Minister of Culture Farouk Hosni said that the first stage of Sharm El-Sheikh museum will be completed in three months' time.

The Secretary General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA) Dr. Zahi Hawass said that the museum is being constructed on a surface of about 30 feddans.

Hawass said this stage includes also Roman Theatre and a Cafeteria.

The supervisor of the project Abdul Hamid Qutb said that the second stage will start early next month, then the museum will be ready to open next year.

Some 1400 Pharaonic artefacts will be displayed at the museum.

1400 Pharaonic artefacts displayed at Sharm El Sheikh Museum, State Information Service, Egypt, July 30, 2005.

... children were transported back in time to a foreign land were pharaohs ruled and a giant Sphinx stood guard over ancient tombs filled with mummies.

Tuesday's artCentral artCamp class "Ancient Egypt: Animals and Plants of the Nile" with Anne-Marie Gailey had a classroom full of avid art students "wrapped up" trying to recreate images of hippos, crocodiles, scarab beetles and lotus flower sculptures and jewellery.

For Gailey, the history and archaeology attached to a class like this is the realization of years of study....

Ancient Egypt inspires young artists, Carthage Press, Missouri, USA, July 27, 2005.

Six weeks after opening, the highly touted King Tut comeback exhibit has drawn massive crowds and more than a few complaints.

At least 200,000 visitors have viewed the ancient Egyptian treasures displayed in Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs since it opened June 16 at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.

The show has received rave reviews from many visitors. But others have panned its overcrowding and lack of mummies, including King Tut himself, who was the star of the show nearly 30 years ago...

King Tut exhibit draws raves, complaints, Lexington Herald-Leader, Kentucky, USA, July 29, 2005.

The Humboldt Arts Council and Morris Graves Museum of Art will sponsor an overnight art tour to Los Angeles in September.

Museum Director-Curator Jemima Harr will be the leader of this artistic adventure. Departing Sept. 9 and returning Sept. 10, the group will visit the King Tutankhamun exhibition at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, The Getty Museum and the Hollywood Bowl for a performance of "A Night at the Copa." ...

Museum is sponsoring trip to King Tut exhibit, The Times-Standard, California, USA, July 29, 2005.

By Hassan Saadallah

The resentment with which African Americans received the CT scan image of the King Tutankhamen mummy as displayed by the National Geographic was not surprising. African Americans consider the ancient Egyptian civilisation as a 'black' African one, established at the hands of Africans given that it was created in Africa thousands of years before Egypt was conquered by armies from the north and east. They have gone as far as to consider themselves an extension of such a civilisation which they boast of belonging to in the American society.

The suggested features of the young king are easily recognisable as 'Egyptian', and possessing similar features to those carried by members of the 18th and 19th dynasties, Abdu Hassaan, a tour guide, told The Egyptian Gazette. However, African Americans are convinced that the ancient Egyptian civilisation was built by 'black' Africans and having developed alongside many other African civilisations spread throughout the continent.

African Americans are convinced that the ancient Egyptian civilisation was established by the Nubians, who happen to be their cousins. "African Americans pay frequent visits to Nubia and mix with the people there, offering them help prompted by the kinship they enjoy," said Hassaan.

Some American researchers find a relationship between African Americans and Nubians, basing this conclusion particularly on the similarity of facial features, particularly the nose. They link this connection to the kings of the 25th dynasty who had a dark complexion.

However, according to historical accounts, Pharaohs mostly lived in Upper Egypt where the hot temperature affected their skin, making it dark in colour, but not black.

Commenting on this, Dr Handouqa Ibrahim, a professor of history at the African Research Institute, said that many books have talked about the African 'black' origin of the ancient Egyptian civilisation. Antadiop, a famous African intellect, is considered a staunch zealot of this theory which he expounds in his book 'The Negro Origin of the Egyptian Civilisation'. He based his book on the testimony of certain historians, such as Herodotus, who referred to the Egyptians as 'black people'.

Yet Dr Ibrahim refutes these claims, noting that tracing the development of the Egyptian civilisation from the stone-age reveals that non-Egyptian elements had little influence on it. At the time when the Egyptian civilisation was at its prime, most African cultures were still primitive. "Why did these civilisations not develop if the black people were really the builders of the ancient Egyptian civilisation?" said Dr Ibrahim in an interview with The Gazette.

The Egyptian civilisation had an impact on peoples of the African continent on both the cultural and doctrinal level. The Egyptians spread their belief about immortality and resurrection to neighbouring parts of the continent, particularly Libya and Ethiopia, said Dr Handouqa. Egypt also had strong relations with inhabitants of West Africa, basing this on the discovery of a pottery chard there which is very similar to pottery used in Egypt at its time of manufacture. Egypt also enjoyed trading relations with its neighbours, reliant on them for numerous raw materials. But this does not mean that the ancient Egyptians were 'black people', he noted.

African Americans profess Egypt as 'African' civilisation, The Egyptian Gazette, Egypt, July 28, 2005.

A BBC team is currently visiting Aswan to film a documentary series on the history of King Tutankhamen and the pharaohs.

The series will consist of six episodes and will be broadcasted in the UK and France.

Filming is scheduled to continue until August 10.

BBC films documentary in Aswan, State Information Service, Egypt, July 28, 2005.

After two years of being hidden behind long iron bars, the Rameses II statue will be once again visible in Bab el-Hadid Square.

The Arab Contractors Company will remove the jungle of bars surrounding the statue, acting on, instructions from the Secretary-General of the Supreme Council for Antiquities, Zahi Hawass...

Rameses II statue to be freed from cage, State Information Service, Egypt, July 27, 2005.

Recently returned from a trip to Egypt, Jude Petheram shares some of her observations and views on the plight of the ordinary Egyptian farmers in the Nile Valley.

Farmers everywhere know the value of water, especially those living along the banks of the Nile River in Egypt.

Farming along the fertile banks of the Nile is still the same as it has been for centuries...

The Nile Valley — where ancient meets modern, Stuff, New Zealand, July 27, 2005.

A landmark exhibition of artefacts from Egyptian boy king Tutankhamun's tomb has sold 500,000 tickets since it first went on display in the United States one month ago, organisers said.

The exhibition, "Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs," is the first American display in 29 years of the gilded treasures found in King Tut's tomb when it was uncovered in 1922...

Historic King Tut exhibit in US sells 500,000 tickets in one month, AFP via Yahoo! News, USA, July 25, 2005.

cf. Visitors throng King Tut exhibition in US, AFP via Sify News, India, July 26, 2005.

After selling a half-million tickets in 30 days for the King Tut exhibition, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art extended the hours the public may see the famed tomb treasures, LACMA announced on Monday.

The exhibition now will open at 8 a.m. daily, an hour earlier than the previous opening time, the museum announced.

The last run-through will begin at 7 p.m. most days, but the museum also has scheduled six special "Tut After Dark" days, which extend the start time for the last showing to 8 p.m. or 9 p.m.

"From the beginning, we have felt strongly about providing this once- in-a- lifetime opportunity for Los Angeles residents to see these extraordinary treasures, knowing the great public fondness that exists for King Tut," said LACMA President Melody Kanschat...

LA County Museum Of Art Extends Tut Exhibit Hours, NBC4 News, USA, July 25, 2005.

cf. LACMA Extends Museum Hours for “Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs” Exhibition, Yahoo! Finance, USA, July 25, 2005.

"Tutankhamun's Tomb," photos from the 1924 Howard Carter discovery of the tomb of King Tut, Leon County Public Library throughout July.

Tutankhamun: “Wonderful Things” from the Pharaoh's Tomb, The Mary Brogan Museum of Art and Science until November 27, 2005.

Private collections of Egyptian antiquities are rare in the United States.   There are only two or three such collections in the Southeast, according to Peter Lacovara, the curator of ancient Egyptian, Nubian and Near Eastern Art at Emory University's Michael C. Carlos Museum in Atlanta.

About 90 works from one such collection recently went on view at Charlotte's Mint Museum of Art in a similarly rare exhibition titled "Ancient Egyptian Art for the Afterlife."   Among these works are mummy boards, scarabs, ceremonial vessels and figurines representing deities and servants.   These objects were interred with the mummified remains of socially prominent Egyptians over a period of about 3,000 years ending with the first century A.D. Later they were uncovered and traded on the international market, where they eventually found their way into the hands of a Charlotte lawyer who lent them anonymously to the Mint...

Art From the Tombs, Relish Now!, North Carolina, USA, July 24, 2005.

Filming on a BBC series about ancient Egypt has run into difficulties, including illness and bad weather, resulting in an overspend on the multi- million pound budget.

Egypt, a six-part dramatisation based on the archaeologists who uncovered secrets of the ancient kingdom, has turned into a "fiasco in the desert," according to some production staff.

The six-hour series is based on three stories: Howard Carter's excavation of Tutankhamun's tomb, Giovanni Battista Belzoni's discovery of the Valley of the Kings and the work of Jean-Francois Champollion, the Frenchman who decoded hieroglyphics...

BBC's ancient Egypt series is cursed by costs, sickness and sand storms, The Telegraph, UK, July 25, 2005.

I have blogged the changes to the British and Canadian tourism in recent posts.   Neither the US or Australian respective departments have amended their travel advice since the terrorist attacks in Sharm al-Sheik on Saturday, although the US State department have issued a public announcement.

U.S. Department of State: Bureau of Consular Affairs: Public Announcement: Egypt, July 23, 2005.

U.S. Department of State: Bureau of Consular Affairs: Consular Information Sheet: Egypt, June 01, 2005.

Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Travel Advice: Egypt, May 24, 2005.

Britons who have planned holidays in Egypt are being encouraged to go ahead despite the risk from terrorism. Jack Straw, the Foreign Secretary, went out of his way yesterday to praise Egypt as a stable country with effective law enforcement. His message to holidaymakers is: "Be aware of the risk, then make up your own minds." ...

Be alert, but don't cancel trips to Egypt, Straw tells Britons, The Independent, UK, July 24, 2005.

cf. British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw: Be alert, but don't cancel trips to Egypt, State Information Service, Egypt, July 24, 2005.

More travel advice.   This time from Canada.

Foreign Affairs Canada advises against all travel to the ... Egypt-Gaza border area due to the violence in Gaza.

... Canadians should avoid unnecessary travel to Sharm el-Sheik and area ...

Foreign Affairs Canada advises against all travel to some regions of Egypt, TravelVideo.TV, Canada, July 23, 2005.

cf. Consular Affairs Bureau: Travel Report for Egypt.

I'm sure we had this story a couple of weeks ago?

A Westport design and project management firm has played a key role in "Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs," the exhibit of Egyptian antiquities now touring American museums.

In conjunction with National Geographic, AEG Exhibitions, Arts and Exhibitions International and the Egyptian Supreme Council of Antiquities, McMillan Group designed an exhibit of 11 galleries spread over 15,000 square feet and displaying 114 objects excavated from King Tut's tomb and those of his ancestors...

Creating a show fit for a king, Stamford Advocate, Connecticut, USA, July 22, 2005.

The Times have a question and answer session regarding tourist travel to Egypt and the recent change to the FCO advice.

Q&A: is Egypt safe for tourists?, The Times, UK, July 25, 2005.

cf. Foreign & Commonwealth Office Travel Advice: Egypt.

The latest news on the Sharm el-Sheik bombings is that the death toll has risen to 88, with 119 wounded, and the Egyptian security forces have arrested 70 people.

To keep up to date with the latest news check one of the news aggregators such as Google News of Yahoo! News.

At least 83 people have been killed and scores more wounded in a string of bomb attacks in the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm al-Sheikh.

An explosion in the Old Market area was followed by two blasts in the Naama Bay area, where a car bomb tore off the front of the Ghazala Gardens Hotel...

Dozens killed in Egyptian blasts, BBC News, UK, July 23, 2005, includes video footage.

cf. Thirty dead as bombers attack Red Sea resort, The Times, UK, July 23, 2005.

cf. Blasts in Egypt Kill at Least 62 at Resort in Sinai Peninsula, New York Times, New York, USA, July 23, 2005.

cf. Egyptian resort town blasts kill dozens, CNN, USA, July 23, 2005.

cf. At least 75 killed in Egyptian resort blasts, MSNBC, USA, July 23, 2005.

cf. Death toll in Red Sea bombings at 83, Reuters, UK, July 23, 2005.

cf. 75 dead on Egypt’s National Day bombing, Aljazeera, UAE, July 23, 2005.

cf. The impact of the bombings on Egypt’s tourism, Aljazeera, UAE, July 23, 2005.

cf. Militants take credit for Egypt bombings Contra Costa Times, California, USA, July 23, 2005.

Blasts cast shadow over Egypt's recovery, BBC News, UK, July 23, 2005.   Contains a history of terrorism attacks in Egypt.

One of art history's most beautiful women is moving to a new address this summer, marking the reunification of the Berlin Egyptian Museum's fabulous collection after more than six decades of division.

The exquisite limestone bust of Queen Nefertiti forms the focal point of the collection, which re-opens to the public on August 13 in its new- old home at Berlin's Museum Island complex in the heart of the German capital.

The grand re-opening culminates 15 years of painstaking restoration work, museum renovations and cataloguing of the collection, which was split up for safekeeping during World War 2 and which languished in minimal exhibition spaces in both halves of the divided city — until now...

Queen Nefertiti moves to her new digs, IOL, South Africa, July 22, 2005.

Rare drawings by William Blake and Joshua Reynolds and a number of collections of letters have passed into public hands.

The works, which were privately owned, have been accepted by the government instead of inheritance tax.

"The range of objects is breathtaking, from an ancient Egyptian bronze to 20th Century political archives...

Rare drawings given to the nation, BBC News, UK, July 21, 2005.

Computerized tomography breathes new life into the ancient king's life and demise.

Using three-dimensional computerized tomography-scan imaging, a team of researchers from the United States and Egypt recently made 1,700 high- resolution cross sections of the pharaoh's bones, teeth and skull.   The effort is part of a five-year conservation project to preserve not only King Tutankhamen, but also most of Egypt's known mummies...

...

In addition to their work on Tut, an international group of radiologists, epidemiologists and forensic pathologists is documenting hundreds of mummies found at Egypt's Bahariya Oasis.   Because so many of the ancient bodies are richly decorated, the area is known as the Valley of the Golden Mummies...

High Tech Tut, Richmond Times-Dispatch, Virginia, USA, July 21, 2005.

An Egyptian delegation, currently visiting Australia, received seven valuable monuments.

Egyptian authorities had contacted their Australian counterparts to stop sales of the 2500-year-old artefacts which were posted for sale on a website.

Dr. Zahi Hawass said the Australian authorities also found 33 antiques some of them were stolen in a famous case known as Al Shaer Case.

Hawass said full cooperation between the Attorney-General office, the Foreign Ministry and the Council led to restoration of other monuments from Switzerland Britain, the United States and Australia.

Egyptian delegation visits Australia to receive stolen Artefacts, State Information Service, Egypt, July 20, 2005.

Egypt received on Tuesday a rare antique made of alabaster with hieroglyphic inscriptions.

The antique had been taken by an American national from a tomb at the Valley of the Kings in Luxor in 1958.

The piece has been retrieved almost 50 years after its disappearance, said Dr Zahi Hawass, Secretary-General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities...

At the end of this article it states “Hawass had written an article in an American newspaper on Egyptian monuments stolen abroad.”   Does anyone know which article this is referring to?

Egypt retrieves artifact taken by American, State Information Service, Egypt, July 20, 2005.

Dr. Zahi Hawass, Secretary General of the Supreme Council for Antiquities said that Egypt would harvest $36 million from the tour of Tutankhamun's exhibition in four American States.

He said that the golden pharaoh managed to fascinate the American people again 26 years after the first exhibition.

This came in a symposium titled "Tutankhamun invaded America" organized by Mubarak's Public Library in Giza.

He said that the number of the exhibition visitors in Los Angles reached 10,000 a day while the price of a ticket jumped to $30 in the weekend.

$36m returns of Tut's tour of four American states, State Information Service, Egypt, July 19, 2005.

Egypt has requested the Museum of Archaeological Institute and Art History of the Catholic University of Leuven in Belgium and the FitzWilliam Museum at Cambridge University, UK, to return two paintings, which were stolen 40 years ago.

Minister of Culture Farouk Hosni said that the Supreme Council for Antiquities (SCA) had located the two paintings through a secret report filed by a foreign archaeologist.

The paintings, Hosni said, were stolen from two tombs in a cemetery, which dates back to the 4th Dynasty, in the Pyramids area...

Bid for return of 2 ancient paintings, State Information Service, Egypt, July 18, 2005.

A letter to the editor of Al-Ahram.

Sir— Zahi Hawass is correct (Al-Ahram Weekly 14-20 July).   In this enlightened age each country should expect the return of their artefacts that are residing in foreign countries.   Egypt especially has artefacts of such importance that the practices of the past — removing artefacts for personal fame or gain — should be reconciled in a civilised manner.   Thank you for such an important article.

Laura Byrd
Washington
USA

Reader's corner: Give them back, Al-Ahram, Egypt, Issue No. 752, 21 - 27 July 2005.

UNESCO has announced that Wadi Al-Hitan (Whale Valley) in the Fayoum Desert will be designated the first natural heritage spot in Egypt and one of the most important in the world, reports Mahmoud Bakr.

The decision, taken unanimously on Thursday last week, was made by UNESCO's International Heritage Committee at a meeting in Durban, South Africa.

The Whale Valley fossils, in Egypt's Western Desert, show the evolution of the whale as an ocean-going mammal from a previous life as a land-based animal.   Whale fossils can be found at Wadi Hitan, which has a unique ecosystem of waterfalls, moist lands and rare fossils, that show animals in the last stages of losing their hind limbs.

Minister of Environment Maged George said the Egyptian government had put a programme in place to protect natural reserves in an attempt to place them on the international tourist agenda.

In collaboration with the Geological Museum and the University of Michigan, the Ministry of Environment wants to restore the skeletons found in Wadi Hitan to conduct more research and train able staff for future restoration.   A plan has also been devised with the help of the Egyptian-Italian Cooperation Programme to preserve the valley.

Twenty-four reserves covering 10 per cent of Egypt have been designated protected areas. The number is expected to increase to 40 by 2017.

Newsreel: Environmental pride, Al-Ahram, Egypt, Issue No. 752, 21 - 27 July 2005.

By Hassan Saadallah

• A booklet on Sinai antiquities including a survey of Islamic fortresses and Coptic monasteries is to be released soon by the SCA.   The book is to be edited by Abdul Rehim Rihan, director of Dahab Antiquities.
• Some LE 40 million is allocated for the development of Port Said Museum.   Under the upgrading project, stored items are to be put on display.
• The concrete tiles of the Luxor Temple Avenue have been replaced with stone ones better suit their surroundings.
• Remains of a well, a basin and water canals have been recently discovered at Shikhoun Mosque in the area of the citadel.   They originally occupied about two thirds of the mosque area.
• The cave of Abi Serga church at Misr Al Qadima, which is considered one of the important sites visited by the Holy Family during their flight from Roman oppression, has been treated for the effects of rising underground water.
• The American Research Centre is currently registering the icons and murals of the Red Monastery in Assiut.
• The Sunken Antiquities Administration in Alexandria is cooperating with Southampton University in drawing a map of archaeological sites on the shores of Mareotis Lake on the north coast.
• The International Papyrus Institute in Italy has offered a £50,000 grant for the first papyri restoration laboratory in the Middle East.   The laboratory is part of the Egyptian Museum.
• Egypt has recently retrieved from France a 31 kg stele dating from the reign of Psamtik I of the 26th dynasty.   It originally came from the Temple of Isis on the Giza Pyramids Plateau.

News in brief , The Egyptian Gazette, Egypt, July 21, 2005.

By Hassan Saadallah

The Supreme Council for Antiquities (SCA) has approved the retrieval of the old Alexandria Lighthouse gate from the Mediterranean seabed at Al Selsela Bey.   This is in support of the Director of the Alexandrina Bibliotheca, Dr Ismail Serag Eddin, who suggested using the 3x6 metre gate at the entrance of the park facing the Bibliotheca.

Supervising the salvaging process is a group of archaeologists from Marseille University and the French Alexandrian Studies Centre.

The lighthouse was built of stone quarried from Al Max in western Alexandria, and was then ornamented with marble and bronze. It had a number of columns which were carved from granite brought especially from the quarries of Aswan.   Remains of these granite pillars were found submerged in the vicinity of the Qaitbay Citadel.

Built between 285-246 BC by Sostratos in the reign of Ptolemy II, it remained in function until the Islamic conquest of Egypt in 641 AD.   The 135 metre high lighthouse was held on a square base. Its design followed a Babylonian pattern, taking the shape of eight towers one on top of the other decreasing in size.   The mirror on the top of the structure was the most magnificent of it features, being able to be seen miles out at sea.

The seabed of the eastern harbour in Alexandria is brimming with artefacts testifying to the grandeur of the city of Alexandria in the Ptolemaic and Greco-Roman age.   It is noteworthy that the Egyptian diver Kamel Abul Saadat was the first to draw the attention to the submerged treasure in 1961.   At the time a huge eight metre tall granite statue of a woman was lifted.   It was in 1994 that the French team, which is still engaged on the site now, excavated the remains of the lighthouse revealing the existence of about 12 pieces in addition to the main gate.

Alexandria Lighthouse gate to be lifted from seabed, The Egyptian Gazette, Egypt, July 21, 2005.

By Hassan Saadallah

The Ministry of Culture plans to convert Red Sea archaeological sites into tourist attractions.   Accordingly, a comprehensive restoration plan is to be implemented along roads leading to these sites.

Khaled Saad, of the Pre-historic Antiquities Administration, said that the Red Sea is also distinguished for its natural features that compliment the archaeological sites.   For instance, there are many stone inscriptions by ancient Egyptians who travelled through this area on commercial or military journeys.

The Red Sea is also famous for its pre-historic antiquities such as Wadi Al Gimal, Marsa Alam, Sharm Al Louli and Wadi Al Gawasis.   Day after day excavations prove that these sites had been dwelled by inhabitants who traded in pre-historic times, said Saad.

Among the sites to be restored are the remains of the Roman-Byzantine Abu Shaara fortress.   The limestone fortress lies on the coast and was central for trade, storage, administration and military purposes.

In the West Desert, 500 kilometres south of Cairo, the remains of a Roman city exist.   While only rubble from walls and structures has survived, there are clear traces of roads, a water cistern and a stable.   It is most likely that this stable housed the oxen that were used to transfer stones to Qena.

To the north-west of the city a road leads to a temple dedicated to the god Serapis.   The city is surrounded by quarries for black and white granite which the Romans used for imperial structures and temples.   The site was uncovered in 1923 by two British archaeologists when they came across thousands of pieces of pottery inscribed in Greek and Latin referring to the craftsmen and technicians that came from Aswan.

Twenty-four kilometres south of Safaga lies in the destroyed settlement of Gawasis which dates back to the Third Dynasty.   The Alexandria University team working on the site have uncovered some stone anchors, Ankho chapel and a stele.   The stele tells the story of how ships were built in the Qaft shipyard but then moved in separate pieces to Gawasis where they were assembled and prepared for sailing.

Tharo is the old name of a harbour nine kilometres north of the modern city of Qosseir.   The harbour was once a hub of activity with Egyptian and North African pilgrims who used it as a transit point on their journey to Mecca.   It was also a stop for vessels on trading routes from India, the Far East and Africa.   Tharo remained in use from the ancient Egyptian times up until the Islamic age.

Bankassia is a Roman harbour, bearing the Latin name of Nechesia.   Most of the site's structures were made of gypsum which presented it in a beautiful white reflecting the sunlight which could be seen far out at sea.   Pottery chards found on the site indicate that Nechesia flourished in the Roman age from 30 BC to 600 AD.

The city of Om Al Fawakhir, built on mines and quarries, is one of the Red Sea's important archaeological sites.   It lies in the middle of the Qaft-Qosseir highroad and is a major site for goldmines and granite quarries.   It embraces simple small huts built of fragments of granite stones.   On the east side of the city there is a small temple from the reign of Ptolemy III.   The US team from Chicago University that worked on the site in 1992 drew maps of the city showing about 147 houses, storehouses, animal yards, workshops and toilets.

These are only examples of the many Red Sea sites which would be ideally suited for tourism.   However, significant restoration and promotion work would be needed before any returns.

Red Sea archaeological sites become tourist attractions, The Egyptian Gazette, Egypt, July 21, 2005.

A piece of a valuable alabaster block stolen from a tomb in the Valley of Kings in Luxor in 1958 was posted back to officials almost 50 years after its disappearance, Egyptian antiquities authorities said on Tuesday.

The item, which is inscribed with hieroglyphics on one face and decorated with raised carvings on the other two faces, was returned to the Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA) on Monday following a letter from an American explaining the story behind its disappearance..."

Stolen artifact returned to Egypt, IOL, South Africa, July 20, 2005.

cf. Egypt retrieves antique taken by American in 1958, People's Daily, China, July 20, 2005.

After the US Tut tour it seems pretty much confirmed that Tut will move on to the Millennium Dome in London.   I have read also of further stops in Paris and Tokyo.   Now its looks like Australia may be added to the list.

A mega-exhibition dubbed Tut II, touring the United States, may come to Australia in a gesture of goodwill, after some smuggled Egyptian artefacts which turned up for auction in Melbourne were returned this week.

The Egyptian ambassador in Canberra, Mohamed Tawfik, says a show like Tutankhamen and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs "needs space, it needs organisation — the number of people who usually come to these exhibits are in the millions, the logistics are enormous — but I will do my best to see it comes here..."

Chance for Tut tour as goodwill, Sydney Morning Herald, Australia, July 21, 2005.

Renovation work continues on the galleries of Berlin's Museum Island, located between the River Spree and Kupfergraben.

The first to get a makeover was the Old National Gallery, which reopened in 2001.   Work is now under way on the Bode Museum, the neo-baroque home of Byzantine art.   It is scheduled to reopen to the public next year.

A refreshed Neues Museum — its Egyptian collection includes the famous limestone bust of Queen Nefertiti — will debut in 2009 with a glass skin preserving its classic faç ade.

Berlin's Museum Island gets a facelift, The Globe and Mail, Canada, July 16, 2005.

What's remarkable about the Tut show at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, for which the museum has effectively sold its good name and gallery space to a for-profit company, is that people still find this arrangement shocking.

Outrageous?   Sure.   It's an abdication of responsibility, integrity, standards.   But it's becoming the norm in the United States.

Money rules.   It always has, of course.   But at cultural institutions today, it seems increasingly to corrupt ethics and undermine bedrock goals like preserving collections and upholding the public interest...

When museums play a commodities game, International Herald Tribune, France, July 16, 2005.

Ancient artefacts smuggled out of Egypt as part of a major antiquities scam were returned to Egyptian authorities on Tuesday after being discovered for sale on an Australian Internet auction site.

The seven funeral objects, dated to about 664 BC, included a small statue, amulets, an axe head and a bowl, and were part of a collection of 50,000 artefacts illegally taken out of Egypt two years ago...

Australia returns stolen artefacts to Egypt, Reuters, UK, July 19, 2005.

Two natural wonders of Africa have been added to a list of protected World Heritage sites by the United Nations...

Egypt's Wadi al-Hitan, known as Whale Valley, was listed for its amazing fossil remains of now-extinct whales...

Africa World Heritage sites named, BBC News, UK, July 15, 2005.

Here are [San Francisco Chronicle's] suggestions for beating those crowds — there and at almost any sort of blockbuster museum show.

1. Become a member of the host museum.   Decide which venue would be most convenient for your visit, and become a member of that institution, at least for the year of the exhibit.   Members usually enjoy preferential tickets, including VIP tickets that allow you to bypass general admission lines, plus reduced prices and discounts in the museum's store...

Strategies for attending the return of the king, San Francisco Chronicle, California, USA, July 17, 2005.

This travel article is dated over a month ago but I have only just found it.

The intricate 3500-year-old temple carved into the base of a sheer limestone cliff face draws your attention well before you see the youths with Kalashnikov rifles.

As at every ancient attraction in Egypt, a handful of "Tourism and Antiquities Police" — many barely old enough to shave — patrol the stunning Temple of Hatshepsut near the tourist hub at Luxor, on the Nile.

They look inexperienced and sleepy, but their uniforms and guns betray their symbolic importance in modern Egypt.

...

While the armed youths look foreboding, they are there for tourists' protection on the historic route from Cairo down the Nile to Luxor, Aswan and the flooded former land of Nubia...

In awe of the ancients, News.com.au, Australia, June 05, 2005.

An interview with Thomas Logan, Egyptologist, who brought the Tut show to America in 1976.

In the beginning, we didn't know what kind of exhibition it would be or how popular.   We had no clue. We were getting the death mask out of the vitrine (glass case) and Walter Cronkite's CBS team showed up to photograph us.   It's a Victorian museum, and I was on the second floor and had this mental image of me falling down the stairs and the headlines reading, "Young curator breaks priceless object."   After Cronkite did his piece on TV, it was Tut-a-mania.   Books on ancient Egypt flew off the shelf; friends I didn't know called to get tickets.   It opened at the National Gallery in Washington, D.C., and ended at the Met...

Thomas Logan: Up close with King Tut, Monterey County Herald, California, USA, July 17, 2005.

Egypt demanded that institutions in Britain and Belgium return two pharaonic reliefs it says were chipped off tombs and stolen 30 years ago, threatening Sunday to end their archaeological work here if they refuse.

The 4,400-year-old reliefs, taken from two tombs uncovered in 1965, are at the Fitzwilliam Museum in Britain and the Catholic University of Brussels.   A request has been sent to both seeking their return, Culture Minister Farouk Hosni said in a statement...

Egypt may halt digs if artefacts not returned, AP via Chicago Sun- Times, USA, July 18, 2005.

cf. Egypt Demands Return of Pharaonic Reliefs From Institutions in Britain and Belgium, AP via ABC News, USA, July 17, 2005.

Egyptian culture revealed in exhibition at Mint [Museum of Art].

It's one of the oldest clichés in the book, built on years of pot- boiler novels and Grade B movies: Ancient Egyptian culture was obsessed with death.

Not true.

Rather, the Egyptians so loved life on earth they hoped to continue its pleasures into the next, which explains much of the everyday items reproduced in their funerary art.   An opportunity to see this for yourself and get past all that bushwa about the mummy's curse happens today when the Mint Museum of Art opens "Ancient Egyptian Art for the Afterlife." ...

A shining love of life, The Charlotte Observer, North Carolina, USA, July 15, 2005.

By Zahi Hawass.

I have always dug in the sand, and this is where I have made my most important discoveries — such as the Valley of the Golden Mummies at Bahariya Oasis, and the Tombs of the Pyramid Builders at Giza. But recently I have become interested in digging in a new place, a place without sand — the basement of the Egyptian Museum in Cairo.

There is a maze of corridors lying under the museum.   For decades, no one knew what was hidden down there: boxes of all sorts of treasures discovered by foreign and Egyptian expeditions were brought in and stored over the years, without proper recording of the artefacts.   There were objects of stone and wood, mummies, and even objects made of precious metal.   But no one knew exactly what was there.   It became known among scholars that if anything was sent to the basement it would be lost forever...

Dig days: Unearthing the museum's basement, Al-Ahram, Egypt, Issue No. 751, 14 - 20 July 2005.

There are few locations in Egypt where evidence of Ancient Egyptian, Semitic and Nabataean culture overlap.   Sinai's varied heritage should be given due consideration, says Jill Kamil.

The Supreme Council of Antiquities has launched an LE10 million project to upgrade the temple of Serabit Al-Khadem and the nearby turquoise mines in Sinai for what is loosely called "safari tourism".   The vagueness of the term is disquieting.   "Safari" suggests excursions, either by camel caravan or four-wheel drive; "tourism" brings to mind paved roads and a visitors' centre; while upgrading a temple leads one to suspect an attempt at reconstruction — a difficult and totally unnecessary exercise.

Few places on earth have played so decisive a role in the history of mighty nations as this triangular peninsula that juts into the northern end of the Red Sea.   Before the construction of the Suez Canal it provided a land-bridge to western Asia.   As such it saw the passage, along the "Way of Horus", of the Pharaohs' armies to and from the Levant, the Assyrian hordes, the Persian army of Cambyses, Alexander the Great with his mercenaries, Antiochus and the Roman legions, the Arab army of 'Amr, Crusaders, and Ottoman Turks...

Save central Sinai, Al-Ahram, Egypt, Issue No. 751, 14 - 20 July 2005.

Egypt has submitted a request to UNESCO asking that five of its most prominent historic treasures — including the Rosetta Stone — be returned.   Nevine El-Aref reports.

The summer heat notwithstanding, temperatures are rising in the international antiquities world following a call by Egypt for the return of five Ancient Egyptian pieces on display abroad.

In a speech at a meeting of the Intergovernmental Committee for Promoting the Return of Cultural Property to its Countries of Origin held at UNESCO in Paris, Zahi Hawass, secretary-general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA), said Egypt had been deprived of five key items of Egypt's cultural heritage.   "They should be handed over to us," Hawass said.

The objects in question are the Rosetta Stone, now in the British Museum in London, the bust of Nefertiti in the Egyptian Museum in Berlin, the statue of Great Pyramid architect Hemiunnu in the Roemer-Pelizaeus Museum in Hilesheim, the Denderah Temple Zodiac in the Louvre in Paris, and the bust of Khafre pyramid builder Ankhaf in the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston...

Antiquities wish list, Al-Ahram, Egypt, Issue No. 751, 14 - 20 July 2005.

The August / September issue of Current World Archaeology has an article entitled The Discovery of KV5 that spans some fourteen pages.

Which is the biggest tomb in the Valley of the Kings? The treasures discovered in Tutankhamun's tomb may be the most spectacular, but the tomb itself is tiny and quite unspectacular. For sheer size, the largest is KV5 — a tomb built not for a pharaoh himself, but for the numerous sons of Rameses II. The entrance of the tomb, though not its true extent, was known by early archaeologists, but it had become lost and largely forgotten. The tomb was only rediscovered in 1995, and so far 130 rooms have been uncovered ... and still counting...

This issue also contains an item in the news pages about the Petrie Museum winning an award and a review of by Lynn Meskell.

Current World Archaeology, Think Publishing, London, UK, Volume 1, No. 12, Issue 12, August / September 2005.

The Los Angeles County Museum of Art, home to the nation's costliest art exhibition tickets, has raised the bar by offering a $75-a-person VIP ticket to "Tutankhamen and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs," more than double the already controversial top price of $30.

What does an extra $45 get you?   Not relief from the crowds ogling the ancient treasures from Egyptian tombs, and no extras, not even a catalog.   Instead, you gain access to a shorter line to get inside, and at any time on the chosen day.   Buying a lower-priced ticket requires a specific time and puts you in a longer line — sometimes for an hour or more.

One hundred VIP tickets a day are available, even when regular tickets are sold out...

VIPs Say 'Tut Tut' to Waiting in Line, LA Times, California, USA, July 14, 2005.

Days of Egyptian Culture will be held in Russia from November 18 to 28.

Head of the Russian Federal Agency for Culture and Cinematography Mikhail Shvydkoi and Egyptian Deputy Culture Minister Mohammed Anwar Ibrahim signed a relevant protocol Tuesday.

"We are happy that bilateral culture relations have recently acquired new character and new impulses," Shvydkoi said.

The opening ceremonies of the culture days will be held in Moscow and Kazan.   The program includes performances of the Alexandria Folklore Ensemble, an ensemble of Arab music and the Opera Chaos band, a photo exhibition called "Egypt from the Past to the Present", an art exhibition entitled "The Soul of Civilization", a book exhibition and Arab films and documentaries.

Days of Egyptian Culture due in Russia on November 18-28, RIA Novosti, Russia, July 14, 2005.

Students entering first through sixth grades can experience the wonders of ancient Egypt when the Youth Services Department of the Monroe Public Library hosts "Exploring Egyptology" from 1:30 to 2:30 p.m. Wednesday, July 20.

Registration is requested. Participants may sign up by calling or stopping by the Monroe Public Library when it reopens July 18.   The event is one in a series of "I Wonder Wednesday" workshops scheduled for elementary-aged students as part of the library's summer program...

Library to host 'Exploring Egyptology' July 20, The Monroe Times, Wisconsin, USA, July 13, 2005.

Discovery of mysterious doors suggests possibility of hidden treasures.

For years scholars have believed that the pyramid of King Khufu, largest of the three "great" pyramids at Giza, had been plundered in antiquity and everything of value, including the body of Khufu himself, had been removed.

Now, Zahi Hawass, the secretary general of Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities and director of the Giza Plateau, suspects that might not be the case.

"I really personally believe," he recently told a sold-out lecture hall in the University of Pennsylvania's Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology in Philadelphia, "that the secret chamber of Khufu is hidden inside the pyramid." ...

The Great Pyramid may still contain Khufu's intact pharaonic tomb, Daily Star, Lebanon, July 14, 2005.

Egypt is launching a campaign for the return of five of its most precious artefacts from museums abroad, including the Rosetta Stone in London and the graceful bust of Nefertiti in Berlin.

Zahi Hawass, the country's chief archaeologist, said the UN's cultural agency UNESCO had agreed to mediate in its claims for artefacts currently at the British Museum, Paris' Louvre, two German museums and Boston's Museum of Fine Arts.

If Egypt presses the campaign, it would be joining for the first time what has been an uphill battle by several countries to get back pieces they see as looted by Western museums, usually during the colonial era.

Most notably, Greece has been seeking for decades the return of the Parthenon's Elgin Marbles from the British Museum...

Egypt wants its museum treasures back, AAP via The Age, Australia, July 14, 2005.

cf. Egypt asks UNESCO for help in securing return of Rosetta Stone, other precious artifacts, AP via WOAI San Antonio News, Texas, USA, July 13, 2005.

Egyptian authorities announced on Monday the discovery at Cairo's citadel of an underground passageway tall enough to accommodate a mounted horseman.

The 150-metre-long tunnel, the longest of several beneath the citadel, was found in the vicinity of the 19th century Mohamed Ali mosque in the course of a project to drain off groundwater from under the compound.

The Cairo Citadel dates to the 12th century...

Knights may have travelled beneath citadel, IOL, South Africa, July 11, 2005.

The Mainichi Newspapers will host the "Ancient Egyptian Exhibition: Mysteries through Five Millennia," in collaboration with Tokyo Broadcasting System, Inc and Toei Co., Ltd. from July 28 to Aug. 28...

Tokyo looks back on ancient Egypt, Mainichi Daily News via MSN, Japan, July 01, 2005.

cf. The Daimaru Museum.

[Japanese] women are mimicking a treatment first developed thousands of years ago in ancient Egypt and sewing threads of pure gold into their cheeks.

Golden strings laced into the face are said to have made Cleopatra look at the time of her death at age 39 as though she had the skin of a 15-year- old...

A golden stitch in time saves nine years of aging, Mainichi Daily News via MSN, Japan, July 06, 2005.

The ... exhibition focuses on four cultures in sub-Saharan Africa: the Dogon (doh'-gahn) of Mali, the Baule (ba ou le' or BOW-lay) of the Ivory Coast, the Yoruba (your'-a-bah or yoh-roo'-bah) of Nigeria and the Kuba Kingdom of the Congo.   There are also several ancient Egyptian burial objects from various dynasties...

African art, Deseret News, Utah, USA, July 10, 2005.

cf. Africa: Arts of a Continent, Utah Museum of Fine Arts.

Pierre Lacotte’s reconstruction of The Pharaoh’s Daughter, based on Marius Petipa’s original 1862 ballet, will be released on DVD tomorrow.

The Harmonia Mundi DVD contains the Bolshoi Ballet’s performance of the ballet, with Svetlana Zakharova and Sergueï Filin in the lead roles.   Alexander Sotnokov conducted the Bolshoi Theatre’s orchestra...

Bolshoi Reconstruction of The Pharaoh's Daughter Released, PlaybillArts, July 11, 2005.

The wonders of Egypt are being recreated on the South Coast by 60 artists from around the world in a summer-long sand sculpture festival.

Nearly 10,000 tons — 500 lorry loads — of special sand has been shipped from Holland to Brighton Marina for the festival, which lasts until September...

Wonders of Egypt created in sand, BBC News, UK, July 11, 2005.

More on the discovery of ancient Egyptian glass factories.

Archaeologists have uncovered for the first time the remains of a Bronze Age glass factory, where skilled artisans made glass from its raw materials.   Surprisingly, this factory, which was bustling around 1250 B.C., is in Egypt rather than Mesopotamia, which is generally thought to be where glass was first made...

How Egypt turned dust into treasures of glass, MSNBC, USA, July 07, 2005, via Explorator.

The earliest known historical text on surgery is the Edwin Smith papyrus.   Dating to 1600 BC, it is, in fact, the oldest known medical document.   The practical material in the Edwin Smith papyrus stands in stark contrast to the magical incantations in another celebrated Egyptian medical text, the Ebers Papyrus...

The Edwin Smith Papyrus, medGadget, July 08, 2005, via Explorator.

TravelVideo's periodic roundup of antiquity and tourism news from Egypt.

Antiquity and Tourism Report from Egypt, TravelVideo.TV, Canada, July 11, 2005.

We stood in a line outside the Los Angeles County Museum of Art that stretched halfway to Giza, and I guessed that even the ancient Egyptians didn't wait this long to see the boy king.

We came not to find out why he died, although experts disagree on the cause of his demise, but to marvel at the stuff he took with him as presented by National Geographic.   We were among thousands who bought $25 tickets for the opportunity to see objects so invaluable as to boggle the mind...

Tut exhibit tainted with more than a touch of tawdry hucksterism, Las Vegas Review-Journal, Nevada, USA, July 10, 2005.

More on the Pesed CT scan.   Actually very little on the Pesed CT scan and more on the author getting in touch with his Egyptian side.

This is a cruel editor's joke ... right?   Send the Egyptian intern to cover the CT scan of an ancient Egyptian mummy that belongs to Westminster College.   Ha, ha.

Somehow, I will have to awe my editors with my ability to conjure up the spirits of my dead ancestors and transfer their mystic power into perfectly phrased prose.   This is going to be great...

Up close and personal with a very distant and mummified relative, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Pennsylvania, USA, July 09, 2005.

... Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs includes 50 major objects excavated from Tutankhamun's tomb — each has an individual story and historical significance.

Among the tomb's treasures are series of objects associated with the pharaoh's embalming.   The highlight, said Cooney, is a Viscera Coffin that always draws a large crowd.   It is one of four miniature coffins used to house King Tut's internal organs.   The one on display in this exhibit held his liver.

The mini-coffin is an exact miniature of King Tut's famous golden funeral sarcophagus.   People are surprised when they see the mini-coffin in person.   The work on it is so fine and detailed that photographs of the canopic jar easily trick people into thinking it's the full-size sarcophagus...

King Tut revisited, Deseret News, Utah, USA, July 10, 2005.

Attorney General Maher Abdul Wahed agreed that a judicial and technical delegation would be sent to Australia to retrieve 27 rare artifacts which were due to be auctioned.

Secretary General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities Zahi Hawass reported that a number of smuggled Egyptian artifacts in Australia were to be put on display for sale there.

27 artifacts to be restored, State Information Service, Egypt, July 10, 2005.

Over the last three years the Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA) earned LE186,372,860 from 18 exhibits sent abroad.   Within the framework of a new policy developed by the SCA for sending archaeological exhibitions abroad, Egypt earned a great deal of publicity value worldwide as well.

These exhibitions consist of selected artifacts that are distinguished but not unique, after ensuring the best security and safety measures to protect such objects.   The exhibits are designed to educate others about Ancient Egyptian history.   One such exhibit is "Tutankhamun and the Golden Beyond".   This exhibit consists of magnificent artifacts from the tomb of Tutankhamun, as well as others from the 18th Dynasty, known as the Golden Age of Ancient Egypt.   The exhibit travelled from the Cairo Museum to Basel, Switzerland, then to Bonn, Germany, and is now in Los Angeles, USA.   The exhibition will travel to three other states while on tour in America...

Newsreel: Exhibition Success, Al-Ahram, Egypt, Issue No. 750, 7 - 13 July 2005.

The Städel Museum, Frankfurt, Germany, have a new exhition coming up entitled Egypt-Greece-Rome: Resistance and contact (Ägypten-Griechenland-Rom: Abwehr und Berührung).

Since time immemorial, Ancient Egypt has captivated the imagination of the occident more vividly than any other culture.   In ancient times, the land of the Pharaohs was the crucial driving force behind the development of large sculptures and stone architecture, and even today a special aura still surrounds Egyptian illustrations and characters.   Even in classical antiquity, the Egyptian religion and metaphorical language were perceived as particularly strange, but they were also credited with a secret, unfathomable wisdom.   The fact that this ability to impress increased beyond their demise to proportions sometimes tantamount to Egyptomania is testimony to the Egyptian culture, or rather the way it was interpreted in Greece and Rome...

Staedel Museum: Forthcoming Exhibitions, Städel Museum, Germany, via Archaeo-News-Blog.

More than 20 frescos have been uncovered in the newly inaugurated Beit Al-Sitt Wassila, reports Nevine El-Aref.

Last Sunday ... Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif, Culture Minister Farouk Hosni, Cairo Governor Abdel-Azim Wazir and Zahi Hawass secretary general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities were among the officials inaugurating Beit Al-Sitt Wassila following a five-year restoration programme.   The house, which had suffered centuries of neglect, has now been reborn in the heart of historic Cairo.

Beit Al-Sitt Wassila counts among Cairo's most magnificent domestic buildings.   As early as 1895 plans were afoot to restore the house which over the centuries had lost two of its original four storeys...

Writing on the walls, Al-Ahram, Egypt, Issue No. 750, 7 - 13 July 2005.

A short article by Thomas Keyes, an author, saying how safe Egypt is.

Egypt Is A Safe, Safe Place, Useless-Knowledge, July 06, 2005.

Culture Minister Farouk Hosni agreed to carry out an Egyptian Italian project for developing the premises and halls of the Egyptian Museum, Tahrir Square, Cairo.

Meanwhile, the Supreme Council for Antiquities (SCA) Secretary-General Zahi Hawass said the project includes a comprehensive development to the show halls inside the museum as well as changing the system of lights and ventilation.

Egyptian Italian project to develop Egyptian museum, State Information Service, Egypt, July 07, 2005.

The Egyptian government plans to attract an extra 1 million tourists a year to Egypt every year for the next decade, more than doubling the current total to 18 million by 2015, President Hosni Mubarak said Sunday.

The government's 10-year plan will require building 15,000 extra hotel rooms a year, bringing the total to 300,000, he said in a speech in the south Egyptian town of Luxor, the center for visits to many of Egypt's pharaonic sites.

To achieve this target, the private sector will have to invest at least $1.4 billion a year in the tourism sector, he added...

Egypt plans to double tourism over 10 years, Reuters via USA Today, USA, July 05, 2005.

Egyptian and Italian conservationists and curators on Tuesday inaugurated a laboratory for restoring and preserving papyrus located at the Egyptian Museum in Cairo.

"The project aims to preserve the papyri for the long-term, not just to restore them to be looked at now," said Corrado Basile of the International Papyrus Institute in Syracuse, Italy.

Basile's institute is partnering with Egypt in the project...

Egyptian-Italian lab for restoring and conserving papyrus inaugurated, Deutsche Presse-Agentur via Washington Classical 103.5, District of Columbia, USA, July 05, 2005.

Hawass, Italian ambassador open first lab in Middle East for restoration of papyruses, State Information Service, Egypt, July 06, 2005.

More on the Pesed mummy scan.

Pesed is bouncing in the back of a Dodge Ram Van, much to the dismay of the young woman watching over her.   The driver is lost, and they're a little late for Pesed's CT scan appointment.

The concern about Pesed has nothing to do with her comfort and everything to do with the fact that she is a 2,300-year-old Egyptian mummy...

College schedules CT scan for 2,300-year-old mummy, NBC News, USA, July 02, 2005.

A visit to San Diego’s Museum of Man, which is said to display more mummies than any other museum in the United States, visitors can learn about the fascinating process of mummification.   The permanent ancient Egypt exhibit, housed on the second floor in the East Wing, includes a mummy (on loan from the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County), a mummified falcon, mummy masks and a coffin.

The interactive Discover Egypt exhibit in San Diego’s Museum of Man, located in the Children’s Discovery Center, houses a mummy, decked with Scarab amulets (representation of a beetle, considered sacred and a symbol of the soul.   It is worn as a talisman).   If interested, one can listen to the mummification process narration, as told by the “Egyptian God Anubis.” ...

San Diego’s Museum of Man’s Strangely Fascinating Mummy Exhibition, The Epoch Times, USA, July 05, 2005.

American Express Travel announced today that it will award free tickets to this year's cultural phenomenon, "Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs," to Cardmembers who book a minimum three-night package to Los Angeles through the American Express Travel Web site...

Free Tickets to this Year's Hot Museum Event, King Tut Exhibit in Los Angeles, Available from American Express Travel, PRNewsWire via WECT TV-6, USA, July 06, 2005.

When it comes to exotic getaways, few places can match Egypt...

With it's unique blend of antiquity, archaeology, cultural wealth and exciting contemporary lifestyle, this fascinating country on the tip of Africa offers unforgettable experiences.

Stepping into Cairo while still warmly armoured against the Johannesburg winter makes for a bit of a shock.   It's 6.30am in land where it rains perhaps twice a year and static, dry heat greets us, along with a welcoming face from Peace Tourism. [We] are on a mission to explore the culinary and holiday delights Egypt has to offer...

Escape to Egypt, Woman 24, South Africa, July 06, 2005.

A Blue Coat School sixth form pupil took a trip back in time to learn the mysteries of ancient Egypt at summer school.

Linda Coombs, from Ashton, learned all about the great architects of the pyramids during five days at University College London.

She was one of 30 lucky students drawn from 300 applicants to enjoy the one-off course on Egyptology, which took in the British Museum and Petrie Museum in London.

The 16-year-old, who’s favourite subject is history, said: “It was a great opportunity.

“I didn’t really know much at all about the subject before so it was a real learning curve.”

Linda, who plans to go to university, attended a series of seminars and lectures, culminating in a group presentation on what she had learned.

Linda’s no dummy on Egyptian mummies, Oldham Evening Chronicle, UK, July 07, 2005.

Pyramid Quest: Secrets of the Great Pyramid and the Dawn of Civilization by Dr. Robert M. Schoch was released last week.   You can find a two part review of it by Dr. Colette M. Dowell here and here.

Buy it from Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.com, or Amazon.ca.

Quite an amusing article worthy of a read.

I don't care what some people are saying; I just can't see how that scanner-image bust of King Tutankhamen looks like Barbra Streisand?   Well, have you seen the original bust of King Tut that was found in his tomb?   It looks more like Yul Brynner after he hired Tammy Faye Baker as his make-up artist.   The point is who really knows what King Tut looked like under all that paint?

It's common knowledge that space aliens helped to build the pyramids.   Hey, we're Americans; if we couldn't build them without heavy machinery neither could the Ancient Egyptians, right? ...

Just don't go to Egypt for a face lift, OK?, Hanford Sentinel, California, USA, July 03, 2005.

An exhibition on the Ancient Library of Egypt together with its modern equivalent has opened at the City Art Centre.

The exhibition, Bibliotheca Alexandrina, runs until September 11 and looks at the ancient library at Alexandria, which housed an acclaimed collection of several hundred thousand scrolls.

It also features details of Egypt's new Bibliotheca Alexandrina library, which is dedicated to recapturing the original building's spirit.

Exhibition on Egypt's libraries booked for city, Edinburgh Evening News, UK, July 02, 2005.

McMillan Group, an award- winning environmental design and project management firm, working closely with National Geographic, AEG Exhibitions, Arts and Exhibitions International and the Egyptian Supreme Council of Antiquities, has woven a finely-tuned story for the new Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs exhibition — a powerful and provocative presentation that brings to life the story of King Tut and his predecessors with visual energy that captures and interprets the life and times of Egypt's most celebrated king.

"Creating exhibits today is like writing a symphony — the design must entice visitors with visual cues to carry the theme and content," said Charlie McMillan, president of McMillan Group.   "When there is a harmony and resonance between the objects and the environment, it stimulates a heightened experience."

In the case of Tutankhamun, the exhibition's inventive design, contextual organization and relative didactic information provides a journey through 11 galleries, each with its own unique atmosphere.   Through design and a thoughtful display of artifacts, viewers become immersed in the world of King Tut...

Designers Create An Intimate Showcase For The Treasures Of King Tut, EWorldWire News, USA, July 05, 2005.

I spotted this short article about the Pitt Rivers Museum in Oxford winning an award.   This reminded me that they have some Egyptian items.   After a quick look on their website (Pitt Rivers Museum) I discovered that they have the collection catalogue online and searching on Egypt returned six-and-a-half-thousand items!

So next time you are in Oxford — probably visiting The Ashmolean — give this one a visit also.

Oxford museums win children's vote, Guardian, UK, July 06, 2005.

UNESCO experts hailed the atmosphere of security and stability Egypt enjoys.

They said that that life is secure not only for Egyptians but also for foreigners...

UNESCO hails Egypt's security, State Information Service, Egypt, July 05, 2005.

Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif inaugurated yesterday ancient Wasila House, located behind Al-Azhar mosque, after the Culture Ministry had finished its restoration at a cost of L.E.5 million...

Nazif opens ancient Wasila houses, State Information Service, Egypt, July 05, 2005.

Three tourism articles from the Egyptian State Information Service.

President Hosni Mubarak decreed Saturday the restructuring of the Higher Tourism Council.

By virtue of the decree, the higher council will be chaired by the Prime Minister...

Mubarak decrees Tourism Council restructure, State Information Service, Egypt, July 03, 2005.

Mubarak presides over the meeting of the Supreme Council of Tourism

President Hosni Mubarak yesterday stressed the importance of tourism, describing it as our most important export service.

Exports, of which tourism is a central part, should be a strategic priority for our society, President Mubarak said in his keynote speech at the opening of the expansion and upgrade work at Luxor airport...

Mubarak presides over the meeting of the Supreme Council of Tourism, State Information Service, Egypt, July 04, 2005.

Mubarak to inaugurate Luxor international airport today

President Hosni Mubarak inaugurates today Luxor International Airport after its renovation.

The airport can process seven million passengers annually, according to Shafik.

He said the renovated Luxor airport is now one of the best in Egypt and an asset for the historical and tourist status of the city...

Mubarak to inaugurate Luxor int'l airport today, State Information Service, Egypt, July 03, 2005.

The Culture, Media and Tourism Committee of the Shura Council approved yesterday a republican decree regarding the agreement of protecting cultural heritage which was ratified by UNESCO in 17 October 2003.

The agreement aimed at protecting and respecting the cultural heritage of individuals and groups on the local, patriotic and international Levels.

The agreement clarified the commitments of the countries to protect the cultural heritage.

The committee agreed to the republican decree on the second protocol of the Hague Agreement.

Culture, media committee approves agreement of protecting cultural heritage, State Information Service, Egypt, July 03, 2005.

About 3000 tourists from Germany, Italy, England, France and Japan visited Siwa Oasis last week.

They travelled there to visit places including El-Wasi temple, Cleopatra's Bath, the Mountain of the Dead, the Coronation Hall of Alexander the Great, and Dekrour Mountain, a Tourism Activation Authority representative said.

With the recent completion of several new hotels and tourist villages, it is expected that the number of tourists will increase to more than 3000 per week in the near future, the representative added.

SIWA receives 3,000 tourists, State Information Service, Egypt, July 03, 2005.

When the King Tutankhamun exhibit arrives in South Florida on Dec. 15, it is expected to lure more than 400,000 visitors to Fort Lauderdale's Museum of Art.

But the museum already has been enjoying a spike in membership thanks to the boy king and his ancient caravan of wealth.

"We have five people working the phone bank right now just keeping up with membership," says the museum's executive director, Irvin Lippman.   "Right now, we're processing close to 300 new memberships a day." ...

King Tut a hit months before arrival, South Florida Sun Sentinel, Florida, USA, July 05, 2005.

...plans for the $500 million Grand Museum of Egypt, to be built at the foot of the Pyramids and serve as a gathering place of about 100,000 Egyptian artifacts, were released last month by heneghan.peng.architects, the Irish firm awarded the design contract by the government.

But, as is always the case with giant projects, the government is now facing a funding issue.   For starters, officials have announced all $40 million expected in revenue generated by King Tut’s current tour of the US will go toward the museum.   In addition, the government is planning a large-scale fundraising drive and is negotiating a loan for an undisclosed amount with the Japanese Bank for International Development.

newsreel / digest : Grand Schemes, Egypt Today, Egypt, Volume 26 Issue 07, July 2005.

newsreel/for the record, Egypt Today, Egypt, Volume 26 Issue 07, July 2005.

Work is underway to build the first Egyptian museum of pre-historic eras.   Located on Qena’s Nile Corniche, close to the railway bridge, the museum will cover an important and overlooked era in history; the 10,000 years preceding and leading to the formation of the first and second dynasties.   The pieces set apart to go to the museum number over 3,000.   Dr. Mahmoud Mabrouk, the sculptor and brains behind the idea, believes the museum will draw a lot of tourism to the city of Qena, because it is imperative for serious fans of Egyptian culture to understand the stages that have pre-empted the formation of Egyptian civilization.

A roundup of the month’s news in arts and letters: Go Qena, Egypt Today, Egypt, Volume 26 Issue 07, July 2005.

One man’s crusade to save Pharaonic heritage from becoming, quite literally, a pile of stones or a source of building material for a factory.

Before the publication of Description de l’Egypte after Napoleon’s ‘great scientific and military expedition’ of 1798, only a handful of bold, religious men traveled to Egypt in search of ancient Coptic manuscripts.   Few scholars or pilgrims passing through Egypt stopped to look at ruins on their way to and from the Holy Land.   Apart from mummies, which were at a premium in Europe, they showed little enthusiasm for Pharaonic artifacts.

The publication of Description de l’Egypte’s 23 massive volumes over nearly 20 years directed the world’s attention to ancient Egypt and helped spark the modern study of the nation’s ancient history.   Muhammad Ali’s ‘open door policy’ quickly put Pharaonic heritage to the fore.

Travelers flocked to the Valley of the Nile in search of the newly discovered remnants of ancient civilization.   It did not take long for them to start planning a massive exportation of its monuments to their home countries, earning themselves both fortunes and reputations in the process.

They encountered little resistance in these early years.   The Pasha did not seem aware of the value of Egypt’s heritage...

The Knight of Karnak, Egypt Today, Egypt, Volume 26 Issue 07, July 2005.

Dr. Ahmed Nawwar’s latest exhibition revisits the timeless Fayoum Portraits, in a bid to look into the soul of civilization.

Haunting yet beautiful, the Fayoum Portraits grip you, and you cannot look back.   The faces, with their huge, soulful eyes, give viewers an eerie jolt into ancient times and one is easily able to see the degree of professional excellence artists of yore had reached.

Last month, Nawwar exhibited works that seem to be the result of thousands of years of artistic experience.   In his exhibition, Soul of Civilisation, held at the Zamalek Gallery, Nawwar brings the Fayoum Portraits into the modern art era, yet again.   In 2000, the artist held one of his most moving and powerful exhibits, a black and white (ink on paper) dissection of the Fayoum art.   “It was an attempt to penetrate the depths of their secrets; to bring the soul on a journey back into contact with current events after the passing of a millennium,” Nawwar explains...

Soul Searching, Egypt Today, Egypt, Volume 26 Issue 07, July 2005.

...on my second visit to the country and on what was, in essence, just the sort of trip that Thomas Cook put together 150 years ago when he led a group of tourists on his first overseas “grand tour” to Brussels, Cologne, the Rhine, Heidelberg, Baden-Baden, Strasbourg and Paris.

This was the first foreign package holiday — and, in my view, its spirit survives.   While independent travel has become the vogue, and many sun-and-sand packages have degenerated into little more than a cheap way to eat, drink and sunbathe — as Rosemary Behan discovered — some packages still offer the best way to travel...

Good things can come in packages, Telegraph, UK, July 02, 2005.

A letter to the editor of the Los Angeles Times that refers back to this story: In Defense of King Tut.

Re "In Defense of King Tut," Commentary, June 20: Thomas Hoving talks about going into the Egyptian Museum in 1975 after-hours, alone, and given permission to open any case, even kissing Tut's gold mask.   Zahi Hawass, Egypt's chief of antiquities, wants Egyptian treasures in foreign museums to be returned to Egypt.

Where were the alarms when the case was opened so that Hoving could kiss the mask?   Where were the security guards who should have accompanied him?   Has security gotten any better at the Egyptian Museum today?   In 1994, I visited the tomb of Tutankhamen in Egypt and was appalled to see dust on the clear covering over the sarcophagus.   Surely safer to leave these precious objects where they are until the Egyptians can be better stewards of their treasures.

Christine Gan

Pasadena

Egypt Needs to Be a Better Steward of Its Past, Los Angeles Times, California, USA, June 25, 2005.

Minister of Culture Farouk Hosni said Tuesday that a mission of Cairo University Faculty of Archaeology operating in Saqqara area was able to unearth a big sarcophagus dating to the reign of King Rameses II (1279-1213 BC).

"The sarcophagus, made of rosy granite and bears hieroglyphic signs and different titles of the deceased, belongs to an overseer of stables during the reign on Rameses II," said Hosni...

Sarcophagus dating back to Ramses Reign discovered in Saqqara, State Information Service, Egypt, Jun 29, 2005.

"Three gold mines have been discovered in al-Ela1qi Valley, South of Eastern desert," the Minister of Oil, Sameh Fahmi, announced yesterday.

...It is also notable that this valley was a permanent gold source some 4000 years ago for the pharaohs of ancient Egypt.

Gold mines discovered in al-Elaqi Valley, State Information Service, Egypt, June 30, 2005.

The activities of the executive committee for setting up the Nubia Museum in Asswan and the Civilization Museum in Fustat (Old Cairo) started yesterday at the UNESCO headquarters in Paris.

Meantime, the Supreme Council for Antiquities (SCA) Secretary- General Zahi Hawass said that Egypt exerts tremendous efforts for restoring the smuggled antiques from abroad, noting that three thousand artifacts were restored during the past three years.

Moreover, Egypt demanded restoring Rosetta stone that is on show in the British Museum and Nefertiti bust that is on show in Berlin Museum and the Zodiac in Louvre.

SCA restores 3,000 artifacts in three years, State Information Service, Egypt, June 30, 2005.

A book review from the Washington Post.

Tutankhamun: The Mystery of the Boy King, by Zahi Hawass (National Geographic, $17.95, ages 9-12).   For aspiring young archaeologists, this will be, hands down, the picture book of the season.   The text is written by no less an authority than the director of excavations at the Giza Pyramids and head of Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities, but it's accessible ("according to one Egyptologist, someone might have snuck up on Tutankhamun ... and hit him on the head") and imaginatively organized.   The opening chapter title, "Howard Carter, King Tut, and Me," introduces a trio of themes: the 1922 discovery of the teenage king's largely undisturbed tomb by a British archaeologist. Tut's life 3,000 years ago (much of it educated conjecture) and his modern afterlife as an object of scientific study; and finally, Hawass's own role in the saga.   For example, the veteran tomb-digger describes the thrill of directing, this past January, the CT scans of the mummy that enabled scientists to recreate Tut's face and scotch the rumor that he had been murdered.   Then there are the illustrations.   It is hard to say which are more memorable — the historical photos, including one of Carter opening the door to one of the sarcophagus's several protective shrines, or the new ones of the tomb's treasures, shot by National Geographic's photographer with such panache that the whole book brings to mind Carter's wondering words of 83 years ago: "Everywhere the gleam of gold!"

For Young Readers, Washington Post, District of Columbia, USA, June 26, 2005.

Buy it from Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.com, or Amazon.ca.

When King Tut's entombed treasures first visited the United States in 1976, they captured the public imagination.   By the time they had returned home three years later, some 8 million people had witnessed firsthand the glories of Egypt circa 1330 B.C.

It is a testament to the enduring buzz of that show and to the acumen of the new Tut extravaganza's organizers and promoters that more than 300,000 tickets had already been purchased to the return exhibit at its first U.S. venue, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, before opening day.

But the hype made me suspicious as I stood in line to view the exhibition last week.   Could the new Tut-bling possibly measure up to the old boy king's?   Could this show sate America's seemingly insatiable appetite for sensation? ...

Crossing the boundaries of time, Contra Costa Times, California, USA, June 26, 2005.

Wadi Al-Natrun, in fact, is steeped in religious history as it has in its vicinity four of the most important monasteries in Coptic history.   Anba Bishoi (the Monastery of St Bishoi), Abu Maqar (the Monastery of St Macarius), Al-Baramus (the Monastery of the Romans) and Al-Surian (Monastery of the Syrians) all date to the fourth century AD and are testimony to the endurance of the ancient Coptic Christian sect.   The desert has been the protector of their faith, for it was there that thousands of Christians retreated to escape Roman prosecution in the fourth century AD.   They lived in caves, built monasteries and developed the monastic tradition that was later adopted by European Christians...

Wadi Al-Natrun, Al-Ahram, Egypt, Issue No. 749, 30 June - 6 July 2005.

In August 1998, an Egyptian archaeological mission working near Baltim stumbled upon the unique Islamic archeological site.   Dating as far back as the ninth century, it is considered the first well preserved mosque discovered in Lower Egypt...

Snap shot, Al-Ahram, Egypt, Issue No. 749, 30 June - 6 July 2005.

In the framework of the Egyptian-Italian environmental cooperation programme, a twinning agreement has been signed between the Wadi Al-Rayan protectorate in Fayoum and the Italian National Park of the Gran Sasso and the Laga Mountains, writes Mahmoud Bakr.

According to Professor Mustafa Fouda, head of Nature Conservation at the Egyptian Environmental Affairs Agency (EEAA), the Wadi Al-Rayan protectorate needs permanent supervision by trained personnel to ensure that environmental laws are enforced.   Rangers will be posted in the area to coordinate with locals and report any violations.   Experts, researchers and vehicles are needed to implement the environmental plan for the protectorate, he added...

Protecting ancient heritage, Al-Ahram, Egypt, Issue No. 749, 30 June - 6 July 2005.

Basalt mining threatens one of the world's richest preserves of ancient fossils, writes Mahmoud Bakr.

If one were to imagine that Lake Qaroun is a miniature Mediterranean, that Wadi Al-Rayan is a miniature Red Sea, and that Bahr Youssef is a miniature Nile, then Fayoum, the governorate located 90 kilometres southeast of Cairo, is conceivably a miniature Egypt.   The locality is known to be rich in Roman and Greek ruins, but recently it has been hailed as a reserve of remarkable pre-historic findings...

Money versus history, Al-Ahram, Egypt, Issue No. 749, 30 June - 6 July 2005.

The ancient Egyptians used lettuce as an aphrodisiac, according to an Italian researcher who claims to have solved a century-old archaeological puzzle.

Lettuce has been known for its mild sedative and painkilling effects since Greek and Roman times.

Yet Egyptian bas reliefs put a different spin on the use of lettuce: the plant appears as an offering to the ancient Egyptian deity Min.

Invariably depicted with a large, erect penis, Min was the god of fertility and sexuality.   For more than a century, archaeologists have wondered why a vegetable used to calm dreams was associated with the exuberant Min...

Egyptians ate lettuce to boost sex drive, ABC News, Australia, June 29,2005.

cf. Humble lettuce, a mighty aphrodisiac!, Yahoo! News, India, June 30, 2005.

cf. Lettuce Uncovered as Sexual Stimulant, Discovery Channel News, USA, June 28, 2005.

cf. Lettuce get frisky, Daily Mail, UK, June 30, 2005.

cf. Lettuce uncovered as sexual stimulant, FeshPlaza, Netherlands, June 29, 2005.

When archaeologists sift through the debris of a vanished culture, they should consider the ancient climate.   It can shed light on the bygone habitat and give plausibility to old myths.   It can also give a useful perspective on our own climatically uncertain times.

Take the biblical tale of Joseph.   The famous seven-year cycle of feast and famine appears to be one of Egypt's regular routines, according to Dmitri Kondrashov, Yizhak Feliks, and Michael Ghil at the University of California at Los Angeles.

The scientists used new statistical techniques to fill in gaps in 1,300 years of Nile River water levels recorded from AD 622 through 1922.   They then searched these data for climatically significant cycles.   Their results, reported in Geophysical Research Letters, suggest "quite strongly" that North Atlantic circulation influences East African climate.   The scientists add that "most strikingly," their analysis picked out a North Atlantic driven seven-year cycle of high and low river levels that is "possibly related to the biblical cycle of lean and fat years." ...

Clues of climate and the Bible's seven lean years, Christian Science Monitor, USA, June 30, 2005.

cf. Oscillatory modes of extended Nile River records (A.D. 622–1922), Kondrashov, D., Y. Feliks, and M. Ghil (2005), Geophysical Research Letters, Vol. 32, No. 10, L10702, doi:10.1029/2004GL022156.