Post by chairface on Mar 10, 2004 20:24:02 GMT -5
Are the Irish descended from the pharaohs of Egypt? According to a new book, the ancient Egyptians established a colony in Ireland 3,500 years ago, after landing in Co. Kerry.
The invaders were led by Princess Scota, the daughter of a pharaoh who fled her native land, according to Lorraine Evans, an Egyptologist and author of Kingdom of the Ark, due to be published this week.
Evans says Scota is buried in a valley in Co. Kerry where she died after a bloody war with indigenous Irish people. After her death, her descendants went on to become the high kings of Ireland at Tara in Co. Meath and then invaded Scotland.
The book is the "startling story of how the ancient British race is descended from the pharaohs," according to its publishers, Simon & Schuster. Evans uses old texts along with archeological, linguistic and DNA evidence to show that Irish and British people descended from Egyptians.
According to the book, Scota fought the Irish in the battle of Slieve Mish. She was killed and buried in a valley called Scota's Glen, about five miles from Tralee. The grave is marked by a slab but has never been excavated.
Ancient Irish texts and pseudo-historical accounts of prehistory contain several references to a Princess Scota, daughter of a pharaoh. Evans searched through Egyptian manuscripts and believes that Scota's real name was Meritaten and she was a daughter of Akhenaten and a half-sister of Tutankhamen. Meritaten disappeared from Egypt around the time that Princess Scota is said to have landed in Kerry.
Evans also claims that a body discovered at Tara in excavations in the 1950s could be Egyptian. Of an adolescent boy dubbed the Tara prince, it was discovered by archaeologists in the Mound of the Hostages on the hill of Tara. Evans says it substantiates her theory. The boy had been interred and not cremated as was usual in Bronze Age rituals. A necklace containing Egyptian blue faïence beads, dated about 1400 B.C., was discovered around the boy's neck.
"I have asked for DNA samples to be taken from the body of the Tara prince and Egyptian mummies to see if we can trace a genetic marker for similarities but they won't allow it at the moment," said Evans. "The fact that he was not cremated indicates he was a very important person. The body was buried and these artifacts appeared at exactly the same time as ancient texts said this Egyptian princess and her followers descended upon Ireland."
A lecturer in Egyptology, Evans has found 286 faïence beads around Britain. She says that a wooden boat, of an identical design and construction as one discovered at the Great Pyramid in Egypt, was unearthed in Hull, East Yorkshire. It was radiocarbon dated to about 1400 B.C., and also suggested her theory was correct. Genetic similarities have also been found between British and north African people and linguistic similarities traced between the Celtic and ancient Egyptian languages.
Bronze Age shields found on the Dingle peninsula were identical to ones discovered in Spain that were shown to be ancient Egyptian weaponry, Evans says. Her theory has been derided by fellow archaeologists, however, who say that the Egyptian artifacts were brought to Ireland by traders from other European countries.
Conor Newman, a University College Galway lecturer, said that while the body at Tara suggested the individual was of high standing, it did not mean that Egyptians lived in Ireland. "It is stretching the evidence. The texts she is basing her work on are mythology; there is no empirical evidence," he said.
The invaders were led by Princess Scota, the daughter of a pharaoh who fled her native land, according to Lorraine Evans, an Egyptologist and author of Kingdom of the Ark, due to be published this week.
Evans says Scota is buried in a valley in Co. Kerry where she died after a bloody war with indigenous Irish people. After her death, her descendants went on to become the high kings of Ireland at Tara in Co. Meath and then invaded Scotland.
The book is the "startling story of how the ancient British race is descended from the pharaohs," according to its publishers, Simon & Schuster. Evans uses old texts along with archeological, linguistic and DNA evidence to show that Irish and British people descended from Egyptians.
According to the book, Scota fought the Irish in the battle of Slieve Mish. She was killed and buried in a valley called Scota's Glen, about five miles from Tralee. The grave is marked by a slab but has never been excavated.
Ancient Irish texts and pseudo-historical accounts of prehistory contain several references to a Princess Scota, daughter of a pharaoh. Evans searched through Egyptian manuscripts and believes that Scota's real name was Meritaten and she was a daughter of Akhenaten and a half-sister of Tutankhamen. Meritaten disappeared from Egypt around the time that Princess Scota is said to have landed in Kerry.
Evans also claims that a body discovered at Tara in excavations in the 1950s could be Egyptian. Of an adolescent boy dubbed the Tara prince, it was discovered by archaeologists in the Mound of the Hostages on the hill of Tara. Evans says it substantiates her theory. The boy had been interred and not cremated as was usual in Bronze Age rituals. A necklace containing Egyptian blue faïence beads, dated about 1400 B.C., was discovered around the boy's neck.
"I have asked for DNA samples to be taken from the body of the Tara prince and Egyptian mummies to see if we can trace a genetic marker for similarities but they won't allow it at the moment," said Evans. "The fact that he was not cremated indicates he was a very important person. The body was buried and these artifacts appeared at exactly the same time as ancient texts said this Egyptian princess and her followers descended upon Ireland."
A lecturer in Egyptology, Evans has found 286 faïence beads around Britain. She says that a wooden boat, of an identical design and construction as one discovered at the Great Pyramid in Egypt, was unearthed in Hull, East Yorkshire. It was radiocarbon dated to about 1400 B.C., and also suggested her theory was correct. Genetic similarities have also been found between British and north African people and linguistic similarities traced between the Celtic and ancient Egyptian languages.
Bronze Age shields found on the Dingle peninsula were identical to ones discovered in Spain that were shown to be ancient Egyptian weaponry, Evans says. Her theory has been derided by fellow archaeologists, however, who say that the Egyptian artifacts were brought to Ireland by traders from other European countries.
Conor Newman, a University College Galway lecturer, said that while the body at Tara suggested the individual was of high standing, it did not mean that Egyptians lived in Ireland. "It is stretching the evidence. The texts she is basing her work on are mythology; there is no empirical evidence," he said.
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