Heart Disease: Pharaohs Had It, Too

Many remarkably intact, include religious texts

(NEWSER) - Archeologists have discovered a cache of ancient tombs in Egypt, some of which are almost 5,000 years old. Most of the 57 tombs hold an ornately painted wooden sarcophagus that houses a mummy; the oldest among them dates back to the rule of Egypt's first and second dynasties. One of the oldest tombs—and all of its funerary equipment—is almost perfectly intact, Egypt's chief archeologist tells the AP . More»

They likely came from ancient puppy mills

(NEWSER) - When Egypt's ancient Dog Catacombs were fully excavated for the first time in 2010, scientists found about 8 million animal mummies. They're now examining the 2,500-year-old remains, and new research shows that most of the mummies are dogs—many just hours old when mummified. They were likely the product of ancient puppy mills, bred to provide dogs to Egyptians who believed that the spirit of a mummified dog could transport prayers into the afterlife, where they were heard by the canine-headed god Anubis. More»

(USER SUBMITTED) - It seems that King Tut and his penis have parted ways despite spending several thousand years joined at the, er, hip. When he was discovered in 1922 the king was fully intact, Time reports. Sometime in the last almost 90 years, his kingly member was removed, some hypothesize, to maintain his reputation as a big man on campus. More»

Researchers map long-buried city of Avaris

(NEWSER) - Archaeologists have used satellite radar images to map a long-lost Egyptian city, reports the BBC. The team discovered a detailed outline of Avaris, the summer capital of the Hyksos invaders some 3,500 years ago. The picture reveals streets, houses, tombs, and the remains of a port area. The site is buried beneath the houses and fields of a modern Nile Delta settlement, making excavation difficult. More»

'Unique find' appears to be 3-foot-tall adult: archaeologists

(AP) - Egyptian archaeologists have discovered an intricately carved plaster sarcophagus portraying a wide-eyed woman dressed in a tunic in a newly uncovered complex of tombs at a remote desert oasis, Egypt's antiquities department says. It is the first Roman-style mummy found in Bahariya Oasis some 186 miles southwest of Cairo, said the archaeologist who led the dig. The find was part of a cemetery dating to the Greco-Roman period and containing 14 tombs. More»