From the Mediterranean bed to Kom Al-Dikka, from Akhmim to Sinai, from the Egyptian Museum in Cairo to Basle and Germany and from auction halls in Europe and America to Egypt, there were several exciting archaeological events to highlight this outstanding year. Nevine El-Aref reviews the past 12 busy months.

Tutmania: This was the year when Switzerland, Germany, France, Greece, the United States and China were caught up in the euphoria of Egyptomania, with 14 exhibitions featuring the Ancient Egyptian civilisation. The one that hogged most of the glory was the touring Tutankhamun circus, which is travelling through Europe and America for the first time in more than two decades.

Egypt prohibited any further showing of the treasured collection following its last exhibition in Cologne in 1981 when damage was sustained by the statue of the deity Selket, which at one point fell resulting in the detachment of its scorpion crown.

[More], Al-Ahram, Egypt, 723, December 30, 2004 - January 05, 2005.

Culture Minister Farouk Hosni will re-open the Pyramid of King Chephren in Giza as of Saturday after the completion of restoration works.

In statements, Hosni said the third Pyramid of Mycerinus will be closed for a year to start necessary rejuvenations, adding 2005 will see a giant restoration project to restore King Chephren's funerary temple and the stone blocks in the area south of the temple.

[More], State Information Service, Egypt, December 31, 2004.

The past few months have been exceptionally rich on the antiquities front.  Among some of the most important developments:

...Zahi Hawass discovered the cover of a sarcophagus dating back to the modern dynasty. The antiquity was simply lying there, and no one was able to tell him how arrived. Hawass promptly ordered the cover moved to the antiquities storerooms in Matariyya...

[More], Egypt Today, December 2004, Volume 25, Issue 12, via EEF News.

Dont [sic] say stolen[,] the word is missing, insists Minister of Culture Farouk Hosni. And because we have a soft spot for this member of Cabinet, well [sic] follow his instructions in every sentence we write.

The Egyptian Museums basement, you see, is a thiefs [sic] dream. (Whoops! We meant magicians dream. Really, we did)

In May, the Habi relief went missing from the fabled museums subterranean storage vaults, forcing Hosni to appoint a committee of experts to investigate the location to which the relief chose to disappear. While cynics said the answer was obvious (back to Japan, where it was missing until 1985), museum staff insisted its [sic] somewhere around here...

[More], Egypt Today, December 2004, Volume 25, Issue 12, via EEF News.

Tongue firmly wedged in my cheek for this one!

A team of British and Egyptian archaeologists made a stunning discovery Monday, unearthing several intact specimens of "skeleton people" — skinless, organless humans who populated the Nile delta region an estimated 6,000 years ago.

"This is an incredible find," said Dr. Christian Hutchins, Oxford University archaeologist and head of the dig team. "Imagine: At one time, this entire area was filled with spooky, bony, walking skeletons."

[More], The Onion, Volume 40, Issue 52, December 29, 2004, via HallOfMaat.

Happy New Year!

Beatrix Potter’s The Tale of Peter Rabbit has been translated into ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs by a curator from the British Museum and a retired medical expert.

Peter Rabbit, or hare beneath a semi-circle, as he is known in the 4,000-year-old hieroglyphic form, learns why it is important to listen to his mother when he is caught trespassing by Mr McGregor, or duck, vertical line, jar stand over mouth, jar stand, lasso over mouth, sitting man...

[More], The Times, UK, December 31, 2004, via HallOfMaat.

More on the granaries found in Suez, Egypt, this time Associated Press copy rather than Reuters.

An American excavation mission has unearthed eight granaries that are relics from agricultural life in the Neolithic era, the Egyptian culture minister said in a statement Tuesday.

The granaries were discovered last week in Fayoum, an oasis some 50 miles southwest of Cairo, Farouk Hosni said in the statement. The statement said the granaries date back to the Neolithic era that began around 9,000 B.C., known as a transition point from roaming and hunting societies to an agricultural one.

...

William [sic] Z. Wendrich, the head of the American archaeological mission, said in the statement that the granaries were found north of a site where several granaries full of Emmer wheat, flax and fruit were found in 1926.

[More], AP via ABC News, USA, December 28, 2004.

cf. 8 prehistoric granaries found in Egypt, AP via Anchorage Daily News, Alaska, USA, December 28, 2004.

An Afrocentric article that relates Osiris, Horus, and Isis to the [Holy] Trinity of the Father, the Son and the Black Virgin Mother.

...The “golden age” for myths of the world was between 2800-1800 B.C., with the best documented being those of Egypt. The universe was formed, according to Egyptian cosmogony, by chaotic uncreated matter — the primitive Nun (i.e. “nothingness”). This primitive matter contained, in the form of principles, all possible beings as well as the god of potential development, Khepru.

As soon as the “primitive nothingness” created Ra, the demiurge (the creator of the world but who was subordinate to the one high God), its role ended. Nun also created evil in the form of Seth (Set), the brother of Osiris, and the snake of the underworld, Apap (or Apophis)...

[More], The Black Voice News, California, USA, December 23, 2004.

Khafre, the second-largest of the three Great Pyramids at Giza, outside Cairo, is to reopen on Saturday after being closed for nearly two years for repairs and restoration.

Workers removed graffiti inside the pyramid, repaired cracks and cleaned the walls of salt residue, the Supreme Council of Antiquities said on Thursday.

[More], Al-Jazeera, Qatar, December 30, 2004.

Nothing to do with tourism really.  Details of a number of finds in the Suez area.

Minister of Culture, Farouk Hossni, decided to form a panel of Egyptian archeologists to examine new 22 archeological sites, recently discovered in the Suez governorate...

Director General of the Suez area of monuments, Dr. Mohamed Salem, expounded that the Suez governorate, after those discoveries, contained 29 archeological sites dating back to the Pharonic, Greek, Roman and Nuptic ages distributed on 4 sites.

[More], State Information Service, Egypt, December 29, 2004.

More on the granaries found in the Fayum.

California University and the Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA) joint expedition announced yesterday that eight silos dating back to the pre-dynasty era have been unearthed in northern Fayum.

SCA Chairman, Zahi Hawass said the find is one of the most interesting discoveries as "it enriches our knowledge of the agricultural methods and techniques adopted by the Ancient Egyptians in the pre-history era."

[More], State Information Service, Egypt, December 29, 2004.

Prime Minister Dr. Ahmed Nazif, accompanied by the Minister of Culture, late on Sunday inaugurated five newly restored religious sites on the centuries-old el-Muzzeddin Allah Street.

The sites include Ashraf Barsbey School; Sheikh Ali el- Muttahar Mosque and Sabil; the Dome and School of el-Nasser Qalaoun; Barquk Madrasa (School and Khanka), and el-Silhedar Mosque.

[More], State Information Service, Egypt, December 28, 2004.

Prime Minister Dr.Ahmed Nazif opens this evening five archaeological projects that have been renovated in El-Muez Street in ancient Cairo the projects include Mosque, Fountain and Kuttab (lowest elementary school in the past) of Suliman Agha El- Slehdar, Sultan Barquq School, El-Nasser Mohamed Bin Qalawoon, Mosque, Fountain Ankuteb of Ali El- Metlahr and Mosque and School of Al-Ashraf Bersai.

[More], State Information Service, Egypt, December 26, 2004.

Archaeologists in Egypt have found eight Stone Age grain stores at an oasis southwest of Cairo that help show the shift from hunting to agricultural societies, the Ministry of Culture reported.

The ministry said the discovery was made by a team from the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) in an area north of Fayoum 60 miles southwest of Cairo, where 67 grain stores were found in 1926.

"The well-preserved nature of these stores helped experts to understand the transformation of societies, from depending on hunting to a stable agricultural society," government antiquities chief Zahi Hawass said in the statement.

The statement did not say when the discovery was made.

[More], Reuters, UK, December 28, 2004.

cf. Archaeologists Find Egyptian Stone Age Stores, Reuters via Yahoo, December 28, 2004.

cf. Stone Age granaries found in Egypt, Reuters via MSNBC, December 29, 2004.

cf. Archaeologists find Egyptian Stone Age stores, Reuters via CNN, December 28, 2004.

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.

The Field Museum's vast collection of mummies, fossils, pottery and other anthropological gems is riddled with mysteries.

Researchers are hoping to shed light on these and other mysteries with the help of a $225,000 portable X-ray machine that Mikron Digital Imaging is loaning to the museum for three days...

[More], Chicago Sun-Times, Chicago, Illinois, USA, December 21, 2004, via TourEgypt.

cf. Field Museum to use X-ray machine to scan priceless specimens, AP via Belleville News Democrat, Illinois, USA, December 21, 2004.

Another article about Google indexing five of the world's libraries that refers back to Ptolemy I's work setting up the Library of Alexandria.

...[T]he Library of Alexandria ... [s]et up by Ptolemy I in the third century B.C., it was meant to hold every book on every imaginable subject.  To ensure that no title escaped its vast catalog, a royal decree ordered that any book brought into the city was to be confiscated and copied; only then would the original (sometimes the copy) be returned.

[More], New York Times, New York, USA, December 19, 2004.

cf. At our fingertips, wisdom of the ages.

AK Comics usher in the era of the homegrown Middle Eastern superhero.

Batman ... the X-Men ... Spiderman ... Bah!! These American superheroes are old news.

Now is the new era of the homegrown Arab superhero, four of them in fact — and they look likely to give their made-in-America counterparts a run for their money...

[More], The Daily Star, Libya, December 21, 2004.

Egypt brought back an ancient mural from the Metropolitan Museum in New York, "said Culture Minister Farouk Hosni yesterday.

In press statements on this occasion, Hosni said that the mural, discovered in Helwan, Egypt by archaeologist Ibrahim Zarqana, was 12 pieces that were auctioned off in Bonhams in London in October.

He said when the Metropolitan Museum discovered that the mural that dates back to the prehistoric was stolen from Egypt; it immediately contacted the Egyptian authorities...

[More], State Information Service, Egypt, December 21, 2004.

The Al Moudira hotel appears to have been transported to the West Bank of Luxor, Egypt, by some aesthetically minded genie.  Far from the tourist hordes invading the nearby Valley of the Kings, this oasis of luxury and serenity is about as far away from the package travel experience as you can get, yet is a mere half-hour from its very epicentre.

Twenty kilometres from the East Bank, where chain hotels stand shoulder to shoulder and tour buses spew exhaust, Al Moudira has brought the boutique-chic concept to a place that was crying out for it.  And if you get up early enough, you can even beat the tourist rush to some of the pharaonic sites, thanks to a 30-minute head start.

[More], The Globe and Mail, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, December 18, 2004.

cf. A Dream of a Thousand and One Nights: The Al Moudira, a New 5 Star Hotel in Luxor, TourEgypt, undated.

Below is a travel article that I had missed from September in The Telegraph.

Keen to show his children that there is life beyond Hampshire, Jonathan Young took them to Egypt for an inspirational break.

The mosque's PA system hollered out the early-morning call to the faithful.  Still disorientated after our late arrival the previous night, I struggled to the window, drew back the curtains - and there was the Great Pyramid, literally at the bottom of the garden...

[More], The Telegraph, UK, September 27, 2004.

Another review of Channel Five's recent documentary Secrets of the Sphinx: Revealed.

Archaeologists, who are able to tell us who built the pyramids of Ancient Egypt, have puzzled over the riddle of the Sphinx for generations.

The identity of the ruler who ordered the building of the 65ft high, 260ft long limestone half-human statue that has guarded the Giza Plateau for 4,500 years has been lost in the sands of time.

[More], The Telegraph, UK, December 14, 2004, via ArchNews.

...[L]ast week's announcement from Google, the Internet search engine, that it will scan and digitize the vast collections of five major libraries. The plan would make good on Google's mission to make "the world's information" universally accessible and searchable by making 15 million books - centuries of learning — available instantly and free.

It echoed "Alexander" because the conqueror's story is told by one of his generals, Ptolemy, in the Great Library of Alexandria — a legendary lost treasure and one of the wonders of the ancient world...

[More], The Plain Dealer, Cleveland, Ohio, USA, December 19, 2004, via Explorator.

cf. Google to scan famous libraries, BBC News, UK, December 14, 2004.

cf. New front in search war as Google brings libraries online, Media Bulletin, UK, December 14, 2004.

"Making the wealth of knowledge accumulated in the Bodleian Library's historic collections accessible to as many people as possible is at the heart of Oxford University's commitment to lifelong learning."

The New Library of Alexandia can be found here.

For 10 years, University of Arkansas students and professors have been digging up pieces of the past and changing the way archeologists view life in the Middle East during the first millennium. Now the U of A and Yarmouk University in Jordan have published the results of their initial years of excavation and study.

[More], NewsWise, December 16, 2004.

Archaeology Magazine's Interactive Dig at Hierakonpolis has been updated with a new article entitled Fixing the Fort.

Conservation isn't just a buzz word; it is a responsibility for all of us who cherish Egypt's ancient heritage. Our winter 2004 season at Hierakonpolis is dedicated to translating this word into action as we begin the stabilization and repair of the imposing structure we call the Fort, actually the Ceremonial Enclosure of King Khasekhemwy and the oldest freestanding mud-brick monumental structure in the world.

[More], Archaeology Magazine, USA, December 2004 - February 2005.

cf. Hierakonpolis Online

Of all the many cultures unearthed by archeologists and displayed in museums, the civilisation that existed between 5000 and 2000 years ago along the Nile resonates longest and loudest. Eight million Americans crowded in to see the glittering Treasures of Tutankhamen exhibition in 1976-77, making it a cultural phenomenon: the first blockbuster exhibition, which set a benchmark for all museums and art galleries.

Cultural tourism to Egypt soared and King Tut was regarded as Egypt's greatest ambassador to the US.  Now another wave of enthusiasm for ancient Egypt is sweeping the world.

This week in Sydney, the deputy director of the Netherlands' Rijksmuseum van Oudheden, Marlies Kleiterp, told The Australian: "If we are looking for a big blockbuster ... we know what we have to do. Pharaohs, pyramids and mummies — they fascinate people."

Kleiterp is overseeing the installation of the mummy of a young woman in an exhibition, Life Beyond the Tomb — Death in Ancient Egypt, which opens tomorrow at the Australian Museum...

...Now on show at the Nicholson [Museum at the University of Sydney] is Unearthed Tales, which includes a child's mummy and other human remains...

[More], The Australian, Australia, December 10, 2004, via EEFNews.

A review, by Louisa Pearson of The Scotsman, of channel five's Secrets of the Sphinx: Revealed, Tuesday 14th December 2004.

You know you've watched one too many documentaries about ancient Egypt when you find yourself recognising the names of obscure pharaohs. "Khafre?" you murmur. "Ah yes, now wasn't he king during the Fourth Dynasty?" As Five's Egypt season continued last night, I began to wonder how many applicants for the next series of *Mastermind (myself included) might propose Egyptology as their specialist subject.

Egypt may provide an inexhaustible store of ideas for TV producers, but programmes with the words "secrets" and "revealed" in the title should usually be translated as "heady mix of hearsay and speculation"...

[More], The Scotsman, UK, December 15, 2004, via TourEgypt.

Minister of Culture, Farouk Hosni said that some 20 Islamic monumental and archaeological sites in Cairo are to be opened soon after the ministry completed the restoration works of them.

These projects include renovations and developing of several mosques, palaces, agencies and fountains as well as beautifying the nearby areas and surroundings, added Hosni.

[More], State Information Service, Egypt, December 15, 2004.

Although Egypt possesses a third of the world's antiquities, it does not have enough money to pay for the cost of restoring and conserving this tremendous heritage, not to mention exploring new sites, or building museums to host the newly discovered artefacts. Nevine El-Aref looks at the new company that is supposed to help do just that.

The government has decided to adopt a new approach to dealing with cultural heritage that it hopes will generate the revenue necessary to carry out this important work. That is the crux of the Culture Ministry-affiliated holding company currently being formed based on a ministerial decree issued by former Prime Minister Atef Ebeid in July 2004...

[More], Al-Ahram, Egypt, 721, December 16 - 22, 2004.

British and Egyptian viewers were fastened simultaneously to their TVs on Sunday as archaeologists drew them into a live excavation to find more secrets hidden in the Valley of the Golden Mummies. Nevine El-Aref was there.

Cold, darkness and silence reigned over the desert night near Bahariya Oasis, but the Valley of the Golden Mummies was as bright as day under six moon-shaped halogen lamps. Attached to the sand by four iron bars, the lamps hung over an excavation pit which would be the first part to be explored in an innovative TV programme...

[More], Al-Ahram, Egypt, 721, December 16 - 22, 2004.

Picture here.

Some 7.5 million tourists visited Egypt from January to November and the number may exceed 8 million by the end of December, the official MENA news agency reported Thursday.

Chairman of the Egyptian Tourism Authority Ahmad Khadem was quoted as saying Italian tourists led the list with 967,000 coming to Egypt so far this year and Germans followed with 927,000.

The number of Russian tourists visiting Egypt reached 635,000, British, 494,000 and French, 429,000, Khadem added.

Tourism, one of the country's major sources of state revenues, brings some 6 billion US dollars to Egypt annually.

It also provides millions of jobs, either directly or indirectly.

[More], Xinhua News Agency, China, December 16, 2004.

Mummies: Death and the Afterlife in Ancient Egypt features the Largest Collection of Mummies and Coffins to Ever Leave British Museum and Illustrates the Fascinating Story of How Egyptians Prepared and Sent the Dead Into the Afterlife.

Among the peoples of the ancient world, the Egyptians occupy a unique position with their approach to death and the possibility of resurrection, particularly since so much of the evidence that has survived over thousands of years comes from a funerary context.

The largest and most comprehensive collection of ancient Egyptian funerary material outside of Cairo is housed at The British Museum. As part of its joint venture with the British Museum, the Bowers Museum[, Santa Ana, California,] has drawn upon this world-famous collection of mummies and funerary objects to present Mummies: Death and the Afterlife in Ancient Egypt ... Treasures from the British Museum, opening April 17, 2005...

[More], PRNewswire via my Stuff and News International, December 14, 2004.

cf. here, PRNewswire via FindLaw, USA, December 14, 2004.

Monuments and tourism police seized in Menia governorate three rare ancient pieces dating back to the pharaohs era including a human head made of alabaster, from a farmer and a grocer before they sold them to monuments merchants.

Meanwhile, western Cairo prosecution continues investigations with three engineers working in the Supreme Council for Antiquities (SCA) and a fugitive contractor who were charged with stealing LE 90 thousands allocated for the renovation works of Al-Azhar Bebers Mosque...

[More], State Information Service, Egypt, December 15, 2004.

Last year, the Theban Mapping Project was asked by Dr. Zahi Hawass, Secretary General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, to take the lead role in developing a masterplan for managing the Valley of the Kings.

In antiquity, the valley was the burial place of the Egyptian elite for over five hundred years, and for the last three thousand years it has been the focus of attention from scholars, travellers and tourists. Today, after centuries of damage and looting, the valley is facing its most severe challenge: its future preservation hangs in the balance. Unless swift, radical and all-encompassing action is undertaken we may see the destruction of this site within the next twenty-five years. The problems facing the valley today come predominantly from human intervention, but in addition there are natural threats that have to be managed. The sheer number of visitors brings countless problems, ranging from damage to the fabric of the site to issues surrounding the provision of tourist facilities appropriate to the site and the visitors.

The first stage of developing this masterplan is a consultation process involving as many interested parties as possible and we are particularly interested in the views and suggestions of previous visitors...

Click here to complete the survey.

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...

[More], Discovery Channel News, USA, December 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.

[More], AP via The Boston Globe, Boston, Massachusetts, USA, December 13, 2004.

Dr. Douglas Robertson swears that one of the best vantage points for observing a 5,300-year-old Egyptian mummy mask is in his laboratory at UPMC Montefiore.

Make no mistake: The funerary mask of what may have been a noblewoman from the court of Ramses the Great is physically on display 550 miles away at the St. Louis Art Museum. But a full-color, three-dimensional model of the mask resides in Robertson's computer...

[More], Post-Gazette, Pittsburgh, Palau, USA, December 13, 2004.

Albuquerque, [New Mexico] — Two doctoral students from the University of New Mexico will star in the Discovery Channel's new show "Mummy Autopsy."

James Murrell, a radiologic technologist, and Ken Nystrom, a biological anthropologist, traveled around the world to conduct research on mummies for the show...

[More], AP via MSNBC, USA, December 07, 2004, via Explorator.

cf. 'Autopsy' Showcases Scientists' Research., AP via ABC News, USA, December 07, 2004.

Do you remember the first time around? Tutankhamun and his hoard came to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1978 and forever changed the way museums did business, not necessarily for the better. There had been major special exhibitions before, but the frenzy over Tut was something extraordinary. Sold-out tickets, long lines, overcrowded galleries — if the objects on display had been any less luminous, any less golden, than they were, they would have been invisible. For the Met, Tutankhamun meant new demographics, new revenues and, in some sense, a new idea of itself. Suddenly it seemed possible to capture audiences of a size limited only by the scale of the museum's cloakroom.

[More], New York Times, New York, USA, December 07, 2004, via Explorator.

More on the finds at Bahariya Oasis this weekend.

Bahariya, Egypt — Archaeologists unveiled Sunday the tomb of a member of a powerful family that governed a swath of western Egypt about 2,500 years ago, along with a dozen recently discovered mummies from Roman times.

The mummies are among 400-500 located thus far in what Egypt has dubbed the Valley of the Golden Mummies — grounds where thousands were believed entombed.

[More], AP via Salt Lake Tribune, Utah, USA, December 13, 2004.

cf. 'Golden mummies' of Egypt's princes found, AP via The Independent, UK, December 13, 2004. Thanks Peter.

cf. Egypt Unveils 2,500-Year-Old Tomb, Mummies, AP via ABC News, USA, December 12, 2004.

cf. Egyptian tomb adds to family tree, AP via Denver Post, Colorado, USA, December 13, 2004.

cf. New mummies uncovered, AP via Press-Telegram, California, USA, December 12, 2004.

Plus many more syndicated copies of the Associated Press story.

The tomb of a member of a powerful family that governed a swathe of western Egypt about 2,500 years ago was unveiled today, along with a dozen recently discovered mummies from Roman times.

The mummies are among 400 to 500 located in what Egypt has dubbed the Valley of the Golden Mummies — grounds where thousands were believed entombed...

[More], The Scotsman, UK, December 12, 2004.

The riddle of the Sphinx has confounded generations of tourists and experts alike.  Who built it, why, and what does it mean? Now a leading Egyptologist believes that he has pieced together the puzzle.

After researching the pyramids of the Giza Plateau and their imposing half-human, half-animal guardian for 20 years, Vassil Dobrev of the French Archaeological Institute in Cairo has concluded that the Sphinx was the work of a forgotten pharaoh...

[More], The Independent, UK, December 11, 2004.

This story relates to the upcoming Secrets of the Sphinx: Reavealed documentary to be shown on channel five this coming Tuesday, which has already aired in the USA on the Discovery Channel as The Sphinx Unmasked.

The Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA) will embark within few days on carrying out an emergency project to rescue the ancient sun boats, dubbed "Cheops" in the Giza pyramids area.

The boats have been badly affected by the strong sun, especially by the ultra-violet rays which damage the organic components of the wooden hulls.

[More], Egypt State Information Service, Egypt, December 11 , 2004.

Culture Minister Farouk Hosni decided to carry out an urgent plan for developing and restoring the archaeological area of Tel Basta, Sharkia governorate, to be turned into an open museum as it is one of the most important capitals of Ancient Egypt.

[More], Egypt State Information Siervice, Egypt, December 09, 2004.

In ancient times Lake Mareotis was a pleasure resort and watering spot surrounded by market gardens. Jenny Jobbins considers the fertile past of an area that is now desert.

When the Greek colonisers and Roman cohorts — and, later, the Persians and Arabs — marched to and from Cyrenaica along Egypt's northern coast they all had one aim in mind — to hold and control North Africa...

[More], Al-Ahram, Egypt, 720, December 09 - 15, 2004.

A lengthy article about the study of ancient fabrics. Most of the article does not focus on Ancient Egypt, but it does contains a side-bar relating to Egypt.

Fabric remains are exceedingly rare in archaeological sites...

Such discoveries are not just intriguing curiosities. Researchers armed with chemical and biochemical technologies can now coax from even tiny fabric scraps ... clues to life in ages past.

[More], San Diego Union Tribune, California, USA, December 08, 2004.

A scull recently found by Egyptologists may belong to Amun-her-khepeshef, the oldest son of Rameses II, who is amply described in the Bible as the ruler of Egypt during the Jewish exodus more than 3000 years ago. The scull was found in the Valley of the Kings, close to Luxor.

American archaeologist Kent Weeks recently opened a "hidden tomb" in the valley that holds the remnants of a large list of Egypt's ancient rulers, the pharaohs. The "badly fractured skull" and other sculls found on the site have since then been analysed by specialists, who came to a surprising conclusion...

[More], afrol News, Norway, November 29, 2004.

Channel five, UK, are advertising an Egypt Season for this coming weekend.

The season kicks off on Saturday with...

Seven Wonders of Ancient Egypt on 11th December 2004 at 20:30
"Documentary revealing how the ancient Egyptians managed to create monuments that have survived for thousands of years."

Followed on Sunday by two documentaries

Who Killed Cleopatra? Revealed on 12th December 2004 at 20:00
"Documentary questioning the mysterious death of Cleopatra, the last Pharaoh of ancient Egypt. Criminal profiler Pat Brown, with the help of historians and underwater archaeologists, attempts to find out whether or not Cleopatra did indeed commit suicide as history records, or if her death was more suspicious."

Golden Mummy Tomb Opening - Live on 12th December 2004 at 21:00

"Kate Sanderson and Greco-Roman historian Guy de la Bedoyere present live coverage of the opening of an ancient tomb in Egypt's Bahiriyah Oasis. Some burial chambers have already been discovered stuffed full of mummies which were buried draped in gold. During the live event, Kate and Guy will work with scientists and historians as they attempt to find another tomb and unravel the riddles of these 2,000 year old golden mummies."

And on Monday with

Mummy: The Inside Story on 13th December 2004 at 19:30
"Documentary telling the story of Nesperennub, a mummy which became the superstar of a British Museum exhibition. The progamme begins in the museum basement and ends with a spectacular journey through the flesh and bones of this ancient Egyptian."

And on Tuesday

Secrets of the Sphinx: Revealed on 14th December 2004 at 20:00
"Documentary unravelling the mysteries of the Sphinx. Thousands of years after the Sphinx was cut from the bedrock, an investigation team lead by world-leading experts piece together its incredible story. Using groundbreaking technology and the latest historical reasearch, the team bring to life one of the most famous monuments in history, re-creating its original painted face and revealing the true story behind it."

Excerpt taken from

Culture Minister Farouk Hosni announced yesterday that the Egyptian archaeological mission operating in Bahariya Oases in Giza governorate unearthed 20 golden mummies similar to those discovered before in the golden mummies valley in the area.

This brings to 234 the number of discovered mummies so far, the minister said in press statements...

[More], Egypt State Information Service, Egypt, December 08, 2004.

cf. Egyptian mission unearths 20 golden mummies, ArabicNews, December 08, 2004.

An Egyptian archaeological team has discovered a group of 20 gold-coated mummies in the country's western desert, Culture Minister Faruq Hosni announced today.

He said the discovery brings to 234 the number of mummies so far unearthed in the area called the Valley of the Golden Mummies, adding that excavations were ongoing in and around the site...

[More], AFP via The Australian, Australia, December 08, 2004.

cf. here. AFP via IOL, South Africa, December 08 2004.

cf. here. AP via Yahoo, December 07 2004.

cf. here. AP via CBS New York, USA, December 07, 2004.

It was supposed to be the ultimate in secure burial plots. Hidden in a lonely valley, the Valley of the Kings was designed by the pharoahs to preserve their mummies and riches for eternity. It is no small irony that more than 3000 years later, the tombs, deep in the heart of the mountains, have become one of the most popular tourist attractions in the world...

[More], The Age, Australia, December 08, 2004.

Scientists are finding ways to protect Egypt's ancient tombs from the ravages of time and tourism. Tim Radford reports.

A plan to control tourism, limit traffic, deflect flash floods, reduce theft and vandalism and even alter farming on the banks of the Nile could soon begin to change the face of the Valley of the Kings.

Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities has asked the archaeologists, architects and engineers of the Theban Mapping Project - launched 25 years ago simply to make a detailed map of the 62 tombs and temples of the pharaohs and nobles buried more than 3000 years ago - to complete a plan for the conservation of the valley by the end of 2005...

[More], The Age, Australia, December 08, 2004, via The Forum of Amun.

The US-Egyptian excavation committee unearthed an archaeological monument in the Western Desert.

The committee asserted that the ancient Egyptians in the Pre-Historic Age lived in Toshka.

Culture Minister Farouk Hosni said that the excavation committee discovered some paintings which date back to eight thousand years ago.

Dr. Zahi Hawass, Secretary of the Supreme Council for Antiquities said that the excavation committee also found some animal skeletons and cereal warehouses which confirm this historical fact.

[More], Egypt State Information Service, Egypt, December 07, 2004.

cf. Ancient Egyptian man lived in Toshka eight thousand years ago, ArabicNews, December 07, 2004.

Feeling guilty about taking his kids out of school for a beach holiday in Cyprus, Tim Moore tacked on a cruise to Egypt, cradle of the Year 4 history project.

After a boarding process delayed by our fellow passengers' cheerful unfamiliarity with air travel we were 45 minutes late out of Heathrow. Five hours later we stumbled off Europe's longest scheduled flight to find ourselves one suitcase short at the Larnaca carousel. That meant another hour, and then another couple in the hire car, watching in bleary silence as the EU's first sunrise gradually illuminated the scrubby, undulating and disconcertingly vast Cypriot landscape...

[More], The Observer, UK, December 05, 2004.

I wonder if the author is the same travel writer who wrote the excellent French Revolutions?

Archaeology.org's Mark Rose reviews Discovery Channel's Rameses: Wrath of God or Man?

Bones from Egypt's Valley of the Kings are a sure-fire attention getter, but a big budget and lots of computer-generated images are not guarantees of a great program as the Discovery Channel's heavily promoted Rameses: Wrath of God or Man shows. Here, what could be an interesting, if less ambitious, documentary about trying to identify the human remains from KV 5 is hijacked by the biblical tale of the plagues and Exodus. The two threads — bones and Exodus — are followed by Kent Weeks (excavator of the tomb designated KV 5) and Charles Sennott (a Boston Globe reporter)...

[More], Archaeology.org, USA, December 02, 2004.

Minister of Culture Farouk Hosni yesterday agreed to increase the rewards given to citizens who find antiquities on their property and hand them over to the authorities.

The rewards will be increased to a maximum of LE 50,000.

[More], Egypt State Information Service, Egypt, December 05, 2004.

You may think the tragedy of Antony and Cleopatra ended with their suicides in 30 B.C. It didn't. Their grandson, Ptolemy of Mauretania (1 B.C.-A.D. 40), had a worse fate: the Emperor Caligula invited him to Rome and murdered him. He was the last known descendant of the Ptolemaic dynasty, a family of Greeks originally from Macedonia who ruled Egypt from 305 B.C. to 30 B.C.

In its sale of antiquities on Thursday, Sotheby's New York is auctioning a fine bronze Roman portrait bust of Ptolemy at about age 15. It is seven inches tall. The presale viewing begins today and ends on Tuesday at 1 p.m. Sotheby's estimates it will sell for $300,000 to $500,000.

[More], New York Times, USA, December 03, 2004.

By Steve Martin.

It is fitting that so many major news organizations have asked me to herald the coming to the United States of the artifacts from King Tut's tomb. After all, I'm the one who wrote the silly song about him. I stepped over the backs of many Egyptologists who wanted to write this article, but it's better that they learn their lesson now: silly song writers are powerful and vicious people who will stop at nothing to write an article about subjects they have treated in a silly way.

[More], New York Times, USA, December 05, 2004, via Explorator.

NPR's Alex Chadwick speaks with Zahi Hawass, head of Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities, about a new exhibit featuring the remains and possessions of King Tutankhamun.

One of the most famous faces in antiquity is coming back to Hollywood — the artifacts buried with the young Egyptian king Tutankhamun, who died nearly 3,500 years ago, will again take a world tour...

[More], NPR, December 01, 2004, via Explorator.

Listen

The gilded treasures of King Tutankhamun are on their way back to the United States in what could prove a gold rush for Egypt and big business.

Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs starts a 27-month tour of the United States in June 2005 that will mark the first return here in more than two decades of the precious artifacts buried with the mysterious boy king...

[More], Reuters, UK, December 03, 2004.

Reuters via IOL, South Africa, December 04 2004.

Reuters via Yahoo, USA, December 03, 2004.

King Tut is coming back to America. But this time he will cost - so much indeed that the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, doyen of US museums which hosted the first Treasures of Tutankhamun show in 1978, is having nothing to do with the follow-up...

[More], The Independent, UK, December 03, 2004.

The famous Story of Sinuhe is regarded as the most accomplished piece of prose literature to have survived from Ancient Egypt. Jill Kamil talks to a Czech scholar who has brought its male protagonist to life.

[More], Al-Ahram, Egypt, No. 719, December 02 - 08, 2004.

By Zahi Hawass.

When the Egyptian delegation travelled to France on the occasion of the Ninth Congress of Egyptology in Grenoble, we were able to visit the house where the great Jean-François Champollion lived. Together with my colleagues in the delegation, who included my friend Ali Radwan, I wandered through his house, from his living room to his bedroom, until I reached his desk, where I stopped and stared in awe. I looked around the office he used while studying Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs, and reflected on this great man's life...

[More], Al-Ahram, Egypt, No. 719, December 02 - 08, 2004.

A whole host of Tutankahmun exhibition stories after yesterday's New York Times article.

"King Tut" Treasure to Return to U.S. in 2005, National Geographic, December 01, 2004.

King Tut, Set for 2nd U.S. Tour, Has New Decree: Money Rules, New York Times, USA, December 02, 2004.

Tut items coming to South Florida next year, Palm Beach Post, Florida, USA, December 02, 2004.

King Tut artifacts coming to S. Florida, Miami Herald, Florida, December 02, 2004.

Several articles from the Associated Press

Tri-Valley Herald, USA, December 02, 2004.

San Mateo County Times, USA, December 02, 2004.

The Desert Sun, California, USA, December 02, 2004.

North County Times, California, USA, December 01, 2004.

Union Tribune, California, December 01, 2004.

Egypt and Japan Monday signed an agreement whereby Tokyo offers a 261-million-yen ($102 million) grant to develop the area near the Valley of Kings in Luxor, Upper Egypt.

The agreement was co-inked by Deputy Foreign Minister Mahmoud Karem and Japanese Ambassador in Cairo, Kunihiko Makita...

[More], Egypt State Information Service, Egypt, November 30, 2004.

For the first time since 1979, the treasures of the legendary Egyptian boy king, Tutankhamen, will tour the United States next year, but will bypass the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York because of a disagreement, Egypt's chief archaeologist said Tuesday.

Zahi Hawass, the head of Egyptian antiquities, said the exhibit, which is now touring Europe, would open in June at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and go on to at least three other American cities...

[More], New York Times, USA, December 01, 2004.

The exhibition website can be found here.

The purpose of this weblog is to share information about Egyptology news from around the world.

It originally started life some years ago as a simple email list.  Earlier this year it evolved into a Yahoo discussion group, the archives of which can be found here. I thought it was about time to try out blogging.

Well, here goes...