Massive 60 Tons(!) Sarcophagus Discovered at Abydos.

Really huge! Team of Pennsylvania archeologists discover an huge sarcophagus of 60 tons (!) in Abydos but wasn’t able to identify its owner. Maybe, but there isn't consensus among this, Sobekhotep I Pharaoh of the nebulous and dark 13th Dynasty.
www.thehistoryblog.com...

The tomb was built out of limestone from the Tura quarries near Cairo and was originally topped by a pyramid, now gone. The handful of other 13th Dynasty pharaonic tombs that have been discovered are in the royal necropoli of Dashur, 25 miles south of Cairo, and Saqqara, 19 miles south of Cairo. They too were topped by pyramids, only parts of which survive.

Only one question: How "Big" the Owner was?

It was a previously unknown.. who is now known as Woseribre Senebkay. He was normal size. Oversized sarcophagus' that held smaller ones are common.

reply to post by Arken

Only one question: How "Big" the Owner was

More then likely the person within was normal size...

Notice the broken wall at the top of the inside of the sarcophagus?

Pretty good spot for their this persons most treasured possessions which he will need in the after life...

Possibly a cat... or a beloved pet?

Good stuff though... S&F

reply to post by Arken

I saw this the other day but completly forgot about it.

This is the one i found which have a little more info of some of the other tomb's they found, not much though, but it shows that there is still a lot to discover about ancient Egypt.

Click me

The most surprising find was the tomb of a pharaoh named Woseribre-Senebkay, who lived about 1650 B.C. Senebkay's tomb had been plundered centuries ago by robbers, who not only stripped it of gilt surfaces and other valuable objects but also ripped apart the pharaoh's mummy itself. Nevertheless, the archaeologists were able to recover the king's bones and put together an almost complete skeleton. Preliminary studies indicate that Senebkay was about 5-foot-10 and probably died when he was in his mid or late 40s.

Advantage
It was a previously unknown.. who is now known as Woseribre Senebkay. He was normal size. Oversized sarcophagus' that held smaller ones are common.

It seems they are two different finds but in the same area, i agree with your mention on the oversized sacophagus though.

reply to post by Arken

Only one question: How "Big" the Owner was?

How "Big" or how rich?

The enormity of the effort required to dig into this thing to get at the buried loot shows what a problem grave robbing must have been.

I'm sure theres a link to that somewheres…

When I see a giant ass pyramid with secret passages and a bashed sarcophagus I think its about protecting the buried loot.

www.unmuseum.org...

euler.slu.edu...

Mianeye
reply to post by Arken

 

I saw this the other day but completly forgot about it.

This is the one i found which have a little more info of some of the other tomb's they found, not much though, but it shows that there is still a lot to discover about ancient Egypt.

Click me

The most surprising find was the tomb of a pharaoh named Woseribre-Senebkay, who lived about 1650 B.C. Senebkay's tomb had been plundered centuries ago by robbers, who not only stripped it of gilt surfaces and other valuable objects but also ripped apart the pharaoh's mummy itself. Nevertheless, the archaeologists were able to recover the king's bones and put together an almost complete skeleton. Preliminary studies indicate that Senebkay was about 5-foot-10 and probably died when he was in his mid or late 40s.

Advantage
It was a previously unknown.. who is now known as Woseribre Senebkay. He was normal size. Oversized sarcophagus' that held smaller ones are common.

It seems they are two different finds but in the same area.

edit on 4-2-2014 by Mianeye because: (no reason given)

edit on 4-2-2014 by Mianeye because: (no reason given)

Thaks for your contribution.

reply to post by Arken


I know we are slowly putting together the lists of the ancient Pharaohs but I still have trouble attributing these huge sarcophagi with the king list we have. Its not the list, which I am sure we are probably faily accurate on, its the actual builders of these huge monuments.

Either the people who had the technology - and it must have been quite some technology - all suffered a total and collective amnesia as to why and how they built, or these were built earlier by another people who have disappeared and the following people to occupy the land after them, merely carved and adapted for themselves and their history these ancient monuments. Most of the tools we see left by the workers in their tombs are for decoration and carving, not actual structure to my mind. I know sledges were probably made of wood and have rotted but its also the genius to have put the plan together in the first place to build a super pyramid with super-sized blocks that intrigues me. I still wonder if the dates for the actual construction of these monuments are no where near accurate or, are we missing some vitally important clue that would clear up this mystery.

I read some of the ideas as to why the sarcophagus was so huge. Sure its possible that some beloved pet or belongings went inside with a pharoniac mummy, were that the real purpose of the sarcophagus, but with a pyramid built on top there would have been plenty of storage for belongings and things to take to an afterlife. Surely that would have been more acceptable to a Pharaoh who as use to space and left in some form of order rather than crammed inside a box - if indeed that was the actual purpose. Somehow I am not convinced of why one would build such a huge box, unless the original occupant or users were huge themselves, which again considering the size used for the building of these structure makes more sense.

I am wondering if anyone has tested the sarcophagus for some kind of audio use. I know the inside of cathedrals are constructed to change the brain waves of the congregation into a more receptive mood to absorb the service etc. I simply can't see putting a dead body into a box portrays a journey to the stars etc. But I am open to others ideas if I am wrong. I would say that I do find many archaeologists tentdto make huge leaps of judgement on mere fragments sometimes and I think much of their opinion is very subjective and I think for unusual things its thinking out of the box is needed more however much the truth might shake up our view of the ancient world.

reply to post by Arken


Quite impressive.

I find it quite sad that grave robbing in Egypt was and has been so prolific in the past, as well as the willful destruction of monuments for stone.

One must wonder what we'd have were all the monuments left alone, and undisturbed.

I've always enjoyed the nested sarcophagi the Egyptians were fond of; so similar to Russian матрёшка, or matryoshka nesting dolls where several smaller dolls can be found inside each progressively smaller doll in succession, except where the Russian dolls are a celebration of Life, the Egyptian Sarcophagi are vehicles into the after-life.

Fun contrast there between widely separate unrelated cultures.

reply to post by Arken


Great find, I wonder how big the raft was to float 60 tonnes down the Nile?

so one thing I don't get and am curious about in Egypt is that these pharaohs after kufu, much later, their pyramids are degrading and gone while an even more ancient pyramid/pyramids still stand with all there glory. I'm too think they got worse and worse at building? I don't know what it is but there is something missing in this ancient history. I would die to actually witness the secrets of the ancients.

reply to post by Arken


This guy would have been about 10 to 12 foot tall. Not unheard of around there.

reply to post by Arken


Topped by a pyramid that's no longer there? Where'd it go? Actually, according to the article, a few pyramids are missing. Also, that perfect rectilinear hole was chiseled out of the rock? Yeah ok.

reply to post by Arken


60 tons? I looked it up and that's 40 times as much as King Tut's. Maybe they weren't trying to keep anyone out of the sarchophagus. Maybe they were trying to keep him in...

Cool find.

All That I can say here is wow and I will say that this is rather mind blowing also. Also , never make too much fun over people who believe in the bible.
Just be careful of who you listen to as far as time lines go.

reply to post by Arken


So this thing weighs as much as a main battle tank (eg. Abrams M1)?! I'd love to see a top-down image to check the geometry. Were precision tools used on the inside? What are the exact dimensions, any noteworthy surface features, tool marks etc. ?

Gotta get Chris Dunn over there to check all that ... S&F!

reply to post by Arken


Just looking at that huge stone box suddenly made me wonder if we are totally wrong about what we think a sarcophagus actually is or is used for.

If one put a dead mummy in that thing that was 5' - 6' tall it would actually look stupid and tiny which is not the image that the Pharaoh, when alive would have wanted so would not have commissioned that size of box. Doesn't make sense.

reply to post by Arken


Looks like it was built to house one big fellow!

Nephilim i imagine!

reply to post by Arken

What makes this a sarcophagus?
Maybe I missed it but was there any evidence that this stone tub was used to store a mummy?
From your linked article;

Inside the tomb archaeologists found canopic jars that once held the pharaoh’s viscera

So there were jars found near this thing that once held someone’s body parts?

They claim that there used to be a pyramid built over this area and claim this pyramid was a burial tomb. From what I have read none of the pyramids in Egypt have been found to contain any evidence of a tomb. The sarcophagi, or stone tubs, were all found empty without lids. No artifacts, no inscriptions, no mummies just empty stone tubs. To find burial chambers one needs to go to the Valley of the Kings, not the pyramids.
Perhaps this is the first bit of real evidence that a pyramid was used as a tomb. Or perhaps they are assuming too much.

reply to post by intrptr

When I see a giant ass pyramid with secret passages and a bashed sarcophagus I think its about protecting the buried loot.

www.unmuseum.org...

The history of the pyramid of Cheops, the image you linked to, shows that it was completely empty. The first explorers that successfully broke into this pyramid found nothing inside but an empty stone tub. No evidence what so ever that it was used as a tomb. Egyptologists admit that Cheops’ tomb has yet to be found.

... it is fascinating, it is big, it is heavy, it is so precisely ..., it is one piece of rock, atc
what it is not for sure is "coffin"... xx