for Egypt week

Discovery Networks Europe, a division of leading global real-world media and entertainment company Discovery Communications, today announced that it has signed a pan-European sponsorship deal with The Egyptian Tourist Authority to promote Egypt and The Red Sea Riviera as a holiday destination.

The campaign will launch simultaneously with Discovery Channel's Egypt Week programming special on 27 March and will be fully integrated both on the channel and the company's interactive platforms...

[More]   AME Info, UAE, March 23 - 2005.

Further information to follow as I cannot find anything obvious on Discovery UK's website.

The colossus of Queen Merit Amon, the wife of Ramses II, was discovered last year by an Egyptian-German team at Tel Basta in Sharqia. Since then it has been restored and placed on a concrete base in Tel Basta's open museum.

The colossus is three metres high, weighs seven tonnes and bears inscriptions on its back revealing the name of the queen and some aspects of her life.

Tel Basta lies about 80 kilometres northeast of Cairo and is one of the Delta's richest archaeological sites. It was of great significance in the Old Kingdom, flourishing from the 5th dynasty until the end of the Roman period. Its primary monument is the red granite temple of the cat-goddess Bastet, which was documented by the Greek historian Herodotus in the fifth century BC. The site also includes the temples of the 6th dynasty pharaohs Teti and Pepi I; a pair of jubilee chapels built by Amenemhat III and Amenhotep III; as well as temples dedicated to the gods Atum and Mihos.

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

The SCA is carrying out a huge project to restore the Ramesside temple on the west bank of the Nile in Luxor. So far, the first stage has already been implemented, including the registration of all architectural elements and the reinforcement of the first gateway which was in a precarious condition owing to rising underground water.

The mortuary temple of Ramses II was built on an area of l200m2 by the cult of Amun. The principle building was a typical New Kingdom stone temple consisting of two successive courtyards, a hypostyle hall leading to a room, and a sanctuary. The complex includes the remains of a royal palace, a large number of mud-brick granaries and storerooms.

The temple, as Dr Hawass explains, was almost destroyed by an ancient earthquake. He noted that the front of the gateway was covered by inscriptions and reliefs of the famous battle of Qadesh against the Hittites. On the entrance's sides are seen reliefs of Ramses II offering sacrifice. While the first courtyard no longer contains its original 16 columns, the remains of a granite colossus of Ramses in a seating position still exist.

The second courtyard was originally distinguished by two rows of columns of which only eight survived the earthquake. The hypostyle hall used to rely on 48 columns divided into six rows. The hypostyle hall leads to a room for the sacred Bark - a ritual boat containing a cult image. The walls of the room were decorated with reliefs of the priests' sacred parade.

Dr Hawass concluded that the Ramesside temple needs years to be restored to its original shape.

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

By :Hassan Saadallah

A team of Egyptian excavators have recently uncovered the remains of stables, barracks and storehouses at Tel Al Sabha, 88 kilometres southeast of Al Arish. This once acted as a stopover point on the ancient trade route that linked Arabia with Gaza and Arish.

The route was in use between 200 BC and 50 AD, said Dr Zahi Hawass, secretary-general of the Supreme Council for Antiquities (SCA). He explained that several routes serving military, trade and religious purposes crossed Sinai in order to link Egypt with Sham and Hijaz. The oldest of these routes was the old military road known as Horus.

The structures discovered were built of limestone which was brought from quarries in the mountainous area near Tel Al Sabha. The find includes an 11m2 administrative structure which was divided into three chambers. The floors are made of a combination of tiles and limestone, covered by a layer of mortar in order to produce a smooth surface.

There is also a small group of three houses. The first is rectangular, consisting of three rooms and two storehouses inside of which were found stoves and pottery chard which date back to the Roman age. A millstone made of red sandstone was among the find in addition to a Roman bronze coin and a storage surface for placing daily-used pots.

The second building comprises a hall, measuring 6.5x4 metres, and a room, measuring 2.4x3.3 metres, inside of which was a furnace. The third building is triangular, measuring 8.8x5.8 metres and containing two rooms.

Horse stables were also uncovered on the site. It is worth noting that the western wall of the 7.2x7.4 metre stable structure is built on a higher level than its opposite wall which means that the building followed natural contours without levelling the site.

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