Egypt discovers 40 mummies in ancient chambers in Minya

https://www.timesofisrael.com/egypt-discovers-40-mummies-in-ancient-chambers-in-minya/

67 24 7 years ago

retSava5• 7 years ago

As far as my understanding goes, finding mummies in Egypt is similar to finding dinosaur fossils - it's common and rarely something that gets/should get broad attention. It's more a marketing thing, which the article also acks:

Egypt has made a series of archaeological finds recently, and it has been heavily promoting them to revive its tourism industry

This find seems to be along those lines.

Visited Egypt a couple of times, really incredible to walk around in primarily Luxor temples. A tip for tourists - buy an egyptian newspaper (in arabic) and carry around visibly. Learn to say "no thanks" in as good arabic as you can (something like "la-a shukran"). That makes things easier.

caiobegotti4• 7 years ago

I think you might have a too cynical view of these discoveries. Even a dinosaur fossil finding is a big deal depending on the context of the discovery. These are family chambers, not yet-another-noble-burial-thingy in Luxor. If Egypt (of which I've also seen and visited a lot) can claim such marketing exposure, good for them! I hope this kind of news bring them closer to being a more tourist-friendly place so they can make much more money across the whole country not just around the sphinx and main pyramids WHILE preserving history in a adequate manner giving their limitations.

Another language tip: halas is more productive when you want people to stop bothering you after you have tried a no thanks response, it is a bit aggressive version of "enough" & learning how to read eastern arabic numbers is pretty easy and useful to avoid scams.

retSava5• 7 years ago

Haha, yeah, that might very well be the case :) I may need to work on my attitude :).

Thanks! I'm having trouble finding out how to pronounce it like a native-speaker though. Some suggest that it's like challas, other suggest a more hard ch. Do you have any tips? I've found proper pronunciation being key.

mc32• 7 years ago

Well, true, but you can’t blame them. History tourism is one of their biggest generators of foreign currency, so in essence an “export”. Instead of selling balmy beaches, it’s steeping yourself in the history of one of humanities oldest civilizations.

rwx------• 7 years ago

Well if it is on HN, then it must be good news. Right?

swarnie_• 7 years ago

I'm not sure you could pay me to visit Egypt in the last 10 years which is a real shame.... Did some diving in Sharm El Sheikh years back and it was awesome.

Right not (maybe incorrectly) i have Egypt filed in my big brain database alongside Iran/Iraq/Saudi.

rblion7• 7 years ago

Came here to say this. I want to visit Egypt for the history but I honestly think I'd be content with the museums in NYC and London.

Only Giza and Luxor are my list still, I'll have to wait until a safer time though according to friends who just went and didn't have a pleasant experience.

caiobegotti4• 7 years ago

I have visited museums with Egyptian collections all over the globe and I can assure you they fall absolutely short in comparison to the actual stuff you see in Egypt, you definitely should investigate more so you can build up confidence to visit it yourself, it's worth it :-)

wsc981• 7 years ago

Many years ago did a more adventurous (though organized) trip to Egypt and I enjoyed it a lot.

Slept a night in the desert and in an oasis, did a boat ride on the Nile, visited the Pyramids & Sphinx on the Giza plateau, Luxor, Elephantine, the Valley of Kings and of course the National Museum in Cairo. Also ate with a Nubian family. I don't believe the museums in NYC and London can compare in any way. I went there back in 2005 and of course some parts of the trip we had a military escort behind us. Back then it was quite safe, don't believe it's the same now.

thekid3143• 7 years ago

It's perfectly safe here. Come now before the crowds get much bigger. Around the tourist sites you will meet plenty of people trying to get you to ride a horse, or pay a tip for any little service. You can just ignore them, and there's no tip necessary. Take Uber everywhere and you won't even have to worry about taxis.

The real locations in Luxor and the Egypt Museum are much more interesting than the exhibit in London (though the exhibit in London has better labels).

*I'm a white guy writing this from Cairo. https://www.DavidDegner.com

retSava5• 7 years ago

Oh you should definitively go!

I'd say that I very much enjoyed Luxor much more than Cairo and the pyramid area. Too many hustlers around the pyramids.

Also, went to the valley of the kings and just went straight up along one of the hill sides and started trecking in the direction of... don't remember the name, just not aimlessly into the desert :). That was really a highlight.

Depending on how much of a target you look like, there can be reaaaally annoying and persistent hustlers, playing in a whole another league than I've ever seen in any other place - poor or rich country. The tips I gave really helped me and my friend. Helped us come across less like targets. I'd say the newspaper + ignoring helped get rid of a high double-digit percent of hustlers. The persistent goes away after some la-a shukran and more ignoring. It was about a decade since I was there last, so things may have changed, but it is still a poor country. Common sense regarding safety, food hygiene, and vigilance against bluffs should be applied - but not consume you. Remember that you are there to enjoy life, and embrace or accept things even if they are not pleasant. Hydrate. Check out temperatures and bring clothes appropriately. Apply sunscreen.

dr_dshiv• 7 years ago

Best point of interest here -- did they use old manuscripts as part of the wrapping?

I wish we spent a fraction of the money for LHC on finding ancient texts, for which we know (statistically) are undiscovered. The benefits to society and science are just as profound (e.g., to decode charred scrolls of Herculaneum)

Egypt discovers 40 mummies in ancient chambers in Minya

Related Stories