"The Spanish archaeological mission under the National Antiquities Museum in Madrid has unearthed about eleven tombs built with unburnt bricks inside a cemetery dating back to 2061-2190 BC", Minister of Culture, Farouk Hosni said adding that the mission found fake gates, religious paintings and courban tables.

For his part the Secretary General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, Zahi Hawass said that the mission has unearthed 12 chambers built with unburnt bricks with arch ceilings.

The mission also found chains and necklaces made of precious stones with the shape of sea shells, added Hawass.

[More], Egypt State Information Service, Egypt, January 31, 2005.

A travelling exhibition of works from the British Museum's magnificent Egyptian collection is making its last North American stop in Montreal.

In some respects, time, the most vast philosophical concept and as immediate as life itself, is the primary subject of a blockbuster exhibition called Eternal Egypt, which has just opened at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, the last stop after a multi-city U.S. tour.

As Ronald J. Leprohon, professor of Egyptology at the University of Toronto and guest scientific consultant for the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, explains, the ancient Egyptian civilization was "older at the time of Cleopatra than Cleopatra is to us today..."

[More]   The Montreal Gazette, Canada, January 29, 2005.

In contrast to the many exotic spots where University of Chicago researchers have uncovered archeological treasures, this one was right under their noses.

In fact, some of the items soon to be on display in a new gallery at the university's Oriental Institute were found only recently -- in the institute's basement.

They date from 6000 to 600 B.C. from Assyrian, Hittite, Egyptian and Israelite cultures.   The area, which touches modern-day Turkey, Syria and Israel, was first named the "Fertile Crescent" by Oriental Institute founder James Henry Breasted in 1914.

[More]   Chicago Sun-Times, Illinois, USA, January 28, 2005, via Archaeologica.

Speaker of the People's Assembly Ahmed Fathi Sorour and European Parliament President Josep Borrell yesterday lifted the curtains off a statue of Tuthmosis III in the main hall of the European Parliament, Brussels headquarters.

The statue, which Sorour presented to the European Parliament, is a replica of the original which belongs to one of the greatest warriors in the history of ancient Egypt.

Sorour is currently visiting the Belgian capital in a bid to promote Euro-Mediterranean dialogue with an eye on enhancing security and stability in the region.

[More], Egypt State Information Service, Egypt, January 26, 2005.

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.

Minister of Culture Farouk Hosni will announce, at a press conference, the details of what has been reached by the experts of the Arab Contractors Company on an adequate way to transfer the statue of Ramses II from its current site at Ramses Square to the new Egyptian Museum at Al-Haram after one-year deliberate studies.

Meantime, the Supreme Council of Antiquities SCA Secretary- General Zahi Hawass said that the foreign expertise was used only for transferring the statue according to the terms of a tender declared by the SCA after the process of restoration was carried out by the Egyptian company.

[More], Egypt State Information Service, Egypt, January 25, 2005.

Nubia was once proud evidence that Black Africa had achieved a cultural sophistication in ancient times that rivaled any Caucasian or Asian civilization.   Farming and towns began there over 13,000 years ago.   They fought and influenced the Egyptians for 20 centuries.   (Among the funerary relics of King Tut in the Egyptian Museum is a footstool recounting the warrior talents of the Pharaoh over his greatest enemies, the black people to the South.)

Nubia even ruled Egypt for 150 years, providing its 24th and 25th Dynasties, answering those critics who contend that black Africans did not play a role in the greatest of ancient civilizations...

[More]   The Louisiana Weekly, Louisiana, USA, January 24, 2005.

Tutankhamun Treasures to Go on Display in Dome

Treasures from the tomb of Tutankhamun will come to Britain for the first time in 35 years, it emerged today.

The pharaoh's gold crown will be among 50 artefacts excavated from his tomb to go on show at the Millennium Dome...

[More]   PA News via The Scotsman, UK, 25 January 2005.

A future for the Dome?

Few tourists are adventurous enough to wander this far down the meandering, muddy Thames.

But the vast white tent they would see hugging its bank among rusting cranes, piles of gravel and steaming factories would tell them more about recent history than any other landmark along the river...

[More]  Reuters, UK, Jan 24, 2005.

Also Hope springs for London's landmark Millennium Dome, Reuters via Khaleej Times, UAE, 24 January 2005.

And UK, A future for the Dome? , Reuters via KeralaNext.com, India, 24 January 2005.

The Coptic Church was founded in Egypt in the first century after the birth of Christ. Its name is derived from the Greek word for "Egyptian."

It traces its roots to St. Mark, the gospel author who brought Christianity to Egypt during the reign of the Roman emperor Nero.

It is part of the family of the Oriental Orthodox Churches of Syria, Ethiopia and Armenia. Orthodox Christians are similar to Roman Catholics in their liturgy, but the two groups split in 1054 over the authority of the pope...

[More]  Newsday, New York, USA, January 21, 2005, via TourEgypt.net.

Tutankhamun: So who was the golden boy?

A new exhibition of artefacts from Tutankhamun's tomb is coming to London. Only now are we starting to unravel the mysteries of the boy-king, reports Michael Ridley

"At first, I could see nothing, the hot air escaping from the chamber causing my candle flame to flicker, but presently, as my eyes grew accustomed to the light, details of the room within emerged slowly from the mist, strange animals, statues and gold - everywhere the glint of gold."

With these words, Howard Carter described his first glimpse of the greatest archaeological discovery ever made. Nothing before nor since has equalled the splendour and magnificence of the tomb of Tutankhamun, a minor pharaoh of 18th-dynasty Egypt...

[More]  The Independent, UK, 24 January 2005, via The Hall of Maat.

Also King Tut artifacts to be shown in Britain, Big News Network, 24th January, 2005.

Tutankhamun exhibition to come to the UK!

The glittering treasures retrieved from the tomb of the young pharaoh Tutankhamun seized the public imagination when they were first transported to London from the Valley of the Kings.

Now, under pressure to raise funds to protect other sites in the Valley of the Kings, near Luxor, the Egyptian authorities have agreed to release a further 50 items from the tomb, which have not previously been shown in Britain.   There will also be 80 other objects from royal graves of the 18th dynasty (1555BC-1305BC.)   Zahi Hawass, secretary-general of Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities, said: “Tutankhamun is back, giving a new generation the chance to learn first-hand about the life and magic of this ancient monarch.”

[More]   The Sunday Times, UK, January 23, 2005.

A team of Japanese researchers from Waseda University's Institute of Egyptology has found a mummy believed to be almost 3,800 years old at an archaeological site in Egypt, university officials have announced.

The mummy, thought to be about 3,750 years old, was found at a site in Dahashur North in Egypt. Researchers said it was found in good condition, and is believed to be one of the oldest mummies not to have been plundered or damaged...

[More]   Mainichi Daily News, Japan, January 22, 2005.

Also Japanese find undamaged mummy in Egypt, Big News Network, 23rd January, 2005.

The Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA) decided to seek help of world experts to move Ramses II Statue from the Ramses square, downtown Cairo, to a new location in Meit Rahina.

The expertise of the world experts will guarantee secure moving of the statue, said Zhai Hawass, the SCA Secretary General.

[More], Egypt State Information Service, Egypt, January 23, 2005.

Upon researching the history of bowling on the Internet, I found the sport to be traced back to the ancient Egyptians.

According to www.bowlingmuseum.com, British anthropologist Sir Flinders Petrie uncovered ancient forms of the sport in a child's grave in Egypt some 70 years ago. Too bad King Tut and his buddies may not have had beer and nachos to complement their fine bowling skills.

So, if bowling does have founding fathers, the ancient Egyptians would be the ones to praise...

[More]  The Times Daily, Alabama, USA, January 21, 2005.

A Japanese research team has found "a perfect mummy" in an unrobbed Egyptian tomb believed to be more than 3,500 years old, the team's leader said.

The mummy was in a sealed wooden coffin unearthed in the archeological site of Dahshur North in northern Egypt, said Sakuji Yoshimura, who headed the team from Tokyo's Waseda University.

The mummified man was believed to be from a period 3,500-4,000 years ago, older than the era of Tutankhamen, the pharaoh of ancient Egypt who ruled in 1336-1327 BC, Yoshimura said, citing characteristics of the coffin.

The mummy, wearing a mask painted blue and red that still retained vivid shades, was of high academic value as it was "a perfect mummy that has escaped robbery and other damage," he said on his website late Friday.

The coffin was painted yellow and inscribed with hieroglyphics in light blue, he said, adding the hieroglyphics showed the mummified man was an administrative officer.

Also Japanese team discovers 3,500-year-old mummy in Egypt, AFP via Khaleej Times, UAE, 22 January 2005.

Also Japanese team discovers 3,500-year-old mummy in Egypt, AFP via Yahoo, USA, 22 January 2005.  Includes Photo of the mummy, click on this and the sidebar contains a photo of the coffin, click on this photo to get more details.

The number of tourists who converged on Egypt in 2004 reached 7.5 million compared to 1.4 million in 1982, according to a report by the Cabinet's Information and Decision Support Centre on Friday.

The number of floating hotels and tourist villages reached 1,408 in 2004 in comparison to 234 in 1982.

In 2004, the number of tourist rooms jumped to 136,500 compared to 18,100 in 1982, the report said.

[More], Egypt State Information Service, Egypt, January 21, 2005.

A [Turkish] newspaper highlighted the fact that Egyptian tourism has recently flourished as Egypt has become a tourist attraction to all foreigners.

Comhuriyet newspaper out Friday pointed out that Egypt has become a strong competitor to Turkey in the field of tourism and, therefore, Turkish travel agents have moved their work to Egypt.

The paper pointed out that the number of Turkish tourist offices has dramatically increased in Egypt and the offices started to transport Russian tourists to Egypt in large numbers, the paper said, quoting reports by the Research Centre of the Mediterranean Tourism Union.

[More], Egypt State Information Service, Egypt, January 21, 2005.

The discovery of lecture halls at Kom Al-Dikka has generated popular interest, hasty conclusions and a number of revelations.   Jill Kamil assesses the evidence.

The Polish mission at Kom Al-Dikka in Alexandria has made several exciting finds over the years, but their latest discovery hard on the heels of the establishment of the Bibliotheca Alexandrina has set tongues buzzing.

Grzegorz Majcherek, director of the Polish-Egyptian mission which has been excavating at Kom Al-Dikka for the past 40 or more years, insists that overzealous journalists have rather too hastily linked this latest discovery in Alexandria to the ancient library...

[More]  Al-AHram, Egypt, 726, 20 - 26 January 2005.

The CT scan carried out last week on Tutankhamun's mummy has triggered a fierce debate among archaeologists.   Nevine El-Aref investigates.

When the Ministry of Culture and the Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA) launched a five-year project to examine and study all Ancient Egyptian mummies by means of CT scanning in order to ascertain how they can be best conserved, the idea was applauded.

Eleven mummies in the Egyptian Museum were scanned. However, when it came to the turn of the Pharaoh Tutankhamun, some archaeologists and scientists were none too happy.   While the project's supporters saw it as a revolutionary endeavour to resolve the mystery surrounding the early death of Tutankhamun, its opponents suggested it was more of a media circus than pure science.   A media campaign launched to question the usefulness of the procedure and its results accused the Egyptian mission who carried out the CT scan of being unprofessional, ambiguous, reckless and impatient to implement its attempt...

[More]  Al-AHram, Egypt, 726, 20 - 26 January 2005.

Few contest the fact that the dead must be dealt with respectfully. Yet it seems as though Dr Zahi Hawass, Secretary General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, has a different point of view. Many in Egypt were miffed when Hawass planned to X-ray the mummy of King Tutankhamun, inviting a team of 60 Egyptian archaeologists to perform the examination. Former dean of the al-Kasr al-Aini College of Medicine, Dr Saleh Bedir, is vexed. Bedir was once the person in charge of all projects involving the examination of the mummies of the pharaohs. But, he has some reservations.

"I decided to get out of the whole affair of examining the mummies of the pharaohs," Bedir says. "I have a respectful record which I need to preserve." Bedir explains that when the pharaonic mummies examination project started 18 months ago, it did not include the mummy of the Golden King.

"We were planning to examine mummies from the Bahariya Oasis only," he says in an interview with Rose el-Youssef magazine. "It was an attempt to implement a grand scientific research project about the non-royal mummies. But, a few months later I discovered that things weren't moving as planned. When I officially learned that the project was beginning to deviate, I decided to leave it altogether. To my knowledge, the more the mummies of the pharaohs are examined, the more they are harmed. And that's why I refused to take part in the examination of the Golden King," Bedir rationalises.

"There's nothing wrong with scanning the mummies," says Bedir. "But, it can be very dangerous if those who are involved in performing the examination aren't specialists. The team that went to Luxor to examine Tutankhamun didn't contain a single specialist. That's why it was very dangerous," he adds.

Dr Abdel Halim Nour Eddin, Dean of the College of Antiquities, Fayoum Branch, is equally discomposed.

"I don't think there's anything wrong with scanning the mummies," Nour says. "But, when it comes to using such a sophisticated technology like CT scanning, there must be some limitations. I mean, there should have first been a study of the effects of these rays on the mummies," he adds. "The weather conditions must be suitable for the examination. This is a time when the mummy is taken out of the sarcophagus for examination. Eyewitnesses say that a big sand storm took place at the time the mummy was being examined. This is very dangerous," Dr Nour Eddin warns. "The question I like to ask now is: why did Dr Bedir leave the examination of the pharaoh's mummies project?" Nour Eddin asks. "Why was Tutankhamun in particular chosen for the X-ray? Is it because he's the most famous of all the pharaohs and the examination would trigger the attention of media people and journalists worldwide?"

"Some people are waiting for a clarification of why the CT scan took place and what actually happened," Nour Eddin says.

Dr Abdel Fatah al-Sabahi, member of the Antiquities Committee, has a different point of view. "The mummy of the Golden King must be examined," he says, dismissing other's misgivings. "It hasn't been examined since it was first unearthed by Howard Carter in 1922. The necessary technology needed for the examination did not exist then either," he adds.

Al-Sabahi points out that to know how the Golden King died is of great importance; hence the X-ray examination. "We aren't against scientific research," he says. "I don't think there's any basis for the arguments against the examination."

The Egyptian Gazette, Egypt, January 20, 2005.

The Kunst- und Ausstellungshalle (Art and Exhibition Hall of the Federal Republic of Germany) in Bonn in collaboration with Deutsche Telekom was successful in bringing the fascinating treasures from the tomb of the legendary Pharaoh Tutankhamun to Germany.   For the first time in over 20 years, the German public has the opportunity to gaze upon ancient artefacts from the time of the famous boy king in the exhibition "The Golden Beyond - Treasures from the Valley of the Kings."   The exhibition, organized by the Art and Exhibition Hall, the Supreme Council of Antiquities Cairo and the Egyptian Museum Cairo in cooperation with the Antikenmuseum Basel and Sammlung Ludwig, is not to be missed.   The exhibition runs until May 1, 2005.

[Source]  Deutsche Welle, Germany, 17.01.2005.

Egypt's ambassador to Germany Mohammad El-Orabi revealed that the number of German tourists visited Egypt in 2004 upped to one million, noting that this figure is bound to increase.

The ambassador made the statements during the 106th celebration of the European press federation where Egypt was chosen as a guest of honor.

Meanwhile, the Deputy Prime Minister of the German state of Brandenburg hailed security and stability Egypt enjoys, pointing out that he made a Nile cruise during his recent visit to Egypt accompanied by his wife.

Egypt has the potentials to rival the most attractive tourist destinations in the world, he remarked.

[More], Egypt State Information Service, Egypt, January 17, 2005.

An article about modern use of magnetic therapy that states that the ancient Egyptains used it.

Is it possible that the magnetic therapy used by physicians in ancient Egypt to keep their young queen healthy does have a positive effect?

...

Back in ancient Egyptian times and beyond, it is likely that the original idea of magnet therapy stemmed from the unusual effects of natural stones.   That is almost certainly why Cleopatra wore a naturally magnetic lodestone on her forehead to slow down the ageing process...

[More]   The Independent, UK, 18 January 2005.

cf. The Therapeutic Use Of Magnets: A Review Of Recent Research, M.R. Hinman, Physical Therapy Reviews, Maney Publishing, March 2002, vol. 7, no. 1, pp. 33-43(11).

cf. Magnetic Therapy: Then and Now, Gordon Yeung, in The Proceedings of the 12th Annual History of Medicine of Days, Faculty of Medicine, The University of Calgary, March 21st and 22nd, 2003, pp. 336 - 343.

Ancient Egyptian mummy wrappings hide a number of frauds and flaws, which a high-tech, digital X-ray machine recently exposed among the collections at Chicago's Field Museum.

The machine saw through a mummified cat dated to approximately 500 B.C. that contained only twigs and cotton.   It also revealed mummification tools that someone accidentally left inside a real mummy, and it solved a 15,000-year-old mystery surrounding what is believed to be the world's oldest known mummy...

[More]   Discovery Channel News, USA, Jan. 18, 2005, via Mirabilis.ca.

cf.   X-rays look well into the past.

Jordanian customs agents have foiled an attempt to smuggle out of Egypt 24 copper statues dating back to the times of the pharaohs.

The statues were concealed in large bags of onions in a truck that was about to enter Jordan through the Red Sea port city of Aqaba, official sources said.

The statues measure 12 centimeters (less than 5 inches) and are made of copper.   The Jordanian police started an immediate investigation and contacted the Egyptian authorities in order to return the stolen antiquities, Amman's daily newspaper al-Arab reported Monday.

[More]   Big News Network, Australia, 19th January, 2005.

Egypt has launched a rescue plan to drain off water from the Nile threatening two pharaonic temples in the Luxor region in the south of the country.

The river's water table had risen due to extensive irrigation of nearby fields, placing the Karnak and Luxor temples in imminent danger, said the Supreme Council of Antiquities, which is responsible for Egypt's historical monuments.

In recent decades, the encroaching salty water has already done extensive damage to the 5000-year-old complexes, two of the country's biggest tourist attractions.

In certain areas, the waters have risen by 1.5 metres, submersing the base of the columns and jeopardising their foundations.   Meanwhile the salt has faded the brilliant colour of the temples and the exquisite statues flanking the columns...

[More]   AFP via Sydney Morning Herald, Australia, January 18, 2005.

Also Egypt's Pharaonic temples under threat from rising Nile, AFP via The Indian Express, India, January 17, 2005.

And Egyptian temples in danger, The South African Star, South Africa, January 17, 2005.

Some related articles of interest.

• Conservation at the Chicago House in Luxor, Egypt, Lois Fruen Kendall, The Real World of Chemistry 6th ed, Hunt Publishing, 2002.
• Chicago House: Rescuing History, Saudi Aramco World, Volume 45, Number 5, September/October 1994.
• Soggy soil sours Egyptian sandstone, Geotimes, September 2002.
• Weathering Damage on Pharonic sandstone monuments in Luxor - Egypt, Bernd Fitzner, Kurt Heinrichs, and Dennis La Bouchardiere, Geological Institute, Aachen University, Germany.
• Egypt Battles a Sleeping Devil: Salt damage threatens the monuments of the pharaohs, TIME Magazine, USA, May. 27, 1985.   Requires subscription.

Cairo is one of the most fascinating cities on earth.   Ancient and modern history intricately blends with the people of today's Cairo.   Although there are many poor among Egyptians, they manage to gracefully carry the weight of centuries.

Modern Cairo is a nearly-150 year-old a city bustling with activity and lined by wide boulevards, built to impress kings and Europe's politicians during the opening ceremony of the Suez Canal.   Modern Cairo often is compared with Paris, though many of the buildings are now in disrepair and beggars are everywhere.   If one can manage to close their eyes to the bad and open them to the wonderful shops in downtown Cairo, relaxing times at one of the cafes or restaurants awaits you...

[More]   The Epoch Times, California, USA, Jan 15, 2005.

8.1 Million Tourists in Egypt.

Egyptian Tourism Officials announced Thursday that a record number of tourists visited Egypt in 2004.   Ahmed El Khadem , Chairman of the Egyptian Tourist Authority, said some 8.1 million tourists visited Egypt last year, an increase of 34.1% over 2003 when an estimated 6.4 million visited.

In the meantime, a report by the Egyptian Central Bank said revenues from tourism were estimated at $6.1 billion in 2004.

The tourist nights reached almost 82 million, an increase of 53% over 2003.

Canadian tourists to Egypt recorded an increase of 34% over 2003 reaching 48 000 tourists.

[More]   TravelVideo.TV, Canada, Jan 14, 2005.

Greece is not the only country banging on the British Museum's door. Other countries wanting the schoolyard bully to return their marbles include Egypt (the Rosetta Stone)...

...The Egyptians alone would like Germany to return a bust of Queen Nefertiti, the United States to return the statues of Hatshepsut, France to return the statue of Ramses II and the obelisk standing in the Place de la Concorde...

[More]   Guardian Unlimited NewsBlog, UK, January 13, 2005.

Sun, sightseeing and ancient history ...Alf McCreary visits Luxor on the River Nile.

Some years ago I visited Cairo briefly on business, but I had no desire to spend a holiday in Egypt.   This was partly because I had heard many stories about people becoming ill on River Nile cruises, and I felt that if I wanted a relaxing holiday without stomach upsets, sand and flies there were better places to explore.

However, a friend suggested that my wife and I should try a winter break in Luxor, on the banks of the River Nile,

and it proved to be one of the friendliest and most fascinating places we have ever visited.

[More]   The Belfast Telegraph, Northern Ireland, 15 January 2005.

If your child sees themselves as King Khufu, Alexander the Great or Queen Cleopatra, then Nevine El-Aref knows where you can make their dreams come true.

As the mid-year school break approaches, parents once again begin to feel nervous as they ponder how to keep their kids busy and out of their hair.   This year, however, there is a simple solution: send them to the Children Golden Pharaoh Festival every day from 10am to 3pm.   For there they will enjoy a thrilling journey back into history.

From 23 January to 6 February, the Egyptian Museum in Tahrir Square, Manial Palace in Roda, the Greco-Roman Museum in Alexandria and the Alexandria National Museum, will each play host to over 200 children who are expected to come in search of insights into the mysterious and fascinating lives of their ancestors.

[More]   Al-Ahram, 725, 13 - 19 January 2005.

By Zahi Hawass.

Egyptian antiquities suffered a great deal from the amateurs and adventurers who dominated exploration in Egypt for several centuries.   Things improved enormously over the course of the 20th century, but until recently some people who were not qualified to excavate in Egypt were still granted concessions and allowed to run projects.   Philologists with no archaeological training were allowed to excavate, and even students who were not yet qualified were given concessions in Egypt.   Believe it or not, a group of American women with lots of enthusiasm but absolutely no training was permitted to excavate at Karnak only 19 years ago! Even more recently, French amateurs with no institutional backing were given permission to make holes in the Great Pyramid.

Two and a half years ago we made rules for everyone, both Egyptians and foreigners, to follow.   According to these rules, only professionals affiliated with reputable institutions are permitted to head projects in Egypt.   The purpose of these is not to scare off or harm anyone, but to protect our irreplaceable monuments and create a system to guide us all.   Everywhere else in the world there is a system, but, for some reason, when we implement a system here in Egypt to help manage our cultural heritage people object and complain...

[More]  Al-Ahram, Egypt, 725, 13 - 19 January 2005.

As prices of Egyptian antiquities auctioned abroad continue to rise, Jill Kamil considers the role smuggling continues to play in the trade.

So long as there is a demand for the produce, illegal excavations and the smuggling of antiquities will continue.  Unscrupulous connoisseurs are always on the lookout for interesting artefacts to add to their private collections, or to donate to the nation.  As a result, high quality relics are freely available on the international market, and interested parties are prepared to pay large sums in order to acquire the objects of their desire.  The appetite for Egyptian antiquities is undiminished, as is clear from a glance at the recent auction catalogues of houses such as Bonhams, Christie's or Sotherby's.

Of course, sales at reputable houses are carefully monitored by responsible professionals who ensure, as best they can, that they are handing only legal fare.  Details of the provenance of objects are provided, along with publication details of similar pieces, and a history of the movement of objects through the market. But the system is far from foolproof.

In 2002 a set of granite reliefs from the Temple of Isis at Beihbet Al-Hegara in the Delta turned up on the auction block at Christie's in New York.  They were recognised by French Egyptologist Christine Meeks, who had studied and documented the entire temple for her doctoral thesis, as those that had disappeared from the site eight years previously.  The sale was stopped, the objects withdrawn, and they have now been returned to Egypt...

[More]  Al-Ahram, Egypt, 725, 13 - 19 January 2005.

Eighty-three [years] after its discovery Tutankhamun's mummy may at last be revealing its secrets, writes Nevine El-Aref from Luxor.

Sunset in the Valley of the Kings.  All is well on the west bank.  It is, as usual, silent, a haven of peace and quiet.  And then, last Wednesday, the silence was broken by the arrival of a van equipped with a CT-scanning machine.  Its purpose was to find out exactly why Tutankhamun, that most celebrated of pharaohs, died.

The area was crowded with dozens of workers, scientists, technicians, archaeologists and restorers.  And they were all waiting for one thing.  Would the CT scan finally resolve the mystery surrounding Tutankhamun's death?

[More]  Al-Ahram, Egypt, 725, 13 - 19 January 2005.

Also some pictures can be found here.

Siemens Medical Solutions Supports Research Project in Egypt.

Together with the National Geographic Society (NGS), Siemens Medical Solutions is supporting a research project of Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities on mummies.  The project's purpose is conservation of the mummies and, at the same time, to study health and disease in ancient Egypt.  NGS and Siemens therefore have donated a computed tomography (CT) system, mounted in a trailer.

It is planned, during a three- to five-year period, to scan mummies that are still found in Egypt, which spanned a period of 3,000 years, starting 5,000 years ago.  Today, they serve as a window into the past. It will be possible to not only investigate diseases of antiquity, but also to provide important information for conservation of the mummies and to clarify many questions in Egyptology.

"CT technology enables us to virtually 'unwrap' the mummies without damaging them," states Zahi Hawass, Ph.D., Secretary General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities.  "The system is installed in a trailer so we can do 'house calls' and don't need to transport our patients."  The research project will be headed by Dr. Hawass. A team of Egyptian scientists operates the CT system.

One of the highlights of the research project was the recent scan of the mummy of Pharaoh Tutankhamen...

[More]   Middle East Newsline, Quebec, Canada, Jan. 12, 2005.

cf. Mummies in a Computed Tomography System, Siemens Medical Solutions, January 2005, via EEF News.

It may not boast gilt engravings.  It may also seem pale in comparison to the more colorful Ottoman mosques, but the mosque of Ibn Tulun parallels no other Egyptian mosque with its understated elegance and design.

The third-oldest mosque in Egypt, Ibn Tulun was recently restored by the Supreme Council of Antiquities.  The four-year process cost LE 13 million, and resulted in a complete facelift to the ageless mosque.  In many areas, plaster has replaced the original stonework, smoothing out the surfaces; ridding the architectural masterpiece of the cracks of old age.  This, fortunately, has in no way affected the feeling of tranquility visitors instantly experience upon stepping into the mosque.  Leaving the hustle and bustle of the city and entering into the welcoming premises of this mosque, visitors may feel as if they have left their daily troubles behind.  This is not surprising, since the presence of silence is so complete, it can actually be heard.  It equals no other experience in our otherwise noisy city.

This feeling of tranquility and well-being exuded by the mosque is what probably led Sultan Ladjin to take refuge in it during the 13th century.  Upon leaving the mosque, he vowed to restore it, adding an ablution fountain in the central courtyard.  The fountain once shone in gold and marble and originally had a sundial that was used by the muezzin to call for prayers...

[More]   Egypt Today, Egypt, Volume 26 Issue 01, January 2005.

President Hosni Mubarak praised the projects of restoration works to salvage a host of archaeological temples and tombs, said Farouk Hosni Minister of Culture. Hosni said restoration works are underway in 150 Islamic monuments inside Old Cairo, in addition to 22 others scheduled to finish in July 2005.

Several rejuvenation projects undertaken by the Ministry's Supreme Council for Antiquities (SCA) will be inaugurated by the end of this year, including the temples of Al-Sibou'a Wa Omda in Aswan at a total cost of L.E. 10 million, he said.

Hosni noted that another L.E. 10 million will be appropriated to build a road linking these temples with those of Abu Simbel in tandem with the ministry of transport.

[More], Egypt State Information Service, Egypt, January 11, 2005.

Drop the Mummy, and Nobody Gets Hurt.

Dr. Zahi Hawass, Egypt's most publicized Egyptologist and the secretary general of the Supreme Council for Antiquities (SCA), is renowned for the number of controversies he can stir.  Brushing the controversies aside as nuisances "begun by backward people who are jealous," as he told Egypt Today, Dr. Hawass keeps on working regardless of any setbacks.

Last month, in the midst of the controversy around the removal of King Tut-Ankh-Amon's mummy from its resting place in Luxor, Hawass went to the Bahareya Oasis.  Egyptians and Brits watched a live coverage transmitted by the television cameras of both countries as Hawass, holding his axe, opened a newly discovered tomb.  "We had made a number of discoveries here years ago, but in 2002, I had decided to stop all work.  We had found 234 mummies, which is quite enough.  The Valley [of the Golden Mummies] is huge, and encompasses around 10,000 mummies.  It is Egypt's biggest burial area, and was used by Egyptians from all classes.  I believe mummies should remain underground.  But then I decided to start work again," Hawass says...

[More]  Egypt Today, Egypt, Volume 26 Issue 01, January 2005.

The world is again being invited to watch [John Hopkins University] archaeologists uncover clues to ancient Egyptian life by visiting "Hopkins in Egypt Today," a Web site chronicling the university's fifth annual dig at the Mut Temple.  Daily progress reports are anticipated from Jan. 15 through mid-February at www.jhu.edu/~neareast/egypttoday.html.

The project -- the university's 12th in Egypt -- is led by Betsy Bryan, Alexander Badawy Professor of Egyptian Art and Archaeology and chair of the Near Eastern Studies Department in the Krieger School, and this year's postings will follow the work of at least four projects.  Jay VanRenssalaer of Homewood Photographic Services will supply the images; Bryan and her graduate students, the copy...

[More]  John Hopkins Gazette, John Hopkins University, Maryland , USA, Vol. 34 No. 17, January 10, 2005.

Tongue firmly in cheek :-)

Cedar Shakes And Shingles Will Add Life To Ancient Monuments.

It took the Egyptians centuries to build the Great Pyramids, but they'll be able to have them all reshingled in less than six months.

Thanks to donations from Canadian lumber companies, Egypt will soon be able to have most of their ancient pyramids reshingled, protecting them against the harsh Egyptian elements.

The Great Pyramid itself, which took 20 years and 100,000 men to build, should take three weeks to shingle...

[More]  The Toque, Canada, Undated.

From camels to the Coptic Hanging Church, museums to mummies, pyramids to packed street markets, Charlotte Gapper saw it all when she got a taste of Egypt on a recent trip to Cairo.

The pyramids must be some of the most photographed monuments in the world, but waking up and drawing our curtains to find them outside was still spellbinding.

Having arrived in Cairo in the middle of the night, we had no idea our hotel was quite so near the three Pyramids of Giza...

[More]  Uxbridge & West Drayton Gazette, UK, Jan 13 2005.

When Mark Antony declaimed that “The evil that men do lives on after them/ The good is oft interred with their bones/ So let it be with Caesar”, he would not have anticipated that a CT-scan would be done in early 2005 AD on the body of someone who died in 1323 BC!

And not just anyone but the Pharaoh Tutankhamun (flippantly called King Tut), the discovery of whose tomb in 1922 made the archaeologist Carter universally famous and also spawned a genre of horror movies featuring the mummy.

The CT-scan was done at the site of the tomb in Egypt with the idea of not just trying to determine how exactly Tutankhamun had died but to also somewhat restore the body whose features had been damaged when Carter and his assistants forcibly pried open the golden-blue mask covering the face...

[More]  The Economic Times, India, January 11, 2005.

The treasures of King Tut will go on display in this country for the first time in a quarter-century in an exhibit featuring the ancient ruler's gold crown, carved dagger and a massive gold and cloisonné necklace.

"Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaoh" will include about 130 of the 5,000 Egyptian artifacts found in King Tut's tomb. The last time a similar exhibit toured the country, in 1976-1979, 55 items were displayed...

[More]   AP via Skagit Valley Herald, Washington, USA, Jan 09, 2005.

The treasures of King Tut will go on display at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, but visitors will have to pay a record price of up to $30 to see the Egyptian artifacts.

"Tutankhamen and the Golden Age of the Pharaoh" will begin a U.S. tour June 16 in Los Angeles, before stopping in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., and Chicago...

[More]   The Mercury News, California, USA, Jan. 09, 2005.

cf. Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, California, USA, December 2004.

cf. HE'S BACK!  The legendary Tutankhamun returns to U.S. in an expanded exhibition, Museum of Art, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, USA, December 2004.

cf. Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs, Field Museum, Chicago, Illinois, USA.

cf. King Tut exhibition. Tutankhamun & the Golden Age of the Pharaohs. Treasures from the Valley of the Kings.  Los Angeles, Fort Lauderdale, Chicago.

"President Hosni Mubarak will open within hours restorations projects of Kalabsha island temples and the unfinished obelisk museum during an upcoming visit to the Upper Egyptian antiques rich city, "Minister of Culture Farouk Hosni said here Saturday.

Egyptian archaeologists have succeeded in bringing life back to the site and preparing it as an open museum of Ancient Egyptian and Roman arts at a cost of 20 million pounds, he added.

The area contains four temples, he said, adding that one of the temples of Garf Hussein, built by King Ramses II was reassembled for the first time after it was rescued and removed by UNESCO-led international campaign in 1960s...

[More], Egypt State Information Service, Egypt, January 09, 2005.

you enter a recreation of the Great Pyramid, and hike up the exact great hall into an identical Queen’s chamber only to use a robot — a real robot, known as Upuaut II — that had been created and used by Rudolph Gantenbrink.  In real life, Gantenbrink and his team, who searched out answers to Cairo’s mysteries, were kicked out of the Great Pyramid and their robot research was terminated.  You pick up where these men had truly been cut off...

[More]  Adventure Gamers, 06-01-2005, via ArchNews.

The Greek letters on the wide, Roman-style gate you cross driving northwest from Cairo immediately tell you this city is unlike others in Egypt. Built by Alexander the Great in 332 B.C., this port on the Nile's Delta may show influences of the glory of ancient Egypt, but its look is all Mediterranean.

Take a ride on the Corniche, the wide boulevard that envelops its crest-shaped East Harbor.  Look at the clear blue sky reflected on the aquamarine beaches and stop for coffee and pastry at one of the boulevard's many patisseries, and you'll imagine yourself in Naples or Marseille.  Heck, with its rundown buildings, it even resembles Havana's famed seawall...

[More]  The Miami Herald, Florida, USA, Jan. 09, 2005, via Explorator.

Blocks from the sprawling, majestic Mohamed Ali’s Citadel at the heart of Cairo lies one yet-unknown tourist complex sprawling at record pace in the midst of an impoverished town – you would have not known it had ever existed unless you stumble upon it on an unintended detour from the Citadel.  Either that or you have serious interest in the Aga Khan.

Amidst the decrepit villages of the Egyptian capital unfamiliar to visitors, one extremely ambitious project has recently been undertaken with the creation of a vast, green open space in a once run-down area of Cairo...

[More]  TravelVideo.TV, Canada, Jan 04, 2005.

cf. Al-Azhar Park in Cairo, TourEgypt, Texas, USA.

Kids and adults can dig into the past this Sunday at a "Hands-On Family Fair" hosted by the Archaeological Institute of America.

Meet a mummy and learn to write your name in Egyptian hieroglyphs. Discover a 2,000 year-old shipwreck. Excavate Red Sox nation.

More than two dozen interactive events and exhibits will be available at "Digging into Archaeology" Sunday, Jan. 9 at the Sheraton Boston Hotel in the Prudential Center...

[More]  MetroWest Daily News, Massachusetts, January 6, 2005.

A Supreme Council of Antiquity (SCA) mission in northern Sinai said on Friday that paths used by Egyptian army soldiers during the Islamic era, a weaving workshop, a mill and water tanks were unearthed in Al-Farma fortress.

The find dates back to the Abbasid reign, said SCA Secretary General Zahi Hawass.

Hawass added the find was made during restoration work in the Islamic site...

[More], Egypt State Information Service, Egypt, January 08, 2005 .

Egyptian expert recounts his troubles with King Tut.

Egyptologist Zahi Hawass, who supervised the first CT scan of the mummy of the boy pharaoh Tutankhamun this week, said the experience suggested it might be unwise to write off the legendary “curse of the pharaohs.”

The CT, or computed tomography, scan produced three-dimensional images X-ray of the boy pharaoh’s remains.

“I cannot dismiss the legend of the curse because today many things happened. We almost had an accident in a car, the wind blew up in the Valley of the Kings and the computer of the CT scan was completely stopped for two hours,” Hawass said in videotaped remarks released by his office Friday...

[More]  Reuters via MSNBC, USA, Jan. 7, 2005.

Also Pharaohs’ Curse Released During Tutankhamun Scan?, Arab News, Saudi Arabia, 8 January 2005.

Also Pharaohs’ Curse Released During Tutankhamun Scan?, Yahoo! News, India, January 7, 2005.

He’s had quite an after-life party here in Huntington, but it is soon coming to a close.

A mummy, on display at the Huntington Museum of Art since Jan. 18, 2003, is the main attraction of the record-breaking Mummy! exhibit which has become the most popular exhibit in museum history.

In a two-year-run the Mummy! exhibit, which celebrated the rich culture of ancient Egypt with everything from a lecture series to book discussions and workshops, has drawn about 100,000 people to the museum...

[More]  The Herald-Dispatch, West Virginia, USA, January 2, 2005, via EEF News.

Egyptian scientists have produced the first digital image of the face of the legendary pharaoh Tutankhamun after scanning his 3,000 year old mummy, authorities said.

The image created by computer sketches the precise traits of the pharaoh's face for the first time since his tomb was opened," Sabri Abdelaziz of the Egyptian upper council of antiquities told AFP...

[More]  AFP via Yahoo! News, USA, Jan 7, 2005.  Includes picture.

Also Egyptian scientists produce first image of King Tut's face, AFP via Hindustan Times, India, January 7, 2005.

Also Scientists give Egyptian king a face at last, AFP via IOL, South Africa, January 7, 2005.

If you missed the spectacular Eternal Egypt exhibition of ancient artifacts in Toronto and Victoria, you have another chance to catch it this month at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts.

Drawn entirely from the collection of the British Museum, the exhibition includes famous masterpieces and little-known treasures dating from about 3,100 BC to the fourth century AD.  It runs from Jan. 27 to May 22...

[More]   The Globe and Mail, Quebec, Canada, January 5, 2005, via TourEgypt.

Fatemah Farag encounters a submerged land of mystery, passion, cruelty and redemption, as she sails through Upper Nubia .

...

All the temples between Abu Simbel and Kalabsha were destined to disappear beneath the waters, along with the houses and livelihoods of the people who had been their neighbours for several millennia.  Yet, thanks to a no lesser heroic effort than the building of the dam itself, they were moved to higher ground, just in time.  UNESCO's General Assembly, aided by the tireless work of Tharwat Okasha, the first Egyptian minister of culture, was able to mobilise international cooperation, lots of money, and hundreds of men to slice and transport these monuments of rock, defying the heat of the desert, assorted predators and the waters that were soon lapping round their feet.  As a result, some part of old Nubia and its architectural heritage still survives today.

What has been lost for good, though, are the villages, a large section of the Nubian population having been relocated as far north as Kom Ombo.  What we know of their lives comes from accounts and drawings such as those to be found in the recently published Nubia: Sketches, Notes and Photographs (AUC Press), a collection of letters and sketches by Egyptian-born Australian Margot Veillonâ documenting the area during trips she made there between 1936 and 1964...

[More]   Al-Ahram, Egypt, 724, 6 - 12 January 2005.

Despite its wonderful location, Abu Simbel town has failed to make it as a tourist resort. Frederick Bowie asks why and reviews accommodation options.

Abu Simbel town has seen it all.  First came the High Dam, which drowned its hinterland, and forced the evacuation of all the villages in the fertile valley below.  The removal of the great temples of Ramses II to a new site may have created a lot of international publicity, and provided temporary alternative employment for displaced farmers and fishermen, but this tide of activity soon receded, and tourism has never really managed to take its place...

[More]  Al-Ahram, Egypt, 724, 6 - 12 January 2005.

Standing at the foothill of Gabal Al-Teir (mountain of the birds) is Bagawat — the highlight of any tour of Kharga Oasis.  Bagawat is famous for the desert-brown domed mausoleums that are part of one of the earliest and best preserved Christian cemeteries in the world.  At the centre of the cemetery stands a church that still had "traces of saints painted on the wall" when Edmondstone passed this way in 1819.

Numbering 263 in all, with many pit burials between the chapels, most of the tombs are but a single room.  Some are larger, and six have domed roofs.  Evidence indicates the area was a burial site long before the Christian era, but the current structures date from the fourth to the seventh centuries.  Most of the chapels have plain interiors, but there are several with wall paintings and graffiti.

[More]  Al-Ahram, Egypt, 724, 6 - 12 January 2005.

The remains of buildings from the ancient city of Aswan, dating back to El-Sawi era (the 26th Dynasty in the New Kingdom), have recently been unearthed, Minister of Culture Farouk Hosni said yesterday.

The exciting discovery was made by an Egyptian-Swiss archaeological team during its excavations on Elephantine Island in the River Nile in Aswan, clarified Dr. Zahi Hawass Secretary-General of the Supreme Council for Antiquities.

"The impedance of the discovery lies in its ancientness and its location in Aswan, said Dr. Hawass, adding that in the 19th Century, many antiquities disappeared as new homes and industrial projects were established in this Upper Egyptian city."

[More], Egypt State Information Service, Egypt, January 06, 2005.

Sinai is known to be the original birth place for monasticism, during the period of Roman oppression in Egypt, which later on spread throughout the world east and west.

Monasticism went through several stages; the first was that of the anchorite under which a monk found individual seclusion in a cell locked by a key or closed by a large stone.

The cells were clustered and every newcomer would knock each door for a few times to announce his advent.

At Wadi Al-Awag in south Sinai many of these cells were found...

[More], Egypt State Information Service, Egypt, January 06, 2005.

While restoring the Farama Citadel in northern Sinai, members of the Supreme Council for Antiquities (SCA) uncovered an Abbasid soldiers' residence and a textile plant for military outfits, along with a mill and water reservoirs.

Al-Farama, situated 35 kilometers northeast Qantara Sharq city, was brimming with citadels, fortresses, mosques, monasteries and palaces belonging to Pharaonic, Greek, Coptic and Islamic ages...

[More], Egypt State Information Service, Egypt, January 06, 2005.

A series of documentaries narrated at the tongue of ancient Egyptian kings will be produced under an agreement signed between the US National Geographic Institution and the Supreme Council for Antiquities.

The kings will relate secrets of their lives part of which will be revealed through a state-of-the-art scanning device which the SCA obtained from a well- known company.

The first of these documentaries will be on Tutankhamen, the most controversial of ancient kings...

[More], Egypt State Information Service, Egypt, January 06, 2005.

Was Tutankhamun murdered? In an effort to solve that mystery and others, scientists CT-scanned the 3,000-year-old mummy of the ancient Egyptian king.

In 1968 an x-ray of "King Tut" revealed a bone fragment in his skull.  Ever since, rumors have swirled that a blow to the head had killed the boy king.  The break, though, could also be explained by a fall or a mishap during mummification.

The three-dimensional image that will be created from yesterday's CT scan will be many times more informative than any x-ray.  As such, it may help uncover just how Tutankhamun died...

[More]   National Geographic, USA, January 6, 2005.

A roundup of recent antiquities news from Egypt from TravelVideo.

[More]   TravelVideo.TV, Canada, Jan 05, 2005.

A team of researchers briefly removed King Tut's mummy from its tomb Wednesday and laid bare his bones for a CT scan that could solve an enduring mystery: Was it murder or natural causes that killed Egypt's boy pharaoh 3,000 years ago?

Tut's toes and fingers and an eerie outline of his face could be seen as the mummy, resting in a box to protect it, was placed inside the machine in a specially equipped van parked near his underground tomb in the famed Valley of the Kings.

[More]   AP via Yahoo News, USA, Jan 5, 2004.  Nice picture in this one.

Also Tut's mummy gets CT scan, AP via The Seattle Times, Washington, USA, January 06, 2005.

Also Team scans Tut's mummy to unravel why boy king died, AP via The Boston Globe, Massachusetts, USA, January 6, 2005.

Also ANCIENT MUMMY GETS CT SCAN, World News via SBS, Australia, 6.1.2005.

Also Ct Scan May Reveal How King Tut Died, PA News via The Scotsman, UK, 5 Jan 2005.

Also CT scan may solve King Tut mystery, AP via The Berkshire Eagle, Massachusetts, USA, January 06, 2005.  Good picture in this one.

Also King Tut mummy undergoes CT scan, AP via MSNBC, USA, Jan. 5, 2005.  Good picture in this one.

Also Experts seek King Tut's cause of death, Wire reports via Japan Today, Japan, January 6, 2005.

As the wounds of post-war division are finally healing over, the German capital's Egyptian art collection is being brought back together at long last.

Egypt and Germany have been fighting for possession of her for 90 years but, because Adolf Hitler loved her, she remained in Berlin's Egyptian art museum.

In a dispute as old as the land of the Nile itself, Egypt has repeatedly reasserted its claim to the wayward beauty it says is being held illegally in Berlin...

[More]  Taipei Times, Taiwan, Jan 05, 2005, via Archaeologica.

by Ashraf Naggui.

According to the Holy Quran, the Pharaohs were not tyrants and their statues are not idols, argues Zahi Hawass, Secretary-General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities.

In an interview with Al-Mosawer weekly Arabic-language magazine, Dr Hawass, the famous Egyptologist, stressed that the Muslims' Holy Book, the Quran, doesn't label all Pharaohs as unjust tyrants.

"The Holy Quran only says negative things about one Pharaoh, namely the Pharaoh at the time of Moses," Hawass added.

The SCA Secretary-General blamed the public culture for such generalisations, stressing that there is not enough historical evidence to guess with any certainty who was Pharaoh at the time of the Exodus. "Still, it is likely that it was Ramses II," he told the weekly magazine.

As for 'Pharaonic magic', Dr Hawass said that stories of Moses and the Exodus in the Quran prove that the Pharaohs knew magic and were masters of that art.

"According to verses in the Quran, Allah invested Moses with the ability to perform magic in order to defy the Pharaoh's magicians," he noted.

In Ancient Egyptian literature, he continued, there is the famous tale 'Khufu (Cheops) and the Magicians' which indicates how the Pharaohs used magic.

The story in brief is that Khufu, the Pharaoh for whom the largest of the three Pyramids at Giza was built, wishing to model his own tomb on that of the secret rooms in the Temple of Thoth, orders his son to bring a magician to him.

After a long journey, his son brings him Djed-djedi who lives at Djed-djed-Sneferu. He is a man of one hundred and ten years; every day he eats five hundred loaves of bread and a whole ox, as well as drinking one hundred jugs of beer.

Djed-djedi also knows how to reattach a severed head. However, the magician explains that he cannot do this with humans. Instead, he works his magic upon a goose and says he also knows the number of secret chambers in Thoth's temple.

Hawass said archaeologists and Egyptologists have determined the identity of the Pharaoh at the time of Moses, who lived in the 19th Dynasty, in the New Kingdom.

The senior SCA official also noted that the word 'Pharaoh' is 'bora'a' in hieroglyphics, meaning 'great house' or 'palace'.

"This word first appeared at the beginning of the New Kingdom, specifically in 1550 BC," he said. "The word wasn't found in the era of Abraham or Joseph, who preceded Moses."

Dr Hawass remarked that the word 'Pharaoh' should not be associated with the word 'tyranny'.

"The Holy Quran says that there was only one Pharaoh, who used the Jews as slaves and then ousted them, while the Torah [Pentateuch] refers to two different Pharaohs, one who tortured the Jews and another who ousted them," he told Al-Mosawer.

The Quran rejects the theory in numerous places. One of the most manifest is in Surat el-Qasas (Chapter of the Stories), where Allah relates the "parts of the story of Moses and Pharaoh."

In verse 17 of Surat el-shuara'a, Pharaoh tries to gain sympathy from Moses by relating the 'favours' he did for him in his childhood.

Another point that refutes the 'two-Pharaoh theory' is the fact that Moses is afraid of returning to Egypt after killing an Egyptian.

The Quran rejects the Biblical account that Moses need not fear to return "for all the men who wanted to kill you are dead."

In verses 14 and 15 of Surat el-Qasas (the 26th Chapter of the Quran), Moses fears the people's retribution for his killing an Egyptian. But Allah reassures him, saying that they will not be able to harm him.

These may seem like academic historical details, but it is in fact very important to determine the identity of the Pharaoh.

The Quranic account affirms that the reign of Pharaoh would have to cover the period before the birth of Moses, the years before he left for Midian, the years he spent in Midian and then the years he stayed in Egypt the second time.

As for the Jews' claims that they built the Giza Pyramids, Dr Hawass denied this, saying the Pyramids were built in the era of the Old Kingdom, 1,400 years before the Jews arrived in Egypt.

"Besides, there is no evidence of any Hebrew words dating from that era," he concluded.

The Egyptian Gazette, Egypt, 4 january 2005.

by Ashraf Naggui.

On Christmas Eve, it is the tradition for Coptic Orthodox Christians to light a candle before icons of the saints, either in church or in a monastery or at home.

A Coptic household is never devoid of an icon. Icons have a prominent place in the life and worship of the all Eastern Orthodox Churches.

The word 'icon' is derived from the Greek eikon or the Coptic word eikonigow both of which are similar in their pronunciation.

Icons are representations or pictures of a martyr or other saintly Christians. They usually depict specific saints, a group of saints, angels or Christ. For the most part strikingly simple, they sometimes portray a specific being, with little or no background.

Despite their simplicity, we also find groupings such as the Virgin Mary and Child, which might have somewhat elaborate backdrops.

Others may depict biblical events or other religious themes, although the latter aren't so prevalent nowadays.

There are no accurate statistics about the number of icons in Egypt, as they are hosted by a large number of churches and monasteries.

The Church of Abu Seifein in Old Cairo alone is home to about 280 icons, while Egypt's oldest extant icon is thought to be seen at Saint Catherine's Monastery in Sinai.

This icon was originally located in Europe, where it survived the 'icon war' that was originally launched nearly 1,300 years ago.

According to Supreme Council for Antiquities (SCA) statistics, there are icons in many churches and monasteries in Cairo, the most famous being the Hanging Church (el-Kenisa el-Mu'allaqa) and the Church of Abu Serga (Saint Sergius), both in Old Cairo, as well as the Church and the Monastery of the Holy Virgin Mary in Zuweila Alley (near Bab Zuweila, Islamic Cairo). The Church of the Holy Virgin Mary contains an icon of the Annunciation dating back to 1335.

Historians say that iconography started very early in the first three centuries of Christianity. Archaeologists agree, believing that icons first began popular among the Christian faithful, both in their homes and in churches, at the end of the third century AD.

By the late fourth or early fifth century AD, their use was widespread. According to the Arab historian el-Makrizi, Pope Cyril I hung icons in all the churches of Alexandria in the year AD 420 and then decreed that they should be hung in the other churches in Egypt.

Dr Isaac Fanous, the most famous Coptic iconographer and chairman of the Icons Institute in el-Abassiya district of Cairo, says that iconographers have to study the Bible, because for every shape there is a background history.

"Besides, every church in the world has its own icons. In Egypt, for example, icons depend on Ancient Egyptian writings, while at Saint Catherine's Monastery they are influenced by Byzantine Christianity," Dr Fanous told Al-Mosawer weekly Arabic-language magazine.

Dr Fanous, 75, has painted the icons for the Church of the Virgin in the Ard el-Golf district of Heliopolis, as well as seven churches in Los Angeles, and others in England and Canada. Dr Gawdet Gabra, peripatetic Professor of Coptic Studies, who lectures at a number of US universities, says there is a lacuna in the history of icons.

"We don't know why none of the icons painted between the eighth and 13th centuries is still in existence," he told Al-Mosawer.

"In Europe, a war on icons erupted in the eighth and ninth centuries, known as the 'icon war', when the Roman Catholic Church, acting upon an edict from the Pope in Rome, destroyed all icons in churches, as they were considered at the time to be pagan symbols," he said.

'There was a movement to eliminate icons from churches on the grounds that they were being worshipped as idols," he added.

However, he said, the war wasn't extended to Saint Catherine's Monastery because it was under the rule of Arabs.

"That is why Sinai is still home to some of the world's oldest icons. There are three Egyptian icons still in existence, dating back to the seventh century: one is a painting of Christ and Abbot Menas now in the Louvre Museum in Paris; another of Bishop Abraham is in Berlin; and the third, that depicts Saint Theodore, is in the Coptic Museum in Old Cairo," he explained.

In fact, major restoration of the icons at the Coptic Museum started in 1989. They are like a living account of Egypt's history, reflecting the different civilisations that have graced the land of Egypt, starting with the Ancient Egyptian civilisation, passing through the Greek, the Roman, the Coptic and lastly the Islamic.

The Coptic Museum lies behind the walls of the famous Roman Fortress of Babylon in the ancient district of Old Cairo (Misr el-Qadima).

The area surrounding the museum abounds in many ancient places of worship that have recently been undergoing large-scale restoration work.

Five years ago, a giant project was launched by the Coptic Orthodox Patriarchy and the SCA, with funds from a US research centre, to count and study more than 2,000 icons in Egypt. A register of these precious religious paintings is gradually being compiled.

The Egyptian Gazette, Egypt, 4 january 2005.

The latest issue of Current World Archaeology has an article that may be of interest to Egyptophiles.

"Mons Claudianus and Mons Porphyrites: Two quarries in Egypt's eastern Desert supplied much of the best building stone for imperial Rome. With an excursus on what the letters written on potsherds reveal, and on food in the desert."

Excerpt here, Current World Archaeology, Think Publishing, London, UK, Volume 1, No. 8, Issue 8, November / December 2004.

Subscribe to Current World Archaeology Magazine via Amazon.com.

An international financial company announced on Sunday it is making feasibility study for a big film on the famous ancient Egyptian Queen Hatshepsut.

The movie the SI Financial will likely hit the reputation of Mankiewicz's blockbuster 1963 "Cleopatra", is expected to cost a colossal sum of dlrs 120 million.

...

The British company commissioned former Egyptian press attache in Britain Zaki Ghazi with arranging for the visit's programme in coordination with the bodies concerned. US British- born movie star Catherine Zeta Jones is expected to be one of the team's members if she accepted to play the leading role.

[More], Egypt State Information Service, Egypt, January 03, 2005.

His license plate reads "Egypt," a tribute to the ancient world that is his passion.  Over the past seven years, Frank C. Caizzi, 63, has made seven trips to the Middle East, four of them to Egypt, to explore his interest in ancient history.  His fascination for history began in the ninth grade, but his first archaeological exploration trip to Egypt didn't take place until 1997.

[More]   East Bay Newspapers, Rhode Island, USA, December 31, 2004, via ArchaeoBlog.

An Egyptian legal team returned from New York with two monuments retrieved from a museum and a show hose before being sold in auction, said Minister of Culture Farouk Hosni.

At a news conference held yesterday, Farouk Hosni said that the two pieces were stolen from a store housing ancient pieces and belonging to the Cairo University Faculty of Arts in the Cairo suburb of Maadi.

The legal team received a pottery jar displayed at the Metropolitan Museum in New York and a statue for Anubis, the god of the dead from an auction house in the city, said Farouk Hosni.

[More], Egypt State Information Service, Egypt, January 02, 2005.

An Egyptian legal team has retrieved two ancient artifacts from New York and returned them to Egypt, reported Egyptian news agency MENA.

Egyptian Minister of Culture Faruq Husni said the two artifacts, a pottery jar and a statue of ancient god Anubis, had been stolen from a store housing ancient pieces. They were eventually found in New York at the Metropolitan Museum and an auction house...

[More], UPI via The Washington Times, District of Columbia, USA, January 01, 2005, via Explorator.