In a step received the French people's appreciation, President Hosni Mubarak sent a congratulation cable to the 92 years old French archaeologist Christiane Desroches Noblecourt, the specialist in the Pharaonic civilization on the occasion of her obtaining the highest French decoration for her distinguished contributions in Egyptology.

In this message President Mubarak expressed full congratulations for the French archaeologist on behalf of the Egyptian people, confirming his own evaluation for her achievements...

[More], Egypt State Information Service, Egypt, February 20, 2005.

When Egyptian Queens Got Elaborate Tombs of Their Own

A sudden, dramatic change in Egyptian queens' burials occurred at the beginning of the 19th Dynasty (1292-1190 B.C.).   On the west bank of the Nile at Thebes, a Y-shaped valley that had served as a cemetery for male officials was adapted as a burial place for royal women.   The necropolis was then re-named the Place of the Beautiful Ones (Ta Set Neferu), echoing the site's modern name: the Valley of the Queens...

[Excerpt]   Heather Lee McCarthy, Archaeology Odyssey, March / April 2005.

An Australian archeological team working in Egypt has unearthed three ancient wooden coffins in the past two months.

Culture Minister Farouk Hosni told reporters Saturday that the coffins, which he described as "wonderfully beautiful," were uncovered in [Saqqara], 10 kilometers south of Cairo.

He said the coffins, shaped like human bodies, go back to the 26th Pharaoh Dynasty that ruled from 672 BC to 525 BC.

The minister added the coffins contained mummies wrapped up in cloth and decorated with colorful beads.

Hosni said that other ancient artifacts were found near the coffins, including statues of Pharaoh gods.

[Source]   World Peace Herald, District of Columbia, USA, February 26, 2005, via Archaeologica.

Culture Minister Farouk Hosni said the Australian archaeological mission that practices activities north of Teti Pyramids at Saqqara unearthed four important archaeological excavations namely, 3 wooden coffins that date back to the 26th dynasty and a sarcophagus that dates back to the 5th dynasty, most likely to have belonged to the leader of King Peppy I, son of King Teti as will as two wooden statues for the god of Saqqara area and a fabulous door dating back to the ancient state.

Meanwhile, Supreme Council of Antiquities Secretary-General Zahi Hawass said the three coffins are some of the most beautiful Coffins found in the area of Saqqara tombs.

[Source], Egypt State Information Service, Egypt, February 27, 2005.

The Egyptian Embassy in London yesterday received seven pieces of antiquities that date back to the pre-dynasty era from Bonham after intensive contacts with the British authorities and the auction hall officials.

Egyptian Ambassador in London Gihad Madi said these pieces were stolen from the museum of the Cairo University, Faculty of Arts in 2002, adding that documents and evidence proving Egypt's rights were offered to the British authorities and the auction hall thanks to coordination with Zahi Hawass, the Secretary General of Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities SCA).

[Source], Egypt State Information Service, Egypt, February 25, 2005.

A tantalising snippet from Egypt Today magazine.

Approved, by Supreme Council for Antiquities head Zahi Hawass, a joint US-Egyptian expedition to map the bed of the Nile in a first step toward recovering monuments submerged beneath the river's depths.

[Source]   Egypt Today, Egypt, Volume #26, Issue 02, February 2005.

I wonder how many obelisks the Ancient Egyptians lost en-route down the Nile between the upper-Egyptian quarries in Aswan and lower-Egypt?

Livonia firm's X-ray system will help unravel ancient Egypt's mysteries.

Livonia-based distributor of X-ray equipment met with an improbable opportunity recently: the chance to help unravel some of the mysteries of ancient Egypt.

Mikron Digital Imaging Inc. has developed a portable system for digitally X-raying artifacts and some researchers believe the technology will become an indispensable tool at museums and archaeological digs...

[More]   The Dertroit News, Michigan, USA, February 23, 2005.

Somber workers in turbans pulled the mummy of King Tutankhamen out of its tomb in the Valley of the Kings last month and carried it outdoors for the first time in 70 years.   Suddenly, gusts of wind swept dust up through the canyon.   The high-tech machinery put in place to probe Tut's 3,000-year-old remains broke down.

There he goes again yet another event in a long string of weird happenings that have made Tutankhamen the most storied of mummies.   He is the boy king who died young in a tumultuous period of ancient Egyptian history.   By luck, his tomb lay undisturbed for millenniums and stored a collection of marvels: gold masks, jewelry, alabaster vases for his preserved organs, sarcophagi within sarcophagi, graceful statuary of gods and animals alike, and furniture...

[More]   Santa Fe New Mexican, New Mexico, USA, February 23, 2005.

Earth is showered constantly by particles called muons that are created by cosmic rays, and clever scientists are finding ways to use them as probes of dense objects, including a massive pyramid in Mexico and volcanoes in Japan.   American researchers also have proposed using the energetic particles to detect smuggled nuclear materials in vehicles and cargo containers.   Muons are formed when cosmic rays from deep space interact with the atmosphere.   The particles, which strike earth's surface at the rate of about 10,000 per square meter per minute, pass through large amounts of rock or metal with ease, yet their charge makes them easy to track.

...

...In the late 1960s, Alvarez placed muon detectors in a tunnel beneath the Great Pyramid of Chefren in Egypt in search of hidden burial chambers. None were discovered...

[More]   PhysOrg.com, February 21, 2005.

No expense is spared in recreating ancient Egypt in this big-budget drama. Tony Davis reports.

"Often when you see ancient Egyptians on TV, it is recreated in a way that is almost as if Ancient Egyptians were some sort of extraterrestrials who landed in the desert and built pyramids," Ben Goold says.   "In fact, all the great monuments that have survived were part of a living and breathing culture that was very grand and monumental and, as we look back, glamorous, but with real people with passions and emotions and ways of living that we could recognise..."

[More]   Sydney Morning Herald, Australia, February 25, 2005.

Excavators are finding surprisingly late signs of intellectual life in the ancient capital of Hellenistic Egypt and discovering that geology played a dramatic role in the city's fall.

[More]   Andrew Lawler, Science, 307, 2005, pp. 1192 - 1194, requires subscription.

Also Oxford Center Raises Controversy

Scholars are hotly debating a controversial agreement that gives a nonscientist control over underwater archaeological data collection in Alexandria's port for Oxford University.

[More]   Andrew Lawler, Science, 307, 2005, pp. 1192 - 1193.

Museums rely on patronage and patrons, and for Willamette University's Hallie Ford Museum of Art, its essential benefactor is Hallie Ford, a university alumna and lifetime trustee who helped establish the museum with a $1.85 million gift in 1997.

The museum just announced that Ford has given it another hefty sum -- $1 million -- to endow a major art exhibition fund in perpetuity.   The gift raises dramatically the potential for the modest-sized museum at one of the best liberal arts colleges in the West.   It increases its endowment to $4.5 million and allows it to produce a major exhibit each year.

The museum was founded in 1998 and is known for its eclectic programming focusing largely on regional artists.   The strongest part of its permanent collection are more than 250 Indian baskets and roughly 200 artifacts collected by Egyptologist/art historian Mark Sponenburgh and his wife, the late artist Janeth Hogue Sponenburgh.   The museum's director is John Olbrantz.

[Source]   The Oregonian, Oregon, USA, February 25, 2005.

Schwabtis [Shabtis] and lotus blossoms may well be the top two items on Mattacheese Middle School students' Christmas lists this year.

Molded from mud, schwabtis are small replicas of a mummified person that come to life as the person's servants in the afterlife.   Lotus blossoms, composed of pure serotonin, a hormone secreted by the brain, provided ancient Egyptians with an intense boost of happiness and well-being.

Egyptologist Paulette Morin fascinated sixth graders last Friday as she supplemented their year-long social studies unit on ancient lands and cultures, including Egypt, with a program on the practices and beliefs of the ancient people with a special focus on jewelry, clothing, customs, mummies and tombs...

[More]   Yarmouthport Register, Massachusetts, USA, February 24, 2005.

Also Paulette Morin, Tewksbury Advocate, Massachusetts, USA, February 23, 2005.

Experts from Manchester University are trying to unravel the mysteries of an Egyptian mummy.

Using X-rays, DNA testing and an endoscopy, Dr Rosalie David and her team from the Centre for Biomedical Egyptology have looked inside the body of the mummy.

Dr Caroline Wilkinson, from the university's school of art in medicine, will produce a three-dimensional reconstruction of its face...

[More]   The Manchester Evening News, UK, 24th February 2005.

THE Farmer and the Breadwinner have made it back to one of the magic places.   They are in Aswan, in Upper Egypt, where it hasn't rained for 10 years.   And yet there is unlimited water from the Nile and the enormous Lake Nasser they have made there by damming it...

[More]   The Herald, UK, February 21 2005.

Traveling through Egypt: From 450 BC to the Twentieth Century, ed Deborah Manley and Sahar Abdel-Hakim, American University in Cairo Press, 2004.

Walk through the second court of the mortuary temple of the Ramasseum on the West Bank of Luxor and behold the compelling fallen colossi of Ramses II.   Know, then, that you are not the first to be moved by the sight of unabashed self- glorification in ruins, which inspired Shelly's famous sonnet, Ozymandias :

"On the pedestal these words appear:

'My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings:

Look upon my words ye Mighty and despair!'

Nothing beside remains. Round the decay

Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare

The lone and level sands stretch far away."

...

[More]   Al-Ahram, Egypt, Issue No. 731, 24 February - 2 March 2005.

I will tread the valleys and climb the hills, I will brave floods and fire to reach a desolate cliff, battling with day and night, struggling to the death.   But I will never forsake my quest, and neither boredom nor exhaustion will deter me, for I am the hunter of my tribe.   -- Maybe the exact words of the hunting incantation coursing through these valleys were different, but the gist can only have been the same.   The words were inescapably present in my mind when I first laid eyes on the amazing rock art of Wadi Al-Reshrash...

[More]   Al-Ahram, Egypt, Issue No. 731, 24 February - 2 March 2005.

A stolen antiquities collection is unearthed at a downtown apartment after 34 years in hiding, reports Nevine El-Aref.

At No. 8 Al-Alfi Street downtown last week, the scene was more bustling than usual.   A large number of police officers, archaeologists and journalists were on hand as a huge cache of artefacts … hidden since 1971 … finally saw the light again.

The collection includes a number of anthropoid sarcophagi, painted mummy masks, Ancient Egyptian ushabti figurines (wooden statuettes), limestone reliefs, necklaces, amulets, and scarabs, as well as a group of Graeco-Roman statues, Islamic vessels, clay chandeliers and coloured textiles.

[More]   Al-Ahram, Egypt, Issue No. 731, 24 February - 2 March 2005.

The usually sedate town of Abu Simbel was abuzz with Ramses fever as the sun's rays penetrated through the temple to illuminate the eternal king's face.   Nevine El-Aref was there.

A crowd of over 4,000 people descended on Abu Simbel, 280km south of Aswan, on Monday and Tuesday to witness a phenomenon that only takes place twice a year, during the equinox.   On February 22 and October 22 every year, the sun's rays travel through the temple of Ramses II to illuminate the eternal king's face.

The visitors stayed awake all night waiting for sunrise, entertained by a musical troupe performing Nubian folkloric songs and dances.   French tourist Françoise Hubert told Al-Ahram Weekly that the performance was "magnificent".   Hubert was there with 200 of her colleagues from an NGO that was on a four-month tour of Mediterranean cities. Egypt was their third stop...

[More]   Al-Ahram, Egypt, Issue No. 731, 24 February - 2 March 2005.

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 .

It's quite easy to forget what is in the loft, especially after retiring and winding down after working for so many years.   Lofts offer many pleasant surprises, and if the structure is sound, the contents should be very saleable, like the selection of tribal pieces under offer in Greenslade Taylor Hunt in Taunton on Tuesday, which vary from clubs and shields to a Polynesian weapon with a circular head made of a flat stone and shaft bound with cane.

...

A collection of Egyptology tomb relics suggest interest of £100-£200, and these include part of a carved wood coffin panel, a bird figure, a New Kingdom parchment fragment and a spearhead in bronze.   There is also a figure of Teti in this 13th century collection, the first king of the VIth dynasty and whose pyramid is the only one open to visitors at Saqqara in Memphis in Egypt...

[More]   This is Cornwall, UK, 12 February 2005.

More on the discovery of Coptic manuscripts in a Cairo tomb.

Polish experts excavating in the southern city of Luxor have discovered three ancient Coptic manuscripts in a pharaonic tomb, Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities said on Saturday.

The find was the single most important Coptic discovery since 1945 when a pair of Bedouins stumbled onto the Coptic codices in Nag Hammadi in Egypt's western desert, it said.

The manuscripts date to the sixth century and were concealed in a Middle Kingdom (2000-1800 BC) tomb in Luxor, about 710 kilometres south of Cairo, the council said...

[More]   AFP via Hindustan Times, India, February 19, 2005, via Mirabilis.ca.

About 4000 multi-national tourists rush today to Abu Simbel temple to see the sun perpendicularity on Ramses II statue in his great temple.

The phenomenon happens twice a year.

A major cultural celebration will be held in the presence of Culture Minister, Farouk Hosni, a number of archaeologists and officials in Aswan governorate.

[Source], Egypt State Information Service, February 22, 2005.

A South African woman, owner of a piece of jewellery believed stolen from the tomb of King Tutankhamen, has asked the government in Cairo for help in breaking King Tut's curse after two members of her family suffered untimely deaths.

In a letter to the ministry of culture, the owner of an antique scarab attributed the tragedies that befell her and a previous owner of the artefact to the so-called curse, a ministry official told the Cairo daily Al Akhbar...

[More]   IOL, South Africa, February 21 2005.

New research suggests that oil and its by-products were valued and traded in the Mideast at least 3,000 years ago, the same region that dominates world production and export of crude oil today.

Evidence for the discovery came from surprising sources - mummies.

According to a forthcoming paper in the Journal of Geoarchaeology, scientists found tar on several ancient Egyptian mummies.   Because every batch of tar contains unique biochemicals, the researchers were able to trace the sticky substances back to their origins...

[More]   Discovery Channel News, USA, Feb. 18, 2005, via ArchaeolBlog.

cf. Use and trade of bitumen in antiquity and prehistory: molecular archaeology reveals secrets of past civilizations, J. Connan, Philosophical Transactions: Biological Sciences, Volume 354, Number 1379, January 29 1999, pp. 33 - 50, The Royal Society.

cf. Sources of mummy bitumen in ancient Egypt and Palestine, J. A. Harrell & M. D. Lewan, Archaeometry, Volume 44, Issue 2, May 2002, p. 285.

cf. Review of the uses and modeling of bitumen from ancient to modern times, J Murali Krishnan and KR Rajagopal, Applied Mechanics Reviews, Volume 56, Issue 2, March 2003, pp. 149-214.

Egypt's southernmost city (population 150,000) and ancient frontier town has the loveliest setting on the Nile.   At ASWAN the deserts close in on the river, confining its sparkling blue between smooth amber sand and rugged extrusions of granite bedrock.

Lateen-sailed feluccas glide past the ancient ruins and gargantuan rocks of Elephantine Island, palms and tropical shrubs softening the islands and embankments till intense blue skies fade into soft-focus dusks.   The city's ambience is palpably African; its Nubian inhabitants are lither and darker than the Saiyidis, with different tastes and customs. Although its own monuments are insignificant compared to Luxor's, Aswan is the base for excursions to the temples of Philae and Kabasha, near the great dams beyond the First Cataract, and the Sun Temple of Ramses II at Abu Simbel, far to the south.   It can also serve for day-trips to Darow Camel Market, Kom Ombo, Edfu and Esna - the main temples between here and Luxor.   But the classic approach is to travel upriver by felucca, experiencing the Nile's moods and scenery as travellers have for millennia.   However, Aswan itself is so laid-back that one could easily spend a week here simply hanging out, never mind going anywhere.   The tourism scene is much the same as in Luxor...

[More]   femalefirst.co.uk, UK, February 15, 2005, via TourEgypt.net.

The painted limestone bust of Egyptian Queen Nefertiti will be moved to a new permanent home in the Old National Gallery, it was announced on Friday.

The new site is on the city's Museum Island in the Spree River. The bust had been on display at Berlin's Egyptian Museum for nearly a century.

The move of the bust of the wife of heretic Pharaoh Akhenaton is part of the restoration project involving the island's five museums, which were badly damaged during World War II.   Before moving Nefertiti will be part of a special exhibition about hieroglyphics and symbolism in the arts at the Kulturforum in Berlin from March 2 to August 2...

[More]   Middle East Times, Cyprus, February 21, 2005.

Polish experts excavating in the southern city of Luxor have discovered three ancient Coptic manuscripts in a Pharaonic tomb, Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities said on Saturday.

The find was the single most important Coptic discovery since 1945 when a pair of Bedouins stumbled onto the Coptic codices in Nag Hammadi in Egypt's western desert, it said.

The manuscripts date to the sixth century and were concealed in a Middle Kingdom (2000 to 1800 BC) tomb in Luxor, about 710 kilometers (440 miles) south of Cairo, the council said...

[More]   Middle East Times, Cyprus, February 21, 2005.

Luxor's west bank was the site of a significant find, reports Nevine El-Aref.

In Al-Gurna where several excavation missions are probing for more Ancient Egyptian treasures under the sand, a team from the Polish Centre for Mediterranean Archaeology has stumbled on a major Coptic trove buried under the remains of a sixth-century monastery located in front of a Middle Kingdom tomb.

Excavators unearthed two papyri books with Coptic text along with a set of parchments placed between two wooden labels as well as Coptic ostraca, pottery fragments and textiles...

[More]   Al-Ahram, Egypt, Issue No. 730, 17 - 23 February 2005.

By Zahi Hawass

Egyptian Egyptologists have often complained about the previous director of the French Institute in Cairo (IFAO).   Ramadan Abdu frequently told us how his brother suffered under this man's leadership.   Our students were forbidden to use the IFAO library.   Yet no one can deny the scholarship and contributions of the French, from the days of Auguste Mariette and Gaston Maspero to today's great Egyptologists such as Jean Leclant, Alain Zivie, Jean- Claude Goyon, Jean Yoyotte, and many others.

We were all very happy to have a great French ambassador to Egypt -- Jean- Claude Cousseran, who is very sincere and loves the Egyptians.   I met him for the first time at the annual review of the French- Egyptian Karnak Expedition.   I was impressed by his personality, and glad to know that he wants to bring the relationship between our two countries to its highest peak.   The cultural attaché at the embassy, Denis Louch, is also very sincere and personable, and has done his best to help everyone and strengthen both cultural relations and the friendship between our two countries...

[More]   Al-Ahram, Egypt, Issue No. 730, 17 - 23 February 2005.

Restoration carried out at the Sitt Wassila House in mediaeval Cairo has revealed the sumptuousness of Ottoman architecture. Nevine El-Aref admires a newly uncovered fresco.

The Sitt Wassila House -- Beit Al-Sitt Wassila, which adjoins the Beit Al-Harrawi in the Al-Azhar heart of Islamic Cairo -- sports an elegant façade embellished with mashrabiya (Islamic woodwork) and a huge, decorated wooden door.   This 17th- century edifice, named in 1836 after its owner, was built by Sheikh Abdel-Haq and his brother Lotfi in 1664 (1074 H)...

[More]   Al-Ahram, Egypt, Issue No. 730, 17 - 23 February 2005.

Al Lithy Ibn Saad Ibn Abdul Rahman was one of the famous imams of jurisprudence in the Ummayed age. Al Lithy, who died in 175 Hijira, experienced both the Ummayed and Abbasid periods of Islamic rule. The tomb of Al Lithy was first simple in the shape of a mestaba. However, the dome was renovated in 764 Hijira, and under the reign of Sultan Al Ghuri, the tomb was modified and a mosque added.

While the mosque and tomb have become one of the most important landmarks of Islamic Cairo, due to the deterioration of its engravings and the adverse

effect of subterranean water, the mosque had to be restored. Costing LE4 million, a restoration project was initiated in 2003, upon which work is expected to be completed in the middle of this year.

According to the project's supervisor, Ezzat Mohamed, several surprising discoveries took place during restoration. One of these is a stone entrance on top of which are strips of writing, flanked by relief patterns dating from 811 Hijira, the age of Sultan Al Naser Farag Ibn Barqouq. A concealed sabil (public water fountain) to the right of the entrance was also unveiled, in addition to a 51x54 cm limestone sundial, dating to the rule of Khedive Mohamed Tewfik pasha, and a 165x62 cm wooden panel which displayed the date of 1138 Hijira, commemorating a restoration carried out at the time.

Ezzat Mohammed said that all of these artefacts are now undergoing restoration. He also said the mosque has been expanded, with encroaching structures in its near vicinity removed. However, there still remains the restoration of the minaret, dating from the Memluk age, in addition to replacing floors and removing walls that block the thoroughfare to the adjacent Sultan Ghuri and Farag Ibn Barqouq landmarks.

[Source]   The Egyptian Gazette, Egypt, 17 February 2005.

By : Hassan Saadallah

The 7000 year old Egyptian civilisation has proved a magnate for scholars over the millennia. While foreign researchers were the first to become infatuated with this great civilisation, there have also been a number of renowned Egyptian Egyptologists. Among these is Dr Zahi Hawass, the Secretary-General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA).

Hawass has always proved enthusiastic about anything and everything related to the ancient Egyptians. Since assuming office in 2002 he has carried out many projects to promote the archaeological sector at large. When interviewed by The Egyptian Gazette, Hawass talked about a variety of topics, some of which have sparked much controversy.

When speaking about the secrets of the Cheops Pyramid, he said that the discoveries of the robot sent into the burial chamber a year and a half ago prove that there are still many secrets the pyramid still withholds from us. He remarked that the discovery of a second door in the southern cavity and a third in the northern cavity, both having copper handles identical to the first, was astounding.

It is amazing how the pyramid's architect was able to engrave curves within the pyramid, turning left and right over a distance of eight metres yet no wider than 20cm, said Hawass. He explained that this snake-like passage was likely to have served either as a ventilation shaft, or that it vindicates the theory of allowing the soul of the dead king to move freely in and out of the pyramid.

Hawass said that the experiment within the pyramid has by no means finished, with a second stage due to be launched in September. For this part of the project, a unique robot is currently being manufactured by a specialised robotics centre in Singapore.

Commenting on the recent examination of the Tutankhamen mummy with a CT scan -- an act which has provoked significant disagreement among archaeologists -- Dr Hawass said, 'There was a scientific necessity for the examination because the mummy had only been examined once, by a British team in 1986. '

The CT scan has produced the first true picture of Tut's face. The initial results indicate that the boy king was not murdered, as had been suggested based on the theory that there is a cut behind his ear. The state-of-the- art scan proved the absence of such a cut. However, Hawass said that the full results of the scan would be officially published next month.

Asked about the SCA's current museum building policy, Dr Hawass said that l9 new museums are planned across the country, at a total cost of LEl00 million. He noted that the new Sharm El Sheikh museum, which will open in 2006, will serve as a cultural centre, displaying the gilded mask of King Tut.

The new Egyptian museum to be built on the Giza Fayyum road, in addition to the national culture museum in Fustat, will prove to be important assets for the archaeological and tourist sectors at large. Hawass added that the SCA has devised an ambitious plan to run and update archaeological sites.

Asked whether submerged items are subject to the Antiquities Protection Law, Dr Hawass said that a modified version of 1983 Law No. 117 is being drafted in order to place sunken antiquities under the protection of the law. He pointed out that several missions are currently excavating maritime sites as part of a project to register sunken treasures. He added that new sites such as Qosseir, Safaga and Ras Mohamed, are to be explored for the first time in search of submerged antiquities. Dr Hawass noted that in order to preserve any recovered items, an investigation is underway concerning the feasibility of an underwater museum.

Commenting on the SCA plan to retrieve stolen antiquities, Hawass said that 2000 pieces have so far been recovered. The SCA is keen to follow up information on the internet about any Egyptian item and sites of auctions. The SCA has also released a catalogue of all known stolen Egyptian items and has already distributed it to all world museums.

[Source]   The Egyptian Gazette, Egypt, 17 February 2005.

Lord Carnarvon, who sponsored Howard Carter's excavation, died shortly after the spectacular discovery of Tutankhamun's tomb.

This has perhaps been the most extraordinary day in the whole history of Egyptian excavation. Whatever anyone may have guessed or imagined of the secret of Tutankhamun's tomb, they surely cannot have dreamed the truth as now revealed.   Entrance today was made into the sealed chamber, and yet another door opened beyond that.   No eyes have yet seen the King, but to a practical certainty, we now know that he lies there, close at hand, in all his original state undisturbed.

Moreover, in addition to the great store of treasures, which the tomb has already yielded, to-day has bought to light a new wealth of objects of artistic, historical, and even intrinsic value which is bewildering.   It is such a hoard as the most sanguine excavator can hardly have pictured even in visions in his sleep, and puts Lord Carnarvon's and Mr. Carter's discovery in a class by itself above all previous finds...

[More]   The Times, UK, February 17, 2005, via Mirabilis.ca.

A team of experts expects to announce in March whether the latest test results on the mummified body of Tutankhamun will provide evidence for the theory that the boy pharaoh was murdered.

Zahi Hawass, head of the Egyptian government's Supreme Council for Antiquities, told Reuters that results from a high tech x-ray scan of the mummy would help explain a bone chip in the skull that has sparked the murder theory...

[More]   Reuters, UK, Feb 17, 2005.

Also Tutankhamun Murder Mystery Hangs on March Report, Reuters via Yahoo, USA, Feb 17, 2005

And Tutankhamun murder mystery hangs on March report, Reuters via KeralaNext.com, Geb 17, 2005.

And Tutankhamun murder mystery hangs on report, Reuters via IOL, South Africa, February 17 2005.

And Was Tutankhamun murdered? Reuters, UK, Feb 17, 2005.

On Thursday, [Neter] Heneb's coffin lid will go on display as the newest acquisition in the Egyptian collection of the Robert V. Fullerton Museum at Cal State San Bernardino.   It provides an opportunity for local residents to get a head start on a year that features a series of high-profile Egyptian exhibits in Southern California, highlighted by this summer's the traveling King Tut exhibit at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.

[More]   The Press-Enterprise, California, USA, February 10, 2005.

Ben-Jochannan, 86, is an Egyptologist who has dedicated his life to documenting black history and the African contribution to the birth of civilization.

A retired Cornell University professor, he has visited Egypt an astounding 55 times and has written over 40 books on Egypt and the ancient world along the Nile Valley.

He provides an aggressive counterpoint to a Eurocentric view of history.   Ben-Jochannan has long championed the role of ancient Africans in history and culture...

[More]   New York Daily News, New York USA, February 13, 2005.

An article about someone who has built their own temple of Sekhmet in Nevada ;-)

The goddess Sekhmet is honored in many places throughout Egypt, her country of origin, but there is also a temple dedicated to her located outside Las Vegas, Nevada.   The tiny area known as Cactus Springs is home to the temple of Sekhmet, gifted and built by the vision of a woman named Genevieve Vaughn.

Sekhmet is one of the major Egyptian goddesses, and is depicted with a the head of a lion, and a solar disk and serpent headdress.   Although many accounts list her as sister to Bast, the Egyptians themselves did not categorize her as such.   Sekhmet was a goddess of Upper Egypt and Bast was a similar goddess in Lower Egypt...

[More]   Bella Online, 12/02/2005(?).

I arrive, hot and sticky, at Alexandria's Ramleh Station clutching my guidebook and my illusions.   I lose both in quick succession.   I foolishly left the guidebook at the Athineos Patisserie, a wonderful - if expensive - art deco café with gaping holes in its gilded friezes, a stationary ceiling fan and plenty of noisy locals.

By the time I had walked back to collect it, sea-blown and weary, my glorious preconceptions of Alexandria were as eroded as the city's historic monuments...

[More]   The Scotsman, UK, 12 Feb 2005.

This article is not about ancient Egypt itself but the prehistoric rock art of it neighbour, Libya, but should be of interest to those studying prehistoric Egypt.

...Here, out in the open for all to see, is one of Libya's national treasures: rock engravings, some possibly dating back 9,000 years or more, created by a mysterious, prehistoric culture.

The graceful forms that emerge beneath Hassan's hand - humans among elephants, crocodiles, giraffes and hippopotamuses - reveal what scientists have now confirmed: rather than barren and desiccated, it was once lush and green here at Wadi al-Hayat (the Valley of Life, also known as Wadi al-Ajal) in the Fezzan region of south-west Libya...

[More]   The Guardian, UK, February 10, 2005.

The famous 3,000-year-old bust, below, of the Egyptian queen Nefertiti is moving from its old home in Berlin at the Egyptian Museum, which is scheduled to close at the end of the month, to a permanent setting, the Altes Museum on the Museum Island on Aug. 4.   Before moving, Nefertiti, one of Berlin's most popular art attractions since its discovery by German archaeologists in Egypt in 1912, will be part of a special exhibition about hieroglyphics and symbolism in the arts at the Kulturforum in Berlin from March 2 to Aug. 2.   Nefertiti's move is part of the restoration of the island's five museums, which were badly damaged during World War II and are being rebuilt.   KIRSTEN GRIESHABER.

[Source]   The New York Times, New York, USA, February 11, 2005, p. 2, via Explorator.

cf. Nofretete moves.

cf. Egyptian Museum moves to Museum Island.

cf. Nefertiti gets new home in Berlin.

More on the recent discovery of the first Islamic Pool.

A swimming pool has been unearthed under an ancient Mameluke palace in Cairo, the first such historic discovery in the capital, Egypt's state media reported.

Laborers stumbled across the pool accidentally during restoration work on the palace, which was built by Emir Taz in 1352 to celebrate his marriage to the Sultan Mohammed an-Nasir's daughter...

[More]   AFP via Yahoo News, USA, Feb 11, 2005.

The first pool in Islamic civilization was discovered by chance in an archaeological site in Cairo, said Ayman Abdel Mona'm the director of the Old Cairo upgrading project.

An archaeological mission restoring the palace of Prince Taz, found the pool underneath the building, Mona'm added.

The palace recovery is part of his project to upgrade Old Cairo, where water cisterns were also found from time to time, during other restoration operations.

[Source], Egypt State Information Service, Egypt, February 12, 2005.

Supreme Council of Antiquities SCA Secretary-General Zahi Hawass said a bill law has been prepared for combating the antiques stealing which includes harshening the penalty for deterring the antiques thieves.

He, moreover, added that the SCA will hire high-trained guards to help prevent the stealing of the artifacts in the International and Arab Organizations Forum for museums in Aswan, the SCA Secretary-General added that his council could restore, in the last three years, more than two thousand artifacts from all the world countries.

On the other hand, the public prosecution is keen on adopting the legal procedures for restoring 57 thousand missing artifacts that were smuggled abroad by ten defendants who are accused in the case of robbing and smuggling the antiques and will be put into trial today.

[Source], Egypt State Information Service, Egypt, February 12, 2005.

Abdallah Schleifer and Barbi Bursch Eysselinck highlight the wonders of Nubia as they walk us through the pulling together of a collection that offers unprecedented insight into a land that once was.

This week, The Rare Books and Special Collections Library and The Sony Gallery for Photography at the American University in Cairo hosted a joint exhibition, Nubia before the flood, which celebrates the work of artists, archaeologists, and ethnologists who documented Nubia at various points in recent history.

The exhibit includes drawings, gouaches, plans and photographs of Nubian houses and villages by the internationally renowned Egyptian architect, the late Hassan Fathy -- this in addition to David Roberts' prints, illustrations from La Description de l'Egypte, and photos of the Nubians and the monuments of Nubia by K.A.C. Creswell and Margot Veillon.   Early maps and travel accounts of Nubia from the Rare Books special collection as well as craft items and textiles, courtesy of the Nubia Museum, are also on display...

[More]   Al-Ahram, Egypt, Issue No. 729, 10 - 16 February 2005.

The Discovery Channel glams up mummies, pharaohs and infamous queens.

Conspiracy, intrigue, incest and murder.   Mind-altering drugs, ruthless violence, ritual killings and child sacrifice.   Ancient mysteries, forensic science, timeless riddles and criminal psychology.   Watching the previews for five new documentaries and a 13-part television series - all set to air in late March on the Discovery Channel's week-long celebration of ancient Egypt - is like catching a particularly racy set of blockbuster movie trailers.   All drama, suspense, action and adventure.   For a television channel with an established reputation for producing sober and serious documentaries, this is energetic stuff.   And while these programs return to Egyptology's predictable subjects - the Sphinx, Ramesses, Cleopatra, mummified pharaohs, looted ancient treasures and painstaking archaeological excavations - they do so with a high-tech, cinematic twist...

[More]  The Daily Star, Lebanon, February 10, 2005.

The Supreme Council for Antiquities has sent an appeal to UNESCO urging it to participate in saving the Mar Mina (Saint Mina) monuments in the North Coast.   The monuments, which include the site of an ancient Basilica, are on UNESCO's list of most important world monuments.   Another appeal concerning Coptic monuments was sent by the monasteries of Wadi El-Natrun (where the Pope often goes for meditation).   Most of the monasteries are suffering from the encroachment of underground water and from the advent of highways, which are causing cracks in the ancient walls surrounding them.

[Source]   Egypt Today, Volume 26, Issue 02, February 2005.

The following is an article that starts of sounding touristy and then gets a bit political but I thought I would post it anyway.

Aswan at Christmas time is a combination of the rocky Mediterranean and the sensuous Caribbean.   Sailboats run, cruise boats saunter, and people gaze at the beautiful sunsets over the rocky cliffs.   It was while looking at such a sunset that I met the old man.

Beside the Old Cataract Hotel, from whose balcony Agatha Christie conceived Murder on the Nile, there sits a three-tiered private park overlooking the gleaning river.   My companion and I stopped at this most romantic of settings to capture the essence of Aswan.   From the Middle Kingdom tombs in the distance to Lord Kitchner's Botanical Garden on the Elephantine Island sitting astride the Nile, a panoply of beauty spread before us...

[More]  The Louisiana Weekly, Louisiana, February 7, 2005.

"Going to Egypt was something I wanted to do since I was young," Mary Jo said.   "I remember as a little girl looking through my grandfather's picture books and seeing the pyramids."

Those pyramids and the myriad other sites that document the story of ancient Egypt and its people were the main attraction for Henry and Mary Jo...

[More]  Redwood Falls Gazette, Minnesota, USA, 08/02/2005.

A roundup of the news from Egypt by TravelVideo.TV.

[More]  TravelVideo.TV, Canada, Feb 08, 2005.

A new collection of mummified creatures could help unravel some of the mysteries surrounding ancient Egyptian society.

The Egyptians mummified both humans and animals to preserve them for the afterlife. Mummified cats, birds, monkeys and even gazelles have in the past been found buried alongside their owners.

Researchers say the new collection - including mummified cats, birds, baboons and crocodiles gathered from a variety of collections - adds weight to the idea that the humble house cat was first domesticated animal to provide a source of ritual offerings for the gods.

Scientists at the Natural History Museum in London, UK, compared numerous specimens and used X-rays to peer beneath the animals' bandages.   They found fresh evidence that many were killed specifically to provide religious offerings...

[More]  New Scientist, UK, 08 February 2005.

by Brian Rudman.

Auckland Museum is putting the mummified remains of a long-dead Egyptian back on display by the end of March.   Does this mean the scary tattooed Maori heads that were a highlight of my boyhood visits in less politically correct times will return from the storeroom too?

One suspects not.   Years of pressure from Maori, Aborigines, American Indians and other indigenous peoples have forced museums around the world to treat human remains of "first peoples" with respect.

Only the poor old Egyptian "first people" seem to get left out of this international protocol.   Why remains a mystery...

[More]  The New Zealand Herald, New Zealand, 02.02.2005, via ArchNews.

For millennia, ancient Egyptians used oil tar to preserve bodies. New geologic research shows that the tar came from several sources, shedding light on how trade routes of old compare to those of today.

All tar sands -- crude oils, asphalts and bitumen -- contain source-specific compounds, known as biomarkers, which have unique chemical signatures that are closely related to the biological precursors of the oil. Using gas chromatography and mass spectrometers, geologists can identify these biomarkers in the oil to create a very specific "fingerprint" that enables them to trace the location where the oil originated...

[More]   Geotimes, February 2005, via Archaeologica.

Al-Ahram's travel itinerary of the month.

If you are a desert fan and also interested in archaeology then this itinerary might be suitable for you as it combines some of the most important oases of Egypt like Bahariya, Farafra and Dakhla along with Luxor in Upper Egypt.   This 6day/5night itinerary gives you the chance to tour most of the archaeological sites in the oases, while at the same time, to enjoy the vastness of the desert, with all of its mystery and splendor.   To add richness to the itinerary, you could visit Luxor on the last day of the trip to take pleasure from touring its ancient sites...

[More]  Al-Ahram, Egypt, issue 728, 3 - 9 February 2005.

cf. Minerva Travel & Tours

Make of this one, whatever you will :-)

Evidence of very advanced technologies thousands of years back in India and Egypt is becoming clear.   The number of temples in India is so large; it is impossible to believe that they were created with primitive technologies.   Some of the Indian temples have been replicated by the contemporary rich industrialists of India.   But it took enormous amount of resources and thirty years to complete even a part of the same.   That gave rise to the concept what technology did the people in India and Egypt possess that made so many of these structures possible....

[More]  India Daily, India, 06/02/2005.

Cairo's historic Islamic quarter, a maze of congested, rubble-strewn streets smelling of car fumes and uncollected trash, is being made over with the opening last fall of a 74-acre park and continuing efforts to restore some of the area's many monuments and noteworthy buildings.

The $30 million project, which began about 10 years ago, has been undertaken by the Aga Khan Trust for Culture, a Geneva-based organization focusing on the revitalization of cities in the Muslim world.   The hope is that it will act as a catalyst for tourism and urban renewal in a neglected area more than 1,000 years old that boasts a rich concentration of Islamic architecture...

[More]  The New York Times, New York, USA, February 6, 2005.

At last month’s Florida Huddle 2005 held at the Ocean Centre in Daytona Beach, the Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention and Visitors Bureau announced the return of King Tut to the United States. Fort Lauderdale will host December 2005-May 2006 at the Museum of Art the world’s most important and extraordinary display dubbed Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs, a National Geographic Exhibition. The 50-object display welcomed eight million people alone in New York in the seventies.

Twice the size of the first King Tut global tour that lasted from 1976 and 1979 and launched an era of “blockbuster” museum exhibitions in seven cities from coast to coast, the new exhibit promises to generate millions of dollars of economic impact in a two-year tour of Florida, Los Angeles, Chicago and Philadelphia. California alone expects to generate an earning of $137 million when the show, which carriers more than two decades of the precious artefacts buried with the mysterious boy king, returns in June 2005...

[More], TravelVideo.tv, Canada, February 03, 2005.

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

Transcript of a Voice of America broadcast about recent discoveries in the Valley of the Mummies - Bahariya Oasis.

Audio is also available in MP3 and RealAudio format.

[More]  Voice of America, February 1, 2005, via EEF News.

The rough and tumble over whether - and if so where - to relocate the statue of King Ramses II is moving up a league.   After nearly 50 years gracing Midan Ramses, one of downtown Cairo's busiest and most polluted squares, the colossal 3,000-year-old statue is scheduled to be moved back to Meit Rahina where it was first unearthed.   Local archaeologists and antiquities experts brawl.

"The statue shouldn't have been placed in Ramses Square in the first place," says professor of antiquities, Dr Ahmed al-Sawi, one of the advocates of moving the statue from downtown Cairo.   "Such a statue is better placed in a museum, not in a public square."

"The statue has been subject to pollution for 54 years now," al-Sawi adds. "The smoke from the cars and buses which fill the square has damaged the statue badly, causing a noticeable change in its colour."

Addressing those who oppose the relocation of the statue on the grounds that it might be harmed in the process, al-Sawi states: "There can't be a project like the relocation of a grand statue like this without some losses.   Anyway, the parts that will be harmed in the body of the statue can be treated very easily after it has been moved to a more suitable place.   Any loss will be minimal, if not negligible."

However, he expresses fear that if the statue is moved again after that, the body might be greatly damaged.   Officials of the Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA) seem intent on moving the statue thereafter to the new Civilisation Museum on the Cairo-Alexandria desert road.

Former chairman of the SCA, Dr Abdel Halim Nour Eddin, is peeved.   He is not of a mind to relocate Ramses.

"According to the latest survey conducted by Egyptian television, more than 70 per cent of Egyptians don't like the idea of moving the statue of King Ramses II to another place," says Nour Eddin in a recent interview with al-Wafd newspaper.

"The public are used to the presence of the statue in its current location," Nour Eddin adds.   "So you can't ask them to pass by the place of the statue and not find it there.   You can't disregard such an affinity that simply."

"Some people say that the presence of a number of flyovers overshadowing the statue cause it damage," Nour Eddin notes.   "To them I say, let's raise the statue above the level of these flyovers.   As for pollution, this is not a problem of Ramses Square alone.   It's a nation-wide affliction."

Nour Eddin explains that the new Civilisation Museum will not be ready to receive Egypt's antiquities for another 10 years at least.   "So to relocate the statue now and then wait another 10 years for the new museum to open would be without any benefits," says Nour Eddin.   "It can be equally abused in its new, but temporary, location.   Yet this time the body of the statue would be past remedy."

Deputy of the College of Hotel and Tourism for Environmental Affairs, Dr Sumaya Hassan, agrees.

"The idea of moving the statue of King Ramses II would damage the square as a whole," says Hassan.   "The square where the statue is currently located was named after the statue.   So, there's no reason why the statue that gave the place a name and a character should be moved."

"The SCA should keep the statue in its current location and better organise the square," Hassan suggests.   "I think the present location of the statue is a thousand times better than Meit Rahina."

[Source]  The Egyptian Gazette, Egypt, 30 January 2005.

One of the most controversial issues among classical archaeologists and historians is the whereabouts of Alexander the Macedonian's tomb.   The issue is not new, chronicled accounts of searching for his final resting place date back to the fourth century AD when many attempts to find his tomb were underway.   However, all proved unsuccessful.

According to historic accounts, Alexander passed away at the age of 33; his body remaining in Babylon for two years owing to disagreement among his four successors as to where to bury him and how to hold a funeral becoming of a such a great leader as Alexander.

Old records contain two versions about Alexander's wish for his burial place.   A Coptic manuscript by an Alexandrian named Khadimon, a member of the old Alexandria library and museum, claims that Alexander wished to be buried in Alexandria.   The other version mentions the temple of Amon in Siwa as his proclaimed wish.

But what is the shape of Alexander's tomb?   According to the historian Buzanias, it is dome-shaped as are tumuli of the period; affected by funerary architecture not only in Alexandria but all over the Hellenistic world.

Some historians believe that Alexander may be buried in Memphis, given that the gods of Memphis were higher in rank than Amon of Siwa.   But such a theory could be refuted on the grounds that the governing seat of the Ptolemies moved to Alexandria, a city which was actually named after him.   There are many reasons to believe that Alexander is buried in Alexandria.

During the many excavations conducted during the search for Alexander's grave, a marble tomb was discovered in 1964 among the Latin graves in Alexandria.

It was thought to be a royal one, owing to the huge amount of alabaster used and the nature of its construction.

It was the only one not carved out of the rocks and had a tumulus shape, as do other royal tombs.   However, there was no definite evidence pinpointing a direct relationship to Alexander.

There are also two accounts linking Alexander with two mosques in Alexandria.   Scholars have reason to believe that 'the leader of two horns' mentioned in the Koran was Alexander, both because of the helmet he used to wear and the vast lands he opened.

It is said that Muslims of the city took his sarcophagus and placed it in the mosque of Al Attarin; later being moved to the British Museum.   However, this sarcophagus proved to be that of Nekhtenabu II.

The second account is that the tomb lies beneath the mosque of Nabi Danial.   Sheikh Mahmud Danial Al Musseli came to Alexandria at the end of the 8th century Hijira and used the mosque - which was at the time named after Alexander - as a place for teaching theology until he died in 810 Hijira.

In 1850AD, a Greek translator said he had looked through an opening in the wooden door of the cellar beneath the mosque of Danial.   He claimed to have seen a glass sarcophagus with a mummy inside which was most probably that of Alexander.   Years later, the sarcophagus was opened and found to be empty.

[Source]  The Egyptian Gazette, Egypt, 3 February 2005.

Sarcophagus of Nectanebo II, British Museum.

Really ancient Egypt!

Earth and planetary scientists at Washington University in St. Louis are studying snail fossils to understand the climate of northern Africa 130,000 years ago.

While that might sound a bit like relying on wooly bear caterpillars to predict the severity of winter, the snails actually reveal clues about the climate and environment of western Egypt, lo [sic] those many years ago. They also could shed light on the possible role weather and climate played in the dispersal of humans "out of Africa" and into Europe and Asia. Periods of substantially increased rainfall compared to the present are known to have occurred in the Sahara throughout the last million years, but their duration, intensity, and frequency remain somewhat unconstrained...

[More]  Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, USA, Feb. 2, 2005, via Archaeologica.

The mighty statue of Ramesses II is set to be moved from down-town Cairo to a new museum planned for the Giza plateau. [Current World Archaeology] report[s] on a cutting-edge scanning project that has been undertaken to record the statue ahead of the move...

[Excerpt], Current World Archaeology, Think Publishing, London, UK, Volume 1, No. 9, Issue 9, January / February 2005.

Subscribe to Current World Archaeology Magazine via Amazon.com.

In Siwa, Rasha Sadek gets as close as one can to nature.

Hundreds of thousands of stars dispersed in the dark but clear blue sky.   As we gathered in a circle stretching our hands out to the fire we set to warm ourselves, I tilted my head upwards watching star constellations.   Although my knowledge is scarce when it comes to astrometry, the blessing of ignorance widened my scope as I imagined new patterns and formations.

Sweet potatoes are ready to be eaten; they've been roasting in the fire for 20 minutes now.   We were not, by the way, in the desert surrounded by sand dunes and sleeping bags.   We were in the backyard of a hotel in the oasis of Siwa...

[More]  Al-Ahram, Egypt, issue 728, 3 - 9 February 2005.

The UK release date of the computer game 'Immortal Cities: Children of the Nile' has finally arrived.

Children of the Nile official website

Below are some reviews pertaining to the American release.

Children of the Nile raises the bar for strategy games, Houston Chronicle, Texas, USA, Jan. 4, 2005.

Imm ortal Cities: Children of the Nile Review for PC at GameSpot, Gamespot.com, 11/11/2004.

A Vault | PC | Immortal Cities: Children of the Nile ReviewNewWorld.com, November 26, 2004.

Child ren of the Nile: Review, Strategy Informer, undated.

PC: Immortal Cities: Children of the Nile, GameSpy, Nov. 4, 2004.

Ever wondered why the ancient Egyptians mummified their animals or what's under all those layers they are wrapped in?   Find out now by visiting our Animal Mummies of Ancient Egypt exhibition.

A unique range of animal mummies are on display for the first time in the UK, including cats, a baboon, a crocodile and birds of prey.   The exhibition explores why animal mummification was practised in ancient Egypt and also explores natural mummification - where the body dries before it decomposes.   There are spectacular examples including a cat buried under the grounds of the Duke of Bedford's house...

[More]  The Walter Rothschild Zoological Museum, Tring, UK, 14 Feb 2005 to 3 July 2005.

The story of the Isle of Atlantis first occurs in Plato’s two dialogues the “Timaeus” and the “Critias.”   Plato’s story centers on Solon, a great Greek legislator and poet who journeyed to Egypt some 150 years earlier.   While in the Egyptian city of Sais Solon received the story of Atlantis from priests.   The priests respected Solon’s reputation and cordially welcomed him.

They also respected the Athenians, whom they regarded as kinsmen, because they believed their deity Neith to be the same deity as the Greeks called Athena.   Therefore, she was believed to be the patroness and protector of both Greece and Egypt.

The story that the priests told Solon was unknown to him. According to ancient Egyptian temple records the Athenians fought an aggressive war against the rulers of Atlantis some 9,000 years earlier and won...

[More]  Yemen Times, Yemen, Issue 812, Volume 13, 31 January 2005 to 2 February 2005.

This one's not strictly ancient Egypt but may be of interest.

A letter by Admiral Lord Nelson detailing his "perfect recovery" after losing an arm in battle has sold at auction for £42,000.

The historic note was the star attraction in a sale of memorabilia belonging to the legendary naval leader which went under the hammer in Edinburgh.

Addressed to the vicar at St George's in Hanover Square, London, the 1797 letter had been expected to sell for about £4,500...

[More]  The Telegraph, UK, 01/02/2005.

cf. Nelson box set to have mast appeal, The Scotsman, UK, 26 Jan 2005.

A tourist article by William J. Lambert III listing Elephantine as one of the most romantic spots he has know.

By the time you’ve traveled 600 miles up the Nile from Cairo to Elephantine Island (where a Nubian ivory market once thrived), you’ve usually overdosed on the pyramids of Giza and Sakkarah, the tombs and temples of Thebes, Luxor, Esna, and Idfu.   You’ve come either by plane (a two-hour flight due south from Cairo), by train (overnight by Wagons-Lits sleeper), by car (a multi-day adventure, depending upon the unreliable Egyptian roads), or by boat (sailing time varying from where you embarked along the Nile); then, by motor launch from the city of Aswan to your hotel on Elephantine Island.   There’s a wider selection of accommodations in Aswan, but the island’s western-style Hotel Oberoi is considered by many seasoned travelers, I included, one of Egypt’s finest...

[More]  Useless-Knowledge.com, Jan. 31, 2005.