6 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.
  - caiobegotti 8y 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 :-)
    - rblion 8y ago
      I bet you are right. I am on the fence still. I love Egypt and ancient culture in general. How many days did you spend there? How much money did you spend (estimate)? I'm headed to EU and Asia this summer/fall for work, I can make a stop in Cairo (like originally planned). I have an ex-gf who lived in Egypt to work at a resort and she said it's not the best time to go right now but the tourist-y areas are always safe because they need the tourism for their economy.
      - caiobegotti 8y ago
        I traveled for 30 days there, across the whole country by bus, car and train and spent about 650 USD a few years ago. I did 1 week of couchsurfing in Giza and managed to save some bucks that way. Hurghada, with lots of resorts and russians and playboys & Alexandria which has a different tourist relaxing vibe are probably quite safe any time. Luxor is super tourist safe I would say but how to get there is up to you and how much adventurous you are. In Cairo I would just stay in a decent hostel but only if you wanna visit the freaking awesome Egyptian Museum and the pyramids/sphinx with some agency (since you are worried about safety). Otherwise you may need to build up that confidence I mentioned earlier, by perhaps leaving Cairo/Giza to the end of your trip so you have time to decide yourself :-) feel free to drop me an e-mail @gmail.com if you need more specific numbers/hints/etc
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.
- caiobegotti 8y 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 :-)
  - rblion 8y ago
    I bet you are right. I am on the fence still. I love Egypt and ancient culture in general. How many days did you spend there? How much money did you spend (estimate)? I'm headed to EU and Asia this summer/fall for work, I can make a stop in Cairo (like originally planned). I have an ex-gf who lived in Egypt to work at a resort and she said it's not the best time to go right now but the tourist-y areas are always safe because they need the tourism for their economy.
    - caiobegotti 8y ago
      I traveled for 30 days there, across the whole country by bus, car and train and spent about 650 USD a few years ago. I did 1 week of couchsurfing in Giza and managed to save some bucks that way. Hurghada, with lots of resorts and russians and playboys & Alexandria which has a different tourist relaxing vibe are probably quite safe any time. Luxor is super tourist safe I would say but how to get there is up to you and how much adventurous you are. In Cairo I would just stay in a decent hostel but only if you wanna visit the freaking awesome Egyptian Museum and the pyramids/sphinx with some agency (since you are worried about safety). Otherwise you may need to build up that confidence I mentioned earlier, by perhaps leaving Cairo/Giza to the end of your trip so you have time to decide yourself :-) feel free to drop me an e-mail @gmail.com if you need more specific numbers/hints/etc

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)