Nasser Rabbat examines the interplay between architecture and politics at the Muhammad Ali Mosque.

In 1949, Gaston Wiet the French director of the Museum of Islamic Arts in Cairo and one of the most powerful doyens of heritage in Egypt published a book entitled Mohammed Ali et les beaux-arts. The book, which was part of the centennial of Muhammad Ali's death and therefore predictably laudatory, emphasises the Pasha's patronage of European artistic and architectural styles as well as his budding interest in antiquarianism as significant aspects of his overall modernisation through Westernisation project. Wiet, however, was perplexed by Muhammad Ali's greatest architectural achievement, his Great Mosque at the Citadel of Cairo. For, in contrast to his other commissions, it exhibited distinct archaic Ottoman elements. Wiet was also poignantly aware that an original design for a mosque at the same spot by one of his illustrious compatriots, Pascal-Xavier Coste, the architect from Marseilles who lived and worked in Egypt for almost ten years (1817-1827), was discarded without explanation in favor of the Ottoman edifice...

A mosque and an imperial dream, Al-Ahram, Egypt, Issue No. 756, 18 - 24 August 2005.

Five restored Mameluke and Ottoman buildings in Cairo's Al-Hussein district reopened to the public last Sunday.   Nevine El-Aref attended the inaugural ceremony.

The mosque and madrassa of Al-Malek Al-Jukandar, the sabil-kuttab of Amin Effendi Hezaa, the Um Al-Gholam Mosque and the Bazdar and Maghlawi sabils have finally reappeared in all their finery after years of neglect and deterioration.

The buildings reflect the brilliance of the Mameluke and Ottoman periods, when Islamic architecture flourished across mediaeval Cairo.   However all five monuments were suffering from the same classic problems: leakage of subterranean water, misuse by the area's residents, structural deterioration and serious environmental damage from air pollution, humidity and decaying foundations, and not least the effects of the 1992 earthquake which caused cracking to all five monuments and the collapse of some archaeological elements.   The original floors of all the buildings had completely vanished, as well as parts of their mashrabiya (wooden lattice work) façades...

Take five, Al-Ahram, Egypt, Issue No. 756, 18 - 24 August 2005.

As difficult as it may be to believe, there were no ancient Egyptian artifacts neither a sarcophagus nor a mummy found in Missoula's South Hills.

In fact, the man who claimed to have found the artifacts in a Missoulian classified ad that ran Monday and Tuesday said he didn't even know how to spell sarcophagus when he decided to pull off the hoax.   The ad read, "Found: Ancient Egyptian Sarcophagus w/mummy & other important artifacts. S. Hills area," followed by a Los Angeles-area telephone number...

Mummy hoax meant to cheer up Missoulians, The Missoulian, Montana, August 18, 2005.

For the fourth consecutive year Swansea University has seen an increase in the number of applications, with a rise of 15% in September 2005.   Most other Welsh Higher Education institutions have seen increases, although there is no consensus over the reasons for this growth.

[One] major factor has been the introduction of a number of new degree programmes.   There have been some remarkable success stories, none more spectacular than the growth in Egyptology.

Triggered by the building of the Egypt Centre, which houses the Wellcome museum collection, the Egyptology degree has attracted hundreds of applications and helped to boost and transform a Classics and Ancient History Department which was struggling to compete with prestigious universities for students of Greek and Latin...

Why Swansea is so popular, icWales, UK, August 18, 2005.