Aswan, Egypt: The Mystery of the Ostrich Egg

Today’s archaeology profession estimates the Pyramids of Giza to be about 4,600 years old. However, because the pyramids are made of stone, traditional dating methods using carbon-14 can’t be used to estimate their age. There really aren’t any good ways to determine when stone structures were built by examining the structures themselves – it is necessary to rely on organic material such as human remains found inside or near the structures.

In the case of the three major Giza pyramids, bodies were not found inside, and therefore the carbon-14 dating has relied on artifacts found on the surrounding plateau, such as remains of bread in a fire pit.  It’s a reasonable methodology, but it relies on the assumption that the pyramids were built at the same time as the village that surrounded them. However, what if the three large pyramids were built before the village? What if the village was built on top of something older which hasn’t been excavated yet?

Photo copyright by Jewel, 2017. All rights reserved.

What if the Pyramids of Giza are Older Than Believed?

However, perhaps a clue lies elsewhere to the age of the pyramids?

An ostrich egg was found in a tomb near Aswan that shows 3 triangular structures side by side. According to carbon dating methods, the human remains found in that same tomb were 7,000 years old. Therefore it is reasonable to think objects found in that tomb, including the egg, were equally old. Could the triangles etched on that presumably 7,000-year-old egg represent the pyramids of Giza? Some people think so, while others are skeptics. Alongside the triangles, there’s a marking that some people think could represent the Nile river and the Fayoum Oasis. But again, others are skeptics.

I haven’t seen any debate questioning that the egg itself is 7,000 years old. That seems to be accepted. The debate I’ve seen centers around what the drawing represents. Ie, does it represent the Giza pyramids, Nile River, and Fayoum Oasis as the theorists claim? Or does it represent something else?

The photo at the top of this page shows the view of the egg that I photographed when I visited the Nubian Museum in 2018.  It sits inside a glass case with a wall behind it, so there’s a limit to what angle can be photographed.  In 2019, I noticed that the museum had changed the angle of the egg that was visible to me, so I took another photo showing a clearer view of the three triangles:

Photo copyright 2019 by Jewel. All rights reserved.

The Meroitic Pyramids Theory and Why It Doesn’t Fit

Some skeptics have suggested that the 3 triangles might represent the Nubian pyramids of Sudan in the Meroitic kingdom of Kush. However, the Sudanese pyramids marked tombs, and were built much more recently (4,600 years ago) than the tomb the ostrich egg was found in (7,000 years ago).

The Nubian pyramids are also much farther south than where the egg was found, in what (during ancient times) would have been a different kingdom from the one governing the Aswan area where the egg was found.

Seeing the Egg for Yourself

Today, the ostrich egg resides in the Nubian Museum in Aswan, Egypt. I had the pleasure of seeing it firsthand myself on May 6, 2018 while I was in Aswan. It’s fascinating to look at this 7,000-year-old object and try to come up with alternate theories for what the image is showing.  So far, I keep coming back to the conclusion that maybe it does prove that the Pyramids of Giza are older than what mainstream archaeologists currently believe.

I look forward to seeing how future discoveries enhance our insight into the past.

34 thoughts on “Aswan, Egypt: The Mystery of the Ostrich Egg”

  1. Thanks for displaying the photo and info about the “Aswan Egg”. Do you know, or have photos that show what is carved on the top of the egg above the pyramids? Those etchings are somewhat stylized and although I agree with your comparative date assessment, the triangles do more closely resemble the steep sided Nubian Pyramids. However, does it appear to you that there is a much larger apex of a fourth pyramid behind the group of three? That could match Giza from a closeup perspective in front of the three small subsidiary pyramids with the larger Menkaure Pyramid behind. The latest age estimate of Khufu’s pyramid came from carbon dating of charcoal found in so-called mortar taken from joints between stones on the slope of the structure. The oldest dating, so far. There is an argument that the flow of energy from the Earth through and out the apex of the structure could influence (lengthen) the carbon-14 half-life, thereby yielding a much younger date, but that is considered on the fringe at this time. Finally, while regarding the intriguing interpretation of that portion of the egg as the Faiyum-Nile valley, and also considering the stylized nature, could the other etching simply be an ostrich?
    It would be great, if someone would carbon date the thing to get a more definitive answer. Even +/-120 years dating would yield comparative results. What do you and yours think? John H.

    1. John, thanks for your comments! The egg sits inside a glass display case, so it’s very difficult to see what the drawing above the 3 triangles might be. I tried to see it back when I was at that museum, but couldn’t get a good angle on it. I might try again when I return in April.

      You mentioned the Nubian pyramids of Sudan with their steeper angle. Have you ever seen photos of the pyramids at Deir el-Medina near Luxor Egypt? If not, you might enjoy having a look – here’s my blog entry about it: https://roaming-jewel.com/2018/10/26/workersvillage/

      1. You have pictures of two separate eggs both found in the graves of nubia. One of them was from grave plot 96 and the other one was from grave plot 102. those are not the same egg.. and can you please reference where you found the carbon dating information I’m trying to put together a paper of my own.

        1. Thanks for the info on the fact that these are two different eggs, found in two different places! That makes sense to me. I know a brilliant tour guide in Aswan whom I’m thinking of contacting to ask him what he can tell me about the eggs. I’m confident I can trust him, based on my previous experience of working with him. My info on carbon dating was not a scientific source, so I don’t think it would be helpful to you.

      2. Is it possible to photograph the egg from three sides, this would allow some continuity to the graphics.

        1. The photos I posted are ones I took myself, when I personally visited the Nubian Museum in Aswan on two separate occasions. The egg was positioned at different angles from one time to the next. The egg is displayed behind a pane of glass, there was no opportunity for me to turn it to show different angles. There also wasn’t any sort of a docent available for me to talk to about possibly getting access to show the egg from different angles. The only workers there on both occasions were the people selling admission in the entry kiosk, and the person tending the souvenir shop. I keep dreaming of returning to Aswan, and if I do, I’ll visit the museum again to gaze at the egg again. It fascinates me!

      3. I posted this on the iTunes page of Jahannah.There is no doubt in my mind that you are spot on, these are Egyptian pyramids and not a depiction of Sundanese pyramids that lay to the south. Your eyes are immediately drawn to the 3 pyramids etched as the scribe of the day conceived in their mind what they were looking at (not to scale true, but 3 pyramids) then you are drawn to the snake obviously to any sensible person the river Nile.
        look now at the conclusive etching to left and right what do you see, I know what I see, to the left the Atlantic and the west coast of Africa, to the right the unmistakable etching of the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden Opening out into the Arabian Sea.
        This raises the question how did someone 7000 years ago have such knowledge of the world this pre dates the Piri Reis map by 5,500years

      4. Regarding the Nubian egg, the hatched area on the right right is not the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden flowing into the Arabian Sea I inadvertently zoomed out to far on google maps having been viewing the Richat Structure and wanting to know were it lay in relation to the continent. The etching on the right if you zoom in on google maps is the Straits of Suez (as it was then) flowing into the Red Sea. Never the etching is a 7000 year old pictorial map.

      5. Jewel.

        You are only showing one egg.

        If you ignore the pyramids, the top rings and just look at the left and right etching on the two views, you may be drawn to conclude that this is the same egg not two eggs or a forgery. I have seen a third view of the egg from a slightly higher position which is more convincing. Camera angles, focal lengths all play a part in distorting the shape of an object particularly curvature.
        The egg itself may have lay on the floor of the tomb/grave partially embedded in the dirt which has resulted in the displayed erosion on one side.
        I have not seen a photograph anywhere that leads me to believe they were of two different eggs.

      6. Jewel. The person saying there were two eggs found has mis-read or been mis-informed. The Nubian egg was found in a single location (plot 96 of cemetery 102)

      7. Hi Jewel.

        I know much time has past since your post but just for further information on the Nubian egg, during recent research I have come across an article which states that numerous eggs were found in the Dakka cemetery 102 in graves 96 and 102 the single egg found in grave 96 was considered by the excavators to have depictions of or two animals (probably giraffes) having an interesting representation of 3 triangles in between their bodies, the hole at the top of the egg has two hatched circles around it. The article concludes that the egg now resides in the Nubian museum Aswan.
        This lends weight to the argument there was only ever one egg. I still regard the photographs in circulation has being of the same egg but as I stated focal camera length added to that ambient lighting both play apart in the finish photographic representation.

    2. Hi John! I was in Aswan in April 2019, and I visited the Nubian Museum again. I noticed that someone at the museum had shifted the angle of the egg. Therefore, I took a photo showing the triangles and the top of the egg more clearly than my original photo. I’ve added that second photo to this blog post.

    3. Look no further than the water erosion of the walls surrounding the sphinx for basic facts of determining the age of the constructions. Look no further than the construction of the Osirion and the subsequent later “Egyptian” additions.
      All around the world monolithic structures no one will admit reflects advanced civilisations before our history books and the dawning of European social and economic order. Why are we taught to accept the explaneable lies whilst the truth is in plain sight ?

  2. Hello Jewel,

    I found your post via google, good to have someone that agree on same point of view that Pyramids are much older.
    Unfortunately, I didn’t have the chance to visit Nubia museum, but I would like to ask for permissions to use this photo for ostrich egg in a research I’m doing , I will definitely credit you and your work while using this photo, Would be that possible ? .. also can I use one more picture for the egg, a bit to the left if you have one, so that all the pyramids appeared
    Please let me know if this okay with you.
    Super thanks !
    Ahmed

    1. Hi Ahmed! I don’t have a photo that clearly shows all 3 pyramids. The egg sits inside a glass case at the museum. The egg position inside the glass makes it difficult to see the third pyramid. You may use the photo if you like, and yes, please do credit me. Thanks!

    2. Hi Ahmed! I was in Aswan in April 2019, and I remembered your question about whether it was possible to provide a second photo that shows a clearer image of the three triangles. I visited the museum, and I noticed that someone at the museum had shifted the angle of the egg. Therefore, I took a photo showing the triangles and the top of the egg more clearly than my original photo. I’ve added that second photo to this blog post.

  3. Wow, I appreciate your kindness, I looked many times for both pictures, I’m just astonished because I felt the drawings are different (river Nile looks different in the second one, more like a Zigzag than a river), looks like someone rotates the egg as you said
    But in all cases thanks for adding it to the blog, this definitely helps to understand, and this theory starts to grow more and more in Egypt that the pyramids , sphinx, and many other monuments are much older

    1. Hi Ahmed! I agree with you. I didn’t realize it while I was in the museum, but I agree the two photos look almost like two different eggs. I agree with your comment that the “Nile” looks quite different in the two photos. Now I wish I had noticed while I was still in the museum, so I could either examine the egg further or ask a museum employee about it.

      I wonder if I saw two different eggs? Or maybe there are triangles on two different parts of the egg, with different “Niles” next to each? I don’t know. I’m confused!

  4. The first thing I noticed were the horizontal, approximately equidistant lines on the three structures.
    Did the Giza pyramids really look this way? For the sake of argument lets say they are those pyramids. As the casing stones would provide a smooth surface, these lines were probably etched or painted on.
    But why? Aside from being some ancient ‘fashion’ statement, they could have acted as markers, either
    indicating fluctuating high water levels or as a solar/seasonal calendar whereby a shadow would be cast from another object no longer extant.
    Before concluding anything further, would it be correct to say that these ‘scratchings’ do not represent high art but rather a type of quick sketch or graffiti. If so, then the lack of appreciable
    height difference between the shortest and tallest on the Giza plateau is understandable. But these
    horizontal lines were quite noticeable to the artist. Perhaps this is a reason why they are not a
    representation of the Giza pyramids. Perhaps these lines represent steps, which wouldn’t fit with a smooth surfaced pyramid. I think this is the question that needs to be answered. Thank
    you for posting this.

  5. Those two images are not of the same egg at all. If you compare enlargments of the two photos side by side you will see that the carvings are completely different. Also the shape of the egg is different, and the color/texture of the egg shell is different.

    Thank you very much for a fascinating article, but something strange is going on with the eggs in the museum there.

    Cheers~

    1. I agree, with you, the more I look at those photos, the more convinced I too am that one of the photos is a fake. I believe the original egg is the photo at the top of my article – that’s the earlier photograph (the year before). And it matches other photos I’ve seen on the web about the egg. So, I think the egg in the 2019 photo that appears just above the headline “The Meroitic Pyramids Theory and Why It Doesn’t Fit” is the fake. I had originally planned to return to Aswan last month to “visit” the egg again, but that was obviously not an option due to the pandemic.

  6. Both eggs share similarities with the banded geometric engravings found on fragments more than 55000 years old, from South Africa. These are pictured in Pierre-Jean Texier, Diepkloof project. It is clearly a very ancient tradition.

  7. Just saw a video of the pyramids’ shadows stretching out behind the structures. They were tall, narrow… and of similar size… Maybe the carving are not the pyramids themselves but their shadows?

  8. I absolutely agree with the premise the pyramids at Giza are far older than we’re officially being told, even older than the 7,000 the ostrich egg is dated. I haven’t been to Egypt – yet.
    Over the years I’ve learnt to bypass many ‘official’ historic accounts. There are too many interests involved. Thanks to the Internet we can get more intelligent, equally as educated explanations. I like science; somehow I feel my two feet are on the ground.
    I keep encouraging all Egyptologists and all other archaeologists to study in their field of expertise. We all want to know our true roots.

  9. Its the same egg in case anyone stumbles upon this older vlog. I just watched a youtube video about someone who visited it while on a trip to Egypt, and she described two different drawings of the pyramids, on each side of the egg, which explains why you see two different deptictions of the “nile”. Someone even proposed that the concentric circle design on the top might be the Richat Structure if it were “Atlantis”, but who knows.

    1. In my opinion the person in question did not even see let alone photograph both sides of the said egg, they are just using other sources of questionable data .

  10. Fascinating! I’m not aware of seeing this egg before but if it is genuine I do feel it is a far stronger indicator that the Giza pyramids are far older than the conventional dating.

    I feel that the two very rough sketches show the Giza area during the dry and wet seasons, the wet season sketch depicting the extent of the Nile flood plain.

    With regards to the lines on the three sketched pyramid, it may be conceivable that during some cataclysmic event (the Younger Dryas event?) limestone casing was loosed from the pyramids and the egg (being some 5000+ years after) shows this.

    The circles on top are open to interpretation, but worth studying in themselves!

  11. These are Jebel Barkal pyramids. Much older than we think. There is the crudle of egiptian civilization.

  12. I’m curious to know whether the marks made at the top of the egg total some multiple of 360, indicating the carver understood the nature of a circle / globe / sphere? It’s hard to tell from the photos. Has that issue been investigated / addressed? Very interesting stuff.

  13. This carving isn’t depicting pyramids at all, this is solidified by the image next to it. What we have here is actually the name of a geographical area, transliterated as Dw-grH (The Mountain of the Night) which is another name for the mountain regions on the western bank of the Hapy Iteru (real name for the Nile River, ‘nile’ is an Arabic term) where the cemeteries were.

    The first symbol that everyone thinks are pyramids is the bilateral (one symbol that represents two consonantal sounds) Dw, which means ‘mountain,’ in its Predynastic era iteration. The symbol beside it is grH, a triliteral (three consonants) which means ‘night’ or ‘darkness.’

    The pottery of Ancient Kemet is filled with imagery of mountains and water, especially in funeary scenes, and it isn’t uncommon. People that come with far-out theories like this can only speculate because they aren’t capable of reading the script, and should refrain from trying to make assertions on what things are until they get under a competent teacher.

    African culture, just like any other culture, should be interpreted through its own lens, not a foreign one. The stuff that’s actually there is more interesting than pseudoscience and pseudohistory filled with aliens and impossibly old manmade structures.

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