K. Kris Hirst has posted an entry about pottery seriation on About.com's Archaeology blog.

The technique of dating archaeological sites and materials by seriation was invented by William Flinders-Petrie.   Seriation is a relative dating technique, which uses percentages of types of artifacts within a particular assemblage relative to another assemblage...

[More]   Archaeology at About.com, February 24, 2005.

...The Kusha hall is being restored as part of an overall plan to restore the Gawhara Palace at the Salah Eddin Citadel. The Kusha is supported by four gilded columns, linked from above by a gilded network bearing the initial F. The thrones of the bride and bridegroom are placed under the columns. Among the items displayed in the hall are a wedding photo, crystals and watches dating back to the l8th centuries, in addition to a French styled salon.

Al Gawhara palace was established by Mohamed Ali Pasha in the period between l811-l8l4AD and was named after Gawhara Hanem, the last of Mohamed Ali's wives. The palace lies in the southern part of the citadel and includes Al Kiswa Hall. The hall contains parts of the cover of the Kebba in Mecca which Egypt used to send every year to Mecca in an awesome parade. Six pieces of the cover, made of pure silk and embroidered with silver threads in botanic patterns and Quranic verses, are on display.

The palace includes guest quarters that embrace the throne room where the throne of Mohamed Ali is exhibited. The throne, made of ebony and covered by gold, is one of the finest worldwide and was presented by Italy as a gift. It is said that the only throne its equal is the peacock throne that belonged to Shah Iran.

The guest quarters also include a bedroom containing pieces of furniture prepared for Queen Eugene, the wife of Napoleon III, during her visit when the Suez Canal was inaugurated in 1869.

[Source]   The Egyptian Gazette, Egypt, 24 February 2005 .

Dr Hawass revealed that the SCA has suspended the archaeological agreement signed with the Qatari Antiquities Authority because the latter failed to fulfill its commitment of subsidising the translation of foreign books released in Tel El Amarna.

During a lecture at a two-week archaeological festival in Alexandria, he said that despite Egypt's keenness to cooperate with all Arab countries, Qatar has not provided the agreed LE7 million for the said project.

Hawass also talked about the success of recent efforts to retrieve a collection of rare antiquities from London after preventing their sale at an auction. He said the pieces dated to prehistoric times and were stolen from Cairo University's Faculty of Arts' storehouse. He also mentioned that an Italian lady was going to return a rare statue that was in her possession to the Egyptian authorities.

Dr Hawass said that he had spoken to the director of the British Museum about borrowing the Rosette Stone for a limited period of three months to display it in Egypt, but as yet has not received a firm answer.

The Ramses II Colossus will likely be moved from its downtown location to a less polluted place sometime in May. Since the government does not know how much weight the bridges it will cross during its journey support, the transit will take place after conducting a mock transfer using a rock of the same mass. This will determine if the bridges will support the 100 tonne statue without collapsing and, if not, the statue will have to be split into one or more pieces for the journey.

[Source]   The Egyptian Gazette, Egypt, 24 February 2005 .

A Polish team working in Luxor have unveiled three papyri books bearing Coptic writings. The site where the find was made bear remains of a sun-dried brick monastery that dates back to the 6th century AD.

The books, found buried in sand, are the second most important Coptic find ever made. They follow the texts of Nagaa Hamadi, found within a pot in a cave on Homrat Dom Mountain in the Qena Governorate.

Secretary-General of the Supreme Council for Antiquities (SCA), Dr Zahi Hawass, said that the books reveal how the early Christians performed their services. The first book has a plain square wooden cover, ornamented on the inside with Greek text. The second book has a leather cover, decorated on the inside with circular patterns. The cover of the third book is also leather, but contains a piece of wood which probably functioned as a lock.

Dr Hawass said that Polish experts will work on restoring the books soon.

Meanwhile, the UNESCO has formed an international committee to study l3 volumes of Coptic manuscripts found by a farmer in the Homrat Dom area of Nagaa Hamadi in l945. These documents are of particular importance, explaining the philosophy of a group of monks that once lived on Tarek Mountain. These documents belong to the Coptic Museum in Cairo.

[Source]   The Egyptian Gazette, Egypt, 24 February 2005 .

By Hassan Saadallah

Only six Egyptian archaeological sites are on the UNESCO list of world heritage sites, despite the fact that Egypt embraces one third of world antiquities. However, at the last meeting of the UNESCO held in China, members asked to be informed on the maintenance and protection plans for these sites in order to determine any aid needed to support or upgrade the sites. The report is to be reviewed at the South African conference in June 2005.

According to Abdallah Al Attar of the SCA, St Catherine's Monastery was the last Egyptian site placed on the UNESCO list, in 2002. Since then, an information centre has been built there for tourists and a parking lot is currently under construction nearby in order to protect the structure from exhaust fumes.

Icons and other acquisitions of the monastery are being registered and restoration project is underway in some of the monastery halls, the dining room, the kitchen, the monks' cells, the chapel and the eastern wall. Moreover, a study is to be conducted to determine the course of rain running off the mountain in order to install a system that will prevent the rising of underground water.

Among the UNESCO sites is Abu Mina on the north coast. This is a small village where Saint Mina was buried in the late Roman age. Abu Mina has a church above the saint's tomb and was the most important Coptic centre for pilgrimage until the Middle Ages. The village, unearthed in l905, was found to have shops, workshops and two public baths dating back to the 6th century AD.

The Director of Lower Egypt Antiquities, Dr Abdul Maqsoud, said that the Abu Mina site is endangered by subterranean water which has been rising since the late l980s as a result of land reclamation projects adjacent to the site. While the draining canal surrounding the area was deepened in l998 to withdraw excess water, the problem is not fully solved. Consequently, studies have been taken to find ways to lower the water level, but they still need to be implemented.

Dr Maqsoud said that the Pyramids Plateau is naturally on the UNESCO list, noting that the pyramids area was part of Memphis which became the official Egyptian capital in the third dynasty, remaining so until the end of the Old Kingdom. Memphis includes pyramid complexes and tombs in Abu Rawaash, Abu Sir, Saqqara and Dahshur.

The other sites on the list are Islamic Cairo which is currently undergoing a restoration project, launched in 2000; Ancient Thebes with its Necropolis; and the Nubian Monuments from Abu Simbel to Philae.

[Source]   The Egyptian Gazette, Egypt, 24 February 2005 .