Giant 3,000-year-old statue of Pharaoh Ramses II found in a Cairo

Garman and Egyptian archaeologists found a giant 3000 year old status submerged in ground water in Cairo slum, is hailed as “one of the most important discoveries ever”. It is believed, that it possibly depicts revered Pharaoh Ramses II, who ruled Egypt more than 3,000 years ago. The discovery was made near the ruins of Ramses II's temple in the ancient city of Heliopolis, located in the eastern part of modern-day Cairo. The big colossus of king, perhaps made out of quartzite, who once most powerful and cruel ruler of ancient Egypt.

Moreover, his successors as the “Great Ancestor”, led several military expeditions and stretched the Egyptian Empire to from Syria in the east to Nubia in the south. He was the 3rd pharaoh of the Nineteenth Dynasty of Egypt and ruled from 1279 to 1213 BCE. The discovery found bust of the statue, the lower part of the head, the crown and the right ear and a fragment of the right eye. The forklift help to pull the statue head out of the water. The site was once the ancient capital of Heliopolis - found two 3000-year-old pharaonic statues 26ft tall and is carved out of quartzite a hard stone composed mainly of quartz. The engraving was found at the entrance to the temple of King Ramses II - also recognized as Ramses the Great.

However, another discovery was found is a limestone statue of 12th century BC ruler King Seti II. The giant two statues shows the importance of the city of Heliopolis, which was dedicated to the worship of Ra. It was one of the largest temples in Egypt, almost double the size of Luxor's Karnak, but was destroyed in Greco-Roman times. The fame of Rameses II, the third king of the 19th dynasty of Ancient Egypt, is put down to his flair for self-publicity. Rameses II was lived to about 90, and was actually buried in the Valley of the Kings but his mummy, which has the face of an old man with a long, narrow face, conspicuous nose and big jaw, was moved to the nearby Deir el-Bahari to thwart looters.

Still with its hair, some skin and teeth it was rediscovered in 1881 and is kept in Cairo’s Egyptian Museum. The sun temple in Heliopolis was founded by Ramses II, which increases the likelihood the statue is of him, however was destroyed in Greco-Roman times. Many of its obelisks were moved to Alexandria or to Europe and stones from the site were looted and used for building as Cairo developed. The new discovery may be a boon for Egypt's tourism industry, which has suffered many setbacks since the uprising that toppled autocrat Hosni Mubarak in 2011 but remains a vital source of foreign currency.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Ancient Yew Forest of Kingley Vale

The Ancient Yew Forest of Kingley Vale  is tucked between Stoke Down and Bow Hill, adjacent the village of West Stoke just 3 miles north west of Chichester, in West Sussex in southern England, is Kingley Vale National Nature Reserve. It was established in 1952, and it was one of the first National Nature Reserves to be opened in Britain. The nature reserve occupied an area of 160 hectares, including one of the finest yew forests in Western Europe. Even though, few trees are as much as 1,000 years old, their trunks contorted by age and countless storms into unbelievably strange shapes. Hence, huge side branches swirl into the soil like snakes, where they made secondary roots. Therefore, the young trees have arisen and the ground under these trees is so dense that no vegetation of any kind, not even grass, grows.  Therefore it is hard to say how old the yews are at Kingley Vale and is one of the few major groves of yews remaining today. Moreover, according to local folks the yews at Kingley Vale were planted as a memorial for a battle fought between the Vikings and the Anglo Saxons in the year 859, but some sources claim the trees are two thousand years old.

Yews naturally have lifespans between 500 to 600 years, but some specimens can live longer. The yew age is extremely difficult to determine because as the trees grows, their trunks becomes hollow which makes ring counting and carbon dating difficult as there is hardly any old wood left. Furthermore, yews have this rare aptitude to arrest their growth for centuries on end if conditions are harsh, until the environment becomes favorable again which revives the tree, and it starts growing again. Nevertheless, during these years, the tree ends adding tree rings and girth to its trunk. So, defining the age of yews is, henceforth, mostly guesswork. Also, there’re claims as high as 5,000 to 9,500 years, but these values are unrealistic. However, the existence of the Kingley Vale yews is extraordinary because most ancient yew trees across Europe were felled after the 14th century when English bowmen started preferring staves to be made from straight-grained yew wood, which is reputedly the solidest coniferous timber in the world. Thus, this wood was imported by royal decree with barrels of wine from Portugal and Spain.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Incredible Pictures of Glowing Flowers

Southern California based 28 years old Photographed “Craig Burrows” photographs plants and flowers using a type a photography called UVIVF or with ultraviolet-Induced visible fluorescence. If you haven’t heard of it, that’s not a wonder, as it is a fairly unidentified process which brings out the glowing fluoresce in plant matter through the use of high-intensity UV lights.

Usually UV is removed through a camera’s lens, though Craig Burrows snaps with a 365nm LED light which is passed through a filter to transmit UV and infrared light. Hence, the amazing plant life absorbs this UV light and releases visible light at different wavelengths, which lets him to capture colors far more bright than those seen in a typical viewing condition.

Though Burrows has limited his photography to singular flowers and small arrangements, his next step is aimed at illuminating whole scenes, like gardens, glades, and greenhouses, with 100-watt floodlights. You can see more of the glowing plant portraits on his Flickr and portfolio site.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Old Cement Factory Turn Into Breathtaking Home

In 1973 Spanish architect Ricardo Bofill stumbled upon a cement factory in Catalonia, Spain, and a huge compound of silos and buildings that was well covered approximately two and a half miles of underground tunnels. He stumbled upon a dilapidated cement factory, but instantly saw a world of possibilities. Then he decided to turns old cement factory into his home and the interior will take your breath away. La fábrica was born, and almost 45 years later, the factory structure has been totally transformed into a remarkable and exclusive home. The cement factory is located just outside of Barcelona, once a WWI-era pollution machine that had closed down, and came with numerous repairs to be done when Ricardo Bofill and his team purchased it. Original construction to transform the sprawling series of buildings took a little over a year and a half. Once the dust cleared from the jack hammers and dynamite, Catalan craftsmen worked to add gardens and add in, model workshop, archive rooms, residence, and studio, a workspace for Bofill’s firm spread over four floors in the factory’s silos and connected by a spiral staircase.

Therefore, after years of limited deconstruction, the strong-minded architect proceeded to lace the exterior of the property with flora, and furnish the interior as a modern living and work space. Moreover, La fábrica is work in progress continuously, to which Bofill likens his own life, as his visions for the forthcoming continue to change shape. The factory chimneys that once used for to fill the air with smoke now overflow with lush greenery. This is a true example of the lovely transformations that result from imaginative thinking. Bofill has created a perfectly programmed existence, a ritualized lifestyle that goes against his previously nomadic early life.