CAIRO: Archaeologists in Egypt have discovered an ancient pottery manufacturing workshop dating to more than 4,000 years ago in the southern province of Aswan, the Antiquities Ministry said Thursday.
The workshop, the oldest pottery workshop in the Old Kingdom, belongs to the 4th Dynasty, spanning 2,613 to 2,494 B.C., the ministry said in a statement. The Old Kingdom is also known as the age when pyramid-building flourished.
Inside the workshop, archaeologists found an ancient pottery manufacturing wheel made of a limestone turntable and a hollow base.
Mostafa Al-Waziri, secretary general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, says the discovery is “rare” and reveals more about the development of pottery manufacturing and the daily lives of ancient Egyptians during that time in history.
Also on Thursday, archaeologists opened a large, sealed, black granite sarcophagus dating to some 2,000 years ago in the coastal city of Alexandria. The discovery, announced earlier this month, triggered speculation in local and international media about its contents.
However, Al-Waziri told reporters that only skeletal remains and sewage water were found in the sarcophagus, quashing speculation that it belonged to some ancient ruler. He said the sarcophagus, weighting some 30 tons, may have belonged to a wealthy family that lived during the Ptolemaic era.
Later, the Antiquities Ministry said in a statement that initial inspection suggests the the skeletal remains likely belonged to three warriors. It said the remains will undergo restoration to reveal more about them.
Egypt has gone to great length to revive its vital tourism industry, still reeling from the political turmoil that followed a 2011 popular uprising. In recent years, the Antiquities Ministry has touted discoveries in the hopes of bolstering tourism, a major pillar of foreign currency.
Archaeologists find ancient pottery workshop in Egypt
Archaeologists find ancient pottery workshop in Egypt
- The workshop, the oldest pottery workshop in the Old Kingdom, belongs to the 4th Dynasty
- Inside the workshop, archaeologists found an ancient pottery manufacturing wheel made of a limestone turntable and a hollow base
Producer Zainab Azizi hopes ‘Send Help’ will be a conversation starter
DUBAI: Afghan American film producer Zainab Azizi cannot wait for audiences to experience Sam Raimi’s new horror comedy “Send Help.”
In an interview with Arab News, the president at Raimi Productions kept returning throughout her interview to one central theme: the communal thrill of horror.
“I started watching horror from the age of six years old. So, it’s kind of ingrained in my brain to love it so much,” she said, before describing the formative ritual that still shapes her work: “What I loved about that was the experience of it, us cousins watching it with the lights off, holding hands, and just having a great time. And you know, as an adult, we experience that in the theater as well.”
Asked why she loves producing, Azizi was candid about the mix of creativity and competition that drives her. “I’m very competitive. So, my favorite part is getting the film sold,” she said. “I love developing stories and characters, and script, and my creative side gets really excited about that part, but what I get most excited about is when I bring it out to the marketplace, and then it becomes a bidding war, and that, to me, is when I know I’ve hit a home run.”
Azizi traced the origins of “Send Help” to a 2019 meeting with its writers. “In 2019 I met with the writers, Mark and Damien. I was a fan of their works. I’ve read many of their scripts and watched their films, and we hit it off, and we knew we wanted to make a movie together,” she said.
From their collaboration emerged a pitch built around “the story of Linda Little,” which they developed into “a full feature length pitch,” and then brought to Raimi. “We brought it to Sam Raimi to produce, and he loved it so much that he attached to direct it.”
On working with Raimi, Azizi praised his influence and the dynamic they share. “He is such a creative genius. So, it’s been an incredible mentorship. I learned so much from him,” she said, adding that their collaboration felt balanced: “We balance each other really well, because I have a lot of experience in packaging films and finding filmmakers, so I have a lot of freedom in the types of projects that I get to make.”
When asked what she hopes audiences will take from “Send Help,” Azizi returned to the communal aftermath that first drew her to horror: “I love the experience, the theatrical experience. I think when people watch the film, they take away so many different things. ... what I love from my experience on this film is, especially during test screenings, is after the film ... people are still thinking about it. Everybody has different opinions and outlooks on it. And I love that conversation piece of the film.”
