Pharaoh's Gold
I decided that I would bring up a topic that is of special interest to me as an aspiring egyptologist.... That is, the tomb of the great ancient egyptian genius imhotep. Imhotep was a man who lived in the fourth dynasty about 2700 bc. He was the vizier of the pharaoh djoser and is best known for his work as an architect, you see, imhotep designed the first pyramid. Now don't go thinking about the evil priest in that movie "the mummy" imhotep actually translates to "he who comes in peace." Imhotep held more titles in the royal court then any commoner before or after him. His titles included high priest of ra at heliopolis, royal architect, royal physician, and head of potters in chief. well now that you have some basic information about the man, we can get into his treasure....
In saqqara, an ancient necropolis of memphis about 20 miles south of cairo, is imhoteps greatest work, the step pyramid of king djoser. not only was this pyramid the first monumental stone structure built on earth, it was ten times higher then anything before it, employed the first use of columns, and laid the foundations for the development of the smooth sided pyramid. anywho, in the shadow of djosers pyramid are the tombs of his most loyal servants including.... Imhotep? Evidence suggests that imhoteps tomb is near to discovery, namely, the large concentration of greek, or ptolemaic artifacts being unearthed near the pyramid. you see, when the greeks came to egypt under alexander the great, they deified imhotep, making him the god of healing for greeks in egypt. pilgrimmages were made to saqqara to seek healing at the tomb of imhotep, and where archaeologists are digging now, large amounts of imhotep votives, medical instruments, and bodies of physically deformed humans are being found. I personally believe that if imhoteps tomb was found, it would be intact. I do not believe that ANYONE in ancient times would have the gall to defile the tomb of a god, and even if it was looted, i would assume that it would be restored to the best of the priests abilities. If the tomb of Imhotep is found intact it would not only contain typical "treasures" of gold and silver including a probable solid gold sarcophagus like that of tutankhamun, but also scrolls, yes scrolls, containing the medical knowledge and religious beliefs of the egyptians for the last three millenia B.C. the tomb would surpass any other find by leaps and bound, but don't grab your shovels just yet. thankfully, in egypt, it is illegal to even dig a hole in the western dessert. if you were to go to saqqara and start digging around you would be in jail before you could say "pepi the second!" i for one support the protection of archaeological sites in egypt.... but for places like america.... eh, finders keepers! keep your grimy government mits offa me gold! maybe it's just greed, maybe it's a lack of significant ancient history in the US of A, but i think it's just not necessary for the goverment to protect something that isn't there, unlike the thousands of undiscovered tombs and riches in egypt.
Just thought I would share some of my own treasure lore.
I decided that I would bring up a topic that is of special interest to me as an aspiring egyptologist.... That is, the tomb of the great ancient egyptian genius imhotep. Imhotep was a man who lived in the fourth dynasty about 2700 bc. He was the vizier of the pharaoh djoser and is best known for his work as an architect, you see, imhotep designed the first pyramid. Now don't go thinking about the evil priest in that movie "the mummy" imhotep actually translates to "he who comes in peace." Imhotep held more titles in the royal court then any commoner before or after him. His titles included high priest of ra at heliopolis, royal architect, royal physician, and head of potters in chief. well now that you have some basic information about the man, we can get into his treasure....
In saqqara, an ancient necropolis of memphis about 20 miles south of cairo, is imhoteps greatest work, the step pyramid of king djoser. not only was this pyramid the first monumental stone structure built on earth, it was ten times higher then anything before it, employed the first use of columns, and laid the foundations for the development of the smooth sided pyramid. anywho, in the shadow of djosers pyramid are the tombs of his most loyal servants including.... Imhotep? Evidence suggests that imhoteps tomb is near to discovery, namely, the large concentration of greek, or ptolemaic artifacts being unearthed near the pyramid. you see, when the greeks came to egypt under alexander the great, they deified imhotep, making him the god of healing for greeks in egypt. pilgrimmages were made to saqqara to seek healing at the tomb of imhotep, and where archaeologists are digging now, large amounts of imhotep votives, medical instruments, and bodies of physically deformed humans are being found. I personally believe that if imhoteps tomb was found, it would be intact. I do not believe that ANYONE in ancient times would have the gall to defile the tomb of a god, and even if it was looted, i would assume that it would be restored to the best of the priests abilities. If the tomb of Imhotep is found intact it would not only contain typical "treasures" of gold and silver including a probable solid gold sarcophagus like that of tutankhamun, but also scrolls, yes scrolls, containing the medical knowledge and religious beliefs of the egyptians for the last three millenia B.C. the tomb would surpass any other find by leaps and bound, but don't grab your shovels just yet. thankfully, in egypt, it is illegal to even dig a hole in the western dessert. if you were to go to saqqara and start digging around you would be in jail before you could say "pepi the second!" i for one support the protection of archaeological sites in egypt.... but for places like america.... eh, finders keepers! keep your grimy government mits offa me gold! maybe it's just greed, maybe it's a lack of significant ancient history in the US of A, but i think it's just not necessary for the goverment to protect something that isn't there, unlike the thousands of undiscovered tombs and riches in egypt.
Just thought I would share some of my own treasure lore.
