The Black Stone Sarcophagus is Open and Investigators Found More Than They Bargained For!

The Black Stone Sarcophagus is Open and Investigators Found More Than They Bargained For!

We are searching data for your request:

Forums and discussions:
Manuals and reference books:
Data from registers:
Wait the end of the search in all databases.
Upon completion, a link will appear to access the found materials.

Ur Or cE ms RI ju zf Te Ui Hf

Rumors have been rolling about since the 27-ton (59,500 lb.) black granite sarcophagus was uncovered three weeks ago in Alexandria, Egypt. One of the more interesting suggestions was that the massive stone sarcophagus was the final resting place of Alexander the Great. But there were also warnings against opening the tomb due to worries of a mummy’s curse.

Despite the concerns by some, the impressive sarcophagus has been opened, and as Mostafa Waziri, secretary-general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, said, “We've opened it and, thank God, the world has not fallen into darkness. I was the first to put my whole head inside the sarcophagus... and here I stand before you ... I am fine."

Preparing the sarcophagus. ( Ministry of Antiquities )

It probably took some effort to be that close to the open tomb, as BBC News reports the stench that leaked out upon opening the lid by just 5cm (2 inches) was enough to clear the site. Egyptian military engineers were called in to help pry the sarcophagus open and see what lay inside.

  • Rosetta-style engraving lauding Cleopatra I and two Ptolemaic Pharaohs unearthed in Egypt
  • False Door Tombstone and Array of Artifacts Unearthed in the City of Alexandria

Waziri described the contents : “We found the bones of three people, in what looks like a family burial... Unfortunately, the mummies inside were not in the best condition and only the bones remain.” Well, the bones and some stinking red-brown sewage water.

The black sarcophagus was found to contain three skeletons and lots of sewage. ( Ministry of Antiquities )

The mummies were probably decomposed by that sewage water, which had seeped into the stone coffin, leaving only the skeletons behind. The officials say that their initial examination of the bodies suggests they were probably soldiers from the early Ptolemaic period. One of the skulls shows cracks from a possible arrow injury.

The tomb was unearthed by archaeologists present at the beginning of a construction project in Alexandria's Sidi Gaber neighborhood. This is a common practice before any building can commence in the area and occasionally sarcophagi have been found, though they have often been looted before the archaeologists have had a chance to study them. In this case, they made an unparalleled discovery - a black granite coffin which stands at approximately 6 feet (1.83 meters) tall and over 5. 5 feet (1.65 meters) wide. Waziri said it may be the largest ever found in Alexandria.

The black sarcophagus may be the largest ever found in Alexandria . ( Ministry of Antiquities )

No inscriptions, art, or grave goods were found on or in the sarcophagus alongside the skeletons after the coffin was opened, but it is unclear if anything had been buried inside and decomposed. The officials say the mortar shows the sarcophagus had not been opened before they chose to do so, so at least looting seems unlikely.

  • Rest Like an Egyptian: Lifting the Lid on the Elaborate Phoenician Tabnit Sarcophagus
  • Inscribed Curse on the Sarcophagus of King Ahiram Displays Earliest Use of Phoenician Alphabet

Nonetheless, an alabaster bust was found at the grave site when it was first uncovered. The bust has deteriorated and the features of the face cannot be made out; springing hope for a time that it showed a Macedonian or a Greek male of high social status (i.e. perhaps Alexander the Great).

A deteriorated alabaster bust of a man was found with the coffin. ( Ministry of Antiquities )

The opening of the black granite sarcophagus may have solved a couple of mysteries, but it has also led to many new questions, such as: Who were the three people? How did they die? Why were they placed in such an elaborate and massive coffin? Had they been buried with any grave goods? What can the alabaster bust say about the grave and was it a depiction of one of the deceased? If so, why were the other two people buried alongside that person?

There is hope that at least some of these questions will be answered by continuing analysis of the skeletons, which are now on their way to the National Museum of Alexandria, and the sarcophagus, which will follow after it has been repaired and prepared for transport.


Pre-Show

Announcements

  • Tor Books is the sponsor of tonight's episode. Bands of Mourning by Brandon Sanderson is their newest release. and Marisha Ray give thanks and a shoutout to those at Kaizoku-Con in Ireland.
  • Dwarven Forge is providing some dungeon tiles for future episodes of the campaign. The Kickstarter for a "castle builder" set of modular pieces to build and customize individual castles went up last week.
  • The Order of the Lycan Bloodhunter received minor tweaks, clarifications, and balances last night.
  • Marisha has a new show on Geek & Sundry called Signal Boost airing Tuesday. is in Gears of War 4.
  • Liam McIntyre started a Kickstarter for a new card game called Monster Lab 15 days ago and they are aiming for stretch goals now. is the new voice of Crazy Dave in Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare. thanks everyone at CoastCon for a wonderful time. has been cast as Doctor Strange by Marvel Animated.
  • Wyrmwood Gaming is still offering the code "critrole" to have free shipping off of a purchase.
  • Mark Whitten has a Dungeons and Dragons-based web series starting tomorrow called Rolling High.

Previously on Critical Role

"Vox Machina, our intrepid band of adventurers, after dealing with the horrible attacks by the dragon circle known as the Chroma Conclave destroying cities all across Tal'Dorei, the party escaped, sent the refugees they could, as well as allies, back to Whitestone—seemingly not on the radar of this attacking front of dragons at the moment. They made their way toward Vasselheim to find allies, Pike staying behind to help with the refugees at the moment.

"Upon going to Vasselheim, [they] managed to encounter a number of old friends from the Slayer's Take and enlist them for the time being to help [them] with the refugees and [their] current wanderings in the city proper. At the same time, [they] encountered Lady Kima, who also has agreed to help with the events in Whitestone and this entire dragon attack towards the east. After wandering the city for a bit and retrieving these allies, [they] followed Grog into the Trial Forge, where [he] had a conversation with Earthbreaker Groon—and by conversation I mean a full-on, drag-out sandpit battle to prove [his] worth to him. In which case [he] was given information about these things called the Vestiges of the Divergence—artifacts of great legendary power that existed from previous wars that had wiped out most of society multiple times. These Vestiges have been scattered around the world, many of them lost to the history books, or passed down as symbols of power through various bloodlines or government positions, or stolen and haven't been seen for hundreds of years.

"[The party] found the location of two of them: one of which was the Titanstone Knuckles, and the other happened to be some sort of leather, the Deathwalker's Ward that belonged to a Champion of the Raven Queen. This exists in, apparently, the Champion's tomb, which used to exist to the west of Vasselheim, until it eventually sunk into the ground as the topography shifted over time, and resides beneath a lake known as the Marrowglade Loch."

Part I

Grog tells the party that he thinks his Uncle Kevdak has the Titanstone Knuckles that Earthbreaker Groon mentioned, but he doesn't know where the Herd of Storms is now. They do know where the Marrowglade Loch is because it is on their map, and decide to go there first since it's close by. Kima says she wants to come with them but also wants to take a day in Vasselheim arranging passage east. The party assures her they have means of transport back to Tal'Dorei when that's necessary. Vex goes to a bookshop to try to research the loch and any possible underground temples or caverns near it. She finds a book about The Raven Queen for thirty gold, and for once, her bargaining skills fail her and she has to pay full price. The book, however, does contain information about Purvan Suul, a former Champion of the Raven Queen who fell in the final conflict of the Divergence and was interred in a lost multi-leveled tomb to the west of Vasselheim in the direction of the loch.

Zahra gives Grog the Moon Hammer, and Grog enthusiastically tries it out by trying to hit first Scanlan, then Vax with it. Vax, who's seen what's coming, has backed away and stealthed into the shadows, but Scanlan uses Minor Illusion to create a poor simulacrum of him. Grog swings at the illusion and is briefly convinced he's killed Vax when it disappears.

They use Keyleth's Wind Walk to transport Vox Machina, Zahra, Kashaw, Kima, and Trinket to the loch within the Vesper Timberland. Landing at its edge, they see bits of stone and fallen walls about thirty feet out in the frozen lake, but there is no obvious entrance. Vex knocks a hole in the ice and sticks her head in the water, and can just see part of the structure underwater. Percy, using his mask, can see a little more. The structure seems to rest on the floor of the lake about fifty feet down. Vex and Vax try swimming there in mist form but discover they still need to breathe air, and resurface. Zahra Polymorphs into a large alligator to swim down and finds two blocked-off entrances, but also finds a clear area with no plant life.

They set up camp and Vax starts rebraiding Vex's wet hair. Zahra talks to Keyleth and Vex about the clear area and they realize it's probably where a creature of some kind goes in and out. Keyleth turns into a giant shark to check it out but learns nothing further and returns to report. As they settle down, Vex makes sure Trinket is between Kash and Keyleth at all times. The night watch is slightly disturbed by a group of wandering owlbears that don't notice the party but leave behind two feathers from which Vex crafts two owlbear arrows. The next watch is Vax and Percy. Vax checks in with Percy on how he is doing, and he thinks he's doing better. He's starting to imagine a better version of himself. Vax tells him that he has a family with his friends, if he wants it. The whole party wakes up as they hear the distant screech of a patrolling roc, the same one they helped previously. Α] Scanlan and Kash take the last watch, and Scanlan tells Kash that he's noticed the way Kash has been flirting with Vax, but he doesn't think Vax is interested.

The next morning they wake and discuss strategies. Keyleth casts Control Water to move the loch's water out of the way and they all run to the sunken tomb and begin searching for an entrance in the mud and muck. Vex gets stuck and Vax gets stuck as well trying to pull her out. Grog refuses to help and Trinket can't get enough traction, so Scanlan casts Bigby's Hand to pull them out and then uses the hand to move rocks until a stairway leading down is uncovered. They rush down it and use the hand to pile rocks at the entrance to hold back the water when Keyleth's spell ends. Water rushes in and is dribbling through the barrier, but the wall is holding. for now. Vax begins sneaking down the stairway.

Break

Several Geek & Sundry promotional videos aired during the break.

    :
    • The Doubleclicks played music and sung the message in this promotion for International Tabletop Day on 2016-04-30.
    • Information about this event is available at tabletopday.com, Geek & Sundry's website, and through "#TabletopDay" on social media.
    • Geek & Sundry will feature a 24-hour livestream on Twitch from midnight until midnight (PDT) on 2016-04-30. Hosted by Ivan Van Norman and featuring Felicia Day and Wil Wheaton, there will be special guests and many different tabletop games throughout the day.
    • The livestream will raise funds for charity.
    • Notably, one of the graphics in this promo featured an owlbear, after owlbears were spotted by Vox Machina earlier in this episode of Critical Role for the first time on stream.
      introduced her new Geek & Sundry series (not the same promo that aired with this episode of Critical Role).
    • Hosts Jesse Cox and Jessica Marzipan introduced their show, which features hosts and guests playing classic board games with a twist.
    • In this episode, guests Chloe Dykstra and Jason Horton joined the hosts to play the game Thin Ice—with teams, blindfolds, and punishments for the losers.
    • Per tradition, this video slideshow of fan art begins with an expression of gratitude from the cast and crew of Critical Role to the Critters for sharing their art.
    • The corresponding fan art article/gallery from 2016-03-10 includes the art featured in this slideshow.
    • Ends with a "Thank you!"

    Part II

    Vex senses no undead in the vicinity as Vax stealths down the stairs. He reaches the bottom, noticing that the floor is tilted by the uneven sinking of the tomb. He sees two small fish/amphibian-like humanoid shapes (kuo-toa) walking down a tunnel stretching directly ahead of him, seemingly either not noticing or not caring about the party's presence. There are also tunnels to the left and right, which they cautiously explore. There is nothing to the right but a fallen section creating a deep chasm. To the left, the tunnel is coated in a mysterious viscous goo. They reach a spiral staircase going down, so the party rejoins and they slowly descend.

    Vex finds two dark feathers buried under the slime on the stairs, and guesses they are raven feathers. They reach the lower level, and Vex notices very thin slits in the walls to either side. Vax tries to disarm them but fails, and two pendulum blades swing out, narrowly missing him, and then back into the walls, resetting. Scanlan is able to determine how they work and tries to hit the disarming button inside one of the slots with a blade, but then realizes his hand will work better and quickly pushes the button. To everyone's relief, the blade stops swinging and Scanlan's head and hand are safe.

    Continuing, they reach a T-intersection where the center has fallen into a chasm. Vax leaps over it and finds a dead end with symbols of the Raven Queen carved on it. To the left, however, is a large set of double doors. The rest of the party jumps over the chasm to the doors, but Grog falls in, just managing to catch himself on the edge before Keyleth snags him with Grasping Vines. The doors are not locked and open into a large room with four pillars and a raised platform in the center. Stepping in, Vex sees shifting shapes behind the platform, and hears hushed voices saying in Undercommon that they will attack as soon as the intruders enter, in order to defend the tomb.

    Since the creatures know they're there, Zahra and Kash each cast Light, revealing a stone coffin lying on the platform surrounded by four of the fish entities. The kuo-toa begin calling to their unseen master as initiative begins. They are not difficult opponents, and within the first round, Kash finishes off three of them with one Flame Strike. However, a burbling murmur arises behind Kima and Percy in the rear from the pit they all leaped over, and to their horror, a beholder rises up and begins shooting beams at them. Percy and Grog avoid Disintegration and Petrification, but Kima is hit by a fear-producing blast taking her out of the fight as the beholder drops her into the pit. Its anti-magic cone shuts down much of the party's spellcasting unless they are outside its coverage. Keyleth is able to transform into an earth elemental but the creature's rays do significant damage to the rest of the party, and its ability to float high above makes it hard to reach with melee weapons.

    Percy finishes off the last kuo-toa but the fight against the beholder continues. Although they are able to avoid almost all of its attack rays, the anti-magic cone limits what the magic users can do against it. The beholder utilizes its legendary actions and lair action mostly on attack rays, but also at one point summons grasping tendrils out of the walls that must be saved against at the start of each turn or be grappled and unable to move. Kash, while grappled, fails to save against paralysis and petrification rays and is effectively out of the fight. One ray hits Vex for 55 necrotic damage. Scanlan uses Bigby's Hand to pick up Grog and fling him at the beholder, getting him within range and creating additional damage for his strikes. Zahra gets the How do you want to do this? with a Witch Bolt doing massive critical damage and covering the party in pureed beholder.

    Kash's petrification and paralysis fade with the beholder's death. Vax, Keyleth, and Vex run to the chasm and call to Kima, who is okay, and Vax rappels down. He has Grog throw down a rope and pull Kima up to safety, while he continues to investigate the bottom of the pit. Percy calls Trinket to him and pushes the black feather-covered sarcophagus open, revealing a skeletal corpse surrounded by fine gold and silver jewelry. It is wearing a set of jet-black studded leather armor bearing a series of runic engravings and carvings and trimmed with black feathers. Vex tells Vax (still at the bottom of the pit) that she is going to look at what Percy is finding, and runs over to the sarcophagus. She begins making an investigation check on the sarcophagus to see if it is safe to take things out of, but before she can finish, Percy begins to remove the leather armor from the body.

    As his fingers touch it, there is a vibration and it seems as if the nearby shadows in the corners reach up towards his hands. Percy pulls back in time, but Vex and Trinket notice a little too late as there is a burst of death energy for a ten-foot radius around the entire sarcophagus. Percy avoids it, but Trinket and Vex (with a natural one save) suffer fifty-six points of necrotic damage, instantly killing Vex. Zahra immediately runs over and feeds her a healing potion with no effect. Vax climbs up out of the chasm and to his horror, sees his sister cold and lifeless on the ground being cradled by Zahra. He runs over, picks her up, and pours a greater healing potion into her mouth with no effect. He is growing more and more angry and frustrated, when Kash says he can Revivify her and sprinkles diamonds across her chest. He hesitates, fearful that it will draw Vesh's attention and her potential to "destroy everything", but then decides to go forward with the ritual. Dark energy swirls from him, touching the diamonds which shatter upon impact, and seeping into Vex's corpse. Her back arches, her body lifts slightly in place, and her arms drape, dangling and scraping against the stone beneath her as she is elevated.

    As the ritual begins, Percy places three shards of residuum among the diamond dust on Vex's chest, but fails his intelligence check with a six and the glass shatters. Zahra places the moonstone from her staff near the focus of Kashaw's ritual, its dull white glow intermingling with the dark shattered energy of Vesh creating a strange grey swirl. With a 17 arcana skill check, the grey balances and seeps into Vex's body. Looking up at the altar where the body was, there is the very faint drifting image of a dark female form looking on. Vax completes the final part of the ritual, pulling his sister's body in close, and saying only, "Take me instead, you raven bitch."

    Fan art of Vax's deal with the Raven Queen, by Lap Pun Cheung. [art 1]

    The drifting dark female form near the altar gets closer and closer, and they can see it is not Vesh. It is an image or specter of the Raven Queen herself, a formless, perpetually blurred female face, hair tumbling down, and as it steps forward, no expression, no words. Her hand reaches out towards Vax and she nods. The magic strengthens, focusing through the moon crystal into Vax's body. Moments pass, then the vision of the Raven Queen nods to Vax, steps backward, and the specter vanishes. Breath fills Vex's lungs as she begins to cough, her form drifting back to the stonework. She finds herself looking up at the partially broken stone ceiling of the dark altar into the face of her brother, tears streaming down his face, and the rest of her friends gathered around.

    Vex does not know what happened, and Vax tells her she was knocked out, but Grog tells her she fucking died. She asks how she's not dead now, then, and Grog asks Vax how he's feeling. Vax walks out. Percy admits he set off a trap, which killed her, and Scanlan tells her she was brought back by Kash and her brother.

    Vex asks about the armor, still intact in the tomb around the powdered remains of the corpse. The jewelry was corrupted by the necrotic blast, leaving only a black crystal, pointed on one end, with a loop on it to carry on a chain. Scanlan is able to determine that the trap was expended and not reset. Zahra uses Mage Hand to lift the armor into the Bag of Holding and also takes the black crystal. They make their way back up through the temple and out the way they came. Zahra gives Vex one Arrow of Dragon Slaying that she forged. Keyleth takes Kash aside and he tells her that what he believes in is life -- and Zahra. He tells her Vax is a good guy and she should stay near him when fighting the dragons. When he admits that the kiss he had stolen from her was only his second one, she shares that it was her first. Kash's first was with his wife, and that awkwardly ends their conversation.

    Kima decides to join Allura and the other survivors of Emon in Whitestone for now to aid in its defense. She invites Zahra and Kash to come, and when they accept, the rest of the party decides to use Transport Via Plants to go there as well to spend the night.


    Massive Ancient 100 Ton Boxes Underground At The Serapeum In Egypt

    One of the most intriguing sites in Egypt, which egyptologists can not logically explain is the Serapeum, located in the massive ancient area known as Saqqara. Literally buried and forgotten under the sands of time, Auguste Mariette discovered the Serapeum in 1850. The age of the tunnels within as well as the boxes remain a very controversial topic.

    As the above diagram shows, and thanks to our Russian friends at www.isida-project.ucoz.com for these brilliant photos, there are 25 boxes inside the Serapeum labyrinth. Each box on average weighs 70 tons, with a lid of 30 tons. The lid in each case was cut from the same piece of stone as the box itself.

    The immensity of the boxes is shown in the above photo each one in general fitting inside a niche into which the box can barely fit. The idea that the dynastic Egyptians created these as coffins for prize Apis bulls flies in the face of the fact that they did not have the technology to create them in the first place.

    The sad fact is that Mariette and others used gun powder to blow open some of these great examples of lost ancient high technology, presuming they would find valuable contents inside. However, each was found empty no Apis bulls, no treasure…nothing. Their actual function is thus a mystery.

    Many of the boxes are made of very hard rose granite, supposedly from Aswan, which is about 500 miles away, and others appear to be of diorite, an even harder stone and the quarries of which are at an even greater distance. How the dynastic Egyptians could have quarried such huge blocks and transported them has not been adequately explained by egyptologists.

    The level of precision of some of the surfaces are clearly astounding. Engineer Chris Dunn measured accuracy as fine as deviations of as little as 2/10,000 of an inch from laser straight on some of the inside surfaces, which would have been impossible for the dynastic Egyptians’ bronze tools.

    The crudely etched inscriptions found on some of the boxes were clearly not made by those who created the boxes in the first place, but most egyptologists insist that both were done by the same hands. Thus, we can only conclude that the Serapeum boxes are far older than the dynastic Egyptians, made by a culture with technology at least as advanced as that of the 21st century.

    The serapeum and other enigmas of ancient Egypt are the major topics of my book, above, available in e-format and paper back through Amazon and Barnes and Noble.

    Come with us March 8 to 21, 2015 as we explore the Serapeum details HERE

    Explore the Elongated Skulls of Peru and Bolivia with us in May 2015 details HERE.

    Our June 2015 tour will focus on the megaliths and Elongated Skulls of Peru and Bolivia full itinerary HERE.


    Ancient sarcophagus yields horrible-smelling secret

    This picture released by the Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities shows an ancient tomb dating back to the Ptolemaic period found in the Sidi Gaber district of Alexandria. (Getty Images)

    Egyptian archaeologists have unsealed and opened a mysterious granite sarcophagus discovered on a construction site in Alexandria — only to find the remains of three mummies in a pool of leaked sewage water.

    Photos released Thursday evening by Egypt’s Ministry of Antiquities show a team of archaeologists climbing down the 16-foot-deep (5 meter) pit and wedging the black sarcophagus open with a wooden plank. The experts had to wear masks over their mouths and noses to block the reportedly foul smell.

    An archaeologist at the site, Shabaan Abdul, said that the remains most likely belonged to three military officers, according to a post on the ministry’s Facebook page.

    A ministry official, Aiman Ashmawy Ali, told CNN that the sarcophagus had been found in a previously unexcavated section of one of Alexandria’s largest ancient cemeteries.

    “One of the mummies had a trace of an arrow in the head,” he said in a phone interview. “It proves he died in a conflict. Maybe that explains three mummies in one big sarcophagus.”

    The contents of the sarcophagus have been the subject of intense speculation since the relic was uncovered earlier this month. But not only were no treasures found within, the mummies inside had disintegrated beyond recognition.

    Joseph Manning, a professor of ancient history at Yale University, said that while such finds are not especially unusual, this particular case merited further investigation.

    A handout photo from the Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities shows workers removing sewer water submerging three decomposed mummies after opening the black granite sarcophagus.

    “As far as I can see, there’s no inscription on the sarcophagus, which is strange,” he said. “You’re not going to see someone important buried like this.”

    University of Auckland Egyptology Professor Anthony Spalinger stressed that granite was both expensive and difficult to cut.

    “They would have taken it downstream and carved it in the area,” he said in a phone interview. “It implies that there was wealth involved.”

    Somewhat unusually, experts said, the three mummies were buried without any belongings. The only other item discovered at the site was an alabaster bust, its features destroyed beyond recognition.

    Manning, who said the archaeological find “looked like a non-elite burial,” has a theory on its origins: that although the sarcophagus appeared to date back to the Ptolemaic Kingdom (305 B.C. to 30 B.C.), it may have been used more than once.

    “It is conceivable to me that (the sarcophagus has been) reused in a later period,” he said. “I’d want to know a lot more.”

    Ali acknowledged that it is difficult to date the sarcophagus without an inscription. But more answers can be expected after forensic examinations, which will take place at the Alexandria National Museum, according to Egyptian state media reports.

    Further excavation at the site may prove difficult, however, as the finding was made on a privately-owned construction site.

    “(The) Ministry of Antiquities and the Egyptian government have procedures (for) checking any building before it is renewed or repaired,” Ali said. “This sarcophagus was found according to regular procedures.”

    Such measures are considered necessary in a country where the remnants of ancient Egypt are regularly smuggled and sold. In June, Egyptian state media reported the return of over 100 artifacts smuggled into Naples, Italy. In a separate incident, nine other relics were sent back to the Ministry of Antiquities from France.

    Suggest a Correction

    Copyright 2021 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

    Trademark and Copyright 2021 Cable News Network, Inc., a Time Warner Company. All rights reserved.


    About Nathan Dickey

    138 Responses to Demythologizing the Giant Stone Boxes of Egypt

    They never once mention aliens in the video despite your constant attempt to pin that attribution on them.

    Hey Dickey, I do not support the idea of extraterrestrial oddly inteligent beings build all these stone objects, but putting aside all your yadda yadda, the real interesting question is that there is no evidence that egyptians had technological means to build that, period…. that is the only thing we ned to know, ergo, this was not build by the egyptians

    I agree a hundred per cent with you. I’m an architect and in my historical point of view there’s a clear difference between the tecnology of making the boxes and the later inscriptions. The only thing that I can say for sure is that the tecnology means to make the boxes are why more advanced then the making of the inscriptions. I can’t say who built them, but I can say that it really seems like a no linear tecnology-improvment.

    (really sorry for my bad english, its just my 4th language)

    The only ‘buried bull’ was not found in the ‘grand gallery’ where the granite boxes are but rather in the extended and poorly constructed ‘lesser tunnels’ that are attached… These lesser galleries were also found full of wooden (not granite boxes/coffins), jewelry and pottery and burial stones.
    In the original and stunningly constructed ‘grand galleries’ all of the granite boxes were found empty. The 2 should not be confused as the same architect or builder, as although now the same site, (connected by passageways) they were clearly of different construction methods and time periods.

    “There is, of course, no archaeological, paleontological or biological evidence of any kind to indicate that giant Nephilim once roamed our planet.” Firstly, in order to KNOW that, you would have to know EVERY RELEVANT ARCHAEOLOGICAL, PALEONTOLOGICAL AND BIOLOGICAL DATA ON PLANET EARTH, which you of course do NOT. So in other words, you are in this article not expressing science, but your own personal opinion. Secondly, when you write “of course”, you also reveal that within your world view there is no room for the nephilim, no matter what evidence you would come across. You also say it as if you expect the readers to agree with you as if that`s the only world view that is out there. I, for one, respectfully disagree. The fascination for ancient history, however, we absolutely share.

    Very interesting, i do not see any giant coffins made anywhere on Earth today as there is no need for them. The amount of work to carve a giant granite sarcophagus would be incredible let alone move it, so in closing i believe the Bible is accurate, Giants lived in the past.

    Stuff the giants& xtraterries,BUT how specifically did the ancients cut these really hard rocks? HOW did the sth americans cut the precise fitting blocks/ the drill cores look really ‘Modern’ were their copper tools diamond tipped/ Do not over rubbish the artefacts verify their reality/ or not1

    Crikey, there is so much utter drivel and gibberish posted in these comments by under-educated buffoons.

    I don’t think Brian Foerster ever pushes any notion that it was built by aliens, or nephilim, or anything other than other human beings that simply came before the dynastic Egyptians. I don’t see why you’re connecting him with anything about aliens.

    I was really hoping for a rebuttal that sheds some light on how these 100-ton boxes were placed into this underground area.
    That’s the real question for me, not WHY but HOW.

    They used physics. Enormous knowledge, training, experience and expertise in a long, long tradition of stone masonry and moving large, heavy objects. Because they knew how. They had the expertise. We don’t as we don’t do that sort of thing. But arguing that because a 21st century imbecile has no idea how it was done, therefore a 30th, 20th, 10th, 3rd century BC expert could not possibly have known how to do it either is beyond Dunning-Kruger.

    Dr Josh at Digital Hammurabi has a story of how his 60-odd year old father and 8 months pregnant wife moved a 2 ton hot tub off his dad’s truck and moved it into position. Dr Josh had no idea it was even possible without a crane, nor did his pregnant wife. But his father had DECADES of experience in doing it. I’ll try and find the link for you.
    >:8o

    They had no tooling that was hard enough to cut granite like that, much less make perfect inside corners like that. Not even something we can do in modern times with hand tools.

    Hi Im emiliano from argentina. Im engineer, physic and became interest in past (i meam PAST) stone masonry. I agree with the author. no aliens. in fact aliens as contra-thesis is enforcement of some kind of “dont know how but at least why” point of view. SO: how? well surely not violating physical laws, thats for sure. nor deploying a stone technology thta would be far from us. NO because science and technics develop in paralell, and also you need paralelism between diffrent sciences. you just cant deploy a sort of ancient without-metallurgia stone oriente high tech that provide means for micrometer precision. It is a natural limit en handcrafting. thats the point. so you cannot be right, the way i see.
    SO…NO ALIENS, NO MYSTICAL POWER ANCIENT TECHS, NO INCREDIBLE GOOD LUCK ALONG THE CRAFT PROJECT (this is classic egiptology real explanation), AND OF COURSE NO GODS. WHATS ELSE: ANOTHER ANCIENT CIVILIZATION. This is the global ancient civilization most one claims. Explains lot of arqueological sites around the world. Explain many common features in the tech of construction. Explain a common developed parallelism in several areas of human knowledge an the lapsus of time it would have taken such a development. Need to be a high tech gloval civilization as us? Let me answer clearly this, as this is the KEY. NO, IT DOES NOT NEED HIGH TECH. IT JUST NEED GLOBAL STEEL LEVEL PROBABLY VAPOUR LEVEL AND PROBABLY ELECTRIC LEVEL TECHNOLOGY. This means knowledge up to Faraday. Non even requested for any Field theory like maxwell. This is (if we take our own case) something like we had around 19 century. So you see is such a theory a posible one? it is much realistic as goes much further into cent of uncorrelated probes around the world. Last one: Why not any clue? well actually CENTS of clues, and in particular, just consider the imaginery equator line that goes across Nazca giza eastern anchor, and so on. On a glacier era people would depevoped aroiun equator. Consider too MOST underwater ruins clearly human crafted (mega stones agains). Developed cultures ALWAYS developed on seashore and rivershore. Not any exception. So what we need to head strong to thie global ancient civilization theory> we need to prove it PHYSICALLY. Hard scienced my friend. We need to probe that (1) earth axis did suffered a shift of around 20 degrees in a geologically “short” time. And (2) we need to find a way to date unorganic material handcraft (by humans not aliens) actions, with a precision around +/- 2000 years (not need more for this as we are talking about megalithic sites that could be made easily before 11000 years BC).

    I hope i can find people that can help me understand if Im on a wright path or just ignoring many critical facts (or as we say here….chasing ghosts). BEST REGARDS ALL

    Emiliano, some interesting thoughts in your comment, though you clearly are not English native!
    For instance, “actually CENTS of clues” – the correct word is “actually HUNDREDS of clues”.
    Anyway, you seem to be suggesting that only Faraday-level tech is required to explain these boxes. But that is certainly not so. Even now, long after Faraday, we still have no understanding of how they dug out these blocks, how they moved them, how they took them down into the tunnels, how they moved them to position, how they cut out the interiors (let alone did it so accurately). And that is apart from many other mysteries, such as the thousands of granite vases in the Cairo Museum, and the huge project of the foundations of the great pyramid (let alone the pyramid itself).
    Sure, no aliens, but sure much we can’t explain even with our current engineering. Cheers.

    The poverty of this response and indeed the pathetic imaginations of modern academics is what created the impetus for the ancient alien theory in the first place. This particular response attacks a straw man, as the video never mentions aliens, as others have pointed out. What needs explaining is not whether ancient humans understood geometry (they did) but rather *how* these precise cuts were made. And, how did these large stone boxes get into position? And, why are they empty? I think it understandable that people question the bull tomb theory based on the lack of evidence.Please learn to think straight and stay on topic before you go for your next public rant.

    This article may not give you the technical information that you appear to seek, as it only attempts to show that those who claim that, either, the ancient Egyptians couldn’t have done it, or that there must have been supernatural assistance. That is what the writer was attempting.

    As for the “pathetic imaginations” attribute, research in science does need imagination at times in order to consider what needs to be research, and then develop methods by which to then study those considerations. What real science seeks to avoid is using grade imagination such as a writer of fiction would do, as that would be counter productive to what science seeks to do. Science doesn’t seek to write or create a narrative by using imagination as it’s foundation. Science seeks to think about a subject, speculate on the subject, create questions, create tests, do tests, consider and analyze the results, form a conclusion that is usually another question, and then seek to repetition of the data from repeating the same or similar tests. If after repeated testing the same results are obtained, then there starts to be a consensus on a subject. That’s who we get to a reasoned and reasonable position by which to understand something that is true, or false, or possible, or even impossible.

    What created the “ancient alien theorists” is the very thing you claim is the problem with real science, the “pathetic imaginations” of real scientists. Those who don’t understand real science and it’s methods, or don’t want to accept repeatable results, or even are not satisfied with such “dry” information, will seek grander and more “imaginative” narratives that are appealing to many people, as they are more “exciting”, “interesting”, and appeal to the want of sensation by many people. When those fanciful, though unscientifically based, imaginative narratives are believed to be true, then we get a plethora of psuedo science coming to validate the beliefs, and attempting to negate actual science.

    The negation is based on some “dark” and nefarious “controllers” of knowledge, who seek to “control” the population by “hiding” the truth, and that they use “science” as their cover. It’s the same very popular imaginative narrative in many movies that people love to watch. Real science is not as entertaining and it can be boring in it’s slow methodology, and that makes it easy to dismiss. Attach the words, “A new government study by scientists…”, and that brings out a whole host of people conflating their suspicion of government along with science, and we can see why science is so not trusted by some people. They then seek different, more interesting, narratives that are outside the “control” of government and science. People want to believe rather than understand. Belief is a conclusion that never changes, and is immovable and constant, and unquestionable. Science is always questioning itself as that is part of the scientific method. That aspect of question and of needed change in the light of new information and/or data is difficult for many people to accept, and thus they will attach their thinking to belief as that settles constant questioning in their minds.

    If you want to know the “how”, there are many sites you can find on the internet where researchers of ancient technologies speculate and use their imaginations as to how it could have been done, and then they create tests to see if those imagined methods can work. However, those who seek evidence of these immovable and unchangeable beliefs will quickly dismiss that fact based information and then pick holes in the research because that research is not attempting to prove the existence of ancient aliens, or ancient people prior to Egyptians, or Atlantians, or a plethora of other beliefs.

    Interestingly, there is a video on YouTube which shows how large blocks of stone can be moved without too much effort by one person, but I don’t have the address. However, as to the why, one or two people have suggested that the boxes were used for seed or grain storage.


    Atlanta Child Murders Case Has Been Reopened

    Patrick Rogers, Terry Pue and Aaron Jackson were all victims of a child killer who operated in Atlanta between 1979 and 1981.

    A decades-old investigation into the gruesome murders of black children in Atlanta has been officially reopened, coincidentally converging with renewed interest in the case thanks to the second season of the Netflix series Mindhunter.

    Earlier this year, Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms and Atlanta police chief Erika Shields announced that, following advancements in DNA technology, the city would be retesting evidence associated with the Atlanta child murders, a series of gruesome killings of more than 25 black children and adolescents in the late 1970s and early 1980s. During the press conference, Shields said there were boxes of evidence associated with the case, some of which had never been tested, and that the department believed it had a responsibility to the families of the victims to reopen the case.

    Related

    'Mindhunter' Season 2: A Killer Instinct Slightly Softened
    What Do We Really Know About the Manson Murders?

    Related

    The United States of Weed
    40 Greatest One-Album Wonders

    “[We hope] to let them know that we have done all that we can do … to make sure their memories are not forgotten … and in the truest sense of the word to let the world know that black lives do matter,” Bottoms said.

    Between 1979 and 1981, the Atlanta metro area was terrorized by a serial killer who primarily targeted young black children and teenagers, as well as a handful of adults. Authorities believe that in total, the perpetrator behind what became to be known as the Atlanta Child Murders killed more than 31 people over a two-year period.

    In 1981, a former club promoter named Wayne Williams was arrested and ultimately convicted in the murders of two adults, after police matched fibers found on the men’s bodies to those from Williams’ home and car. He was sentenced to life in prison. While police believed Williams may have been behind the child murders as well, they were unable to charge him for those murders due to a lack of evidence.

    Williams has long maintained his innocence, arguing that police manipulated the fiber evidence and that he was framed, possibly for racially motivated reasons. Former FBI profiler John Douglas, whose book served as the inspiration for Mindhunter, has also expressed skepticism that Williams committed all of the child murders, as have some of the victims’ families, who have harbored “lingering doubts about Wayne Williams&rsquo involvement,” according to Carlos Campos, director of the Public Affairs Unit of the Atlanta Police Department. Bottoms tells Rolling Stone that the investigation was not reopened to exonerate Williams, as much of the existing evidence already pointed strongly in his direction, but that the case should nonetheless be reopened to discover the full truth.

    The press conference announcing the reopening of the case was held back in March, not last week, as some news outlets have erroneously reported. Yet that did not stop many from speculating that the premiere of the second season of the Netflix series Mindhunter, which focuses heavily on the murders, Williams, and the victims’ families, played a role in the reopening of the case.

    Campos denies this. “No TV shows or podcasts have had anything to do with our taking another look at this case. Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms asked our Chief Erika Shields to take another look after she was approached by family members of the child murder victims,” he says, adding that the producers of Mindhunter did not reach out to the Atlanta Police Department while developing the second season. (Netflix did not immediately respond to requests for comment.)

    During the March press conference, however, Mayor Bottoms did make reference to producer Will Packer, who created the documentary Atlanta Child Murders, which premiered on ID two days after the press conference was held. &ldquoI want to acknowledge and thank my friend Will Packer who is doing a documentary on the missing and murdered children,&rdquo she said during the press conference.


    6 The Spitalfields Woman

    In 1999, archaeologists were excavating a medieval graveyard when they found an enigmatic woman. Located at Spitalfields outside the Roman city of Londinium, her case was as unique as it was unexpected.

    An enormous stone sarcophagus contained a lead casket decorated with scallops. At the very heart were the bones, once dressed in gold-embroidered silk. The woman&rsquos affluence and artifacts placed her death at around AD 350. Beyond that, little else was certain.

    Two things suggested that she followed an Eastern mystery cult. Several arose during the fourth century, including Christianity. The scallop shell was a Christian symbol, but researchers believe that the woman chose another, somewhat merrier cult. [5]

    The second religious connection was a flask. The glass item resembled another found in a French burial, which had contained wine. Around this time, London&rsquos Temple of Mithras belonged to Bacchus, the god of wine.

    Analysis of her teeth showed that she was not native to Britain. The theory that she hailed from France or Spain left her facial reconstruction with distinctive dark looks. Dental isotopes eventually revealed the woman as the only verified person from Roman Britain born in Rome.


    Where Was Alexander The Great Buried?

    There are far more questions regarding Alexander’s burial than there are clear-cut answers. According to National Geographic, modern historians largely agree that the ancient king was buried in Alexandria, Egypt.

    When he died at the age of 32, his advisers initially buried him in Memphis, Egypt before deciding on Alexandria. His tomb became a place of worship, though a period of earthquakes and rising sea levels increasingly threatened the city. It survived, however, and was built over for centuries.

    Cris Bouroncle/AFP/Getty Images Souvaltiz believes Alexander’s tomb is contained in the ruins of this ancient fortification in Siwa, Egypt.

    In 2019, Calliope Limneos-Papakosta, director of the Hellenic Research Institute of the Alexandrian Civilization, managed to dig beneath modern-day Alexandria and made tremendous headway in finding the ruler’s tomb.

    “This is the first time the original foundations of Alexandria have been found,” said archaeologist Fredrik Hiebert. “It gave me goosebumps to see it.”

    Though a promising leap forward, Alexander’s tomb had yet to be found. According to Ancient Origins, his body vanished when Roman emperor Theodosius banned pagan worship in 392 A.D. Two competing theories by Chugg and Souvaltzi, however, may have come closer than ever before.


    Illegal Gun Sales Run Rampant On Internet

    A New York City undercover investigation heralded as the first of its kind has found a "vast and largely unregulated market for illegal guns" on the Internet, and the worst offender is a website that has gotten mixed up with the law before: Craigslist.

    In the report released Wednesday, entitled, "Point, Click, Fire: An Investigation of Illegal Online Gun Sales," investigators found that sellers on Craigslist agreed 82 percent of the time to sell guns to a purchaser who admitted they probably couldn't pass a background check. Not that anyone is supposed to be selling guns on Craigslist. The website, which depends on self-policing, claims to ban firearms sales yet thousands of guns were found listed for sale there, according to the report.

    In contrast, investigators were unable to find a single firearm for sale on eBay, which prohibited gun sales in 1999 and "appears to effectively enforce its policy" by removing weapons listed for sale and threatening to restrict or suspend accounts that violate the rules.

    The results of the report are set to be announced Wednesday by New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, a long-time gun control advocate who co-founded Mayors Against Illegal Guns, as well as Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly and other officials.

    More than 4,000 websites offer guns for sale, according to the Department of Justice. As the new report illustrates, the anonymity of the Internet has spurred huge growth in online sales.

    "Criminal buyers who once had to purchase in person can now prowl hundreds of thousands of listings to find unscrupulous sellers. Negotiations can be conducted from the discreet remove of a phone call or an email exchange," it said.

    Federally licensed firearms dealers are required to conduct background checks on all buyers, whether in person or online. But unlicensed "private sellers" are exempt from conducting background checks. This so-called "gun show loophole," along with the Internet, now accounts for about 40 percent of U.S. sales, fueling what law enforcement officials say is a huge black market for illegal guns.

    One online gun dealer was linked to both the 2007 Virginia Tech massacre that killed 32 people and the mass mass shooting at Northern Illinois University in 2008 that left five dead. Guns purchased illegally online also have been linked to police shootings, gun trafficking and sales to minors.

    The report's findings could give new meaning to the term "Craigslist killers," a category of criminals who in recent years have found and lured their victims on the popular classified advertising website.

    In the New York investigation, a team of 15 undercover agents surfed the Internet over a period of 18 days to capture audio and video recordings of online gun sellers blatantly skirting the law that bars the sale of firearms to felons, the mentally ill, domestic abusers and other prohibited buyers. The investigators examined 125 private sellers in 14 states who advertised on 10 different websites. They found more than 25,000 guns for sale on those sites alone.

    City investigators posing as illegal purchasers asked five sellers to meet in person to exchange cash for guns. All five agreed, selling investigators four handguns and a semi-automatic assault rifle while being recorded with hidden cameras.


    Outside the City Walls

    Jewish tradition forbade burial within the walls of a city, and the Gospels specify that Jesus was buried outside of Jerusalem, near the site of his crucifixion on Golgotha ("the place of skulls"). A few years after the burial is said to have occurred, the walls of Jerusalem were expanded, putting Golgotha and the nearby tomb within the city.

    When Constantine's representatives arrived in Jerusalem around A.D. 325 to locate the tomb, they were allegedly pointed to a temple built by the Roman emperor Hadrian some 200 years earlier. Historical sources suggest that Hadrian had the temple built over the tomb to assert the dominance of Roman state religion at the site venerated by Christians.

    According to Eusebius, Bishop of Caesarea, the Roman temple was razed and excavations beneath it revealed a rock-cut tomb. The top of the cave was sheared off to expose the interior, and a church was built around it to enclose the tomb. The church was completely destroyed by the Fatimids in 1009 and rebuilt in the mid-11th century.

    Excavations inside of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre during the 20th century revealed remains of what is believed to be Hadrian's temple and walls from Constantine's original church. Archaeologists also documented an ancient limestone quarry and at least half a dozen other rock-cut tombs, some of which can be seen today.