5 ms·

Egypt discovers 40 mummies in ancient chambers in Minya

retSava 8y 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.
- caiobegotti 8y 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.
  - retSava 8y 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.
    - caiobegotti 8y ago
      Ha-las with the a being open an one like in a laughter, the stress is on the las, but at least that's how I did and it worked every time :-D
- mc32 8y 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------ 8y ago
  Well if it is on HN, then it must be good news. Right?
- swarnie_ 8y 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.
- rblion 8y 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.
  - wsc981 8y 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.
    - rblion 8y ago
      Wow, you've changed my mind. I'm going, my friends complain about every place they go. I usually enjoy most places when I don't have unrealistic expectations. If I were to go in 2019 for a trip similar to yours, could I still sleep out in the desert by an oasis? Your trip is pretty much what I wanted to see too. How many days did you spend there total? Money (estimate)? I know inflation is a factor here since it was 15 years ago.
      - thekid314 8y ago
        Yeah, there's a few places you can get out to the desert. The closest rural desert park is a place called Wadi al-Hitan (Vally of the whales because there are lots of fossils from when the desert was an ocean floor). There are many tour companies that take you out to the White Desert in Farafra for some crazy rock formations. If you have more time go to Siwa to see a real oasis city. The train can take you down to Luxor for the Valley of the Kings and such. You can spend as much or as little as you want here. If you are very price conscious get a flight from kiwi.com, uber to get around, there are some cheap hotels downtown, or airbnb, or couch-surfing. Wish I could show you around.
starpucks 8y ago
Mumma mia !
dr_dshiv 8y 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)

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.

caiobegotti 8y 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.
- retSava 8y 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.
  - caiobegotti 8y ago
    Ha-las with the a being open an one like in a laughter, the stress is on the las, but at least that's how I did and it worked every time :-D
mc32 8y 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------ 8y ago
Well if it is on HN, then it must be good news. Right?
swarnie_ 8y 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.
rblion 8y 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.
- wsc981 8y 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.
  - rblion 8y ago
    Wow, you've changed my mind. I'm going, my friends complain about every place they go. I usually enjoy most places when I don't have unrealistic expectations. If I were to go in 2019 for a trip similar to yours, could I still sleep out in the desert by an oasis? Your trip is pretty much what I wanted to see too. How many days did you spend there total? Money (estimate)? I know inflation is a factor here since it was 15 years ago.
    - thekid314 8y ago
      Yeah, there's a few places you can get out to the desert. The closest rural desert park is a place called Wadi al-Hitan (Vally of the whales because there are lots of fossils from when the desert was an ocean floor). There are many tour companies that take you out to the White Desert in Farafra for some crazy rock formations. If you have more time go to Siwa to see a real oasis city. The train can take you down to Luxor for the Valley of the Kings and such. You can spend as much or as little as you want here. If you are very price conscious get a flight from kiwi.com, uber to get around, there are some cheap hotels downtown, or airbnb, or couch-surfing. Wish I could show you around.

starpucks 8y ago

Mumma mia !

dr_dshiv 8y 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)