Digging Up History: Egypt Edition

Egypt has announced the discovery of an ancient trading settlement in one of its desert oases dating back more than 3,500 years. (AP)

Archaeologists work ont he excavation of a bakery complex in the Khargo Oasis. (AP)

 <b>Jan. 11: </b>Bones, believed to belong to the pyramid builders, are seen in a tomb near the site of the Pyramids, in Giza, Egypt.  Egyptian archaeologists discovered a new set of tombs belonging to the workers who built the great pyramids, shedding light on how the laborers lived and ate more than 4,000 years ago, the antiquities department said.  (AP)

The sculpture from the 13th century assumedly represents the ruling pair King Otto the 1st and his wife Queen Editha, formerly Princess Eadgyth, left.  More than 1,000 years after she was sent to Germany to marry the ambitious Saxon king, experts believe they have identified the body of Princess Eadgyth or Editha, a well-loved English royal one archeologist called the Diana of her day.  Should scientific tests on her bones prove conclusive, they would make Eadgyth the oldest member of the English royal family whose remains have survived.  (AP)

<b>Jan. 19: </b>The ancient cat-goddess Bastet found among the temple's ruins in the Kom el-Dekkah area of the Mediterranean port city of Alexandria.  Egypt says its archaeologists have unearthed a Ptolemic temple dating back more than 2,000 years and which may have been dedicated to the ancient cat-goddess Bastet.  (AP)

<b>Jan. 19: </b>Egypt's supreme council of antiquities shows an Adamic limestone head found amongst the temple's ruins in the Kom el-Dekkah area of the Mediterranean port city of Alexandria. Egypt says its archaeologists have unearthed a Ptolemic temple dating back more than 2,000 years and which may have been dedicated to the ancient cat-goddess Bastet.  (AP)

<b> Jan. 10: </b>In this undated photo released by the Egyptian Supreme Council of Antiquities, newly-discovered tombs of workers are seen, with the Great Pyramid in background, in Giza, Egypt. Egyptian archaeologists have discovered a new set of tombs of the workers who built the great pyramids, shedding new light on how the laborers lived and ate more than 4,000 years ago, the antiquities department said Sunday. Zahi Hawass, the director of Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities, says the tombs are significant because they show that the pyramids were not built by slaves, but rather free workers.  (AP)

<b>Jan. 10: </b>In this undated photo released by the Egyptian Supreme Council of Antiquities, pottery and bones are seen in a tomb, in Giza, Egypt.  Egyptian archaeologists have discovered a new set of tombs of the workers who built the great pyramids, shedding new light on how the laborers lived and ate more than 4,000 years ago, the antiquities department said.  Zahi Hawass, the director of Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities, says the tombs are significant because they show that the pyramids were not built by slaves, but rather free workers. (AP)

<b>Jan. 24:  </b>Egyptian workers in Luxor, Egypt, restore the Alley of Sphinxes, known as the "Kebash Road." The ruins were originally lined with 1,200 sphinxes and was built by Amenhotep III in the 12th century B.C. Luxor is set to become the world's largest open-air museum as a multi-million dollar project to restore the Alley of Sphinxes begins in the south of Egypt, said the governor of Luxor Sunday.  (AP )

<b>Jan.16: </b>Chinese archeologists and workers move away planks that cover an ancient coffin at a tomb dating back to the Warring States Period (481-221 BC) in Yancang village, Jingmen city, central Chinas Hubei province.  A series of ancient tombs dating back to middle and late Warring States Period (476 - 221B.C.) were unearthed in Yancang village in central Chinas Hubei province last October.  The main tomb, which is called Huanzizhong, is 33.2m long, 30.6m wide and 19.1m deep.  According to archeologists, the tombs may belong to a noble of the Chu Kingdom, which occupied vast areas of central and southern China at the Warring States Period. (AP)

<b>Jan. 24: </b>Egyptian workers in Luxor, Egypt, restore the Alley of Sphinxes, known as the "Kebash Road", which was originally lined with 1,200 sphinxes and was built by Amenhotep III in the 12th century. (AP )

<b>Jan. 16:  </b>Chinese archeologists and workers lift a plank that covers an ancient coffin at a tomb dating back to the Warring States Period (481-221 BC) in Yancang village. (AP)

<b>Jan. 4</b>: A fragment of a bronze mirror that was among 81 mirrors which Kashihara Archeological Institute said were found at a tomb mound in Sakurai, Nara Prefecture. The mirror the piece belongs to has an inscription of an era name and year that suggests it is from the year 240, the same year the emissary to China of legendary Japanese ruler Queen Himiko is believed to have returned home. (AP )

Textile pieces taken from the "Editha Casket" are under a microscope at the state office for the preservation of monuments and archeology in Halle, eastern Germany.  Experts say they may have found the body of England's Princess Eadgyth, more than 1,000 years after she was carted off to Germany to marry an ambitious Saxon duke.  (AP )

<b>Jan. 4: </b>Cylindrical bead made of glass and jasper beads that were unearthed at a tomb mound in Sakurai, Nara Prefecture.  The Kashihara Archeological Institute said 81 copper mirrors were also found at the tomb mound believed to have been created between the end of the 3rd century and beginning of the 4th century to bury a great king.  (AP)

<b>Jan. 22: </b>Various artifacts taken from an excavation site in Indiana in the mid-1970's sit on a tray waiting to be organized as part of the Veterans Curation Project in St. Louis.  The project, funded with federal stimulus money, utilizes U.S. veterans to process and archive some of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' collection of treasures discovered at levee, dam and reservoir sites from the late 1930s to the mid-1980s.  (AP)

<b>Jan. 22: </b>U.S. Army veteran Sean Box organizes artifacts as part of the Veterans Curation Project  in St. Louis.  The project, funded with federal stimulus money, utilizes U.S. veterans to process and archive some of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' collection of treasures excavated at levee, dam and reservoir sites from the late 1930s to the mid-1980s.  (AP)

<b>Jan. 11: </b>Israeli archaeologists work at an excavation site of the Neolithic period in Tel Aviv. Israel's Antiquities Authority say the remains of a prehistoric building as well as ancient flint tools have been discovered in the modern city of Tel Aviv.  (AP)

<b>Jan. 19: </b>The remains of Ptolemy temple unearthed in the Kom el-Dekkah area of the Mediterranean port city of Alexandria. Egypt says its archaeologists have unearthed a Ptolemic temple dating back more than 2,000 years and which may have been dedicated to the ancient cat-goddess Bastet.  (AP)

<b>Jan. 18:  </b> Jacksonville State University professor of archaeology and anthropology Harry Holstein holding a topographic map showing the new oxford recreation complex while standing at the location where the remnants of an American Indian village used to be in Oxford, Ala. The professor says the ancient site that Oxford city officials agreed not to disturb has been destroyed, but he does not know by whom.  (AP)