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ARTIFACT — DISPUTEDDeclassified 1898// artifacts
The Saqqara Bird
A wooden bird-shaped artifact from c. 200 BCE Egypt whose aerodynamic profile some claim resembles a glider.
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Overview
The Saqqara Bird is a bird-shaped artifact made of sycamore wood, discovered in 1898 in the Pa-di-Imen tomb in Saqqara, Egypt. It is 14.2 cm long, dated to approximately 200 BCE, and held in the Museum of Egyptian Antiquities in Cairo. Mainstream consensus identifies it as a ceremonial object or weathervane. Egyptologist Khalil Messiha proposed in 1972 that it represents an early glider model.
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Timeline
- c. 200 BCEEstimated manufacture.
- 1898Discovered by Khalil Messiha's team in Saqqara.
- 1972Messiha publishes the glider hypothesis.
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Evidence on Record
- 01Cairo Museum cataloged artifact #6347
- 02Photographs and measurements published in Messiha's 1972 paper
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Theories & Disputes
THEORY A
Ceremonial votive object representing the god Horus (mainstream Egyptology).
THEORY B
Wooden weathervane for ships or sacred barques.
THEORY C
Scale model of an ancient glider (Messiha, fringe).
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