The June / July 2005 issue of Ancient Egypt magazine is now available.   There follows a summary of its contents.

• The Thrice-Buried Queen
  Dylan Bickerstaffe investigates the story of a Queen re-buried under unusual circumstances.
• Digging in a Museum
  Wolfram Grajetzki examines the Second Intermediate Period burial of Senebhenaef.
• The Island of Elephantine
  AE visits the monuments on the Island of Elephantine, a site of strategic importance throughout Egypt’s long history.
• The Mummy of Tutankhamun
  AE brings you the full report from the Supreme Council of Antiquities, following the recent CT scan of Tutankhamun’s Mummy.
• Ancient Egypt on the Small Screen
  A review of recent television documentaries on ancient Egypt.
• New Lakes and Very Old Bones
  AE looks at a new site for tourists in the Fayoum, which includes and area where the fossilised skeletons of whales can be seen.
• Cairos’s oldest and largest mosque: the Mosque of Ibn Tulun
  Recently restored, the Ibn Tulun Mosque is a haven for mind, body, and spirit in the heart of old Cairo.
• Cairos’s oldest and largest mosque: the Mosque of Ibn Tulun
  Recently restored, the Ibn Tulun Mosque is a haven for mind, body, and spirit in the heart of old Cairo.
• News of the Friends of the Petrie Museum
• A Stab in the Back
  Joan Reestells a tale of rivalry between Egyptologist Amelia Edwards and her cousin Matilda Betham-Edwards.

Ancient Egypt Magazine, Volume 5, No. 6, Issue 30, June / July 2005.

Some in art world raise eyebrows at high ticket prices.

Tutankhamun, the Egyptian boy king whose last U.S. tour triggered mummy mania across the land, launches his comeback today at prices that might send his long-dead relatives spinning in their tombs.

The Los Angeles County Museum of Art is the first and only western American stop in a four-city U.S. tour of "Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs."

The exhibit of nearly 130 artifacts from the tombs of King Tut and several of his relatives includes a golden crown the boy king wore in death and probably in life and a gilded coffin believed to belong to his great-grandmother...

L.A.'s Egyptian museum show called one of history's greatest comebacks, The Sacramento Bee, California, USA, June 16, 2005.

The golden treasures of Egyptian boy king Tutankhamun's tomb are set to dazzle America for the first time in three decades with today's Hollywood- style launch of a unique exhibition in Los Angeles.

Tinseltown will collide with the land of legendary King Tut when the blockbuster exhibit Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs begins its 27-month US run at a gala in Los Angeles to be attended by a constellation of stars.

The show, which boasts 130 funerary objects some of which have rarely or never travelled out of Egypt before, opens its doors 26 years after the last US display of artefacts from Tutankhamun's tomb ended in 1976.

Organisers are hoping the show will become a phenomenon and break attendance records set by the 1976-79 show that gave birth to blockbuster exhibitions and haul in nearly 30 million dollars for Egypt's government.

"Since the discovery of his tomb in 1922, Tutankhamun has captured the hearts of people around the world," said Zahi Hawass, head of Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities.

"Now Tutankhamun is back in the United States, giving a new generation the chance to learn first-hand about the life and magic of this ancient monarch," he told the AFP.

Today's opening is expected to feature a flashbulb-lit red carpet parade that organisers hope will be attended by luminaries including the likes of California's movie star governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Tut's treasures to dazzle LA, The Egyptian Gazette, Egypt, June 16, 2005.

By Hassan Saadallah

The rise of subterranean water is a source of chronic headache for archaeologists in Egypt.   With most sites across the country endangered by rising water levels, officials were forced to work out plans to reduce the already gathered water or, in the worst cases, to dismantle the monument and reconstruct it on higher ground.

On the recommendation of Subterranean Water Research Institute studies, the Supreme Council for Antiquities (SCA) is currently supervising the implementation of such projects in several Upper Egyptian sites.

Commenting on the projects, Mohamed Abdul Fatah, head of the Central Administration for Egyptian Antiquities, said that the tomb of Osireion in Abydos, Sohag, had witnessed high subterranean water levels owing to large plantations in the vicinity of the archaeological site.   The lack of a sewerage project for the surrounding housing agglomeration has made the situation worse.   Fatah went on to say that the water has adversely affected reliefs on the walls of the tomb.

The Osirion, he explained, is constructed of huge granite blocks in the unique Fourth Dynasty construction which is interpreted as a cenotaph to the god Osiris.   The structure is entered via a long descending gallery and decorated with excerpts from the Book of Gates and the Book of the Dead.

Fatah affirmed that the project does not hinder in any way the comprehensive restoration project underway in Abydos.   He noted that pipelines in the western side will be installed ten metres after the end of the descending gallery.   No pipes are to be installed above the gallery on the northern side.

The Ashmunein area in Minya is another site being treated from subterranean water.   Despite the significance of the site throughout the ancient Egyptian, Greek and Roman ages, it has suffered much in modern times from underground water.   The current project is proceeding smoothly as there are no archaeological hindrances, said Abdul Fatah.

Ashmunein was the capital of the 15th Upper Egyptian province, located to the west of the Nile.   It retains traces of temples dating to the Middle and New Kingdoms.   There are also remains of a Coptic basilica constructed on the foundations of a Ptolemaic temple built in the Greek architectural style.

SCA implements projects to treat subterranean water, The Egyptian Gazette, Egypt, June 16, 2005.

One for the petrol-heads :-)

Across Wilshire Boulevard from the unearthed treasures of King Tut showcased at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, another museum is preparing to show off relics of its own.

On Saturday, the Petersen Automotive Museum unveils a lot of 20th century horsepower with its of heads of state exhibit called "Presidents, Popes and Potentates." ...

Petersen shows off relics across street from Tut exhibit, San Luis Obispo Tribune, California, USA, June 15, 2005.

The Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs exhibit opens today at the L.A. County Museum of Art.   If you don't have one of the nearly 300,000 tickets that have already been sold, don't fret.   There are still plenty of tickets available for the show that runs through Nov. 15, including some for dates in June...

Has King Tut has been whitewashed?, U-Daily News, California, USA, June 15, 2005.

Also from the same paper Tutmania II, U-Daily News, California, USA, June 15, 2005.

US black activists demanded Wednesday that a bust of Tutankhamun be removed from a landmark exhibition of artefacts from the Egyptian boy king's tomb because the statue portrays him as white...

Has King Tut has been whitewashed?, Middle East Online, Cyprus, June 16, 2005.

cf. Outraged black activists protest that King Tut has been whitewashed, AFP via Khaleej Times, United Arab Emirates, June 16, 2005.

See also this letter in the Contra Costa Times (near the bottom of the page) - Deceitful propaganda, Contra Costa Times, California, June 15, 2005.

The golden treasures of Egyptian boy king Tutankhamun's tomb are set to dazzle America for the first time in three decades with Thursday's Hollywood- style launch of a unique exhibition.

Tinseltown will collide with the land of legendary King Tut when the blockbuster exhibit Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs begins its 27-month US run at a gala in Los Angeles to be attended by a constellation of stars...

The golden treasures of King Tut to dazzle US after 30 years, AFP via Yahoo! News, USA, June 15, 2005.

For the second time in about 30 years, King Tutankhamen will travel to US on a more than one-year visit.

The Boy King returns to the United States 26 years after his treasures dazzled 8 million museum visitors and created a new category of cultural event.

Egyptian ambassador in Washington Nabil Fahmi told MENA that hundreds of thousands of Americans have booked their tickets to visit King Tut...

Americans await King Tut's visit, State Information Service, Egypt, June 15, 2005.

The sequel was almost a quarter century in the making, but was well worth the wait, Hughes observes.

"We're trying to put Tutankhamun in his social, religious and political context," says Kathlyn Cooney, co-curator of the Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs exhibit, whose first stop is the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.   "That's what is different from the 1970s exhibition, which I like to call, 'All Tut, all the time.' " ...

King Tut, Act II, CBS News, USA, June 15, 2005.

Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs" opens its doors June 16, 2005, at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), the first of four venues during a 27-month tour of the United States.   The tour is organized by National Geographic, AEG Exhibitions, and Arts and Exhibitions International, with cooperation from the Egyptian Supreme Council of Antiquities, and sponsored by Northern Trust Corporation.

More than 250,000 tickets to the LACMA exhibition have been sold since sales began in March, an unprecedented presale number for the venue...

'Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs' Exhibition Debuts June 16 at LACMA, Yahoo! Finance, USA, June 15, 2005.

Nancy Kneiding still remembers the "breathtaking" gold and turquoise artifacts that were part of the King Tut exhibit that came to Los Angeles in the 1970s.

Nearly 30 years later, the Palm Desert resident is going to share that with her family again...

Tickets sell fast for King Tut tour, The Desert Sun, California, USA, June 15, 2005.