About 2000 years after the Gospel according to Judas sowed discord among early Christians, a Swiss foundation says it is translating for the first time the controversial text named after the apostle said to have betrayed Jesus Christ.

The 62-page papyrus manuscript of the text was uncovered in Egypt during the 1950s or 1960s, but its owners did not fully comprehend its significance until recently, according to the Maecenas Foundation in Basel.

The manuscript written in the ancient dialect of Egypt's Coptic Christian community will be translated into English, French and German in about a year, the foundation specialising in antique culture said today...

[More]   The Daily Telegraph, Australia, March 30, 2005.

By Hassan Saadallah

The SCA is collaborating with a Polish team to transform the archaeological city of Marina into an 'archaeological site museum'.   It is the first Roman resort uncovered in the north of Egypt.

Excavations on the site have led to the unearthing of 28 houses and 200 tombs, some of which are carved in the rock up to 10 metres deep.

According to Dr Zahi Hawass, secretary-general of the SCA, Marina is one of the most important Greco-Roman cities found intact on the Mediterranean coast.   It includes villas, temples, palaces, cisterns, baths and tombs that include a memorial of the Roman emperor, Caesar Commodus.   Because of its historic and archaeological significance, measures have been taken to protect it from the creeping urbanisation of modern summer resorts on the coast.

The Director of Lower Egypt Antiquities, Dr Mohamed Abdul Maqsoud, explains that Marina dates to the third century AD and was uncovered by chance in 1986 when a Chinese company was engaged in construction work.   Bulldozers digging on the site exposed parts of columns and baths.   A survey, conducted to probe the area, has revealed that a city as large as 1.5km lies underground.   The city apparently abounds in unique architectural structures.

The team of excavators have managed to outline the features of the city and the roads that link it to a harbour, in addition to the numerous tombs.   Remains of the harbour were found underwater, including quays and breakwaters.   Several archaeological pieces - known as the 'Fayyoum Faces' - were found in good condition.   It is unusual for similar items to be found undamaged in coastal areas.   The villas found show finesse and elegance typical of houses on the coast.   Items used for everyday life such as lamps, spoons, glasses and chairs were also found.   A statue of the goddess of beauty, Afrodite, sitting on a white marble rock was among the excavated items.   Stables have been located alongside villas and the city was surprisingly found to have had an advanced sewerage system.   So far the walls of some of the structures, along with tombs and memorials, have been restored.   Yet a lot more work is still needed to reveal the whole city.

[Source]   The Egyptian Gazette, Egypt, 31 March 2005.

More on the recent boat discovery.

Archaeologists have found the remains of boats used by ancient Egyptians for trading trips, the culture minister said in comments published on Wednesday.

boats were discovered in caves in a pharaonic harbour on Egypt's Red Sea coast around 300 miles southeast of Cairo, Farouk Hosni said in comments carried by Egypt's state MENA news agency...

[More]   Reuters, USA, Mar 30, 2005.

An article by Dennis Prager about Egypt, death and the Torah.

...Egyptian civilization was steeped in death. Its bible was the Book of the Dead, and its greatest monuments, its very symbols, the pyramids, were gigantic tombs...

[More]   WorldNet Daily, USA, March 29, 2005.

Sohag police found an ancient mummy in the Akhmim District fields yesterday.

The discovery of the mummy came in the aftermath of a report sent to Sohag police that a corpse bas been found buried in a field...

[More], Egypt State Information Service, Egypt, March 30, 2005.

Ancient Egyptian mummies on display in museums and stately homes are beginning to offer up their secrets to modern medicine.

Scientists have taken samples of tissue from more than 1,000 mummies to build a medical map revealing the way that disease has evolved over 5,000 years.

Egyptologists at the KNH centre for biomedical Egyptology at Manchester University have been charting the evolution of schistosomiasis, more commonly known as bilharzia, from antiquity to the modern day...

[More] The Times, UK, March 29, 2005.

Also Now, medical check-ups for mummies, The Statesman, India, March 29, 2005.

Nevine El-Aref previews the Egyptian Museum's exhibition highlighting the work of French Egyptologists George Legrain and Jean François Champollion.

Today at sunset Culture Minister Farouk Hosni, Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA) Secretary-General Zahi Hawass, French Cultural Attaché Denis Louche and senior French and Egyptian officials and archaeologists are schudled to attend the opening of the special exhibition "Champollion, Legrain... Treading the Land of Egypt" at the centennial hall of the Egyptian Museum.

The exhibition has come to Cairo after six months in the capital of the French Alps, Grenoble, where it marked the centenary of Egyptologist George Legrain's famous discovery of the Karnak Cachet.   It also coincides with the ninth International Congress of Egyptologists...

[More]   Al-Ahram, Egypt, Issue No. 735, 24 - 30 March 2005.

An interesting article relating to a new book by Desmond Zwar called "The Queen, Rupert & Me."

The article attributes the discovery of Tutankhamun's tomb to a British spy named Richard Adamson, working on Carter's team, rather than Carter himself.

[More]   Middle East Times, Cyprus, March 22, 2005.

Minister of Culture Farouk Hosni agreed to the establishment of a laboratory Museum to renovate a number of papyri at the Egyptian museum with total cost of 2 million euros earmarked by an Italian university.

Dr. Zahi Hawass, Secretary-General of the Supreme Council for Antiquities said that the project will be the biggest in the Middle East.

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

On April 7, 2005 at 11 a.m. at the Bowers Museum, a team of radiologists and curators will conduct computed tomography (CT) scans of six ancient Egyptian mummies from the renowned collections of the British Museum.   The mummies are the focus of the Bowers’ upcoming landmark exhibition, Mummies: Death and the Afterlife in Ancient Egypt, which opens April 17, 2005.

This is the largest collection of CT scans ever performed on Egyptian mummies utilizing the newest, state of the art technology.   This historic event, a first in Southern California, will occur in cooperation with the British Museum; Moran, Rowen & Dorsey, Inc. (MRD), a radiology group that provides cutting edge diagnostic medical imaging in Orange County; General Electric, a leading medical technology company; and Mobile Interim Solutions, an industry leader in boost diagnostic imaging capacity at medical facilities...

[More]   Art Daily, Mexico, March 29, 2005, via Archaeologica.

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.

More on the recent ship discovery.

The first remains of ancient Egyptian seagoing ships ever to be recovered have been found in two caves on Egypt's Red Sea coast, according to a team at Boston University in the US.

The team also found fragments of pottery at the site, which could help resolve controversies about the extent of ancient Egyptian trade voyages.   But details of the newly disclosed finds remain sketchy.

Kathryn Bard, who co-led the dig with Italian archaeologists in December 2004, has revealed to the Boston University weekly community newsletter that the team found a range of items - including timbers and riggings - inside the man-made caves, located at the coastal Pharaonic site of Wadi Gawasis...

[More]   New Scientist, UK, 23 March 2005.

Melissa Saad's sixth-grade classes at Mariner Middle School got up-close and personal with the ancient Egyptian practice of mummification this year.

As part of their social studies class, students mummified chickens.

"When you're dealing with such ancient history, it's hard for them to connect," Saad said.   "Their energy level is super high with this.   It has kept their interest in studying ancient Egypt going..."

[More]   The News-Press, Florida, USA, March 22, 2005.

...the Sun God Ra was the most universally worshipped king of the gods and all-father of creation. He commanded a chariot that rode across the sky during the day...

[More]   Science Blog, 18/03/2005, via ArchaeoBlog.

Skeletal remains held by the National Museum of Scotland have been identified as a lost Egyptian queen and her child.

The discovery has been made by scientists who used forensic investigative techniques to attempt to solve the mystery of the remains.

The bodies were acquired for the collection a year after being discovered by Sir Flinders Petrie in 1909 at Qurna, a village on the west bank of the Nile, which has been the focus of illegal excavations...

[More]   The Herald, Scotland, UK, March 22 2005, via Archaeologica.

An Egyptian-Canadian mission unearthed a Fort from the Old Kingdom in Fairuz area in South Sinai.

The mission, which is represented by experts from Egypt's Supreme Council for Antiquities and Toronto University, was conducting digging operations in Sahl El Markha site, 160 kilometers south of Suez, on the Western Coast of Sinai.

Dr. Mohamad Abdel Maqsoud, director-general of the Lower Egypt and Sinai monuments, said the unearthed stone fort rose three to Four metres high.

The Fort was discovered inside turquoise and copper mines in the area.

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

Kathryn Bard had "the best Christmas ever" this past December when she discovered the well-preserved timbers and riggings of pharaonic seafaring ships inside two man-made caves on Egypt's Red Sea coast.   They are the first pieces ever recovered from Egyptian seagoing vessels, and along with hieroglyphic inscriptions found near one of the caves, they promise to shed light on an elaborate network of ancient Red Sea trade.

Bard, a CAS associate professor of archaeology, and her former student Chen Sian Lim (CAS'01) had been shoveling sand for scarcely an hour on their first day of excavation on a parched bluff rising from the shore at Wadi Gawasis when a fist-sized hole appeared in the hillside.   "I stuck my hand in, and that was the entrance to the first cave," Bard says.   "Things like that don't happen very often in archaeology..."

[More]   B.U. Bridge, Boston University, Massachusetts, USA, Vol. VIII, No. 23, 18 March 2005.

Thieves have taken £15,000 worth of ancient Egyptian figurines and a human skull from Bagshaw Museum, Wilton Park.

The figurines, known as Shabtis, are carved from stone and jade. They are small statuettes which were buried with the dead to work as servants in the afterlife.

The burglars smashed a double-glazed window and broke through shutters to reach the religious artefacts overnight last Friday.

[More]   Dewsbury Today, UK, 18 March 2005.

The production of replicas of Egyptian artifacts is a team work process that reveals the beauty of our heritage helps in the spreading of our heritage, archaeological awareness, and plays a role in tourist publicity.

The Ancient Egyptian Art Revival Centre (AEARC) affiliated to the Supreme Council for Antiquities is a project that derives its glamour from of wonder of the ancient Egyptian heritage...

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

The golden jewelry collection from Egypt's Dush Temple was displayed in Cairo's Egyptian Museum on Tuesday for the first time since its discovery by French archaeologists 16 years ago.

The collection, dating back to the Greco-Roman period, features a golden diadem fronted by an image of the god Serapis and a 493-gram (one pound) necklace in the form of a snake ornamented with golden coins from the second half of the second century AD...

[More]   Middle East Times, Cyprus, March 16, 2005.

By Hassan Saadallah

Suez was not untouched by the ancient Egyptian civilisation.   It actually played a crucial role as a trading and political link with the Euphrates civilisation until the end of the Roman age.   This was highlighted by excavations and discoveries last year in the Gulf of Suez, which now brings the number of ancient sites -- dating back to ancient Egyptian, Greek, Roman and Nabati times -- up to 29, clustered around four different areas.   The first lies south of Suez, embracing l3 sites, while another, containing ten sites, lies north of Suez.   The third area lies to the west of Suez, with the fourth site found inside the city itself and includes Tel Al Yahudia and Tel Qalzam.

The newly discovered sites pertain to pre-historic ages and early dynasties.   Excavators found five etched rock panels on Suez Zaafarana road, spread along a line of about five kilometres.   Similar panels were found to the west of the first site.   Circular and oval shaped quarry worker houses were discovered at Al Khafuri, with pottery chard found inside the clustered structures.

A quarry -- whose rocks were most probably used in building Amon temple at Ain Shams in Cairo -- was also found on the Cairo-Suez road.   Two water wells were uncovered near Abu Dawoud at the foot of a mountain which may have been used for gathering rain water to supply quarry workers with their needs.

An ad-hoc committee is to be formed by the Supreme Council for Antiquities to inspect the newly discovered sites, which are to undergo restoration work as soon as possible.

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

More on...

Egypt has reclaimed seven rare pieces of antiquities from Britain that were stolen a couple of years ago.

The 9,000-year-old pieces that resurfaced during a purchase attempt in Britain early this year arrived aboard in EgyptAir plane from London and were transferred to the Egyptian Museum amidst tight security measures.

The seven pieces were stolen from the Museum of Cairo University's Faculty of Arts.

[Source], Egypt State Information Service, Egypt, March 17, 2005.

The supreme council for Antiquities (SCA) announced that the Polish mission excavation in the Qurna has made one of the biggest Coptic finds in Egyptian history.   While working in one of the tombs in Luxor's Barr Gharbi (west bank), the Polish group discovered three papyrus books including important Coptic writings, dating back to the sixth century AD.   Although the tomb where the books were found dates to a much earlier era, Dr. Zahi Hawass, director of the SCA, explained that the early Copts, who suffered from persecution, had probably hidden the important books in an ancient tomb for fear of discovery.   Hawass further added that the finds are equal in importance to the Naga Hammadi manuscripts, which were discovered inside some clay urns.   This find is likely to shed light on the practices of the early Egyptian Copts and includes a book with a decorated wooden cover (22.5cm by 17cm) and another book comprising 50 pages and bound in a leather cover.   The third book has both wooden and leather covers, but is in very bad condition.   Theologists cannot wait for the restoration processes to begin, so as to start deciphering the information to be found inside the books.

[Source]   Egypt Today, Egypt, Volume #26, Issue 03, March 2005.

Customs die hard, nowhere more than in Egypt.   Archaeological documents show that from as early as the Old Kingdom up to modern times, an endemic and persistent distrust in medicine and justice, as practiced in the land, often led the Egyptians to address their requests for health and legal redress directly to their dead relatives and the gods.   Later, when monotheistic religions prevailed, they were addressed to saints whose extraordinary powers had become firmly rooted in popular belief.

In a paper presented to the Eighth Congress of Egyptologists, Cairo, 2000, ("Letters to the Dead in Ancient and Modern Egypt"), historian Hisham El-Leithy cites 15 letters from the Old Kingdom [c.2613-2181 BC] written in hieratic (a script based on hieroglyphics but simplified and using abbreviations), sent to dead relatives as well as other letters, written in demotic (the everyday script used from the middle of the 8th century BC until the 4th century BC) to certain gods.   He noted that letters from the Middle Kingdom [c. 2050-1786 BC] were no longer addressed to the deceased but to deified humans such as the god Prince Hekayeb.   It's a practice that continued until the late New Kingdom [c. 1567-1320 BC] when letters were found addressed to Amenhotep son of Hapu (c.1546-1526 BC), an Old Kingdom physician and architect remembered for his miraculous cures.   El-Leithy mentions a letter in hieroglyphics addressed to Amenhotep by a princess who called him a great physician and complained about trouble with her eyes...

[More]   Egypt Today, Egypt, Volume #26, Issue 03, March 2005.

Museum to exhibit golden pieces discovered in 1989.

A collection of Roman-era gold treasures has spent centuries hidden from view, either concealed by thieves in a clay jar, buried under the desert or languishing in a dusty corner of Cairo's rambling Egyptian Museum.

Yesterday, the set of magnificent gold necklaces, crowns and coins dating to the second century were put under the spotlight when Cairo's 102-year-old museum began a program to give prominence to many of its neglected exhibits in new monthly displays.   The pieces being exhibited were discovered in 1989 by a French archaeology team digging in Cairo's vast Western Desert...

[More]   AP via Winston-Salem Journal, USA, March 16, 2005.

More on the South Sinai temple restoration.

Egypt's Supreme Council for Antiquities (SCA) has allocated 12-million Egyptian pounds (about R12,3-million) to renovate a twelfth dynasty Pharaonic temple in Egypt's southern Sinai, an official said on Monday.

SCA Secretary-General Zahi Hawass announced that the project to renovate the Sarabit el-Khadim temple is expected to be complete and open to tourists in May...

[More]   IOL, South Africa, March 14 2005.

"The Higher Council for antiquities will finalize in May 2005, the implementation of the complete project for development renovation of Serbaeet temple[1] at south Sinai.

Where, this temple is considered as one of the most important of the Egyptian temple that has been established in Sinai for God "Hot our"[2]; that is well known for "Turquoise lady" said yesterday Head of the Supreme Council of Antiquities Dr Zahi Hawass...

[More], Egypt State Information Service, Egypt, March 15, 2005.

[1]Serabit el-Khadem or Serabit al-Khadem.

[2]Hathor.

Long before Shakespeare portrayed her as history's most exotic femme fatale, Cleopatra was revered throughout the Arab world — for her brain.

Medieval Arab scholars never referred to the Egyptian queen's appearance, and they made no mention of the dangerous sensuality which supposedly corrupted Julius Caesar and Mark Antony.   Instead they marvelled at her intellectual accomplishments: from alchemy and medicine to philosophy, mathematics and town planning, a new book has claimed.

Even Elizabeth Taylor, who famously played the title role in the 1963 epic Cleopatra, would have struggled to inject sex appeal into this queen.   Arab writers depict Cleopatra's court as a place of intellectual seminars and scholarship rather than the more traditional vision of kohl-rimmed eyes and hedonistic intrigue.

"They admired her scientific knowledge and her administrative ability," the book's author Okasha el-Daly, who is based at the Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology at University College London, said.

In Egyptology: The Missing Millennium he writes that "Arabic sources often refer to Cleopatra as 'the virtuous scholar' and cite scientific books written by her as the definitive works in their field".   She was also regarded as a great builder, he claims, responsible among other things for a canal to supply Alexandria with Nile water...

[More]   The Times, UK, March 14, 2005.

Computer generates lifelike appearance for ancient remains.

Computer technology has given new life to a 3,000-year-old Egyptian woman whose linen-wrapped mummy rests in the Denver Museum of Nature & Science.

Golden-based medical researchers used CT scans and a computer-controlled fabrication process developed at MIT to re-create the skull and face of a mummy nicknamed Bess.

It is believed to be the first time that the high-tech modeling process, called 3D Printing, has been used to reconstruct a mummy's facial features, said Steve Humphries, director of business development for Medical Modeling of Golden [, Colorado]...

[More]   Rocky Mountain News, Colorado, USA, March 9, 2005.

cf.   Denver Museum of Nature & Science's Egyptian Mummies exhibition.

I'm a bit late with this one having only just spotted in this week's Explorator.   The New York Times have reprinted Howard Carter's obituary from the 3rd of March 1939.

LONDON, March 2. -- Howard Carter, Egyptologist who earned world fame for his discovery and exploration, in association with the fifth Earl of Carnarvon, of the tomb of Tut-ankh-Amen, died in his London home today at the age of 66...

[More]   New York Times, New York, USA, March 3, 1939.

A somewhat different take on the recent publication of the Tutankhamun CT scan results.

Experts may have recently established that Tutankhamen was not assassinated after all but his death remains a mystery and his "curse" continues to hang over the head of late British archaeologist Howard Carter, who discovered the legendary Pharaoh's sarcophagus...

[More]   Middle East Times, Cyprus, March 10, 2005.

The desert highway runs from Cairo to Alexandria down at the coast.   Risking life and limb, peasants harvest the olive trees separating the northbound and southbound lanes.

Outside the city gates we pass the Birqash Camel Market on the very edge of the Western Desert.   For centuries, caravans have travelled the length of Egypt on the Forty Days Road from the troubled region of Darfur, Sudan, to the world's biggest camel souq.

Following the Rosetta branch of the Nile after the mightiest of rivers divides north of Cairo, the highway heads into the salt marshes of the delta.   Resisting the urge to follow alluring signs to the monasteries of Wadi Natrun, the battlefields of El Alamein and the city ruins of Zagazig, we zigzag past modern leisure resorts salvaged from the sands...

...Two hours after leaving Cairo, we arrive at the city gates of Alexandria, the capital of Graeco-Roman Egypt founded by Alexander the Great in 331 BC...

[More]   IOL, South Africa, March 12 2005.

In an exclusive interview with the eTurbo News, the secretary-general of the Egyptian Supreme Council of Antiquities Dr. Zahi Hawass confirmed the results of the CT scan performed on the mummy of boy King Tutankhamun.

Results from the test indicate the teen pharaoh was not murdered but may have suffered from an infected wound from a broken leg.   A week before his arrival to the United States for a public lecture in Pennsylvania (March 18) on King Tut and the latest finds, he gives the eTN this exclusive scoop...

[More]   TravelVideo.TV, Canada, Mar 11, 2005.

Robert Connolly, Senior Lecturer in Physical Anthropology from the University's Department of Human Anatomy and Cell Biology, is working with the Egyptian authorities to analyse recent findings from a CT scan of the mummy and has been asked to comment on suggestions by scientists that Tutankhamen died as a result of an infection following an injury to the femur bone.

Mr Connolly has re-analysed the original X-rays of the leg taken by Professor Ronald Harrison in 1968 and has found no evidence, such as the involvement of soft tissue, to suggest that the fracture in the femur bone became infected...

[More]   EurekAlert, USA, 10-Mar-2005.

A delegation from Egypt's Supreme Council for Antiquities arrived in London Wednesday to receive eight ancient Egyptian antiques, which were recovered from an auction hall in Britain after they were posted on an Internet website in preparation for selling them.

Egypt's ambassador to Britain Jihad Madi said that the antiques were stolen from the museum of the Faculty of Arts, Cairo University, in 2002 and smuggled abroad...

[More], Egypt State Information Service, Egypt, March 10, 2005.

It looks like it's going to take a little bit longer than expected to move the gigantic red granite statue of Ramses II from its current location in Cairo's busiest square.

Early Monday, at the Culture Ministry's Zamalek headquarters, hundreds of Egyptian and international photographers and journalists crowded around a small model of the Ramses II statue that stands in the downtown square that bears its name, reports Nevine El-Aref.   The model was loaded onto two vehicles, custom-made to carry the 83-tonne statue from in front of Cairo's central railway station to its new home near the Grand Egyptian Museum being planned for the Giza Plateau.

Culture Minister Farouk Hosni told reporters that a real life trial move would take place in the next two months.   A copy of the statue -- formed to its exact weight and shape -- would be used to test the stability and power of the vehicles meant to transport it.   The replica would even take the "deteriorating parts of the real statue into account," Hosni said...

[More]   Al-Ahram, Egypt, Issue No. 733, 10 - 16 March 2005.

After studying a comprehensive CT-scan of Tutankhamun's mummy, scientists discounted a century-old idea that the boy king died after being hit on the back of the head. Nevine El-Aref reports.

The 3,300-year-old mummy of Tutankhamun underwent a CT-scan in January; ever since then, Egyptology enthusiasts everywhere have been eagerly awaiting the results.   Would the scan help to uncover the secret behind the boy king's early death?

In a small, dimly lit room in the basement of the Egyptian Museum, a group of Egyptologists, radiologists, anatomists, pathologists and forensic experts examined the 1,700 CT-scan images of Tutankhamun's mummy that were taken in Luxor.   After weeks of thorough discussions, the group unanimously agreed that the young king, who died at age 19, was not killed after being hit on the back of his head, as was traditionally believed...

[More]   Al-Ahram, Egypt, Issue No. 733, 10 - 16 March 2005.

A three-dimensional X-ray scan of Tutankhamun's mummy found no evidence to support theories that he was murdered but failed to solve the 3,000-year-old mystery of how the young Egyptian pharaoh died.

Some members of the investigative team say he might have died from an infected thigh wound, but others doubt this, saying that injury may have been inflicted later by archaeologists, according to the team's five-page report released yesterday...

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

Audio version of the story is also available.

One of the great mysteries of ancient Egypt has just become a little less mysterious. Scientists who've been studying the 3,300-year-old mummy of King Tutankhamen say computerized scans contradict the long-held theory that a blow to the head killed the boy pharaoh...

[More]   National Public Radio, USA, March 9, 2005.

Tutankhamun's CT scan report is now available on one of Zahi Hawass' websites and can be found here...   Press Release: Tutankhamun CT Scan, 8 MARCH, 2005.

Thanks to Katherine Griffis-Greenberg at the Forum of Amun for bringing this to my attention.

More on the Tutankhamun CT scan results, after yesterday's midday announcements and the flurry of internet publications, some of today's paper-based publications have caught up.

King Tut deposed by broken leg

Theories that Egypt's boy king was a victim of murder have been challenged by new research.

The hunt for the murderer of King Tutankhamun appeared to be over yesterday as medical tests showed that he was likely to have died after an accident...

[More]   The Times, UK, March 09, 2005.

King Tut's broken leg may have killed him, scan reveals

The mystery of how Tutankhamun - the boy king of ancient Egypt - died has been partly solved.   He was not murdered but he had a broken leg that could have killed him...

[More]   The Independent, UK, 09 March 2005.

Scan reveals King Tut's mysterious injury

The results of a CT scan done on King Tutankhamun's mummy indicate the boy king was not murdered, but may have suffered a badly broken leg shortly before his death at age 19 - a wound that could have become infected, Egypt's top archaeologist said today...

[More]   The Guardian, UK, March 8, 2005.

Siwa has been popular place since Alexander the Great sought oracle.

In 331 B.C., a young Alexander the Great led a small group for eight days through Egypt's Western Desert to a distant oasis, seeking the legendary Temple of Amun in hopes that its powerful oracle would confirm his status as a demigod.   Obligingly, the oracle did so, and Alexander went on to conquer the known world.

Happily for today's adventurous travellers, the trip now takes only about 11 hours by bus from Alexandria -- a trek long by today's standards but relatively reasonable when the modern tourist considers that, according to ancient legend, 50,000 Persian soldiers were swallowed by sandstorms on their way to the same oasis, never to be seen or heard from again...

[More]   Ventura County Star, California, USA, March 6, 2005.

This month's Focus magazine contains an eight-page article of interest to  Egyptophiles.

Archaeologists working in the harbour of Alexandria are recovering artefacts from the times of Alexander the Great and Cleopatra.   Sally Palmer investigates the exiting project to raise Egypt's lost treasures from the deep.

"If you wish to enjoy an unblemished youth," and oracle is once said to have told Alexander the Great, "you must found a glorious city."   Alexander took these words to heart — he founded around seventy cities over his war-and-glory studded life — but the most famous was Alexandria, in Egypt.   Aged just 25, Alexander chose a gridded layout for his city and drew it in flour in a shape that resembled a soldier's tunic.   Construction began on 20 January 331BC, but the city continued to thrive and grow after his death in 323BC.   With its own unique civilisation, it became the fabled intellectual and artistic hub of Ancient Egypt, on a par with that of Greece and Rome...

Focus, UK, #149, April 2005.

Box-outs include a timeline, Surveying the Ocean Floor, Underwater Excavation: How it's Done, Valuable Finds so Far, Portus Magnus, The Lighthouse of Pharos, and Ask the Expert with Franck Goddio.

Swiss experts are helping restore the Osireion - one of the most important burial sites of ancient Egypt, which is crumbling away with time.

The 4,500-year-old Osireion was a place of pilgrimage for the ancient Egyptians, who went there to worship King Osiris — the father of pharaonic culture — who they believed was buried there...

[More]   SwissInfo, Switzerland, March 5, 2005.

Few visitors to the Giza plateau are aware that the pyramids, Egypt's Old Kingdom treasures and testaments to early pharaonic history, were almost dismantled about 170 years ago. It is hard to imagine that these ancient structures, the most popular tourist sights in Egypt, were nearly sacrificed as part of the plan to modernize that country. Yet, shocking as the idea now seems, Egypt's absolute ruler at the time seriously envisioned and nearly executed the project. To understand what transpired, and to place this story in historic context, one must return to early 19th-century Egypt...

[More]   Jean-Daniel Stanley, American Scientist, Volume 93, Number 2, March-April 2005, via HallOfMaat.

King Tutankhamun was not murdered and may have died of complications from a broken leg, say researchers who hope the pharaoh will now be left alone.

A CT scan on the Egyptian king's 3,300 year-old mummified body indicates that he may have suffered the fracture shortly before his death, aged 19.

Egyptian antiquities chief Zahi Hawass said the research suggests the boy king died after the wound became infected.

Not all the team agree, but all now reject the long-standing murder charge...

[More]   BBC News, UK, 8 March, 2005.

Some pictures I haven't seen before with this one.

King Tutankhamun was not murdered, but may have suffered a bad broken leg shortly before his death at the age of about 19, a CT scan on the 3,300-year-old mummified body of the pharaoh has revealed.

The Egyptian-led research team, which included a Swiss and two Italian experts, examined 1,700 three-dimensional color images produced by a 15- minute CT scan taken two months ago. The results left no doubt.

"The team found no evidence for a blow to the back of the head, and no other indication of foul play," a statement released Tuesday by Zahi Hawass, chairman of Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities, said...

[More]   Discovery Channel News, USA, March 8, 2005.

There is also a 46 photo slideshow on Yahoo! News.

A three-dimensional X-ray scan of Tutankhamun's mummy has found no evidence for murder but has failed to identify any other agreed cause of death for the pharaoh, who died in 1352 BC at the age of about 19.

Some members of the investigative team say he may have died from an infected thigh wound, but others doubt this, according to the team's five-page report, released on Tuesday.

Some historians have speculated that the legendary ruler was killed, based on his young age and the turbulent political and religious circumstances at that period in Egyptian history.

"We don't know how the king died, but we are now sure that it was not murder. Maybe he died on his own," said Zahi Hawass, chairman of Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities...

[More]   Reuters, UK, Mar 8, 2005.

Also No Sign Tutankhamun Murdered But Mystery Unsolved, Reuters via Wired News, UK, March 08, 2005.

The results of a CT scan done on King Tut's mummy indicate the boy king was not murdered, but may have suffered a badly broken leg shortly before his death at age 19 — a wound that could have become infected, Egypt's top archaeologist said today.

Zahi Hawass, secretary general if the Supreme Council of Antiquities, announced the results of the CT scan about two months after it was performed on Tut's mummy.

Hawass said the remains of Tutankhamun, who ruled about 3,300 years ago, showed no signs that he had been murdered — dispelling a mystery that has long surrounded the pharaoh's death...

[More]   AP via Baltimore Sun, Maryland, USA, March 8, 2005.

Also Mystery solved: King Tut not murdered, AP via Globe and Mail, Canada, March 8, 2005.

An archaeological team is to head for London tomorrow to restore eight artifacts dating back to pre-history ages.

"The pieces of antiquities were stolen many years ago from the storeroom of Faculty of Arts in Cairo University, then smuggled abroad," said Zahi Hawass, Secretary General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities. The council succeeded in preventing selling the artifacts in public auction in Britain, added Hawass, noting that the pieces have been handed to Egyptian embassy.

[Source], Egypt State Information Service, Egypt, March 07,2005.

The Egyptian government Monday unveiled plans for the delicate task of moving a granite statue of the Pharaoh Ramses II, 3,200 years old and weighing 83 tons, from central Cairo to a new site near the Pyramids.

The statue has stood in a square outside Cairo's main railway station for 50 years but with the growth of the city the square has become increasingly noisy and polluted...

[More]   Reuters, UK, Mar 7, 2005.

Also Egypt Unveils Plans to Move Ramses Statue, Reuters via Yahoo! News, USA, Mar 7, 2005.

Archaeology Magazine's Mark Rose reviews a couple of Hieroglyphic textbooks.

"Put writing in your heart, that you may protect yourself from hard labor of any kind and be a magistrate of high repute."   There you have it, advice from a 19th Dynasty (1298-1187 B.C.) inscription: Learn your hieroglyphs and you'll be on easy street.   But just how easy is it? Perhaps the ancient Egyptian texts that warn young scribes not to yield to the temptations of beer or women -- or even, indeed, "working in the field" -- give a clue...

[More]   Archaeology Magazine, USA, Volume 58 Number 2, March/April 2005.

By : Hassan Saadallah

Manifestations of ancient Egyptian civilisations have dazzled people across the world. Egyptian Coptic art, dating from Roman rule until the Islamic conquest, has proved no less attractive.

Upon request from the Hungarian Cultural Counsellor to Cairo, samples of Coptic art will be flown to Budapest this month to be displayed in a two-month exhibition, beginning 15th March.

The exhibition will display some l29 Egyptian pieces - insured at US$20 million - of which 90 will be borrowed from Cairo's Coptic Museum and 39 from Alexandria's Graeco-Roman Museum.

Among the items displayed, there will be 28 wooden artefacts, pottery artefacts bearing inscriptions of birds and crosses, in addition to stone artefacts, icons, lamps, bronze pots and l3 pieces of cloth bearing drawings of crosses and other Coptic symbols.

The exhibition is expected to be a major tourist attraction for East European tourists.

[Source]   The Egyptian Gazette, Egypt, 4 March 2005.

By : Hassan Saadallah

Al Farama Church, lying northwest of Al Qantara Sharq in Sinai, is one of the area's major tourist attractions. Local Bedouins know the church as Tel Makhzan - Hill of Storehouses - due to the large number of storerooms the building embraces.

History books mention a great deal about this area at the beginning of Christianity in Egypt. A manuscript records the martyrdom of a saint in the early fourth century who was famous for his writings and wise opinions about social and religious matters. In fact, the area is rich in the number of churches unearthed over the years. The largest of these churches is the Basilica whose alter and columns have now been restored. A large water reservoir and water distribution canals were among the important finds of the church.

The southern church is made up of several smaller chapels, built one above the other and dating back to the fourth century AD. The northern church needed substantial restoration, especially to the walls which had to be reinforced in order to prevent collapse. In the church's vicinity, tombs were found, along with a well and a furnace, possibly used for glass making.

A team of SCA excavators engaged on Moses Mountain in Sinai has uncovered large quantities of pottery that date back to Roman, Byzantine, early Coptic period and Islamic ages. They have also found engraved stones, some bearing Latin text and others Arabic script, dating to the tenth century AD (the fourth Hijra century).

On the same site, they have found remains of glassware and pieces of marble bearing black writing. Unfortunately the script is unreadable due to weathering. Small bronze and copper coins have also been unearthed, yet their age is hard to determine due to their corrosion.

[Source]   The Egyptian Gazette, Egypt, 4 March 2005.

Yet more on the Australian team's mummy discoveries.

Australian archaeologists digging near the Saqqara pyramids, 15 miles south of Cairo, have discovered some of the best-preserved Egyptian mummies, dating from about 2,600 years ago, Egypt's Supreme Council for Antiquities has announced.

The Australian team, headed by Macquarie University Professor of Ancient History Naguib Kanawati, unearthed the mummies by accident last week, while exploring a much older tomb...

[More]   The Discovery Channel, USA, March 3, 2005.

By Zahi Hawass

Four Egyptian individuals objected to the recent examination of King Tut.   Their objection was not based on scientific evidence.   Rather, one of the objectors wanted his name in the media and used his objection as an excuse to be in the newspapers.   The second was upset because in the past he had wanted to do DNA testing on the mummy but the minister of culture, Farouk Hosni, refused his request because DNA testing had not been found to be accurate when dealing with mummies.   He was therefore upset that another team was being allowed to do an examination of the mummy.   This person acted like the devil.   When he was on TV, his face was filled with fire, jealousy and hatred.   It was a case of sour grapes.   The third was a young archaeologist who believes he is an expert in mummies when in fact he is a novice who has the knowledge in archaeology of a recent graduate from university.   The fourth, however, is a good friend of mine whom I respect.   He was the one who first initiated the project, but resigned because of a disagreement we had.   He wanted to control the reading of the CT-scan, and I wanted experts to read it to ensure it was read accurately without any speculation...

[More]   Al-Ahram, Egypt, Issue No. 732, 3 - 9 March 2005.

Saqqara's recently unearthed graves shed new light on the area's significance as a sacred necropolis.   Nevine El-Aref visits the site.

Coincidence often plays a major role in discoveries in Egypt. This is evident from the unearthing of Tutankhamun's tomb in Luxor, the royal treasures of Tanis in Delta and Khufu's solar boats in Giza, to mention but a few examples.

This time, archaeologists digging in Saqqara -- which is perhaps more commonly known by its Ancient Egyptian name Memphis* -- came quite unexpectedly upon four remarkable troves: three anthropoid sarcophagi and two painted statuettes of the renowned Saqqara's god Ptah-Sokar dating back to the late Pharaonic period, as well as a Naos and a false door from the Fifth Dynasty.

The story of this discovery began early this month when a team of Australian archaeologists of Macquarie University [were] clearing the debris located at the northern side of Teti's pyramid in Saqqara in an attempt to discover the northern and western limits of the necropolis...

[More]   Al-Ahram, Egypt, Issue No. 732, 3 - 9 March 2005.

*Memphis is the Ancient Greek name.   The ancient Egyptian name was 'Inbw-hedj', which means 'White Walls' or 'White Fortress'.

Groundbreaking CT scans of the celebrated pharaoh King Tut will be displayed in the National Geographic exhibition "Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs," scheduled to begin a four-city, 27-month tour of the United States on June 16, 2005, at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA).

Tickets for the exhibition will be on sale to the public March 3 through the end of the exhibit's stay in Los Angeles on Nov. 15, 2005.   The tour is organized by National Geographic, AEG Exhibitions and Arts and Exhibitions International, with cooperation from the Egyptian Supreme Council of Antiquities.

Tickets for the three other tour cities, Museum of Art, Fort Lauderdale (opens December 2005); The Field Museum, Chicago (opens May 2006) and The Franklin Institute, Philadelphia (opens February 2007) go on sale in the coming months...

[More]   PRNewswire via Yahoo!, March 1, 2005.

cf. Official Exhibition Website

Buy the book, by Zahi Hawass, that accompanies the exhibition from either Amazon UK or Amazon US by clicking the book covers below.

UK     US  

Naguib Kanawati is "over the moon" after discovering three perfectly preserved Egyptian mummies in an ancient cemetery near Cairo.

The remains, estimated to be about 2600 years old, date back to Egypt's 26th Dynasty.

The mummies — two men and a woman — were decorated with exquisite bead netting and placed inside human-shaped coffins carved from Lebanese cedar.

"(The find) will be an incredible addition to our knowledge," said Professor Kanawati, an Egyptologist based at Macquarie University in Sydney...

[More]   The Australian, Australia, March 04, 2005.

cf. The Australian Centre for Egyptology, Macquarie University, Sydney Australia

After the flurry of Associated Press (AP) and Australian Associated Press (AAP) copy, Reuters have finally got in on the act.

Australian archaeologists have discovered a tomb thought to belong to the tutor of the Pharaoh Pepi I, who ruled Egypt more than 4,200 years ago, the Egyptian government's chief archaeologist said on Thursday.

The archaeologists found the tomb last month alongside one containing three coffins from a much later period, Zahi Hawass, chairman of the Supreme Council for Antiquities, told Reuters...

[More]   Reuters, UK, Mar 3, 2005.

Archaeologists in Egypt have uncovered what is believed to be one of the world's best-preserved mummies.

Dating from 500 BC, the mummy was among three found near the Saqqara pyramids, just south of Cairo.   Vanessa Heaney reports.

[Video]   BBC News, UK, 03/03/2005.

Hidden in a sprawling tomb behind a pair of ancient statues in the capital of ancient Egypt, a team of Australian archaeologists has found one of the best-preserved mummies, reports Anne Penketh.

The green eyes stare out unblinkingly from the beaded mask. The woman's dark eyebrows and terracotta face look as fresh as they ever did.

Yet the figure covered in turquoise beads and swaddled in black linen, nestling in a wooden sarcophagus, is believed to be 2,500 years old.

Egypt's chief archaeologist, Zahi Hawass, yesterday proudly unveiled what he described as probably one of the best-preserved mummies ever...

[More]   The Independent, UK, 03 March 2005.

Also Australian archaeologists impress with mummy find, ABC News, Australia, March 3, 2005.

More on the examination of a mummy by Manchester University.   See also my previous post here.

The secrets of a 2,500-year-old Egyptian mummy are about to be revealed, thanks to experts at The University of Manchester.

Researchers in the Centre for Biomedical Egyptology were approached by a school in East Sussex asking if they could examine the ancient remains...

[More]   ScienceDaily, USA, 2005-03-01.

A 3,300-year-old bust of the Egyptian queen Nefertiti went on view Tuesday at a new, temporary home in Berlin as the centerpiece of a special five-month exhibition.

Nefertiti, one of Berlin's best-known cultural treasures, was put in a padded box late Monday and driven to the Kulturforum complex from the Egyptian Museum, part of the collection's move from former West Berlin to the capital's historic downtown area...

[More]   AP via Yahoo! News, USA, Mar 1, 2005.

The permanent committee of Egyptian archaeology agreed in its latest meeting under Supreme Council of Antiquities SCA Secretary-General Zahi Hawass on carrying out an integrated project for protecting and restoring the capital of ancient Delta in Tel Basta, Sharkeya governorate.

The project will be implemented with a total cost of LE 50 million over two years, according to the Lower Egypt and Sinai Archaeology Department general manager Mohammed Abdul Maksoud, noting that the project is one of the most tremendous projects to be carried out by the SCA in collaboration with the German archaeological mission in Egypt.

[Source], Egypt State Information Service, Egypt, March 02, 2005.

Archaeologists uncovered three coffins and a remarkably well-preserved mummy in a 2,500-year old tomb discovered by accident — after opening a secret door hidden behind a statue in a separate burial chamber, Egypt's chief archaeologist said Wednesday.

The Australian team was exploring a much older tomb — dating back 4,200 years — belonging to a man believed to have been a tutor to the 6th Dynasty King Pepi II, when they moved a pair of statues and discovered the door, said Zahi Hawass, Egypt's top antiquities official...

[More]   AP via Yahoo! News, USA, Mar 2, 2005.

Also Well-preserved, 2,500-year-old mummy found behind secret door in Egyptian tomb, Canadian Press via Yahoo! News, USA, Mar 2, 2005.

Also Behind the secret door: a remarkable mummy, AP via The Globe and Mail, Australia, March 2, 2005.

28 Photographs can be found here!

Australian archaeologists have discovered one of the best preserved ancient Egyptian mummies dating from about 2,600 years ago, Zahi Hawass, the head of Egypt's Supreme Council for Antiquities said Monday.

The Australian team digging near the Saqqara pyramids, 15 miles south of Cairo, found three coffins last week dating from the 26th Dynasty (664-525 BC), Hawass told Reuters...

[More]   Reuters via Yahoo! News, USA, Feb 28, 2005.

Also Pyramid dig reveals three mummies, The Daily Telegraph, Australia, March 2, 2005.

Also Middle East dig finds mummies in good shape, Reuters via The Guardian, UK, March 1, 2005.

Also Australians unearth priceless mummies, AAP via News.com.au, Australia, March 01, 2005.   This one contains more detail than the others.

Also Science: Aust archaeologists find ancient mummy, Reuters via KeralaNext.com, India, March 01, 2005.

Also Australian dig unearths priceless Egyptian mummies, AAP via Sydney Morning Herald, Australia, March 2, 2005.

Also Aussie team celebrates mummy find, The Australian, Australia, March 01, 2005.

Mysterious mummies, beautiful beads - it's all Aunt Ethel's fault these things keep David Silverman awake at night.

Beginning at age 5, he accompanied his intrepid aunt to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York to see her favorites, post-impressionist art and "Egyptian stuff."   Who could have guessed those frequent forays into Manhattan from his home in Bayonne, N.J., would light a fire for "Egyptian stuff" that burns still?

Now 60, Silverman is curator of the Egyptian section of the University of Pennsylvania's Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology.   Last week he spoke excitedly about a tomb uncovered by an Australian expedition in the ancient necropolis of Saqqara, just south of Cairo...

[More]   Philadelphia Inquirer, Pennsylvania, USA, Feb. 28, 2005.