05 Jul 2017 Akhenaten: Imperishable Art of an Iconoclast: Creativity Blossoms in the Desert—Part I By anand balaji History & Tradition 0 Never before had a pharaoh ushered daring, almost bizarre and inconceivable transformations in religion and statecraft as Akhenaten did. Not only did he oust the pantheon of traditional gods and shift the royal capital from Thebes to Akhetaten down... Read More
26 May 2017 Tutankhamun and the Age of Appropriation: Missing Skullcap of the Last Sun King–Part II By anand balaji Archaeology & Science 0 The oft-repeated phrase “the Amarna era is shrouded in mystery” could be a thing of the past if only closer scrutiny of key artifacts from Tutankhamun’s tomb are permitted by the authorities concerned. Courtesy reuse and usurpation, the... Read More
24 May 2017 Tutankhamun and the Age of Appropriation: Priceless Secrets and Palimpsests Hidden in Plain Sight–Part I By anand balaji Archaeology & Science 0 Among the stupefying hoard of over five thousand objects that were recovered from the tomb of Tutankhamun (KV62), some sported distinct Atenist leanings. While the golden throne of the boy-king is the most prominent in this regard, other treasures... Read More
01 May 2017 Decapitation? No Problem. The Magic of Restoration: Ancient Myths and Practices of Plastic Surgery By MartiniF Archaeology & Science 0 Plastic surgery, not just a modern practice, has always existed and was shrouded in mystery, magic, and eroticism.An Indian physician named Sushruta, who was widely regarded in India as the “father of surgery”, wrote one of the world’s... Read More
28 Apr 2017 Unraveling Tutankhamun’s Final Secret: Enigmatic Sarcophagus the Key to Proof of a Double Burial? – Part II By anand balaji Archaeology & Science 0 The sarcophagus in which Tutankhamun was interred upon his untimely demise in the confines of his tomb has for long puzzled Egyptologists. The existence of anomalies on its surface is perplexing. Even though it is obvious today that the coffer was... Read More
26 Apr 2017 Unraveling Tutankhamun’s Final Secret: Cloak of Mysteries Reside in a Sepulchral Masterpiece–Part I By anand balaji Archaeology & Science 0 Are we poised to discover an Amarna royal in a hitherto unimagined location that will rewrite history — or will this be the final nail in the coffin for the ‘double burial’ theory? It is quite possible that the sarcophagus of the boy-king... Read More
29 Mar 2017 The Magic, Mystery and Madness of Tomb 55: Shadowy Sovereigns and Risky Reburials–Part IV By anand balaji Archaeology & Science 0 The German Egyptologist Walther Wolf was unsparing in his description of Akhenaten, calling him a man who epitomized “sick ugliness and nervous decadence”. The greatest irony of the entire Amarna episode was that this pharaoh, who had... Read More
15 Mar 2017 The Magic, Mystery and Madness of Tomb 55: Saga of a Botched Excavation–Part II By anand balaji Archaeology & Science 0 The entire Amarna epoch and those who strutted upon its stage have always presented a conundrum for Egyptologists. In early 1907, one of the most valuable finds – Tomb 55 – promised to finally lift the veil, however partially, off the many... Read More
13 Mar 2017 The Magic, Mystery and Madness of Tomb 55: Seeking the Amarna Dead–Part I By anand balaji Archaeology & Science 2 When Pharaoh Akhenaten abandoned the traditional capital Thebes (Waset) and headed to his dream city Akhetaten – built to glorify the solar deity, the Aten – he swore never to return. But, such proclamations failed miserably a little over a... Read More
08 Feb 2017 The Dakhamunzu Chronicles: Fate of Queen and Country —Part II By anand balaji History & Tradition 1 Despite the desperate attempts that were made by a queen of Egypt, with the best intentions at heart; the audacious move to invite a foreigner to marry her and take the throne spelled her doom. It would rest on a succession of pharaohs, from the... Read More