Archeologists Discover Head of Roman Statue in Egyptian Tomb
Archeologists recently discovered the stone head of Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius in an Egyptian temple known as Kom Ombo, situated along the Nile.
The temple was built somewhere around 180 B.C.E. and was dedicated to the Egyptian gods Horus and Sobek.
Located in the city of Aswan, the marble head was found when archeologists were lowering groundwater levels in a 50 ft. well, thought to have been used to gauge readings of the Nile during antiquity. The expedition also found another statue, though it has yet to be identified.
The marble head bears the distinct features of Marcus Aurelius, who ruled Rome between 161 to 180 A.D. The statue depicts Aurelius’ distinct beard, moustache, and curly head of hair.
Stone Head of Marcus Aurelius via egypindependent.com
The Kom Ombo temple was built during the Ptolemaic Dynasty, a Hellenistic family that ruled Egypt from 305 to 30 BCE. Though they were originally Greek, the Ptolemies adopted Egyptian traditions and culture, until the kingdom was eventually conquered by the Roman Empire.
Experts said the find was rare as it’s incredibly uncommon to find remnants of a Roman statue in Egypt. Similar finds from ancient Egypt have been made in disparate areas, adding to the mystery of how far the culture reached.
Another exceptional find was made in close proximity at the ancient temple of Karnak in the city of Luxor. There, archeologists discovered artifacts and a shrine devoted to the Egyptian god Osiris-Ptah-Neb. Shrines to Osiris have been found in northern and eastern areas of the temple, but this find in a southern location was unprecedented.
There has been evidence that ancient Egyptians may have traveled extensively across the globe. This includes a report of Smithsonian archeologists discovering Egyptian artifacts in the Grand Canyon; the presence of cocaine and tobacco found in the bodies of Egyptian mummies; and hieroglyphs found in Australia.
Researchers including John Anthony West and Robert Schoch devoted much of their careers toward proving alternative theories about the ancient Egyptians, such as the Sphinx water erosion hypothesis that has become an increasingly accepted theory.
Other mysteries such as those involving previously unknown tunnels and chambers in the Great Pyramid at Giza continue to baffle archeologists as mainstream stalwarts of Egyptology constantly push back, attempting to maintain traditional narratives.
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The London Hammer: Is It An Out of Place Artifact?
What could be so unusual or controversial about the discovery of an iron hammer encased in ancient rock? After all, archaeologists have discovered historical artifacts for as long as humans have been searching for their ancient roots. But what happens when an object defies historical study and appears to exist as a kind of time traveler in the mysterious realms between worlds? For what is known as the “London Hammer,” the world has been wrangling with a seemingly ordinary household tool steeped in mystery, archaeological wonder, and with many unanswered questions.
Alleged to date back more than 400 million years, the London Hammer, or as it is also called the London Artifact, can be looked at as a study of how the modern and ancient worlds can connect and collide. How else can we explain that an obviously human-made instrument linked to the late 1800s that never rusted despite the wood transforming into coal?
How could the London Hammer withstand typical aging impacts like oxidation, and what explanations exist for its discovery in a rock formation predating human existence? Perhaps it’s best to begin with its claimed discovery location – the small town of London, Texas.
London Hammer — From Texas to the World Stage
For Max and Emma Hahn, it was a summer day like many others. In 1936, the Texas couple took a hike along Red Creek near London, Texas, a tiny community located in the center of the Lone Star State. But the hike turned out to be like no other the Hahns had ever experienced. Not because of the weather or the beauty of the landscape but because they discovered a strange piece of wood encased in what seemed to be an unusual formation of rock.
