple ancient-astronaut books, one of the quotes on his web page about his books is from an author of The Holy Blood and the Holy ...
- 31.4k
35
votes
Accepted
How to explain the apparent discrepancy in the use of papyrus vs. clay tablets between Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia?
Most certainly we see mainly survivorship bias. Other factors play a certain minor role, but the durability of clay tablets, especially when fired, are most important.
Cuneiform was developed on clay, ...
- 80.8k
31
votes
Accepted
Did Egyptians circumnavigate Africa in three years during Nekau's reign?
While researching for this question, I found more details about what could be this (possible) adventure. Necho II hired a fleet of Phoenicians, who supposedly sailed from the Red Sea around Africa ...
- 621
30
votes
Accepted
What is the earliest known historical reference to Tutankhamun?
There is a chance Tutankhamun was never really out of the historical record.
The elephant in the room here is, of course, the vast amount of material found when Howard Carter excavated Tutankhamun's ...
- 5,275
29
votes
Why did the Middle Kingdom stop building pyramid tombs?
SHORT ANSWER
Pyramid-building declined (in size and quality) during the 5th and 6th dynasties (c. 2450 to 2175 BC) of the Old Kingdom after reaching a peak during the 4th dynasty (c. 2575 to 2450 BC)....
- 108k
27
votes
Does modern scholarship accept an Ethiopian or Nubian origin for Egyptian hieroglyphs?
The short answer is no. Although the origins of hieroglyphic writing are disputed to some extent, modern scholarship leans towards the idea that it developed independently in Egypt, but "no definitive ...
- 108k
25
votes
Accepted
Were the earliest Egyptian hieroglyphs ever discovered really found in Qustul in Ancient Nubia?
The oldest hieroglphs
The earliest known Egyptian hieroglyphic writing so far discovered was found in tomb U-j at Abydos, dating to about 3250 BCE. The tomb was excavated in 1988 by Günter Dreyer and ...
- 77.3k
23
votes
Accepted
Why has the khopesh never been used since ancient Egypt?
The khopesh was a solution to the limitations of bronze as a sword material.
Bronze swords can't be too long because they break. Bronze is more brittle and less flexible than iron. For this reason, ...
- 1,900
23
votes
Accepted
What is this ancient Egyptian material called "maklalu"?
tl;dr
muklālu isn't actually an Egyptian word. It is a transliteration from the Akkadian cuneiform.
A muklālu was an item of clothing worn by the Hittite rulers. It was probably a shawl, cape, or ...
- 77.3k
23
votes
What is the earliest known historical reference to Tutankhamun?
Tutankhamun (Tutankhaten) - Famous for his tomb and the treasures found within it.
Here, you're seeing the limitations of current AI systems.
Tutankhamun was not famous in ancient times for his tomb, ...
- 31.4k
22
votes
How did they cook on ancient ships?
Rations on ships during the age of exploration were typically of a type that would require little or no cooking. They included things like "hardtack" (unleavened bread), and salted meat, that could be ...
- 104k
21
votes
Did Egyptian civilization start from North to South or vice versa?
The direct answer is that in modern Egyptian geographical terms, they came from central Egypt. In ancient historical terms, from "Upper Egypt".
First off, I need to address a misconception in the ...
- 118k
20
votes
Accepted
What is the primary source evidence for the theory that the African Ancient Egyptians are not black Africans whose origin is sub-Saharan Africa?
The origins of the Ancient Egyptians remains very much an open question. The latest DNA study that I'm aware of suggests that Ancient Egyptian populations may have more common ancestry with ...
- 77.3k
19
votes
Accepted
Were women allowed to study at the Library of Alexandria?
SHORT ANSWER
There is much uncertainty on details but it seems that some female scholars did have access to at least some parts of the library. It is unlikely, though, that anyone - male or female - ...
- 108k
18
votes
Accepted
Did Akhenaten's religion influence early Judaism?
In general, I would be very wary of claims that Akhenaten's religion was a significant influence on early Judaism. There is, however, one very famous link that is often claimed between Akhenaten and ...
- 77.3k
18
votes
Where can I find reliable primary sources written by Ancient Egyptian laborers?
We actually have a lot of good evidence written by workers from that period. The bulk of that evidence comes from the workers' village of Deir el-Medina which housed the men who built the tombs in the ...
- 77.3k
18
votes
When did the Egyptians stop wrapping their dead in bandages?
TL;DR: Roughly around the 3rd century AD, because Christianity.
Here is an article that briefly describes the historical development of ancient Egyptian mummification practices, including their ...
- 18.8k
18
votes
What were the Ethiopians doing in Xerxes' army?
From the Oxford English Dictionary (1928):
Ethiop
...
The Ethiopians are mentioned by Homer as a people dwelling in the far east and far west; in later Gr[eek] the name was applied chiefly to the ...
- 72.3k
18
votes
Accepted
Just how fanciful is Egyptology?
You do need to be careful when studying Ancient Egypt, since there are some very ... questionable and ... selective ... interpretations available.
In addition, some work by earlier authors (for ...
- 77.3k
17
votes
How did Egyptian Pharaohs get their title?
The short answer is: "No, there is no evidence of this in historical records".
The word, 'pharaoh' [pr aA] is first attested in the First Dynasty, about 3150 BCE. It means 'great house', ...
- 77.3k
16
votes
Accepted
Earliest story?
Hieroglyphic writing systems generally were all initially used to record the accomplishments of kings in a very simple way. The problem they have is that true literature requires using a lot of the ...
- 118k
15
votes
What do historians infer about the world view of the ancient Egyptians based on the prophecy of Neferty?
There's various interpretations of Neferti that Historians have argued about over the years. Simpson considered it to be essentially a propaganda pamphlet aiming at legitimizing and drumming up ...
- 903
13
votes
What is the historical basis for the Exodus?
As a complement to other answers, and especially to nbubis' answer.
Based to a large extent on the work of the Israeli archeologist Israel Finkelstein (a youtube video with him talking on this topic ...
- 2,256
13
votes
Did Egyptians circumnavigate Africa in three years during Nekau's reign?
This story depends entirely on Herodotus 4,42. The passage in question reads:
I wonder, then, at those who have mapped out and divided the world into Libya, Asia, and Europe; for the difference ...
- 9,756
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible