Tuesday, January 6, 2015

Tomb of Osiris Discovered in Thebes

Archaeologists have uncovered another fascinating ancient Egyptian site near Thebes. The site itself was located over a hundred years ago, but recent excavations have revealed that it is much larger than previously thought. The tomb appears to be a smaller version of the Osireion in Abydos, a complex dedicated to the god Osiris.

The complex consists of a large hall supported by five pillars. RTVE describes the structure as having a staircase from the north wall of the main room, leading down to the funerary complex, where there is a carving of Osiris, god of the dead, in the middle of a central vaulted temple. To the west of the central temple is a funerary room with the reliefs of demons holding knives.

The leader of the Spanish-Italian team that uncovered the tomb, Dr. María Milagros Álvarez Sosa, told EFE that the demons are there to protect the body of the deceased. Opposite the statue of Osiris is a staircase with a 29.5 foot (9 meter) shaft leading to another chamber. Inside this chamber is a second shaft that descends 19.6 feet (6 meters) into two more rooms, which are currently full of debris.

“The symbolism of Osiris is very evident here, since all the elements recalling the mythical Osiris tomb are present,” writes Luxor Times Magazine, “a big staircase of 3.5 meter long with a 4 meter high ceiling at the bottom leading to the Netherworld and another one leading directly to the Osiris statue, which is therefore at a higher level and ideally isolated on ‘his island’; the Osiris statue itself; the empty corridor surrounding it which symbolizes the channel of water (see Osireion in Abydos); the expected burial chamber below the statue, thus identifying the deceased with Osiris.”

I've always wanted to see what would happen if archaeologists were to discover the original tomb of the actual Osiris, or at least a site identified as such. Then, if a body was present, its DNA could be tested to see if it has extra strands or lizard chromosomes or whatever else the alien conspiracy folks are looking for. When the tests come back as fully human, I'd like to think that it would put to rest the notion that ancient Egyptians were far too stupid to erect monuments and so forth on their own and therefore required alien assistance.

Of course, that's wishful thinking on my part; so far, no amount of scientific data and/or rational analysis has been able to accomplish such a feat. It's not that I think it's impossible that representatives from an alien civilization could have visited Earth at some point in the past, but I do think it's pretty ignorant to cite the supposed incompetence of ancient people as proof such an encounter had to have occurred. The ancients had a different knowledge base, but there's no reason to think that their geniuses were any less gifted than those of the modern world.

Technorati Digg This Stumble Stumble

No comments: