#archeol

Ancient Murals of Two-faced Figures Found in Peru

Archaeologists are reporting a number of fascinating discoveries as work on the excavations at Pañamarca progresses that are helping to clarify Peru’s ancient history.

Archaeologists discovered ancient murals of two-faced figures clutching unusual treasures—including a goblet from which hummingbirds drink—at Pañamarca, Peru, a 1,400-year-old site.

Construction of Pañamarca, an architectural complex that sits upon a rock outcrop in the Peruvian Ancash region’s lower Nepeña Valley, is estimated to have occurred between 550-800 CE.

Denver Museum of Nature and Science reports that the two intricate murals adorn a singular pillar inside a ceremonial hall of Pañamarca.

One mural near the top of the pillar depicts a two-faced man, with each face looking to the left and right, holding a feather fan in one hand and carrying a goblet from which four hummingbirds drink. Another two-faced man can be seen at the bottom of the pillar. One hand holds a moving feather fan, while the other holds a partially preserved object resembling a stick. The archaeologists say that the artists behind the murals may have been trying to see how movement can be depicted.

The two men wear a crown or headdress, colorful clothing with intricate patterns, and a big belt.

The Archaeological Research Project (PIA) “Paisajes Arqueológicos de Pañamarca” is collaboratively led by the international team of Jessica Ortiz Zevallos, Lisa Trever of Columbia University and Michele Koons of the Denver Museum of Nature & Science (DMNS).

Lisa Trever of Columbia University said: “Pañamarca was a place of remarkable artistic innovation and creativity, with painters elaborating on their knowledge of artistic canons in creative and meaningful ways as the people of Nepeña established their position in the far southern Moche world.”

“Our project has the potential to inaugurate a new period of understanding and appreciation of Moche art, including by contemporary artists who use these ancestral works as inspiration in their own practice,” added Trever.

The mural paintings, along with evidence of highland-style textiles and tropical feathers discovered alongside locally-made ceramics and material culture in the excavations, have been proposed by the team as evidence of multicultural relationships and long-distance economies.

Although Moche burials and other sites have been discovered further south, no Moche structures on the scale of Pañamarca have been discovered beyond Nepea. As a result, the murals in Pañamarca have the potential to reveal much more about the Moche people’s collective identity and aspirations, who lived long before the Inca Empire was established.

Incredible Colorful Ceiling Frescoes Discovered In Ancient Egyptian Temple

Two millennia's worth of soot and dirt covered the ceiling frescoes in the temple of Khnum in the Egyptian city of Esna, protecting the colors underneath. Now, painstaking restoration work from archeologists has brought these incredible pieces of art back to life.

The frescoes have 46 images of vultures, representing, in turn, the Upper-Egyptian vulture goddess Nekhbet and the Lower-Egyptian serpent goddess Wadjet, who is also depicted as a vulture with open wings, although keeping the head of a cobra and the crown of Lower Egypt. Nekhbet is wearing the Upper Egypt crown.

The restoration was conducted by the Institute for Ancient Near Eastern Studies at the University of Tübingen and the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities. They have been working since 2018 to bring the colors of the frescoes back into view.

“Temples and ancient depictions of the gods were often painted in brilliant colors, but these have usually faded or even disappeared totally as a result of external influences,” Professor Christian Leitz from the University of Tübingen, said in a statement.

The temple was dedicated to one of the earliest Egyptian deities, Khnum the ram-headed god who was seen as the god of the source of the Nile. At Esna, Khnum and his consort Neith are treated as the creator deities.

Construction of the religious building had begun during Ptolemaic time but most of the remaining parts are from the Roman era, probably around the time of Emperor Claudius (41-54 CE). The temple began to attract the interest of archeologists in Napoleonic times, but it was in the latter part of the last century that a more detailed study of it began in earnest.

“From the 1950s, the French Egyptologist Serge Sauneron systematically documented the Temple of Khnum at Esna and the paintings that were visible at that time,” said Tübingen scientist Dr. Daniel von Recklinghausen, “The temple’s complete range of images is unique in its wealth of figures and the state of preservation of the colors.”

“For the first time we can see all the decorative elements in relation to one another,” said Leitz. “This was impossible simply with Sauneron’s publication.”