Yep, you read it right. The proverbial "Stairway to Heaven" has at last been found! The odd thing is that -- contrary to MY expectations at least -- it looks more like a construction-site "port-o-potty" than anything else! A cosmic joke? Read on...Dateline: CAIRO, Egypt, March 29, 2010 -- A large red granite false door from the tomb of an ancient queen's powerful vizier has been discovered in Luxor, Egypt's minster of culture announced earlier today.
The carved stone door -- which ancient Egyptians believed was the threshold to the afterlife -- was unearthed near the Karnak Template in Luxor and belongs to the tomb of User, a powerful advisor to the 18th dynasty of Queen Hatshepsut, Faruk Hosni said in a statement. (And NO, I'm not making this up, even though it reads like a premise for a sequel of "Ghostbusters" combined with "Indiana Jones: In Search of the Mummy's Tomb.")
The door, which measures 1.75 meters (5.7 feet) high and 50 cm (19 inches) thick, is engraved with religious text and various titles used by User, including mayor of the city, vizier and prince, said antiquities chief Zahi Hawass.
"The newly discovered door was reused during the Roman period. It was removed from the tomb of User and used in the wall of a Roman structure," said Mansur Boraik, who headed the excavation mission.
Hatshepsut, who ruled Egypt between 1479 BC and 1458 BC, was the longest reigning female pharoah. (And here I thought Cleopatra was the only female pharoah. Live and learn!)
