This story is not actually about egyptology but I thought it might be of interest anyway.

Malcolm Cleaveland used a mix of humor and scientific knowledge Tuesday as he talked to members of the Kokoci chapter of the Arkansas Archaeology Society that serves Northwest Arkansas about tree-ring dating.

Joking about how using a process called skeleton plotting helps in dating trees, he said, "If you can count to 10, you can be a dendrochronologist."

Cleaveland of the Department of Geosciences at the University of Arkansas, discussed the science of dendrochronology, which is dating things, including environmental events such as droughts, using tree rings. One of its key applications is in dating ancient ruins or other historical structures.

An approximate date for the construction of a prehistoric building, for example, can be determined by comparing the pattern of annual growth rings on trees used in the construction with the known pattern of tree growth in the area. Growth patterns fix in time the calendar year in which a tree was cut...

[More]  Northwest Arkansas News, Arkansas, USA, January 27, 2005.

This is not our first, or even our second review of the Hotel Longchamps in Zamalek, a favorite of the Tour Egypt staff, a number of Egyptologists, travel writers, diplomats and business people, as well as independent travelers in the know.   When we first visited the Hotel Longchamps some years ago, we were reviewing budget hotels throughout Egypt.   There are some good ones spread about, but we found the Hotel Longchamps to be the best of them.   Since then, it has been our hotel of choice when working in Cairo, and we have come to know the hotel and its staff very well.   However, it has been a couple of years since we have done an update on this hotel...

[More]  TourEgypt.net, Texas, USA, January 2005.

If you don't mind getting your hands dirty, there's a better way to discover Greece and Egypt than from the rail of a cruise ship or the seat of a tour bus.

Two college professors offer hands-on learning experiences, along with a little luxury, in trips to the lands of ancient civilizations.

Robert Hahn's program at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale is in its 23rd year of taking small groups of students and non-students to Greece and Egypt.   Hahn, a professor of philosophy, is accompanied on the trip by professors who teach astronomy, marine biology, botany and theater...

[More]  St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Missouri, USA, 23/01/2005.

cf.  Egypt & Greece Travel Study.

Issue 4 (December 2004) of British Museum Studies in Ancient Egypt and Sudan is now available online.   It contains three articles which are all available in PDF format.

• The Egyptian Inscriptions at Jebel Dosha, Sudan by W.V. Davies
• The Subsidiary Temple of Nekhtnebef at Tell el-Balamun by Jeffrey Spencer
• Electronic publishing: the example of BMSAES by Nigel Strudwick

[Abstracts]  British Museum Studies in Ancient Egypt and Sudan (BMSAES), Issue 4, December 2004, via ArchaeoBlog.

Philadelphia has been chosen as the fourth and final stop for an exhibition of archaeological artifacts connected to the fabled Egyptian pharaoh Tutankhamun, popularly known as King Tut.   The show will begin a two-year American tour in Los Angeles this summer.

The Franklin Institute was to announce today that it will present the show of about 130 objects between February and September 2007.   About 50 of these objects come from Tut's burial chamber, discovered in 1922...

[More]  The Philadelphia Enquirer, Maryland, USA, Jan. 27, 2005.

Subterranean water is the major problem jeopardising the survival of numerous Egyptian antiquities.

The Supreme Council for Antiquities (SCA), well be aware of the problem, has worked out a schedule to initiate decisive solutions for major monuments across the country.   Last week, a project began to lower the level of subterranean water at the Karnak and Luxor Temples.

This month the SCA will receive tenders for solving the subterranean water beneath Esna Temple.

As explained by Khaled Abdul Hadi, director of the Engineering Department at the SCA, the high level of subterranean water at Esna was caused by the construction of the Esna barrages, which raise water levels behind them.   The water has slightly affected the walls and foundation of the temple.

Moreover, Hadi said that the ground level of the city of Esna is now about nine metres higher than the level of the temple.   The absence of a drainage system in the city has also added to the rising subterranean water level.

The suggested solution is dig a ditch around the temple and use pumps to remove the water already there.

Hadi noted that the project would take about two years with estimated costs of LE20 million.

Esna Temple, about 200 metres from the Nile, was dedicated to the ram-god Khnum. The only excavated part of the temple is the Hypostyle Hall; the rest still buried under the modern city of Esna.

The western wall is ornamented with inscriptions of Ptolemaic kings whereas the rest of the hall bears inscriptions from the Roman age between the first and third centuries AD.

The temple was used in the Coptic era as a church which led to the accumulation of soot covering part of the inscriptions.

According to Hadi, a restoration project to remove the soot along with accumulated salts will be implemented side-by-side with the lowering of the underground water.

[Source]  The Egyptian Gazette, Egypt, 27 January 2005.

By Hassan Saadallah

The restoration of the Palace of Mohamed Ali Pasha Al Kabir in Shubra is proceeding at full speed in preparation for its rapidly approaching inauguration. The four-year project has cost some LE25 million.

"The palace will be among the unique architectural assets of the capital," said archaeologist Aymen Abdul Moniem.

Though the plan of the palace is Islamic it follows a distinct European style. When Minister of Culture Farouk Hosni saw the palace a few years ago he was appalled by the neglect it had suffered, and so issued directives to begin its restoration a project he has personally been following.

The project was split into two stages: The first involved architectural and constructive aspects while the second covered ornamental features.

The palace is comprised of the Gabalaia Kiosk, allocated for guests; the Fountain Kiosk, allocated for large balls; and the Waterwheel Building, which provided the palace with water.

The palace's 100 year-old water provision system using a steam engine for pumping - was one of the most complex of its time; several attempts having already been made to restore it, but all having failed.

The project has faced several problems, one being that the palace had no private precincts but was located within the premises of the Faculty of Agriculture Ain Shams University and the Agricultural Cooperative Institute.   A special gate has since been built for the palace to allow public visits away from the other buildings.

[Source]  The Egyptian Gazette, Egypt, 27 January 2005.

The young King Tut has managed to draw attention today just as he did back in 1922. But the cause for each occasion's attention is rather different.   Excavated in 1922, Tut's tomb dazzled the world with the abundance and magnificence of items discovered.

The recent opening of the sarcophagus and the X-ray scanning of Tut's mummy has sparked a row which divides eminent archaeologists.

While some supported Zahi Hawass's examination of the mummy on the grounds that the mummy should not be left to rot in its current condition, others believe that the new examination of the mummy is bound to damage it still further.

According to Abdul Fatah Al Sabahi, professor of Archaeology and member of the Standing Archaeological Committee, the mummy had to be examined because it had not been examined scientifically since 1922 as there were no technological devices to help in the process.

However, a card was found within the sarcophagus indicating that it was checked by Carter in 1925 and by an English team in 1986.

Today, a CT scan device has produced the first accurate picture of Tut's face for several thousand years, giving archaeologists further clues about the king's mysterious death which has always been controversial.

Dr Al Sabahi said that the row about the experiment is illogical because several Egyptian mummies have already been removed from the Egyptian Museum and examined recently.

He pointed out that the scanning experiment took place according to a studied plan that had been approved by the SCA and the 60-member Standing Committee.

The scanning of Tut's mummy is now over, but the experiment will not be the last. Nor will the actual value of this experiment be known until its outcome is revealed.

[Source] The Egyptian Gazette, Egypt, 27 January 2005.