... [Dr. Colin Hope,] an adviser to the National Gallery of Victoria on Egyptian art and research associate of Museum Victoria, he has helped co-ordinate the new exhibition, Mummies: Ancient Egypt and the Afterlife.   Despite his fascination, he has understandably found his time in tombs "somewhat unpleasant" due, he says, to "a distinct aroma".

"My major interest is not in funerary archaeology," says Hope, who began his study of ancient Egyptian settlements in 1974 and continued investigations at two excavations in Dakhleh Oasis, in the Egyptian Sahara and about 450 kilometres west of the Nile, after settling in Australia five years later.

He has explored temples, homes, administrative buildings and cemeteries at the remains of a village at Ismant el-Kharab occupied from the Ptolemaic period (332 to 30BC) to the end of the fourth century and Mutel-Kharab, the ancient capital where the Temple of Seth, Lord of the Oasis, stood from at least the end of the New Kingdom (1550 to 1069 BC)...

Tales from the crypt, The Age, Australia, June 24, 2005.

Old flax mill could be the temple of boom.

Multi-million pound plans to regenerate one of the most historic — and eccentric — buildings in Leeds have been unveiled by developers.

London-based SJS Property Management wants to invest £180m to transform the Egyptian-style Temple Works building in Holbeck and surrounding land, creating up to 3,000 full-time jobs.

The building would be reborn as what the developers call a "cultural retail" centre — a mix of shops and more highbrow attractions such as art and sculpture — following a trend already established in Europe.

Temple Works is a Grade I listed former flax mill built between 1836 and 1840.   It was based on the Temple of Horus at Edfu, reflecting a craze for ancient Egypt which swept Europe in the first half of the 19th century...

£180m 'cultural retail centre' plan to regenerate Egyptian-style building, Leeds Today, UK, June 24, 2005.

A very short taster article dated 26th(!) which says more information will be available on the 27th.   This appears to relate to an Australian TV show presented by Tara Brown for 60 minutes.   You may recall Tara Brown's name being mentioned in the recent attack on Zahi Hawass in The Times, UK, which referenced another programme of hers relating to the so-called Nefertiti mummy discovery.

Who or what killed King Tut, the magnificent boy king, ancient Egypt's most famous pharaoh?   His death more than 3000 years ago has been one of the world's most intriguing mysteries – until now. Now we know exactly how King Tutankhamen died.   It's a wrap on history's most fascinating cold case, much more gripping than any episode of CSI.   For not only have these forensic detectives nailed the culprit, in a way they've brought King Tut back to life.   And if you always thought that iconic golden death mask was true to life, wait until you see what he really looked like.

Who killed King Tut?, 60 Minutes, Channel Nine MSN, Australia, June 26, 2005.

...There's plenty more to see.   The exhibition covers 11 galleries set up in chronological order, from Egypt before Tut to January medical scans of his mummy.   The shimmer of the display is staggering, with gold and gilded wood everywhere.<.p>

Items are well displayed, but it's questionable how accessible they'll be with the expected crowds.   The best bet might be to go mid-day, mid-week after the hoopla has died down.

For non-Egyptophiles, it would be worth the extra charge to rent the accompanying audio tour, because understanding the symbolism behind Egyptian beliefs and burial rituals enhances the experience...

Egyptian royalty returns, Riverside Press-Enterprise, California, USA, June 23, 2005.

...Of all the people or fads to make a comeback, Tutankhamun is the biggest.   Returning to the United States after over 25 years, King Tut returns with his treasures, in exhibits new and old.   Of course all his treasures are ancient, but there is something new.   The actual mummy is not at the exhibit, rather the findings of a CT scan done to get a better look into Tut's body and solve why he died.   Known as history's greatest murder mystery, it was once thought that the boy king died at 19 from a blow to the head, suggesting foul play.   New studies find that he died from a leg injury, possibly from a chariot accident.   The injury got infected and proved fatal...

The Boy King Is Back Better Than Ever, La Cañada Valley Sun, California, USA, June 23, 2005.

You may feel a bit like Indiana Jones as you make your way through the brooding colonnaded entrance of "Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs," on display through Nov. 15 at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.

And that's exactly the way the creators and corporate sponsors of this eagerly awaited King Tut sequel want you to feel.

They've conceived a museum going experience that achieves the academic and artistic level you would expect from a world-class museum, while displaying some of the most remarkable archeological artifacts in the world in a way that evokes the spirit of "Raiders of the Lost Ark" with state-of-the-art visuals worthy of Las Vegas...

Show me the mummy, Los Angeles Daily Breeze, California, USA, June 24, 2005.

An exact replica of an Egyptian burial chamber is to form the centrepiece of a major new exhibition in Edinburgh.

The tomb of Pharaoh Thutmosis III, known as the Napoleon of ancient Egypt, is to be built in the City Arts Centre.

More than 60,000 visitors are expected to flock to the exclusive UK exhibition when it opens in October...

...The Edinburgh exhibition, entitled Immortal Pharaoh: The Tomb of Thutmosis III, was due to be announced by the council this morning...

Pharaoh's tomb to be mummy of all shows, Edinburgh Evening News via The Scotsman, UK, June 24, 2005.

Culture Minister Farouk Hosni said the Grand Egyptian Museum, to be built at the Pyramids area in Giza governorate, is the biggest cultural project of the 21st century.

At a press conference held at the museum's site, Hosni said the first stage of the project has already started, adding that most of the world organisations concerned have contributed to it...

Grand Egyptian museum biggest cultural project in 21st century, State Information Service, Egypt, June 24, 2005.

The night before the King Tutankhamun exhibit was unveiled for reporters, I sat at home debating the best way to study the history of the boy king who had been dead for 3,300 years.

After reading a slew of articles on the history of the boy king, I decided there was no fitting manner to prepare for an Egyptian-themed blockbuster than to watch one.

Popping “ The Mummy” into the DVD player, I eagerly absorbed the lore of Hollywood’s fictionalization of the curse of the mummy for two hours late into the night, watching the carved stone tombs and gilded treasures of Hamunaptra (City of the Dead) as ancient mummies came to life...

Revenge of The Mummy: Why Tut Intrigues, Los Angeles Independent, California, USA, June 22, 2005.

A rare Mansoor portrait sculpture of an 18th dynasty Amarna Princess (ca 1363-1364 B.C.) goes live on eBay, the world's largest online marketplace, June 23rd at 10 AM P.S.T.

Previews of the piece are now viewable at www.ebay.com/princess.   The beautiful, delicately carved pink limestone head was last sold more than 50 years ago by the legendary M.A. Mansoor, to a private collector, who owned it till his death several years ago.   The only other known pieces are on display in museums or held in private collections...

Amazing Ancient Egyptian Princess Head from 14th Century B.C. to be Listed on eBay, Yahoo! Business, USA, June 23, 2005.

Tutankhamun is back in the United States 27 years after his first historic visit.   Nevine El-Aref reports on the blockbuster touring exhibition a week after its official inauguration in Los Angeles.

Last Thursday the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) was transformed into an ancient Egyptian necropolis as Egyptian and American officials unveiled the long-heralded exhibition Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs.   The extravagant opening took its attendees back in time to the 18th Dynasty, with strains of early Egyptian music filling the air and waiters wearing ancient Egyptian costumes greeting visitors as they made their way over a gold carpet to meet the famous boy king.   For the next six months, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art will display more than a hundred magnificent objects from the collection that has captivated American attention since its first tour there in the late 1970s.

The exhibition Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs, dramatically laid out in 11 galleries, relates the story of one of the most interesting and perplexing eras in ancient Egyptian history — the period before and during the Pharaoh Tutankhamun's reign 3,300 years ago.   Each section showcases the dazzling craftsmanship of ancient artisans that characterised the earlier Tutankhamun exhibition...

Tutmania in LA, Al-Ahram, Egypt, Issue No. 748, 23 - 29 June 2005.

This is a big year for Tutankhamun, perhaps one of the most important since the discovery of his tomb 83 years ago.   Jill Kamil recalls the drama that surrounded that event.

While the boy king Tutankhamun has rarely been out of the limelight since Howard Carter found his tomb in 1922, interest in this enigmatic Pharaoh has proliferated in the past months.   An exhibition of Tutankhamun's treasures kicked off its world tour in the German city of Bonn last year and has since moved on to Los Angeles, from where it will go on to three other American cities before returning to Europe.   Meanwhile; the mummy itself has been subjected to 1,700 high-resolution CT-scanning by a multinational team of scientists with a view to uncovering facts about how Tutankhamun met his death (apparently not by foul play).   Now, to satisfy curiosity about what he really looked like, three independent teams have reconstructed his features using the latest forensic techniques...

Tutankhamun's tomb — the untold story, Al-Ahram, Egypt, Issue No. 748, 23 - 29 June 2005.