Ahem.

The underwear once worn by the ancient Egyptian pharaoh Tutankhamun is the centerpiece of a new touring exhibition entitled "Tutankhamun and the Golden Ass of the Pharaohs."   After a successful run in Europe, where it was entitled "Tutankhamun: the Golden Behind," the exhibition will be visiting Los Angeles, Chicago, Fort Lauderdale, and Philadelphia starting next month.

In order to learn more about the king's life, Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA) has conducted a DNA test on the underwear.   "The ancient Egyptians invented the DNA sample," says director general of the SCA, Zahi Hawass...

[More]   The Spoof!, May 29, 2005, via ArchNews.

An old article from the Harvard Magazine, definitely worth a read if you haven't seen it before.

Not slaves.   Archaeologist Mark Lehner digging deeper, discovers a city of privileged workers.   By Jonathan Shaw.

... The question of who labored to build them, and why, has long been part of their fascination.   Rooted firmly in the popular imagination is the idea that the pyramids were built by slaves serving a merciless pharaoh.   This notion of a vast slave class in Egypt originated in Judeo-Christian tradition and has been popularized by Hollywood productions like Cecil B. De Mille's The Ten Commandments, in which a captive people labor in the scorching sun beneath the whips of pharaoh's overseers.   But graffiti from inside the Giza monuments themselves have long suggested something very different...

[More]   Harvard Magazine, Harvard University, Massachusetts, USA, Volume 105, Number 6, July-August 2003, pp. 42 - 49, 99.

The United Nations Postal Administration. are issuing, on the 4th of August 2005, a set of six stamps to commemorate World Heritage in Egypt.

World Heritage - Egypt

An eight page article can be found in Fascination the Philatelic Journal for Collectors, no. 306, 3/2005, pp. 14 - 21.

Thanks to Peter Grey for this one.

Tour Egypt have published an exclusive interview with Dr. Zahi Hawass by Adel Murad in Cairo.

[More]   TourEgypt.net, Texas, USA, May 24, 2005.

Action Products International, Inc. ... announced that the company is shipping two of its I DIG(R) items to art museums for the next seven years as the acclaimed Tutankhamen exhibit tours art museums across the United States...

Our research department continues to create outstanding toys that enhance a child's learning experience and our total sales to museums...

[More]   BusinessWire, USA, May 26, 2005.

Thus spoke the Sphinx -- to Fatemah Farag.

No one took me seriously when I suggested going to the Sound and Light Show at the Giza Pyramids.   "Get a life," friends and family would scoff, notwithstanding my insistence that "a healthy interest in ancient heritage" should be commended as a rule.   And dragging a resigned hubby to the village of Nazlet Al-Semman, adjacent to which the said show is held in the vicinity of no other than the Sphinx was the only way I could feel vindicated.   There are few road signs to guide you through the ill paved streets leading up to this world-class spectacle, but stopping to ask directions on the way is hardly frowned on, in the end.   It was precisely three stops after the Nazlet Al-Semman turning -- right beneath the Giza Plateau, as if to refute every legal and archaeological argument against it, the neighbourhood bubbles with life -- that a bunch of policemen appeared, followed by several busloads of tourists.   You are only expected to come in a group, it seems, with a driver who knows his way about...

[More]   Al-Ahram, Egypt, Issue No. 744, 26 May - 1 June 2005.

Rasha Sadek sinks into the depths of Alexandria's Mediterranean in search of the city's submerged archaeology.

Shakespeare's writings are immortal and so, too, are the settings of his plays.   Cleopatra's Palace that once saw the most thrilling drama of Mark Anthony, Cleopatra and Octavius, has survived time and nature, standing haughtily underneath the waters of the Mediterranean Sea of Alexandria.

Thanks to the earthquake that rocked Alexandria in 1323 the Mediterranean has preserved to divers one of the seven wonders of the world -- Alexandria's Lighthouse, the remnants of which now lie nine metres on the sea bed.

A new tourist attraction has found its way to historical Alexandria.   Wreckdiving is a dive into history where entire cities, palaces and ships from Pharaonic and Graeco- Roman times -- dating as far back as 300 BC -- lie beneath the Alexandrian shore...

[Source]   Al-Ahram, Egypt, Issue No. 744, 26 May - 1 June 2005.

Astrology centre or suburbia?   Nevine El-Aref visits another Heliopolis.

The word Heliopolis brings to mind a chic suburb built in 1905 by Baron Empain.   What the name originally refers to is in fact an area 10km away; today it covers the lower middle- class quarters of Ain Shams, Matariya and Tel Al-Hisn.   A city of antiquity, it was more or less completely obliterated in modern times.   Connected to the Nile by a canal, Heliopolis (the Ancient Egyptian Iunu and Biblical On) was always a place of eminence.   As early as pre-dynastic times it was considered a holy site -- a fact to which the discovery, in the 1950s, of a large cemetery containing 145 human and 14 goat and dog mummies testified.   Simple graves set into round or oval pits of various sizes and depths -- a few of them were lined with reed or wood -- they contained only the most basic items.   Subsequent studies by the archaeologist credited with the discovery, Fernand Debono, and the Desert Institute point to the performance of ritual activities in these burial chambers, with hearths suggesting funerary meals...

[Source]   Al-Ahram, Egypt, Issue No. 744, 26 May - 1 June 2005.

By Hassan Saadallah

Executive steps have already been taken towards the construction of the huge museum on the Cairo-Alexandria highway, said Minister of Culture, Farouk Hosni.   An Egyptian company is currently preparing a 117 feddan site where the largest museum ever will be established at a total cost of US$550 million.   Despite the substantial cost, finance is no problem - in addition to the Supreme Council for Antiquities (SCA) money, international fund-raising campaigns are planned, the first of which is already accompanying the Tutankhamen US exhibition.

The current stage of construction will last four months and will include building a fencing wall, the removal of encroaching structures, the preparation of subways within the site and their provision with lighting.

According to Yasser Mansour, head of the Technical Committee, weekly meetings are held with an advisory team comprised of l4 Egyptians and international bureaux and companies to execute the winning design of Irish architect Shefring.   However, by next month tenders will have been invited to establish a restoration centre, a power station and a fire brigade; all of which will be operative before the completion of the museum premises.   Mansour said that l00,000 artefacts will be extracted from a variety of museums and archaeological sites across the country to be restored and well-stored until the construction of the museum, a process which will take three years.

He went on to say that by mid-October the blueprint of the exhibition halls will be ready.   The design relies on an ingenious idea that allows an individual to see the pyramids of Giza from inside the halls and from all angles.

Simultaneous to the construction of the Giza museum, another huge project is underway: the construction of the National Civilisation Museum at Fustat, south of Cairo.   The first stage of this project is already completed.

As Ayman Abdul Moniem, supervisor of the project explains, the museum is different from the others given that it will display items belonging to all Egyptian cultures from pre-historic until modern times.   The museum is to occupy an area of 25 feddans and is scheduled to be completed in the course of three years with estimated costs of LE200 million.   It is designed to exhibit some 50,000 pieces revealing Egyptian accomplishments in all areas.

The idea of the museum goes back to the early l980s when a competition was organised for designers under the supervision of UNESCO.   The result was announced in l985 and a site at the Gezira grounds was suggested.   However, this area was too small for such a huge project given that it required at least 50,000 metres squared.   The project was therefore postponed until a new site was chosen in Fustat, the old capital of Islamic Egypt.

The building occupies an area of about five feddans only, while the remaining 20 will be used as a garden and for annexed services.   UNESCO was keen to allow a panoramic view of the chosen area so that vision would not be blocked by high rises.

UNESCO takes special interest in the museum since it is all-embracing of Egyptian culture and administers several cultural activities such as movie shows, theatre performances and laboratories.   The display halls have been designed so that the Islamic wing will have as a background the mosque of Amr Ibn Al Ass whereas the Coptic wing will take the nearby Coptic museum as its background.

The first construction stage of the museum has already been completed whereas the second and final phase focuses on interior design.   The items to be displayed have already been chosen and their labels are being prepared.

The museum will not only present artefacts but also other objects that highlight features of the Egyptian civilisation.   It will give an idea about the people who lived on the banks of the Nile, their thoughts and daily life.   For this reason the museum will display objects donated by the Railway Authority and the Ministries of Agriculture and Transportation.

[Source]   The Egyptian Gazette, Egypt, May 26, 2005.

By Hassan Saadallah

The Monastery of Anba Antonius in the East Desert is of worldwide importance given its status as the first monastery ever.   The monastery dates back to the fourth century AD and is currently undergoing a restoration process for which some LE25 million has been allocated.

The founder of the monastery, Saint Antonius, has a long story and a marked role in the foundation of monasticism.   Born in 251AD at a small village in Beni Suef, Antonius grew up to be a pious Christian.   One day while praying in church, he listened to certain lines from the Bible that inspired him to sell his property, divide the money among the poor, and dedicate himself to the worship of God.   During the period of Christian oppression at the hands of Roman Emperor Iclidianus in 311AD, Antonius toured prisons in Alexandria to support prisoners.   When oppression abated, he went out into the desert where he spent twenty years in seclusion.   However, people frequented him asking for advice and help.   In fear of becoming self-conceited, he travelled deeper into the East Desert where he was unknown to anyone.   He travelled in the company of some Bedouins, finally settling in a cavern, eating from nearby palm trees and drinking from a water spring.   To this day, the spring remains the main source of water for monks and visitors to Saint Antonius' monastery.

Because he was granted the gift of healing people by God, he became very famous and as result people came to him from distant places.   However, some of them opted to settle in his neighbourhood and upon their persistence he had to establish a place for them for worship and reside.   This was the first monastery ever.

The restoration of the monastery began four years ago and is now almost half-way complete.   However, because the monastery has several extensions added in later years, the project has classified the existing structures into religious, archaeological and modern religious dwelling places and services structures.   The archaeological part includes the monastery, a mill, an oil press, Anba Morqos Church, The Virgin Church and a fortress. The residence includes the monks' cells and a guest palace which was initially a mere room with an annexed area for cooking.   In the age of Patriarch Kirilus IV, it was converted into a palace comprising four rooms and a hall.

Work on the site has not yet come to an end as some structures in addition to the fencing wall still need restoration, commented Essam Kamel, Director of the Engineering Administration of the SCA.   Excavations are also to be conducted to uncover the extension of the fortress that goes back to the 6th century AD.

The school, modern monks' cells in and outside of the wall, and the dining hall that was used for offering food to Bedouins, which are all classified as non-archaeological, will undergo some changes so that their facades will integrate with the rest of the archaeological structures on site.

[Source]   The Egyptian Gazette, Egypt, May 26, 2005.

£500m redevelopment of former white elephant will include 23,000- seat arena, music hall of fame and exhibition space.

...

The first big show to hit The O2's exhibition centre will be a collection of artefacts found in the tomb of the Egyptian boy-pharaoh Tutankhamun...

[More]   The Guardian, UK, May 26, 2005.

The Smithsonian Magazine have an article on the "Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs" exhibition which opens soon at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.

An exhibition featuring the first CT scans of the boy king's mummy tells us more about Tutankhamun than ever before.

"The problem with Tutankhamun is that you have an embarrassment of riches of objects, but when you get down to the historical documents and what we actually know, there is very little," says Kathlyn Cooney, a Stanford University Egyptologist and one of the curators of the first Tutankhamun exhibition to visit the United States in more than a quarter-century...

[More]   Smithsonian Magazine, Sminthsonian Institute, District of Columbia, USA, June 2005.

Official exhibition website: Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs

The return of King Tut pits a growing reliance on big-ticket glitter against museums' mission to enlighten.

The mummy of Tutankhamun lies in pieces in its tomb in Egypt's Valley of the Kings.

It was dismembered, beheaded and cut in half in 1925, when Westerners separated Tut's resin-stuck corpse from its solid-gold coffin, making a literal hack job of it.

Maybe it's poetic justice, then, that Tut's return is exposing growing philosophical clefts in the corpus of the American art museum...

[More]   Los Angeles Times, California, USA, May 22, 2005, via Cronaca.

A letter published in last week's Al-Ahram decrying the Tutankhamun CT scan and the 'tragic state of our antiquities'.

Sir -- I am sickened and appalled by the unending desecration of the mummies of our ancient ancestors by the current Egyptian Antiquities authorities 'Tutankhamun unmasked' (Al-Ahram Weekly, 12-18 May).   What is even worse is to learn that this desecration is performed for the unimportant purpose of achieving inconclusive results about the cosmetic appearance of a deceased Pharaoh, based on interpretive speculation by modern computer technicians...

[More]   Al-Ahram, Egypt, Issue No. 743, 19 - 25 May 2005.

A long article (published over five-pages in the Sunday Times Magazine supplement) that takes pot-shots at Zahi Hawass and drags up the Joann Fletcher Nefertiti affair again.

They call him the Pharaoh, the keeper of the pyramids.   He rules Egyptology with an iron fist and a censorious tongue.   Nobody crosses Zahi Hawass and gets away with it.   As the fabulous treasures of Tutankhamun begin a world tour, Richard Girling excavates the conspiracies, conflicts and fears that curse the world of archaeology.

... It is Hawass who holds the keys to the pyramids, the Valley of the Kings, the Sphinx, Abu Simbel, everything.   No Egyptologist gets in without his permission, and few will chance his anger...

... Hawass is a one-man conflict zone who could start a war in an empty sarcophagus...

[More]   The Sunday Times Magazine, UK, May 22, 2005.

Rebekah Miracle is working on Mark Lehner's Giza Mapping Project and maintaining a weblog during her time in Egypt on the project.

Check it out here:   Rock the Casblog

All three versions of the Tutankhamun facial reconstruction - the French, American, and the Egyptian team's versions - have been uploaded to the EEF website.

[More]   EEF via ArchaeoBlog.

The spring 2005 issue of Egyptian Archaeology Magazine was published some weeks ago now but I forgot to blog it at the time.

A summary of its content follows.

• Dominic Montserrat and Egyptian Archaeology by Patricia Spencer
• Satellite imaging in the pyramid fields by Miroslav Bárta and Vladimír Brůna
• Mendes: city of the ram-god by Donald Redford
• Marsa Nakari: an ancient port on the Red Sea by John Seegar and Steven Sidebotham
• The Tuthmoside stronghold of Perunefer by Manfred Bietak
• The great naos of Nekhthorheb from Bubastis by Neal Spencer
• All this pottery, what is it about? by Janine Bourriau
• Two graves and a well at Sais by Penny Wilson
• The quarries of Gebel Gulab and Gebel Tingar, Aswan by Elizabeth Bloxam and Per Storemyr

[More]   Egyptian Archaeology, UK, No. 26, Spring 2005.

The magazine can be purchased via Oxbow Books / David Brown Book Co. here.

World-renowned producer John Haymen has nominated Yusra and Dalia Al Buhairi for roles in his upcoming film, "Nefertiti Queen of the Nile."   Haymen has also chosen Egyptian actors Hani Salama and Khaled Al Nabawi for supporting roles.

Hugh Hudson has been chosen as director, and Ahmad Othman, who resides in England, wrote the script; the film is expected to receive international recognition...

[More]   Al Bawaba, Jordan, May 23, 2005.

The tourism industry in Egypt is keeping a close eye on business following two recent attacks that appeared directed at Westerners.   Some operators have reported cancellations, while others see no change.   Tourism is Egypt's premier foreign currency earner.   "The effects were very limited. It lasted two days, and now it's over..."

[More]   IPS News Service via Dawn Group, Pakistan, May 21, 2005.

Archaeology Magazine's Mark Rose reviews a forthcoming History Channel TV show.

A documentary looks at the subject's roots and an ambitious project to document the Nile's ancient civilization.

Two shows are somewhat awkwardly stuck together in The Search for Eternal Egypt, which premieres on the History Channel, Sunday, June 12, 7 pm ET/PT.   One half of the show is an overview of the development of Egyptology featuring prominent scholars, mostly filmed on-site.   The other half of the show focuses on an ambitious partnership between Egypt's Supreme Council for Antiquities and IBM that aims at making ancient Egyptian culture available to all.   The documentary bounces back and forth between these two themes, but the feel of the two parts is very different, and the transitions from talking heads in the field to computer specialists and digitized images are abrupt despite the efforts of narrator Omar Sharif...

[More]   Archaeology Magazine, USA, May 23, 2005.

A 'letter to the editor' published in the St. Petersburg Times by Will Michaels, executive director of the St. Petersburg Museum of History.

Re: 2,300 years later, mummy looks good, May 4.

Yes, your front-page picture of the newly discovered 2,300-year-old mummy is exciting.   The golden mask and brilliantly colored images on the burial cloth are stunning.

But local residents and visitors do not need to go to Saqqara, Egypt, to see an Egyptian mummy.   We have an even older mummy right here in St. Petersburg at the Museum of History...

[More]   St. Petersburg Times, Florida, USA, May 22, 2005.

A tourist article by Blasio Byekwaso, Kampala, Uganda.

My tour of Egypt in June last year was in fulfilment of a promise I had made. It was a fact finding tour about what my primary teachers taught me about the pharaohs, who built gigantic pyramids regarded as one of the seven wonders of the ancient world...

[More]   allAfrica.com, South Africa, May 21, 2005.

Minister of Culture Farouk Hosni stated that the first phase in constructing the Grand Museum of Egypt at Cairo-Alexandria desert road has already started.   One of the Egyptian companies is paving the new location on 117 feddans and at a cost of L.E 5 million.

Farouk Hosni affirmed that everything concerning the construction is undergoing accurate according to set schedules.   He said that there is no problem in the finance and there are alternatives as the finance we get from the Supreme Council of Antiquities besides the international aid from international agencies.   For the first time we have an American commitment for hosting "Tutankhamen" exhibit in four American states and the aid will be directed to the Museum construction...

[More], Egypt State Information Service, Egypt, May 22, 2005.

The ancient Egyptian civilization is adored by the French people who always seek for discovering secrets in this great civilization.   The latest French discovery was recomposition of an approximate image for Tut- Ankh-Amun's face.

The French magazine "Le Figaro" published a detailed report on this discovery which was also circulated in all international and regional magazines were interested in this issue.

The report shows the great role which was played by the team who were working in the Egyptian mummy project...

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

Mayor of Hanover City in Germany will inaugurate an exhibition on Wednesday about the history of Copts in Egypt under the title "2000 years of Christianity on the Nile banks".   The inauguration ceremony will be attended by the Egyptian cultural counselor and Anba Demian of Copts in Germany.

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

Queen Nefertiti, famed in the ancient world for her outstanding beauty, is to be reincarnated in an ambitious new British feature film...

The Nefertiti project has a budget of £63 million and will be directed by Hugh Hudson 24 years after he received four Oscars for Chariots of Fire.   The queen and her husband, the Pharaoh Akhenaten, abandoned the gods and priests of Karnak at Thebes and built the glorious city of Tel al-Amarna to worship the sun god...

[More]   The Times, UK, May 20, 2005.

... Vignovich and fellow reading teacher Therese Holt decided to make three chicken mummies with their students at Hiatt, 1214 E. 15th St., after another staff member discovered a recipe for the birds on the Internet.   Their classes read about Egypt and the mummification process, and they decided to take on the lengthy project to help reinforce what the students learned...

[More]   Des Moines Register, Iowa, USA, May 19, 2005.

Even more beer!   This one includes a good photograph.

A 5,000-year-old chamber once used as the burial rituals of Egypt's first major pharaoh was discovered, Egyptian authorities announced Thursday.

Archeologists believes that this chamber was used as a mortuary enclosure of King Hor-Aha, the founder of Egypt's First Dynasty.

"It is a very important discovery because it would provide us with new information about the First Dynasty," Zahi Hawass, head of Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities, was quoted as saying...

[More]   AP via Xinhua News Agency, China, May 20, 2005.

More beer!   This is a longer article than the first ones but I'm not sure it has any more than yesterday's one from the Scotsman.

Archeologists uncovered a 5,000-year-old chamber believed to have been used in the burial rituals of Egypt's first major pharaoh, and found a cache of 200 rough ceramic beer and wine jars, Egyptian authorities said Thursday.

The mortuary enclosure of King Hor-Aha, the founder of Egypt's First Dynasty, also included a chapel stained by what are likely the remains of sacrificial animals, Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities said.   "It is a very important discovery because it would provide us with new information about the First Dynasty," said Zahi Hawass, head of the council.

The beer and wine jars were found in excavations along the walls of the mortuary enclosure of King Khasekhemwy, a Second Dynasty pharaoh who ruled around 2700 BC...

[More]   AP via Canoe CNEWS, Ontario, Canada, May 18, 2005.

A longer version of the story about ancient wine and beer jars being found at Abydos.

Archaeologists uncovered a 5,000-year-old chamber believed to have been used for the burial rituals of Egypt's first major pharaoh found a cache of 200 rough ceramic beer and wine jars, Egyptian authorities said today.

The mortuary enclosure of King Hor-Aha, the founder of Egypt's First Dynasty, also included a cultic chapel where the floor and benches are stained with organic material – probably the remains of offerings made during rituals, Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities said.

"It is a very important discovery because it would provide us with new information about the First Dynasty," Zahi Hawass, head of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, told The Associated Press...

... The beer and wine jars were found in excavations along the walls of the mortuary enclosure of King Khasekhemwy...

Archaeologists Unearth 5,000-Year-Old Jars, PA News via The Scotsman, UK, May 19, 2005.

Archaeologists digging in a 5,000-year-old site in southern Egypt have unearthed 200 rough ceramic beer and wine jars and a second mud-brick mortuary enclosure of King Hor-Aha the founder of the First Dynasty, Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities said Wednesday.

A joint American excavation mission from Yale University, Institute of Fine Arts, the Pennsylvania University Museum and New York Universities found the treasure Wednesday at Shunet El-Zebib, north of Abydos in the Upper Egyptian city of Sohag.

[More]   AP via NewsDay, USA, May 18, 2005.

cf. Ancient Beer, Wine Jars Found in Egypt, AP via ABC News, USA, May 18, 2005.

cf. Ancient Beer, Wine Jars Found in Egypt, AP via The LA Times, California, USA, May 18, 2005.

cf. Ancient Beer, Wine Jars Found in Egypt, AP via The Washington Post, District of Columbia, USA, May 18, 2005.

All versions of the article are Associated Press copy and equally as short or information.

...

So is this Tut, Tut?   The method of face-making engenders reasonable doubt.   An Egyptian team created a model skull from the scans; French and American teams were given plastic skulls fashioned from the scans by the National Geographic Society.   "Anthropological sculptor" Elisabeth Daynes of Paris went so far as to fabricate a silicon cast with glass eyes, hair, eyelashes.   Skin tone was guessed, and Daynes reportedly "added jewelry and makeup appropriate for the period."   Images of her model are the Tut we see.

But the right makeup, the right jewelry?   The result looks appropriately... Parisian.   And androgynous...

[More]   The Philadelphia Inquirer, Pennsylvania, USA, May 18, 2005.

An official report revealed that 827,347 tourists visited Egypt during March, with an increase of 26 percent over March 2004.   A total of 6.8 million nights were spent by tourists in Egypt while $724 million was spent.

The report, issued by the Internal Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics, showed that most tourists came from Southern and Western Europe, followed by Eastern Europe, then the Middle East, North America and Africa...

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

Let's hope that the recent events haven't had too much of an impact.

A couple of news articles rolled into one from TravelVideo.TV.

At the necropolis of Saqqara necropolis, 25 km south of Giza, an Egyptian team headed by Dr. Zahi Hawass, secretary general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA), stumbled upon a beautiful Late Period mummy, as well as two false doors, within the vicinity of the pyramid of the sixth dynasty King Teti...

... Dr. Hawass announced Tuesday the results of three independent attempts to reconstruct the face of Egypt's most famous king, Tutankhamun...

[More]   TravelVideo.TV, Canada, May 19, 2005.

Two world-renowned teams of experts on Egyptian mummies have joined forces in an international effort to better understand disease and its treatment in ancient Egypt.

The University of Manchester's Centre for Biomedical Egyptology and Cairo's National Research Center have signed a formal agreement to enhance future academic research and teaching in the field.

The Manchester-Cairo alliance will promote cooperation between the two institutions by supporting joint research activities and encouraging visits and exchanges by their staff and students...

[More]   Medical News Today, UK, May 18, 2005.

cf. International alliance to unlock secrets of Egyptian mummies, Manchester University, UK, May 17, 2005.

Ahem, tongue firmly in cheek :-)

Archaeologists working at a dig 30 kilometers southeast of the Pyramid of Cheops have discovered what is believed to be the oldest known Steely Dan song, dating from the XXVIII Dynasty (2580-2475 B.C.) during the reign of Funkankhamen IV.   The song was inscribed on the funeral cartouche of a high priest of Ra and was written in a form of hieroglyphics peculiar to that Dynasty.

"It's an amazing discovery," said Dr. Dewey Sarbanes, professor of Egyptology at Columbia University and one of the world's leading experts on the pop music of the ancient world...

[More]   Broken Newz, May 17, 2005.

McWane Center's latest big exhibit has taught a valuable lesson to its organizers: think interactively.

"Tutankhamun: Wonderful Things from the Pharaoh's Tomb," did not meet the science museum's attendance expectations, the museum's president said.

Although well-done, the exhibit was better suited for an art museum and needed to be more interactive to draw in visitors, said Tim Ritchie, president of McWane Center...

[More]   Birmingham Post-Herald, Alabama, USA, May 16, 2005.   Scroll down.

Egypt's boy pharaoh has fascinated the world since the first glimpse of his tomb in 1922.   Now modern forensics and high-tech imaging offe= r new insights into his life—and death.

An angry wind stirred up ghostly dust devils as King Tut was taken from= his resting place in the ancient Egyptian cemetery known as the Valley of= the Kings.   Dark-bellied clouds had scudded across the desert sky all day and now were veiling the stars in casket gray.   It was 6 p. m. on January 5, 2005.   In a few moments the world's most famous mumm= y would glide headfirst into a CT scanner brought here to probe the lingering= medical mysteries of this little understood young ruler who died more than= 3,300 years ago.

...

When the valley closed to the public at dusk, Egyptologists in jeans and laborers in long robes and turbans got to work....

[More]   National Geographic Magazine, USA, Vol. 207, No. 6, June,= 2005.

Modern technology puts a face on the famous Pharaoh and -- curses! - - lays to rest a 3,300-year-old murder mystery.

The fearsome mummy that spawned a legendary curse and a generation of horror movies turns out to have been a slender, buck-toothed teenager who probably died after a serious accident.   A team of Egyptian scientists recently put King Tutankhamen through a medical scanner, generating 1,700 highly detailed three-dimensional images of the boy king's remains.   Using an exact model of Tut's skull, three forensic teams then reconstructed the face behind the famous golden mask...

[More]   TIME Magazine, USA, Vol. 165, No. 21, May 23, 2005.

Minister of Culture, Farouk Hosni agreed to assign a delegation from the ministry under Ibrahim Abdul Meguid to restore three pieces of antiquities.

The pieces are the portraits of the faces of three ancient Egyptians, said Zahi Hawass, Head of the Supreme Council for Antiquities, asserting that this wooden portrait was to be placed on the tombs.

The pieces were given to Egyptian embassy in Athens by a Greek national.

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

The tourism industry in Egypt is keeping a close eye on business following two recent attacks that appeared directed at Westerners.

Some operators have reported cancellations, while others see no change. Tourism is Egypt's premier foreign currency earner.

"The effects were very limited.   It lasted two days, and now it's over," ministry spokesperson Hala Khatib [said]...

[More]   IPS via allAfica.com, South Africa, May 16, 2005.

Supreme Council of Antiquities SCA Secretary General Zahi Hawass stressed that the pharaonic bronze statues of the Egyptian embassy in Jordan received are in good condition and were placed at the Egyptian Museum for restoration in preparation for the display.

Hawass added that the statues that were found inside onions sacks comprise 16 ancient Egyptian artifacts of lengths ranging between 11-7 cm.

[Source], Egypt State Information Service, Egypt, May 16, 2005.

Humans have been downing beer for millennia.   In certain instances, some drinkers got an extra dose of medicine, according to an analysis of Nubian bones from Sudan in North Africa.

George Armelagos is an anthropologist at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia.   For more than two decades, he and his colleagues have studied bones dated to between A.D. 350 and 550 from Nubia, an ancient kingdom south of ancient Egypt along the Nile River.

The bones, the researchers say, contain traces of the antibiotic tetracycline...

[More]   National Geographic News, USA, May 16, 2005.

The Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA) Secretary-General Zahi Hawass said that the Tutankhamen artifact will tour four American cities.

Zahi Hawass added that the artifact will be ferried from the German city of Bonn to the US city of Los Angeles at the outset of a US tour during the coming few days.

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

An article and interview with Matt Adams the excavation director at the Abydos dig.

When Matt Adams was 8 years old he knew what he wanted to do with his life.

Since the 1990s he has been living his dream of uncovering an Egypt that existed in the days of the first Pharaohs - an Egypt before they were mummified and before the pyramids were built.

Adams, a 1980 Parkersburg High School graduate, said he found archaeology interesting from a young age...

[More]   Parkersburgh News & Sentinel, West Virginia, USA, May 16, 2005.

Archaeology Magazine's Mark Rose has reviewed the National Geographic Channel special "King Tut's final Secrets" / "King Tut's Curse" show.

... "King Tut's final Secrets" is actually pretty good and is certainly worth watching.   The most immediate problem is that it covers several subjects all at once, using a back and forth technique -- three minutes in Tut's tomb, three minutes on the facial reconstruction, two minutes on the curse, then back to the tomb.   Each time you are left hanging, and after a couple hours I was tired of it.   I mention this at the beginning of this review because it makes better sense to ignore that (annoying) structure and take the subjects one at a time...

[More]   Mark Rose, Archaeology Magazine, USA, May 13, 2005.

The modern perception of the legendary Egyptian Queen Cleopatra as a beautiful and manipulative diva is opposed by a new study that suggests that the real Cleopatra was in fact far more respected for her intellectual prowess than for her physical beauty.

In his new book, Egyptology: The Missing Millennium.   Ancient Egypt in Medieval Arabic Writings, Dr Okasha El Daly presents substantial new evidence from studies of a neglected thousand-year period of Arab scholarship which uncovers a Cleopatra in stark contrast to the popular image of a hedonistic, deceiving and over-ambitious ruler...

[More]   50 Connect, UK, undated, via Explorator.

Buy it from Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.com, or Amazon.ca.   Also available in paperback from Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.com, or Amazon.ca.

A different perspective on the Tutankhamun CT scans from Alan Attwood in The Age newspaper, Australia.

Can't a man get some sleep?   Even after 3300 years Tutankhamen isn't able to rest.   He's been mapped and measured, scanned and sculpted.   Now scientists have come up with 3D models of what the boy king would have looked like.   Frankly, I was less impressed by his oddly shaped head than the realisation that Andre Agassi's haircut was big in Egypt all those years ago.

It's guesswork anyway.   Don't be fooled by anthropological mumbo jumbo about the images being based on multiple CT scans and computer-modelling.   Show me someone who resembles their skull and I'll show you an extra in a horror movie...

[More]   The Age, Australia, May 14, 2005.

The National Geographic Channel UK is running a Pharaoh's Week which is listed as running from 15th May 2005 to 20th May 2005.

Here is a run-down

• PHARAOH'S WEEK: KING TUT'S CURSE, Sunday 15th May 09:00 PM
  For years, the boy-king Tutankhamun has been an object of fascination worldwide, not only for his own mysterious demise, but also for the rumoured strange deaths of those who came to discover him.   In this unprecedented forensic investigation National Geographic Channel sheds light on two of the world's great mysteries: the death of Tutankhamun and the Curse of the Pharaohs.
• KING TUT'S CURSE, Sunday 15th May 11:00 PM
• KING TUT'S CURSE, Monday 16th May 02:00 PM
• PHARAOH'S WEEK: EGYPT'S NAPOLEON, Monday 16th May 09:00 PM
  He was ancient Egypt's greatest warrior-king.   But how did Thutmosis III conquer so many of his enemies and bring Egyptian imperialism to its highest peak?
• PHARAOH'S WEEK: KING TUT UNCOVERED, Monday 16th May 10:00 PM
  Egyptian archaeologists including Dr Zahi Hawass reveal an incredible tale of grave robbers, crooks and scientists as they search for the lost treasure of Tutankhamun.
• EGYPT: KING TUT UNCOVERED, Tuesday 17th May 01:00 AM
• PHARAOH'S WEEK: TOMB ROBBERS, Tuesday 17th May 09:00 PM
  How did early royal architects create the earliest anti-tomb raider features?   Archaeologist Dr Daniel Polz searches for an ancient crypt untouched by the crafty criminals.
• PHARAOH'S WEEK: ROYAL MUMMY, Tuesday 17th May 10:00 PM
  Could a long neglected mummy in the archives of a Niagara Falls museum really be the remains of an long-lost Egyptian pharaoh?   A team of scientists race to discover the truth.
• EGYPT'S NAPOLEON, Wednesday 18th May 01:00 AM
• PHARAOH'S WEEK: HAREM CONSPIRACY, Wednesday 18th May 09:00 PM
  When the mummies of the Priests of Amun were discovered in the basement of the Cairo Museum new light was shed on the attempted murder of Ramesses III by his own harem.
• PHARAOH'S WEEK: THE QUEST FOR THE LOST TOMBS, Wednesday 18th May 10:00 PM
  Wealthy Egyptians built glorious monuments to ensure everlasting life.   Some still stand, but many are lost in the desert sands.   Will the newly discovered tombs reveal any secrets?
• TOMB ROBBERS, Thursday 19th May 01:00 AM
• EGYPT: KING TUT UNCOVERED, Thursday 19th May 09:00 PM
• EGYPT'S NAPOLEON, Thursday 19th May 10:00 PM
• HAREM CONSPIRACY, Friday 20th May 01:00 AM
• KING TUT'S CURSE, Friday 20th May 09:00 PM
• EGYPT: KING TUT UNCOVERED, Saturday 21st May 01:00 AM
• KING TUT'S CURSE, Saturday 21st May 08:00 AM
• ROYAL MUMMY, Saturday 21st May 10:00 AM
• EGYPT: KING TUT UNCOVERED, Saturday 21st May 11:00 AM
• KING TUT'S CURSE, Saturday 21st May 12:00 AM
• EGYPT'S NAPOLEON, Saturday 21st May 02:00 PM
• TOMB ROBBERS, Saturday 21st May 03:00 PM
• HAREM CONSPIRACY, Saturday 21st May 04:00 PM
• KING TUT'S CURSE, Saturday 21st May 05:00 PM
• ROYAL MUMMY, Saturday 21st May 07:00 PM
• ROYAL MUMMY, Sunday 22nd May 01:00 AM
• EGYPT'S NAPOLEON, Sunday 22nd May 07:00 PM
• EGYPT ETERNAL: QUEST FOR THE LOST TOMBS, Monday 23rd May 01:00 AM
• Plus afternoon repeats at 02:00 PM and 03:00 PM Monday 23rd through Thursday 26th.

King Tut's Curse airs tomorrow (Sunday 15th May 2005) night at 9:00PM BST in the UK and 9:00PM ET/PT in Canada on the National Geographic Channel as part of Pharaoh's Week.   Note that this show is titled "King Tut's Final Secrets" in the USA.

CT scanning technology is normally used to save lives.   Now it's bringing Egypt's most celebrated Pharaoh back from the dead.

After nearly a century of intrigue, drama and unexplained deaths it is time for the final answer.   In a CSI-style investigation, National Geographic Channel uses the latest science to crack one of the world's oldest mysteries.

Launching Pharaoh's Week on National Geographic Channel, King Tut's Curse delves into the mysterious demise of the legendary King Tutankhamun...

[More]   National Geographic Channel, UK, May 15, 2005.

[More]   National Geographic Channel, Canada, May 15, 2005.

cf. The Armchair Traveller: Television, The Globe and Mail, Ontario, >Canada, May 14, 2005.

King Tut's Final Secrets airs tomorrow (Sunday 15th May 2005) night at 9:00PM ET/PT on the National Geographic Channel in the USA.

This show airs in the UK and Canada as part of Pharaoh's Week as King Tut's Curse, see next post.

He is the most famous Egyptian king in history.   Since his tomb was discovered in 1922, King Tutankhamun and the circumstances surrounding his death have been a source of intrigue worldwide.   Why did the famed "boy king" die so young?   Was he murdered?   And what did he really look like?

Join the high-tech forensic investigation that unveils new findings related to the death of King Tut and the first-ever reconstruction of his face and head using revolutionary 3-D CT scan imaging that reveals what he looked like the day he died.   Dr. Zahi Hawass, a leading archaeologist and National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence and a team of Egyptian scientists remove the mummy from its sarcophagus for the first time in more than 25 years.   The goal: use state of the art CT scan technology to solve the mystery surrounding King Tut's death.   Follow the scientific team as they refine the technique of using the CT scanner on Egypt's most high-profile mummy.   The CT scan finds loose bones inside King Tut's skull, severed ribs and a fractured left leg with a missing kneecap.   Was he murdered?   Or was he hurt in battle?   Does the newly discovered broken leg offer clues to his death?   King Tut's Final Secrets attempts to solve the mystery.

The scans also provide a blueprint for reconstructing what King Tut actually looked like.   Working separately, two paleosculptors use a "digital skull" from the scan to map the angles and dimensions of a face and transform the raw data into a life-like silicone bust.   But, only one knows to whom the famous face actually belongs.   Their results will be compared as National Geographic Channel reveals the first complete picture of what King Tut really looked like.

[More]   National Geographic Channel, USA, May 15, 2005.

TourEgypt.net have a good article about the various theories surrounding the death of Tutankhamun, coming right up to date with the latest CT scan evidence and the recent suggestions of gangrene.

...the most recent findings on the death of King Tut (Tutankhamun) seem to conclusively indicate that he died of natural causes, rather than being murdered.   Specifically, the latest report is that he died of gangrene caused by a broken leg.

There was more than a little reason to believe that King Tut may have been murdered.   The two principal suspects, Aye who succeeded him as king, and General Horemheb who in turn succeeded Aye to the throne, both appear to have been powerful men who, in effect, ruled Egypt while King Tut was a child.   It would not be unreasonable at all to believe that, as King Tut grew into a young man, the two elder men would have resented losing much of their power...

[More]   TourEgypt.net, Texas, USA, undated.

In recent weeks, the level of debate on the Tour Egypt's Message Center, on the issue of the return of Egyptian antiquities from abroad has intensified.   The discussion has often been emotional and the two points of view never conciliated.   An expert's view and a cool debate were needed, on this and other Egyptology issues.

Dr. Neal Spencer, Assistant Keeper of the Department of Ancient Egypt and the Sudan at the British Museum knows the situation well, having worked at the museum for six years and himself involved in a current excavation project in Egypt.   He believes that the issue of claiming back ancient objects has not been raised officially, and when raised it relates mainly to objects exported out of Egypt after 1970...

[More]   TourEgypt.net, Texas, USA, undated.

By Zahi Hawass

International Heritage Day on 18 April is an important date for archaeologists all over the world.   UNESCO established this special day to celebrate worldwide cultural heritage.   I do not understand why the Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA) has not celebrated this day until this year.   In spite of the fact that Egypt has worked with UNESCO in an international campaign to save the Nubian temples after the construction of the Aswan High Dam, and also worked with the organisation to save the temple of love and romance, Philae.   This year the day is even more special because we have created a gold medal which will be awarded by the SCA to an individual who has contributed in saving an Egyptian monument from destruction.   We have chosen Farouk Hosni...

[More]   Al-Ahram, Egypt, Issue No. 742, 12 - 18 May 2005.

The River Nile, handwriting, handicrafts, faith and ethnography are the main themes of the planned National Museum of Egyptian Civilisation.   Nevine El-Aref sees the progress in action.

The roar of a dozen trucks and the hum of hundreds of engineers, archaeologists and workmen break the customary silence of Ain Al-Sira Lake in the heart of the site of Egypt's first Islamic capital.   Workmen in yellow helmets mix concrete and ferry steel bars across the 32-feddan site as builders lay the foundations of the National Museum of Egyptian Civilisation. The museum will be ready to open in about three years.

The site is aptly chosen. In addition of being the neighbour of Salaheddin Citadel and Old Cairo's religious- antiquities-rich core with its Amr Ibn Al-Aas Mosque, Hanging Church and Beni- Ezra synagogue, it is located in the core of Fustat city...

[More]   Al-Ahram, Egypt, Issue No. 742, 12 - 18 May 2005.

And now it's Al-Ahram's turn.   More on the Tutankhamun facial reconstruction.

Three thousand years after being immortalised behind an exquisite golden funerary mask, Tutankhamun's genuine facial features have been revealed.   Nevine El-Aref sees the Pharaoh's face.

Since Howard Carter's discovery of Tutankhamun's tomb in 1922, mention of the pharaoh's name conjures up a single, abiding image -- that of his golden funeral mask, one of the great icons of stasis.   But what did Tutankhamun really look like?

Long a mystery, the boy-king's death, health and original facial features are at last beginning to be unraveled by scientists, artists and archaeologists.

Using 1,700 high-resolution CT-scan images, an Egyptian scientific team has...

[More]   Al-Ahram, Egypt, Issue No. 742, 12 - 18 May 2005.

The Museum of Art will invest $1.9 million to spruce up in preparation for the King Tut exhibit opening in December.

The Museum of Art in Fort Lauderdale will get a paint job, air-conditioning improvements and a new roof this year, largely in anticipation of more than 400,000 visitors who are expected to see the King Tut exhibit opening in December...

[More]   The Miami Herald, Florida, USA, May 11, 2005.

Egypt in the age of the Pharaohs, featuring more than 200 Egyptian artifacts, at Midland Center for the Arts' Alden B. Dow Museum of Science and Art, 1801 W. St. Andrews, Midland, [Michigan].   Continues through Sept. 4. 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday to Saturday; 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday.   $8 adults; $5 children.   Call (800) 523-7649.

[Source]   Everything Michigan, Michigan, USA, May 12, 2005.

Zahi Hawass scores the editorial quote of the day in the Binghamton Press & Sun- Bulletin, New York.

Ain't technology grand?   New computer imaging techniques and CT scans now allow "reconstructions" of faces of long-dead people from their skulls or mummified remains.   The first "reconstruction" of King Tutankhamun's face, for example, indicates that he might be an ancient ancestor of Barbra Streisand.

But Zahi Hawass, secretary-general of the Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities, which is creating the facial reconstructions of King Tutankhamun, inadvertently provided the quote of the day when he proclaimed: "For the first time, we will make these dead mummies come alive."

No thanks.   Boris Karloff as Im-Ho-Tep was creepy enough.

[Source]   Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin, New York, USA, May 12, 2005.

More on the facial reconstruction story.

A 100-year-old museum, home to one of the world's largest collections of Egyptian and Sudanese archaeology, has won an industry award.

A panel of experts judged University College London's Petrie Museum to have remained relevant and interesting since its creation in 1892.

BBC presenter Sophie Raworth presented the award at a ceremony on Wednesday...

[More]   BBC News, UK, May 12, 2005.

More on the facial reconstruction story.

The world's most famous pharaoh has a brand-new look, thanks to forensic techniques that wouldn't be out of place on a CSI TV crime drama.

Scientists have created the first ever bust of the ancient Egyptian King Tutankhamun based on 3-D CT scans of his 3,300-year-old mummy.

Zahi Hawass, secretary general of Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities, led the effort, joined by forensic artists and physical anthropologists from Egypt, France, and the United States.   Three independent teams created busts of Tut...

[More]   National Geographic News, USA, May 11, 2005.

cf. Tutankhamen's features reconstructed, State Information Service, Egypt, May 11, 2005.

More on the gangrene story.   I'm not sure these are any different from the last one though.

Egyptian scientists have finally lifted the veil of mystery surrounding famed pharaoh Tutankhamun's death, saying he died of a swift attack of gangrene after breaking his leg.

"After consultations with Italian and Swiss experts, Egyptian scientists ... have found that a fracture in the boy king's left leg a day before his death was infected with gangrene and led to his passing," Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities said Tuesday...

[More]   AFP via Yahoo! News, USA, May 10, 2005.

cf. Gangrene Felled King Tut, AFP via Discovery Channel News, USA, May 11, 2005.

cf. Experts say King Tut died of gangrene, UPI via The Washinton Times, District of Columbia, USA, May 11, 2005.

Egyptian Ambassador in Germany Muhammad Al-Orabi opens on May 21 an exhibition displaying Egyptian artifacts.

The one-month exhibition is organized by German foundations in Potsdam.

[Source]   ArabicNews, May 12, 2005.

When Macquarie University Egyptologist Professor Naguib Kanawati went to Saqqara, Egypt, for his annual dig this year, he was not looking for mummies at all. He just wanted to find the fence outline of the Teti cemetery he has been excavating for the past 10 years. But three weeks into the dig, his team of seven archaeologists uncovered the first of three very well preserved and beautifully decorated mummies...

[More]   Macquarie University News, Macquarie University, Australia, April 2005.

The death of Tutankhamun at just 19 years old is a mystery that has baffled us for 3500 years.   In 2002 Mike King and Greg Cooper unearthed evidence that pointed to murder, conspiracy and cover-up.   Now an Egyptian scientific expedition has uncovered evidence that may indicate a natural death, forcing the FBI detectives to re-open their files to determine once and for all how the Egyptian Pharaoh really died.

Wednesday 11th May on five at 19:15 - 21:00 (1 hour and 45 minutes long).

There are lots of versions of the latest Tutankhamun CT scan facial reconstruction story doing the rounds at the moment, here are just a few of them.

Tut Was Not Such a Handsome Golden Youth, After All, The New York Times, New York, USA, May 11, 2005.

Scan provides clues to King Tut's features, The Boston Globe, Massachusetts, USA, May 11, 2005.

Face of Tutankhamun reconstructed, BBC News, UK, May 10, 2005.

When we were kings: Tutankhamun's face revealed, The Independent, UK, May 11, 2005.

The boy behind the mask: how scientists built the face of Tutankhamun, The Telegraph, UK, May 11, 2005.

The many faces of King Tut, The Times, UK, May 11, 2005.

Revealed after 3,300 years: the face of king Tut, The Guardian, UK, May 11, 2005.

King Tut's face reconstructed, AP via International Herald Tribune, France, May 11, 2005.

The first facial reconstructions of King Tutankhamun based on CT scans of his mummy have produced images strikingly similar to the boy pharaoh's ancient portraits, with one model showing a baby-faced young man with chubby cheeks and his family's characteristic overbite.

That model, a photo of which was released Tuesday, bears a strong resemblance to the gold mask of King Tut found in his tomb in 1922 by the British excavation led by Howard Carter.

The beardless youth depicted in the model, created by a French team, has soft features, a sloping nose and a weak chin — and the overbite...

[More]   AP via The Florida Times-Union, Florida, USA, May 10, 2005.

cf. Scientists Show How King Tut Looked, Los Angeles Times, California, USA, May 10, 2005.

cf. Tutankhamun's Face Is Reconstructed, PA News via The Scotsman, UK, May 10, 2005.

cf. CT cans Show What King Tut Looked Like, AP via Yahoo! News, USA, May 10, 2005.   A seven-picture slideshow can be accessed here

Ancient Egyptian artefacts continue to captivate school children and history buffs alike.   This week archaeologists in Egypt celebrated the discovery of a brilliantly coloured mummy at Saqqara, just south of Cairo.   This find may be exciting, but it cannot supplant the discovery in 1922 of the tomb of Tutankhamun in the Valley of the Kings at Luxor as the archaeological sensation of the age.

Photographs of the tomb were published for the first time in The Times on February 21, 1923.   The newspaper held exclusive worldwide rights to Harry Burton's photographs documenting the excavations of Howard Carter and Lord Carnarvon.   After their publication, newspapers worldwide were clamouring for copies.

The power and impact of these images still remain, more than 80 years later.   On Thursday, a complete set of the 142 photographs is being auctioned at the natural history, travel, atlases and maps sale at Sotheby's in London.

The photographs, which narrowly escaped being thrown out as rubbish by their owner, have an estimate of £4,000 to £6,000, but could fetch much more.

Another tempting lot for people with an interest in Tutankhamun is Carter's three-volume account of the tomb's discovery.   This first- edition set, which was signed by Carter, is expected to sell for between £ 800 and £1,200...

[More]   The Times, UK, May 07, 2005.

BURTON, HARRY, PHOTOGRAPHER, 142 press photographs of the opening of the Tomb of Tutankhamun. 1922-1923.

CARTER, HOWARD AND A.C. MACE, The Tomb of Tut-Ankh-Amen discovered by the late Earl of Carnarvon and Howard Carter. London: Cassell and Company, 1923-1933.

A quick flick through the catalogue turns up other items by Wilkinson, Bellzoni, Champollion, and several other Egyptology related items.

A round-up of recent antiquities, discoveries, and tourism news articles from Egypt by TravelVideo.TV.

Includes:

• Saqqara gets new museum
• Sobek temple to reopen
• Stolen Pharaonic plaque back home soon from Belgium
• Ancient necropolis found in Egypt
• Cultural celebration in opening Italian Consulate in Luxor
• Egyptian-Irish tourist cooperation
• Renovation of Safir Hotels in Cairo
• Le Méridien to add fifth hotel in Egypt
• Le Méridien Pyramids Hotel
• Cairo Sheraton Hotel
• Hilton Hotels
• Basma Island excursion
• MITT Moscow 2005
• Hotelplan Holland Winter 05/06 Contracting
• Mr. Hans Kohler in Egypt

[More]   TravelVideo.TV, Canada, May 10, 2005.

Egyptian scientists have finally lifted the veil of mystery surrounding famed pharaoh Tutankhamun's death, saying he died of a swift attack of gangrene after breaking his leg.

"After consultations with Italian and Swiss experts, Egyptian scientists ... have found that a fracture in the boy king's left leg a day before his death was infected with gangrene and led to his passing," Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities said...

[More]   Middle East Online, UK, May 10, 2005.

This article is sort of a biography of Jacques de Morgan with a leaning towards his work in Iran.   De Morgan's work in Egypt gets a mention.

...he was invited to take over as acting director of the Egyptian antiquities service; he remained in this interim appointment until 1897.   De Morgan's talents as an administrator and diplomat ensured his favorable reception by foreign, especially English, Egyptologists.   He took up his post in 1892...

[More]   Iranian Cultural Heritage News Agency, Iran, 04/05/2005.

Also posted here Jacques de Morgan; An Archaeologist Who Found Oil, Armenian News Network / Groong, University of Southern California, USA, 05 May 2005.

Saturday's attacks have catalysed concerns over tourism's future, reports Mohamed El-Sayed.

Will last week's terror attacks near two of Egypt's most popular tourist attractions, the Egyptian Museum and the Citadel, have an effect on the nation's most vital industry?   The attacks, which left four tourists injured, took place just as Egypt was celebrating its best year of tourism ever, with a record of eight million visitors in 2004.   Solidly ahead of oil, Suez Canal revenues, and remittances, tourism is Egypt's main hard currency earner at $6.5 billion per year...

[More]   Al-Ahram, Egypt, Issue No. 741, 5 - 11 May 2005.

British travellers are being caught between Foreign Office (FO) timidity and tour operators' inflexibility once again, this time over the issue of terrorism in Egypt.

The FO has strengthened its warnings for visitors to Egypt following last weekend's terrorist attacks in Cairo, declaring that "there is a continuing threat from terrorism across Egypt ... a further attack in Cairo cannot be ruled out".   But it has stopped short of telling travellers to avoid the country...

[More]   The Times, UK, May 08, 2005.

cf. Foreign & Commonwealth Office

Stories of "the mummy's curse" or "King Tut's curse" excited the world after the discovery in 1922 of the ancient pharaoh's tomb in Egypt.   Lord Carnarvon, a British sponsor of archaeology in Egypt, died shortly after attending the tomb's opening, inspiring speculation that supernatural forces were at work.

In recent years a scientific mummy's-curse theory was offered for Carnarvon's death.   Was he killed by exposure to ancient, toxic pathogens from the sealed tomb?   Did they prove too much for his immune system, which was weakened by a chronic illness he had experienced before he went to Egypt?

[More]   National Geographic News, USA, May 6, 2005.

On Christmas Day last year, Kathryn Bard got an unusual gift.

Working with her colleagues to remove sand from a hillside along Egypt's Red Sea coast, the Boston University archaeologist poked through a small opening that had appeared and felt ... nothing.   She had reached into the entrance to a human-made cave in which sailors stored their gear as many as 4,000 years ago...

[More]   Science News Online, USA, Vol. 167, No. 19, May 7, 2005.

Karin Sowada, an archaeologist for almost 20 years, has lost count of the number of digs she has undertaken.

However, she made her latest discovery while tidying her new office at the University of Sydney, where she is assistant curator of the Nicholson Museum of antiquities.

While straightening up her bookshelf, recently shifted from her old office, Dr Sowada came across an ageing volume she had never noticed before...

[More]   Sydney Morning Herald, Australia, May 2, 2005.

A couple more on the Tutankhamun CT scans in the run up to Sunday's National Geographic programme.

An Italian documentary-maker, Brando Quilici, has recorded perhaps the most historic murder investigation ever conducted.   On Sunday, May 15, King Tut's Curse will be shown on the National Geographic Channel...

[More]   Sydney Morning Herald, Australia, May 2, 2005.

High-Tech Tut

...Tut suddenly is revealing a great deal, said John Bredar, executive producer of a new documentary, "King Tut's Final Secrets," airing at 9 p. m. Sunday on the National Geographic Channel...

[More]   The Tampa Tribune, Florida, USA, May 9 2005.

National Geographic Channel World Premiere Special Features First- Ever Bust of the Pharaoh Created from 3-D CT Scans.

Exhibition of Tut's Treasures to Include Bust and CT Scans - Begins June 2005 at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.

He is the most famous Egyptian king in history. He became pharaoh at the age of nine -- and ruled for nearly a decade before his mysterious death. Since his tomb was discovered in 1922, King Tutankhamun and the circumstances surrounding his death have been a source of intrigue worldwide. Why did the famed "boy king" die so young? Was he murdered? Is there truth to the legendary curse set upon those who would disturb his final resting place? And what did he really look like?

On Sunday, May 15 at 9 p.m. ET/PT, the National Geographic Channel premieres "King Tut's Final Secrets..."

[More]   PRNewswire, USA, 25/04/2005.

More than just another report on the King Tut. CT Scans, this one includes an interview with Zahi Hawass.

Beyond Egypt's political demonstrations and suicide bombings lies a country where history lives outside classrooms.   A country that draws inspiration -- and money -- from its past to fuel its present.

And while tourism is good for the economy, too many tourists can destroy the very monuments they flock to see, warns Dr Zahi Hawass, Egypt's top archaeologist and the person who led the CT scan on King Tutankhamun's mummy...

[More]   Gulf News, United Arab Emirates, 09/05/2005.

This is Georgia Archaeology Month, so many kids are taking field trips to learn about ancient times.

We tagged along as kids from Sweetwater and Annette Winn elementary schools in Lithia Springs headed to Emory University. It has a really cool place -- the Michael C. Carlos Museum -- where you can see mummies, wear costumes, be in a play and learn about people who got famous by digging up stuff from the past...

[More]   The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Georgia, USA, May 08, 2005.

Stanford University researchers aided by Silicon Valley engineers are using high-tech tools to unravel the mystery of a 2,000-year-old child mummy -- without removing the wraps.

Researchers hope that more than 20,000 images taken by sophisticated scanning equipment and other technological tools at Stanford's School of Medicine will offer a detailed, three- dimensional look inside the small Egyptian mummy that has been stored at a San Jose museum for more than 70 years.

The mummy, less than 3 feet tall, was handled as delicately as possible when it was transported Friday to Stanford from the Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum & Planetarium, said curator Lisa Schwappach-Shirriff...

[More]   Los Angeles Daily News, California, USA, May 08, 2005.

cf. Friday is Mummy's day at Stanford, Stanford University, California, USA, 04/05/2005.

It's a 5,000-year-old glimpse into the beliefs of ancient Egypt - or an incredible fake.

In about a week, tests will reveal whether the art on an Egyptian vase on show at the Royal Pump Room Museum is of international importance or the work of a brilliant forger.

The vase itself, which shows the image of a boat carrying a body curled into a foetal position, is genuine.   Two years of tests at York University have traced the object and parts of its decorative paint to 3,200BC, predating the times of the pyramids and the Pharaohs

But the final test will show whether the human figure is just as old.

"If it is, it will be the earliest depiction of an Egyptian in death by at least 1,000 years," said Dr Joann Fletcher, consultant Egyptologist for the collection and research fellow at York University...

[More]   Harrogate Today, UK, 06 May 2005, via Archaeologica.

Ancient Egypt: Life, Myth and Art, Joann Fletcher, Duncan Baird Publishers, UK, 2003.

Russian archeologists hope to display in Cairo and Moscow their finds excavated in Egypt in recent years, said Galina Belova, Ph.D. (History).   She reported about on-going talks on staging an exposition at the National Museum in Cairo.

Galina Belova who heads the Centre of Egypt Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, which was set up in 1998 and opened its branch in Cairo in 2000, has been engaged in excavations in Egypt since 1995.   Over the past five years, Russian expeditions have been busy digging in Luxor's cache of pharaoh mummies, investigating into Memphis, examining the temples and settlements in Delta and penetrating the necropolis and a medieval Christian monastery in the town of Al Fayyum.   Since 2003, the Russians have been involved in underwater archeological prospecting into the 20-kilometer area close to the Alexandria coastline.   Russian restorers have spent the last year rehabilitating wall paintings in the church of al Muallaka in Cairo...

[More]   RIA Novosti, Russia, April 29, 2005, via EEF News.

Cutting-edge CT scans unwrap a little of the mystery about ancient Egyptian life and death.

Few things speak of ancient Egypt more clearly than mummies.

But what these mummies say about the lives and afterlives of ancient Egyptians isn't always so clear.   After all, the mummies are bound not just in the fog of millenniums passed, but multiple layers of resin- soaked linen.

"To unwrap them is to destroy them," said Nigel Strudwick, an assistant keeper in the Department of Ancient Egypt and Sudan at the British Museum in London, which houses the largest collection of such artifacts, including scores of mummies, outside of Egypt...

[More]   San Diego Union-Tribune, California, USA, May 4, 2005

The Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA) plans to launch a huge project to restore and upgrade the Bab Al Azab area situated with- in the walls of Salah Eddin Citadel. The project, which will last for two years, is to be implemented over three phases.

...

Dr Hawass said that the Bab Al Azab project will include the establishment of a school for restoration and a museum with post- Pharaonic era displays. These will be located on a site used as army barracks until 1984. Under the project, Bab Al Azab will also enjoy a research centre, a convention hall, workshops for craftsmen and retail outlets...

[More], Egypt State Information Service, Egypt, May 05, 2005

The Chairman of the Egyptian Authority for Tourism ruled out on Wednesday that the recent two Cairo attacks would not affect the influx of tourists to Egypt.

Ahmed El-Khadem, speaking at a press conference on the sidelines of the Arab traveling exhibition, said the attacks, however, could affect flights for a while.

He said some 8.1 million tourists visited Egypt last year and spent $6.3 billion with an increase of 14% over the previous year.

[More], Egypt State Information Service, Egypt, May 05, 2005

Egypt expects 9 million tourists in 2005 against 8.1 million tourists in 2004, said Ahmed El Khadem, Chairman, Egyptian Tourism Authority.

Khadem said: "Despite the developments of April 30, tourists still continue to visit Egypt and cancellations after the bomb blast continue to remain normal.   We are sure that this would be the last development and tourist still continue to visit Egypt as the favoured destination.   The Arabian Travel Market (ATM)- 2005 is ideal platform to promote Port Ghalib, which has an total investment value of $1.2 billion.   The developers opted to construct Port Ghalib in Egypt as tourism has become the fastest growing sector of the Egyptian economy and enjoys a dynamic level of support from the government and Ministry of Tourism.   Egypt offers a special mystique and attraction due to its rich culture and history, and became a 'star performer' tourist destination as judged by the World Tourism Organisation...

[More]   Middle East North Africa Financial Network, Jordan, 05/05/2005

French tourists in Cairo said that they will continue with their holiday in Egypt, sightseeing and enjoying the country's attractive tourist sites.

The tourists told France Info Radio Service that they are not afraid of being attacked by terrorists, because Egyptians are hospitable and very friendly to foreigners...

[More], Egypt State Information Service, Egypt, May 04, 2005

Once the breadbasket of the Roman Empire, Fayoum's beauty has many sides, as Mohamed El-Hebeishy discovers.

Known as the largest oasis in Egypt, Fayoum is as green as it gets thanks to the Nile.   The veering channel of Bahr Youssef gives Fayoum indirect access to the longest river in the world which literally paints the desert green.   Turn your eyes anywhere and they will encounter nothing but the soothing colour...

[More]   Al-Ahram, Issue No. 740, 28 April - 4 May 2005

When British archaeologist Howard Carter discovered Tutankhamun's tomb in 1922, Egypt became the smart place to spend time on holiday.   Keen to keep up with the crowd, the Hay Seton family finally made their journey to Cairo from Edinburgh in 1936.

Sir Alexander Hay Seton was the 10th Baron of Abercorn and Armour Bearer to the Queen.   This once rich and magnificent family had lost its land and money, and for "Sandy" the title was virtually the only remnant of his wealthy past.   Still, he had enough to finance a tour of the wonders of Egypt, and Sir Alexander's colourful account is given to us in his autobiography, The Transgressions of a Baronet...

Abdul, their guide, led them to the grave, hidden in the shadow of the Pyramids.   As they descended into the dark tomb they came across the skeletal remains of a mummified young woman.   Sir Alexander whispered a short prayer over the bones, but Zeyla impulsively picked up a piece of the skeleton and put it in her pocket...

[More] The Scotsman, UK, 21 Apr 2005.   With thanks to Jim Davila for this one.

Serabit el-Khadim, the only ancient Egyptian temple in Sinai, is scheduled to appear on tourist itineraries in the coming months.

The temple, southeast of Abu Zneima city in South Sinai, was recently restored at a cost of LE 10 million.   Built in homage to Hathor (the lady of Turquoise) in the 12th dynasty, the temple juxtaposes a number of turquoise mining caves that were used in ancient times.

[Source]   Egypt Today, Volume #26, Issue 05, May 2005.

The Supreme Council for Antiquities is preparing a new antiquities law to replace the current one, Law 117 for the year 1983.

According to Zahi Hawass, the SCA's high-profile secretary-general, the old law is no longer suitable because the penalties it imposes for the crimes of antiquity trafficking are not strong enough.

The law will be presented to the People's Assembly when it reconvenes for its next legislative season after the anticipated fall parliamentary and presidential elections.

[More]   Egypt Today, Volume #26, Issue 05, May 2005.

A Professor of Egyptology is committed, through her essays, to do justice to ancient forgotten mummies - animal mummies that is.

Although practiced by other civilizations, mummification is most popularly associated with the ancient Egyptians.   Our modern fascination with the mummy is only too apparent in the crowds that flock to the Egyptian Museum to gawp at the wizened remains of long dead pharaohs, or the enduring popularity of certain B-rate horror movies of which they are the spine-tingling focus.

Apparently the human mummy is only just part of the story, for not only did the ancient Egyptians also mummify their animals, they did so in industrial quantities.   Animal cemeteries at places such as Tuna al-Gebel, Saqqara, Bubastis and numerous other sites have yielded animal mummies that number in the millions and yet have received relatively little attention.   Divine Creatures Animal Mummies in Ancient Egypt, edited by American University in Cairo (AUC) Egyptology Professor Salima Ikram, does much to redress this imbalance though it remains, in the most positive sense, very much still a work in progress...

[More]   Egypt Today, Volume #26, Issue 05, May 2005.

Buy Divine Creatures by Salima Ikram, AUC Press, 2005, through Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.com, or Amazon.ca.

Egyptian archaeologists digging near the Saqqara pyramids, 15 miles south of Cairo, have discovered what may be "the most beautiful mummy ever found in Egypt," Zahi Hawass, the head of Egypt's Supreme Council for Antiquities, announced on Tuesday.

Dating from about 2,600 years ago, the mummy was unearthed two weeks ago, buried in a wooden sarcophagus beneath 20 feet of sand in the necropolis of King Teti, who ruled Egypt more than 4,300 years ago...

[More]   Discovery Channel News, USA, May 3, 2005.

cf. Egypt teams finds 'beautiful' 30th Dynasty mummy, Reuters via Yahoo! News, USA, May 3 2005.

cf. 21 picture Slideshow, Yahoo! News, USA, May 4, 2005.

If you are quick you may still be able to find this issue at your newsagent.

Abydos: Life and death at the dawn of Egyptian civilization

New evidence shows that human sacrifice helped populate the royal city of the dead.

King Aha, "The Fighter," was not killed while unifying the Nile's two warring kingdoms, nor while building the capital of Memphis.   No, one legend has it that the first ruler of a united Egypt was killed in a hunting accident after a reign of 62 years, unceremoniously trampled to death by a rampaging hippopotamus.   News of his demise brought a separate, special terror to his staff.   For many, the honor of serving the king in life would lead to the more dubious distinction of serving the king in death.

Abydos: Egyptian Afterlife, National Geographic Magazine, USA, Vol 207., No. 4, April 2005.

Thirty years is a long time to be working away at a musical, trying to get it ready for Broadway.   But if you consider the sweeping historical subject of David Spangler and Rick Gore's enduring labor of love -- beautiful Queen Nefertiti and two men who adored her, plus the politics, intrigue and spirituality of ancient Egypt itself -- three decades is barely the blink of a kohl-lined eye.

Nefertiti, the musical about the sun god-worshiping royals that composer Spangler created in the 1970s with Gore's late brother Christopher, is about to have its own moment in the sun -- well, in the stage lights, anyway...

[More]   The Miami Herald, Florida, USA, May. 02, 2005.

About 200 suspected Islamist sympathisers were arrested in Egypt yesterday following Saturday's terrorist attacks in Cairo, as the authorities moved to reassure thousands of foreign tourists that Egypt is safe to visit.

The Foreign Office updated its Egypt travel advice by recording the latest incidents in which a male bomber blew himself up, and two women, his sister and fiancée, committed suicide after shooting at a tourist bus.

[More]   Telegraph, UK, 02/05/2005.

cf. This one which is far more detailed Is Egyptian tourism in peril?, TravelVideo.TV, Canada, May 02, 2005.

A newly discovered fragment of the oldest surviving copy of the New Testament indicates that, as far as the Antichrist goes, theologians, scholars, heavy metal groups, and television evangelists have got the wrong number.   Instead of 666, it's actually the far less ominous 616.

The new fragment from the Book of Revelation, written in ancient Greek and dating from the late third century, is part of a hoard of previously unintelligible manuscripts discovered in historic dumps outside Oxyrhynchus in Egypt.   Now a team of expert classicists, using new photographic techniques, are finally deciphering the original writing...

[More]   The Independent, UK, 01 May 2005.

Brilliantly Colored Mummy Dating Back 2,300 Years Unveiled at Egypt's Saqqara Pyramids.

A superbly maintained 2,300-year-old mummy bearing a golden mask and covered in brightly colored images of gods and goddesses was unveiled Tuesday at Egypt's Saqqara Pyramids complex south of Cairo.

The unidentified mummy, from the 30th pharaonic dynasty, had been closed in a wooden sarcophagus and buried in sand at the bottom of a 20-foot shaft before being discovered recently by an Egyptian-led archaeological team...

[More]   AP via ABC News, USA, May 3, 2005.

cf. Mummy with Golden Mask Unveiled, AP via Live Science, 03 May 2005.

cf. Archaeologists find door 'to the thereafter', Sapa-DPA via IOL, South Africa, April 29 2005.

cf. 2,300-Year-Old Mummy Unveiled in Egypt, AP via Washington Post, District of Columbia, USA, May 3, 2005.

Cairo will host an international seminar entitled "Al-Quds in Arab Archives" on June 19-20, the Chief of the Institute for Cultural Revival and Islamic Research in Jerusalem (Al-Quds) said yesterday.

The seminar, to be organised by the Institute in cooperation with the Egyptian National Library and Documentation House, will be held as part of efforts to preserve Al-Quds history and defend it against Zionist attempts to destroy its Arab and Islamic heritage...

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

Minister of Culture Farouk Hosni is to inaugurate late this year the temple of Fairuz in Sinai to be ready for receiving visitors after the restoration works that worth L.E. 10 million.

"The temple would be placed on the world heritage list of UNESCO as it is the only pharaonic temple in Sinai," said Zahi Hawass, Secretary General of the Supreme Council for Antiquities.

The renovation of Fairuz temple comes within the ministry's plan for developing Sinai archaeological sites and placing the area on the tourist map, added Hawass.

[Source], Egypt State Information Service, Egypt, May 03, 2005.

Egypt will retrieve a stolen rare Pharaonic engraving from Belgium soon, Culture Minister Farouk Hosni announced yesterday.

He said the 4,350-year-old piece was stolen by treasure thieves from Egypt in 1965 and smuggled to Belgium where it was sold to an antiquities collector and later on in 1973. It was purchased by the Royal Museum for Art and History in Brussels.

An Egyptian delegation will travel to Belgium to receive the invaluable work of art from the museum, said the chief of Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities, Zahi Hawass.

[Source], Egypt State Information Service, Egypt, April 29, 2005.