An ancient Egyptian coffin with strange and amateurish decorations has been revealed, shedding light on a tumultuous period in Egyptian history when the Persian Empire was in control of the region. In 525 B.C., Persian King Cambyses marched into Memphis, the Egyptian capital, inaugurating a period of Persian rule that would last for more than a century. The Persian Empire was a vast entity that stretched from modern-day Afghanistan to the west coast of Turkey. Ancient texts say that the Persian kings deported Egyptian artists and used them for building projects in Persia. The coffin bears a series of unusual features that are likely related to the Persian Empires deportation of artists. [See photos of the ancient Egyptian coffin] Many of the best artists in Egypt were taken by the Persians back to Persepolis and Susa as POWs and war booty you can see their work in those places. There seems to have been a dearth of masters for some time, so that fewer and fewer artists got proper training, Gayle Gibson, an Egyptologist and educator at Torontos Royal Ontario Museum, told Live Science in an email. Gibson presented the coffin at the Society for the Study of Egyptian Antiquities Scholars Colloquium, which was held Nov. 13 to 16 in Toronto. foxnews/science/2014/12/12/2400-year-old-coffin-odd-art-hints-at-ancient-egypt-brain-drain/#.VIwDHwe1ucw.gmail
Posted on: Sat, 20 Dec 2014 23:59:48 +0000
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