Tech

Scientists identify mystery liquid in Egyptian stone coffins

The unsettling red liquid pooled around three decomposed mummies found inside a 2000-year-old burial chamber in the historic port city of Alexandria in Egypt has taken on a life of its own

Published

5 years ago

July 23, 2018

Africa News Watch

The unsettling red liquid pooled around three decomposed mummies found inside a 2000-year-old burial chamber in the historic port city of Alexandria in Egypt has taken on a life of its own.

Horrifying images of a trio of skeletons floating in the murky soup led to rumours the “mummy juice” contained medicinal or supernatural properties, with locals anxious to bottle the stuff.

Others feared its odd colouring signified the presence of a metal such as mercury.

The large, black granite sarcophagus was unearthed in the Sidi Gaber district earlier this month and cracked open despite fears that doing so would unleash an ancient curse.

The General Secretary of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, Dr Moustafa Waziri dismissed early speculation the tomb could contain the remains of Alexander the Great, saying instead it may have belonged to a priest.

However, the discovery of possible arrow damage to one of the skulls means the bones probably belonged to military officials, according to a statement released by Egypt’s Ministry of Antiquities yesterday.

The skeletons, immersed in red liquid, were found inside a black granite sarcophagus unearthed in the Sidi Gaber district of Alexandria, Egypt this month.

One of the three skulls was found to have been damaged by what archaeologists believe was an arrow.

Authorities also revealed the liquid was neither “juice for mummies that contains an elixir of life” nor “red mercury” but something far more pedestrian — sewage water.

But the ugly — or in this case — smelly truth has failed to scare off the believers, even inspiring an online campaign.
A change.org petition entitled “let the people drink the red liquid from the dark sarcophagus” has attracted more than 16,000 signatures.

“We need to drink the red liquid from the cursed dark sarcophagus in the form of some sort of carbonated energy drink so we can assume its powers and finally die,” petition founder Innes McKendrick wrote by way of explanation.

Workmen found the black granite tomb five metres underground during construction of an apartment building in the historic Mediterranean port city.

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Tech

Payment solution fintech, LemFi launches diaspora remittance services in Kenya

Published

19 hours ago

June 9, 2023

Akanimoh Etim

Cross-border payment solution platform, LemFi has launched its diaspora remittance services in Kenya in a bid to enable citizens send and receive money back home.

The fintech which formally launched its services in the east African country on Friday, said it entered the Kenyan market through a partnership with PesaSwap, a local online and mobile payment solutions company based in Nairobi and the United Kingdom.

The company said it hoped to get a share of the diaspora remittance market which currently stood at Sh44.1 billion ($320.3 million) in April, according to data from the Central Bank of Kenya.

LemFi Country Manager, Kakea Mbacha said the app provided a Kenya Shillings wallet setup with which customers could open and fund their accounts via mobile money.

“Using the LemFi app, customers in the United Kingdom, United States and Canada who remain the largest source of remittances to Kenya, can send funds directly into a bank and mobile money accounts at zero fees,” he said.

“When Africans leave their countries to work, study or live abroad, they still maintain family, business and friendship connections back home.

“These connections are often maintained through communication and the need for effective ways to send and receive items and money from home.

“It is for this reason that LemFi exists. Our services will not attract any fees as we strive to ensure that Kenyans in the diaspora can send money home instantly, at the best rates. This is the brand’s promise,” Mbacha said.

The LemFi app also supports the use of multiple currencies through various wallets that customers can open and deposit money in different accounts, he explained.

“Once open, the customer can easily change their Kenya Shillings to other currencies like USD, GBP & CAD depending on their transactions.

“LemFi says it’s targeting over 500,000 Kenyans living outside the country, with the United States, United Kingdom and Canada being among the most popular destinations.”

Tech

Egypt’s e-health startup, Rology acquires Saudi teleradiology provider, Arkan United

Published

2 days ago

June 8, 2023

Akanimoh Etim

Egyptian e-health startup, Rology has acquired Saudi Arabian teleradiology provider, Arkan United in its bid to position itself as the leading teleradiology company in Africa and the Middle East.

The acquisition of Arkan United, which is headquartered in Jeddah, is coming two months after Rology closed a pre-Series A round of funding that helped its expansion drive across the MENA region, and has now seen it make an incursion into Saudi Arabia which has the largest healthcare sector in the region.

According to Rology co-founder and CEO, Amr Abodriaa, the acquisition of Arkan United has been part of Rology’s long-term plans of “bringing the latest innovations in teleradiology to healthcare providers and patients in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and beyond.”

“We’re excited to announce our acquisition of Arkan for medical services in Saudi Arabia,” Abodriaa said.

“This acquisition allows us to accelerate our mission of combining Rology’s cutting-edge technology and network with Arkan’s established expertise, we’re poised to revolutionise the field of teleradiology and improve patient care in unprecedented ways,” Abodriaa added.

Arkan’s CEO, Tarik Baeshen, who welcomed the acquisition, said “Rology has the people and the disruptive solution that the Saudi healthcare system truly needed.

“I am proud of what Arkan has done for the healthcare landscape in the kingdom, and I am eager to see Rology take it one step further”.

Rology, which was founded in 2017 by AboDraiaa, Moaaz Hossam, Mahmoud Eldefrawy and Bassam Khallaf, has successfully built a cloud-based platform that “provides intelligent matchmaking between patients and remote radiologists, tackling the global shortage of the latter.”

The startup gives radiologists anywhere in the world the freedom to work as long as they have access to internet connection.