Medieval Arabic texts suggest that Egyptian queen Cleopatra VII was a brilliant early mathematician, chemist and philosopher who wrote science books and met weekly with a team of scientific experts, according to a forthcoming book.

If historians can verify the medieval accounts, then the real Cleopatra likely bore little resemblance to the sexy seductress described by Greek and Roman scholars.

The book, "Egyptology: The Missing Millennium, Ancient Egypt in Medieval Arabic Writings," will be published in January by the University College London Press...

Click here for more.  Discovery Channel News, USA, Dec. 14, 2004.

CAIRO, Egypt — Ten Egyptians, including three top archaeologists, will stand trial on charges of stealing and smuggling tens of thousands of antiquities, the nation"s chief prosecutor said Monday.

Prosecutor-General Maher Abdel Wahid also decided to send the chief of Pharaonic antiquities, Sabri Abdel Aziz, to a disciplinary tribunal on charges of negligence of duty, Egypt's Middle East News Agency reported.

Click here for more.  AP via The Boston Globe, Boston, Massachusetts, USA, December 13, 2004.