Pyramid built for Queen Neith at Saqqarah, near Cairo, Egypt
Credit: © Zahi Hawass

In a trove of amazing discoveries at Saqqarah, a previously unknown queen has rewritten history. Saqqarah, also spelled Saqqara, was an ancient Egyptian necropolis (burial ground) near the city of Memphis, not far from Cairo. A pyramid excavated there belonged to ancient Egyptian Queen Neith.

Memphis served as Egypt’s capital from the time it was founded, around 3000 B.C., and later remained a religious center and the residence of Egyptian pharaohs (kings). Archaeologists investigating Saqqarah have discovered many antiquities that provide information about life in ancient Egypt. Inside, they have found human mummies, ceramic amulets and jars, and writing implements.

In the past two years, archaeologists digging at Saqqarah encountered coffins, mummies, tombs, and a number of connected tunnels. They first explored the pyramid of Teti, a pharaoh during Dynasty VI of the Old Kingdom period and later a god during the New Kingdom. The Old Kingdom lasted from about 2650 to 2150 B.C., included Dynasties III through VIII. The New Kingdom began around 1539 B.C., with Dynasty XVIII, until about 1075 B.C., when Dynasty XX ended.

Beside Teti’s pyramid is the pyramid of Queen Neith. It was first excavated by archaeologists in 2010, though it was thought to belong to the mother or a wife of King Teti, as a name wasn’t found. A nearby funerary temple was found in early 2021, containing Queen Neith’s sarcophagus (stone coffin). A carving on the wall identified her name as Queen Neith, the wife of King Teti. A fallen obelisk at the temple entrance is also inscribed with the name Queen Neith. Queen Neith died about 4,200 years ago, during the period of the Old Kingdom.

In Egyptian mythology, Neith was the goddess of creation, war, weaving, and wisdom. She was also the patron of the city of Sais. Some accounts say she was the mother of the sun god Re. Others claim she was the mother of the crocodile god Sobek.

The 22 connected tunnels found are 30 to 60 feet (9 to 18 meters) deep. The tunnels contained 300 wood coffins of the New Kingdom period, which had been uncommon at Saqqarah. Some may contain close generals and advisors of King Tutankhamun. Each coffin is decorated with a unique face, name, and scenes from the Book of the Dead. The Book of the Dead is a collection of texts containing prayers, hymns, spells, and other information to guide souls through the afterlife, protect them from evil, and provide for their needs. Egyptians had passages from such texts carved or written on walls inside their tombs or had a copy of a text placed in their tombs. Mummification preserved the more than 100 bodies fairly well over the centuries. Statues of gods, games, and a 13-foot (4-meter) papyrus inscribed with Chapter 17 of the Book of the Dead were found in the burial shafts.

Millions of animal mummies have also been found at Saqqarah. Animal embalming was a vast industry in ancient Egypt. Such animals as baboons, cobras, crocodiles, falcons, ibises, and mice were commonly mummified. Animal statues and mummies were seen as physical manifestations of gods, and they were included in burials for companionship, protection, or religious offerings in the afterlife. In 2015, archaeologists discovered a Saqqarah tomb complex dedicated to Anubis, the jackal-headed god of mummification. The chamber was found stuffed with nearly 8 million animal mummies—most of them dogs.

Archaeologists also found dozens of mummified cats and scarab beetles in another Saqqarah tomb. Some of the mummified cats may have been treasured pets. Several gilded (golden) wooden cat statues were also found in the tombs, along with a bronze statue of Bastet, an ancient Egyptian cat goddess. Bastet had a large and widespread cult (group of worshipers) in ancient Egypt. The preserved scarab beetles were wrapped in linen inside small decorated limestone sarcophagi. Some ancient Egyptians worshiped Khepri, who had the form of a scarab beetle. Khepri was a god of resurrection and immortality. Khepri was a relatively obscure god in the ancient Egyptian pantheon.

A procession of 22 ancient Egyptian royal mummies (18 kings and 4 queens) leave the Egyptian Museum on Tahrir Square and are driven to the new National Museum of Egyptian Civilisation, in Cairo, Egypt, on April 3, 2021.
Credit: © Abaca Press/Alamy Images

Last month, Egyptian royals paraded through downtown Cairo. Called the Pharaoh’s Golden Parade, the procession included 18 kings and 4 queens. The royals traveled from the Egyptian Museum in Tahrir Square to the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization. As they made the 3-mile (5-kilometer) journey, they were met with cheers from adoring fans. Although the fans were lively, the royals were quite reserved. In fact, the royals had been dead for hundreds of years.

The Pharaoh’s Golden Parade marked the relocation of 22 ancient Egyptian mummies. Mummy is a body that has been preserved through natural or artificial means.

The royal mummies were very fragile. Vehicles designed for the event cradled the mummies on their trip. The roads were even repaved to ensure that the kings and queens had a smooth ride. For protection, the bodies were placed in nitrogen-filled boxes. (Pure nitrogen gas is used as a “blanket” to keep away oxygen, which can further degrade the already-ancient corpses.)

Egyptians mummified their dead because they believed the body had to be preserved for use in the afterlife. The earliest Egyptian mummies were naturally preserved by being buried in the hot and dry desert sand. By about 3500 B.C., the Egyptians had developed an elaborate process of preparing mummies. Ancient texts indicate that the process took 70 days to complete. In this process, the stomach, liver, lungs, and intestines were removed from the body through an incision on the left side of the abdomen. The heart, which the Egyptians considered the center of reasoning, was usually left in place. In some cases, embalmers removed the brain with a hook through a hole pierced through the nose.

After the body was dried, it was treated with perfumes and resins that helped seal out moisture. The body could be stuffed with straw, linen, moss, or other material to give it a more lifelike appearance. The body was then wrapped in a great number of linen bandages. Mummies were usually placed in a coffin or a series of coffins, one inside the other.

Wealthy people could afford more elaborately prepared mummies than could the poor. The ancient Egyptians also mummified animals, including baboons, cats, jackals, and rams, which were associated with various Egyptian gods and cults. Pet cats and dogs were sometimes mummified as well. The ancient Egyptians practiced mummification until about A.D. 300, when it was replaced by simple burials following the introduction of Christianity.

Mummies were also made in other parts of the world. In China, some bodies were preserved using mercury salts. Among the Inca of South America, mummies were preserved through the use of smoke and resins. The dry climate of the Andes Mountains aided the preservation of the bodies. The people of the Aleutian Islands and the Ancestral Pueblo people (once called the Anasazi) of the American Southwest also mummified their dead. Mummification is still practiced today in the form of embalming. Among the most famous modern mummies are those of the Communist leaders V. I. Lenin of Russia and Mao Zedong of China.

Nadeen Ashraf
Credit: © Omar Allam, American University in Cairo

March is Women’s History Month, an annual observance of women’s achievements and contributions to society. This month, Behind the Headlines will feature woman pioneers in a variety of areas. 

Social media websites are often used for such activities as connecting with friends and family or sharing your singing, dancing, or cooking skills. But social media can also serve as platforms for promoting change, be it in politics, race relations, or gender equality. Nadeen Ashraf, an Egyptian feminist and activist against sexual assault, started the account Assault Police on the social media service Instagram. The account has drawn large numbers of women to share information about sexual assault and harassment, along with their personal experiences.

Ashraf was born March 12, 1998, in Cairo. From a young age, she had an interest in the internet and social media. She started Assault Police while studying philosophy at the American University in Cairo. Other students had posted online about a man who was sexually harassing and threatening women. When one of their accounts suddenly disappeared, Ashraf became angry. In July 2020, she created Assault Police to repost the allegations. The account quickly drew thousands of followers, and the man was soon arrested.

Many more women were drawn to share their experiences on Assault Police. Ashraf’s work helped inspire a broader discussion about sexual violence in the conservative country. Egyptian officials have traditionally been reluctant to prosecute crimes against women, and witnesses and victims may be charged with indecency upon coming forward. In a poll conducted by the United Nations in 2013, 99 percent of Egyptian women reported witnessing sexual assault or harassment. A 2017 study found Cairo to be the most dangerous large city for women, in part due to sexual assault and harassment.

The movement sparked in part by Ashraf has been compared to the MeToo social movement in Western countries. In August 2020, Egypt’s parliament passed a law to shield the identity of harassment victims.

April 17, 2018

Today, World Book extends Arab American Heritage Month to Canada, where the Aga Khan Museum in Toronto is featuring an exhibition called The World of the Fatimids. The Fatimids, often written as  Fātimids, were a dominant Arab culture that ruled much of northern Africa and parts of the Middle East from A.D. 909 to 1171. The World of the Fatimids exhibition, which began in March 2018 and runs through early July, features rare items of art and luxury, as well as a program of films and lectures that concentrates on the culture’s influence on Cairo, the erstwhile Fātimid capital and current capital of Egypt.

This carved ivory oliphant (hunter’s horn) is part of The World of the Fatimids exhibition at the Aga Khan Museum in Toronto, Ontario. Credit: © The Aga Khan Museum

The Fātimid dynasty was a line of Muslim rulers who claimed descent from Fātimah, a daughter of the Prophet Muhammad, and her husband, Alī ibn Abī Tālib, a cousin of the Prophet. The dynasty and its followers belonged to the Shī`ah branch of Islam and to a sect called the Seveners. In 909, they gained control over land that had been held by the larger group of rival Sunni Muslims and rose to power in north Africa. At various times, the Fātimid empire included Sicily, Syria, and parts of Arabia and Palestine.

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From the 900′s to 1171, the Fātimids ruled an empire that covered North Africa and much of the Middle East.  Credit: WORLD BOOK map

For many years, the Fātimids made their capitals in what are now the cities of Al Qayrawan and Al Mahdiyah, Tunisia. But after winning control of Egypt in 969, they founded a new capital, Al-Qahirah (Cairo). There, they built many beautiful buildings and established al-Azhar University. Today, this university is one of the oldest in the world and the most influential religious school in Islam. The Fātimids also established great libraries in Cairo and in Tripoli, Lebanon.

The Fātimid rulers were good leaders, but internal conflict eventually broke the dynasty apart. Members of the court struggled for power in the 1160′s, and Nūr al-Dīn, a Syrian leader, became involved. The last Cairo ruler asked Nūr al-Dīn for protection against an invasion in 1168. Nūr al-Dīn sent a strong force that included Saladin, a great warrior who overthrew the Fātimid dynasty in 1171. Today, Shī`ites (followers of Shī`ah Islam) who remain loyal to the Fātimid dynasty are known as Ismā`īlīs (Ismailis).

Aga Khan is the title of the Ismā`īlī imām (spiritual leader). Toronto’s Aga Khan Museum, a creation of the Aga Khan Development Network run by Aga Khan IV (1936-…), opened in 2014. The museum houses collections of Islamic art and heritage and shares formal gardens and a park with the Ismaili Centre Toronto.

January 16, 2018

Yesterday, January 15, marked the 100th anniversary of the birth of Gamal Abdel Nasser, a towering figure of Egyptian history during the 1900′s. Nasser led the revolt that overthrew King Faruk in 1952 and made Egypt a republic. Nasser then instituted significant changes within Egyptian society as he served as the nation’s prime minister and president. Nasser modernized much of Egypt while also helping unify the Arab world. He accomplished many things for the Egyptian people, but his authoritarian rule allowed little political opposition. Nasser also stirred international tensions and steered his country into the disastrous Arab-Israeli war of 1967.

Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser waves to exuberant supporters in Port Said, Egypt, in June 1956. Credit: © AP Photo

Nasser was born on Jan. 15, 1918, in Alexandria, Egypt’s busiest seaport and second largest city. Nasser grew up during a time of British influence in Egypt, and he was a strong supporter of Egyptian nationalism. Nasser graduated from the Royal Military Academy in Cairo, the capital, in 1938. As the United Kingdom fought Germany for control of Egypt during World War II (1939-1945), Nasser was among a group of young officers anticipating an Egyptian revolution. He fought in the Arab war against Israel in 1948 and 1949.

Egypt’s revolution came in July 1952, when Nasser and a discontented army group known as the Free Officers seized power and sent the reigning monarch, King Faruk, into exile. Nasser believed that Egypt’s government was corrupt and that only a change in government could bring economic progress and complete political independence to Egypt.

Nasser became prime minister of Egypt in February 1954. He became president soon after. In July, Nasser triggered an international crisis by nationalizing (taking control of) the Suez Canal, then under British and French control. Nasser used the money generated by the canal to build the Aswan High Dam. In 1958, in a move toward Arab unity, Syria and Egypt formed the United Arab Republic (U.A.R.). Nasser served as U.A.R. president until Syria withdrew from the union in 1961. In June 1967, mounting tensions with Israel resulted in a brief war that ended in a stinging Egyptian defeat and Egypt’s loss of the Sinai Peninsula. Nasser tried to resign from office after the war, but the Egyptian people and the National Assembly refused to accept his resignation. He served as both president and prime minister until his sudden death from a heart attack on Sept. 28, 1970. Millions of Egyptians turned out for Nasser’s funeral procession through Cairo.

June 6, 2017

Fifty years ago this week, Israel and the Arab countries of Egypt, Jordan, and Syria fought a brutal war that lasted just six days. From June 5 to June 10, 1967, Israel defeated the combined forces of the other nations and preserved the young nation’s existence. The Six-Day War, also known as the June War or the Arab-Israeli War of 1967, was a crucial moment in the history of the Middle East. Far from settling rival national and religious issues, the war created further divisions between the region’s people and led to later conflict and tensions that continue today, 50 years after the last shot was fired.

The Arab-Israeli conflict erupted into war in June 1967. Israeli tanks, shown here, along with other Israeli air and ground forces, defeated the forces of Egypt, Syria, and Jordan. Credit: AP Photo

Israel and the region’s surrounding Arab nations have been at odds—and often in open conflict—ever since Israel was established in 1948. In 1967, tensions and border skirmishes in Syria, Israel’s neighbor to the northeast, led to an air battle between Israeli and Syrian warplanes. Egypt, pledging support for Syria, sent thousands of troops into the Sinai Peninsula southwest of Israel. Egypt also cut off the important Israeli port of Elat from the Red Sea. Syrian troops then massed on the Israeli border, and Jordan (southeast of Israel) joined the Egyptian-Syrian alliance. Arab leaders—most notably Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser—called for Israel’s destruction. Some 330,000 Arab troops surrounded Israel, along with about 2,000 tanks and 600 warplanes. Israel’s forces included about 250,000 troops, 1,000 tanks, and 250 warplanes. The Israelis were outnumbered, but they were better equipped, trained, and coordinated. After failed diplomatic efforts, Israel struck before the Arab forces could attack.

Early on June 5, 1967, Israeli warplanes struck several Egyptian air bases. The attack destroyed hundreds of Egyptian planes. At the same time, Israeli tanks and infantry smashed into Gaza and the Sinai, routing Egyptian ground forces. By June 7, Israel had taken the Sinai.

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In the 1967 Six-Day War, Israel faced the combined armies of Egypt, Jordan, and Syria. The fighting took place from June 5 to June 10 and ended in a decisive Israeli victory. Credit: WORLD BOOK map

Late in the morning on June 5, Jordanian artillery and warplanes struck positions in northern Israel, including Tel Aviv and west Jerusalem. Israel responded with air strikes that wiped out the Jordanian air force. That afternoon, Israeli troops began battling Jordanian forces in and around Jerusalem. Israeli warplanes destroyed Jordan’s reinforcement convoys. By the morning of June 7, only pockets of Jordanian troops remained in Jerusalem. Israeli forces then entered and gained control of Jerusalem’s walled Old City. By nightfall on June 7, Israel had taken the West Bank.

Syrian artillery and warplanes attacked Israeli targets along the Syrian border on June 5. Later that day, Israeli warplanes destroyed most of the Syrian air force. After fighting in the Sinai and the West Bank ended, Israel turned its attention to Syria’s heavily defended Golan Heights. Early on June 9, Israeli warplanes battered Syrian troops entrenched on the heights. By noon, Israeli ground forces had entered Syria. Fierce battles erupted all along the border, but Israeli troops soon controlled the Golan Heights. A cease-fire on June 10 ended the Six-Day War.

About 800 Israelis died in the Six-Day War, and another 2,400 were wounded. Combined Arab casualties (people killed, wounded, missing, or captured) were about 50,000, including more than 14,000 dead.

In November 1967, the United Nations called for Israel to withdraw from territories it gained in the war. In return, the Arab countries were to recognize and accept the nation of Israel’s right to exist. Israel, however, refused to give up the captured territories, and the Arab countries renewed their opposition to Israel.

Egypt and Syria again attacked Israel in the 1973 Yom Kippur War (also called the Ramadan War, the October War, or the Arab-Israeli War of 1973). This larger conflict ended in a stalemate. The Sinai Peninsula was returned to Egypt in 1979. Israel withdrew from the Gaza Strip in 2005 but maintains control of its borders. Israel still occupies the Golan Heights and parts of the West Bank.

February 16, 2015

A relative of a man seized by the terrorist group Islamic State (ISIS) covers her face as she weeps at their home in the village of el-Aour, Egypt. Thirteen of the men kidnapped hail from this village. Her relative, Samuel Walham, was one of 21 Egyptian Coptic Christians seized by ISIS militants in the central city of Sirte, Libya, over December and January. The day after this photo was taken, video of militants murdering the Egyptian hostages was released.  (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar, File)

In response to a video that was released yesterday, showing the beheading of 21 Egyptian workers in Libya by the terrorist organization Islamic State (ISIS), the government of Egypt bombed Libyan territory today. The bombing was targeted at ISIS camps, training areas, and weapons depots, and was ordered by Egypt’s President, Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, in retaliation for the murder of Egyptian citizens.

The Egyptian workers killed in Libya were all Coptic Christians, or Copts, an ancient sect dating to the early Christian church in Egypt. Today, around 10 million Copts live in Egypt. Poorer Coptic Christian men sometimes leave Egypt to work in Libya at such jobs as construction. The 21 men who were abducted were taken from the coastal town of Sirte, in eastern Libya, which is under the control of Islamist groups.

Libya is currently under control of two groups—the government, led by Prime Minister Abdullah al-Thinni; and rival militias, who took over the Libyan capital of Tripoli in 2014. The 2014 take-over of Tripoli by the militias forced the government of Libya to flee to the northeastern city of Tobruk, where they allied themselves with anti-Islamist rebels. Much like Syria and Iraq, both riven by civil strife, Libya’s weak government allows such jihadist groups as ISIS to thrive.

ISIS will sometimes try to justify its actions based on religious ideas. In messages concerning the hostages, ISIS referred to Coptic men as “crusaders,” referring to soldiers that fought in a series of wars proclaimed by Roman Catholic popes. The Crusades occurred from the late 1000′s to the 1500′s, however, and the men killed in Libya were not trying to conquer territory but were poor men trying to make enough money for their families to live.

August 27, 2014

Yesterday, the government of Israel and leaders from the Palestinian group Hamas accepted an interim peace agreement to end a seven-week war in the Gaza Strip. The agreement was brokered by Egypt.

The current Israeli-Hamas hostilities began on July 8, several days after a Palestinian boy was murdered in an apparent reprisal for the murder of three Israeli teenage boys, whose bodies were found in the West Bank on June 30. Initially, Hamas claimed it was not responsible for the kidnapping of the Israeli teenagers, but on August 22, a high-level Hamas leader stated at a conference in Turkey that Hamas’s military wing, the al-Qassam Brigades, did, in fact, carry out the kidnappings. The Israeli crackdown on Hamas members in the West Bank after the teenagers’ bodies were found began a spiral of escalating violence, as Hamas responded by launching rockets into Israel. In turn, Israel bombarded Gaza by air and then launched a ground invasion on July 15.

More than 2,000 Palestinians, most of them civilians, have been killed in Gaza since July 8, and some 20,000 homes have been destroyed. On the Israeli side, 70 people have been killed in the conflict, 6 of them civilians.

Still, many experts believed that the status quo before the recent conflict could not continue. Political changes in Egypt, particularly the end of the rule of the Muslim Brotherhood there, have led to changes for Gaza. Hamas was closely allied with the Brotherhood. In 2013, after the ouster of president Mohamed Morsi, the new Egyptian government began closing off the tunnels between Egypt and Gaza. By some reports, nearly 800 tunnels—used to bring fuel, food, and building materials into Gaza—have been closed by Egypt. In addition to losing goods, Hamas lost revenue it had been raising by taxing the smuggled products. By the end of 2013, Hamas was finding it increasingly difficult to pay salaries to its civil servants in Gaza.

Israel and Egypt control the borders of the Gaza Strip. Both nations have been restricting the flow of goods into Gaza. (World Book map)

In the cease-fire, both parties agreed to end military action. Israel also agreed to open more border crossings to aid the flow of goods into Gaza, and Egypt agreed to reopen a border crossing that had been closed since 2013.

Additional World Book articles:

• Egypt (2013—a Back in Time article)
• Israel (2010—a Back in Time article)
• Middle East (2013—a Back in Time article)

January 24, 2014

Bombings mainly targeting security forces rocked Cairo, the capital of Egypt, this morning, leaving at least 6 people dead and some 100 people injured. The attacks came on the third anniversary of the start of the uprising that drove long-time President Hosni Mubarak from office in 2011. The militant group Ansar Beit al-Maqdis (Champions of Jerusalem), which is reportedly inspired by the al-Qa’ida terrorist network, claimed responsibility for the attacks. The Egyptian government blamed the violence on the Muslim Brotherhood, an Islamist group that had backed the election of Mohamed Morsi, a long-time member of the group, in 2012. In 2013, the Egyptian military removed Morsi, the first freely elected president of that country, from office amid widespread public protests against his government. Since then, the Brotherhood has clashed repeatedly with Egypt’s new military-backed government. But the Brotherhood strongly denied any involvement in the bombings and condemned them as “cowardly acts.”

The first bomb struck police headquarters in Cairo, killing four people and injuring 76 others. Egypt’s  minister of the interior said the attack seemed to be the work of a suicide bomber. A second attack targeted police vehicles near a transit station in the Dokki district of the city. One person reportedly died in that bombing. No none was hurt in a third attack, which went off outside a police station near the Giza pyramids. The fourth bomb, which exploded outside a movie theater in the Giza district, killed one person.

Egypt's political turmoil began in 2011, when protests in Cairo's Tahrir Square against the government led to the ouster of President Hosni Mubarak. Since then, Egypt has lurched from one political crisis to the next. (© John Moore, Getty Images)

Additional World Book articles:

• Tahrir Square
• The Middle East: From Fall to Spring (a special report)
• Egypt (2011) (a Back in Time article)
• Egypt (2012) (a Back in Time article)

August 22, 2013

Former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak was released from a Cairo prison today (State Information Service of Egypt).

Former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak was released from Cairo’s Tora prison today. An Egyptian court ordered his release after two years of pre-trial detention on corruption charges. He will be under house arrest pending further investigation of those charges, which allege that Mubarak accepted $11 million in gifts from the state-run newspaper Al-Ahram. Other corruption charges are pending for the ex-president, and he is appealing a conviction for allegedly ordering the deaths of Egyptian protesters in the 2011 uprising that led to his ouster.

Mubarak served as president of Egypt from 1981 to 2011. In January 2011, hundreds of thousands of Egyptians took to the streets, demanding his resignation. Critics complained that Mubarak’s administration was rife with corruption and had all but crushed civil rights. Protests against his regime became progressively more violent until he was forced to yield power to Egypt’s military in February 2011.

The transition from military to civilian rule was carried out fairly peacefully, and in June 2012, Islamist candidate Mohamed Morsi became the first freely elected president of Egypt. Morsi pushed an Islamist agenda strongly favored by the Muslim Brotherhood, sparking widespread protests. Many Egyptians believed that Morsi was more interested in turning Egypt into an Islamist state than in dealing with the country’s many problems. The lack of public security under Morsi undermined the economy, which remains in a desperate state. More than 1 million people were thrown out of work during his one year in office. Finally, the Egyptian military removed Morsi from the presidency on July 3. On July 26, Morsi was formally charged with espionage and conspiring to carry out “aggressive acts in the country” during the 2011 uprising.

Experts on the domestic situation in Egypt noted today that Mubarak’s release is widely seen as a sign that the revolution of 2011 has come full circle with the army once again firmly in control. The military has imprisoned hundreds of members of the Muslim Brotherhood and former President Mohamed Morsi remains in prison.

Additional World Book articles:

• Tahrir Square
• The Middle East: From Fall to Spring (a special report)
• Egypt (2011) (a Back in Time article)
• Egypt (2012) (a Back in Time article)