More on the Field museum's project to x-ray some of its artefacts.

Digital technology gives Field Museum staff a glimpse inside some of their most valuable items; they hope a benefactor will foot the $250,000 cost of the machine.

The bundle of bandages purchased by the Field Museum in 1925 was supposed to be a mummified cat, an offering to Bestat, an ancient Egyptian goddess with the head of a feline.

But on Wednesday anthropologists uncovered the truth through digital X-ray technology: The mummified artifact is a circa 500 B.C. fake, part of a cadre of dubious mummies circulating throughout collections worldwide.

[More], Chicago Tribune, Illinois, USA, December 23, 2004.

cf. Digging into mysteries.

Thousands of pilgrims converge on the site of the Tree of the Holy Virgin each Christmas. Jill Kamil looks into its history and its ever-evolving folklore.

There are many trees in Egypt that are regarded as sacred because they offered shelter to the Holy Family during their sojourn here, but none is so highly regarded as the "Virgin's Tree" at Mataria.

Some people believe that fruit from the tree is a blessing and should be kept in the house. Pilgrims frequently ask for miracles — especially women hoping to conceive, who encircle the tree seven times. There are many poignant legends associated with it. "Someone once cut a branch from the tree and sap came out; it was red but not blood," Ashraf Ibrahim, a guard at the site, said...

[More], Al-Ahram, Egypt, 722, December 23 - 29, 2004.

By Zahi Hawass.

Egypt has many great thinkers, philosophers and writers. These extraordinary people have made significant contributions to humanity and left a mark on our lives. One of these great people is Anis Mansour. I am so lucky to be his friend and be able to meet him occasionally because he is very interested in Egyptology, as well as in literature and philosophy. I can say that his knowledge on these subjects is equal to the knowledge of a Nobel Prize winner.

Mansour began his career as a friend of Kamal El-Mallakh, who was an architect and Egyptologist working at the Pyramids, and also wrote articles for newspapers and magazines. With El-Mallakh, Mansour witnessed the discovery of the Solar Boat of Khufu at Giza. I love to listen to the stories about the discovery from Mansour; he uses exciting words that make me listen to him with great attention. But my favourite stories are those of the tricks he and his friend El-Mallakh played on each other.

[More], Al-Ahram, Egypt, 722, December 23 - 29, 2004.