Israeli-born Canadian producer-director Simcha Jacobovici (The Struma) debuts his new biblical history series The Naked Archaeologist on Monday night on Vision TV.

Filmed on location in Israel, Egypt and Greece, the documentary program takes a radically different approach to its theme, even employing dance and rap music (think Ali G. meets Indiana Jones, say the creators) to look at biblical archeology.

"My goal is to demystify the Bible in general and archeology in particular," says the Emmy-winning host Jacobovici.   "To brush away the cobwebs and burst academic bubbles."

Initial episodes include Delilah's People, Who Invented the Alphabet?, Jerusalem and the Black Prince and What Killed Herod?   (Monday, Sept. 5, Vision)

The '68 Mustang and the Cirque du soleil highlight coming week's TV fare, Brandon Sun, Canada, August 31, 2005.

cf. Jacobovici explores biblical archeology in new TV series, The Canadian Jewish News, September 01, 2005.

Fragile mummies crumble to dust in their display cases.

Rare artifacts sit randomly stacked in corners and hallways, or crowded onto shelves too small for them.

Labels are tattered, curling and faded, typewritten decades ago and apparently untouched since then.

Welcome to the Egyptian Museum: the world's largest and most important repository of ancient Egyptian art — and at the same time, a ramshackle, deteriorating mess...

Cairo's Egyptian Museum doesn't match the majesty of its treasures, Dayton Daily News, Ohio, USA, August 28, 2005.

Hours have been extended for the Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs exhibit, organized by National Geographic, AEG Exhibitions, and Arts and Exhibitions International, with cooperation from the Egyptian Supreme Council of Antiquities, and sponsored by Northern Trust Corporation.

Tickets are now on sale for the following extended hours time slots [Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA)]:

• Friday, September 2: 8 p.m., 9 p.m. and 10 p.m.
• Saturday, September 3: 8 p.m., 9 p.m., 10 p.m. and 11 p.m.
• Sunday, September 4: 8 p.m., 9 p.m., 10 p.m. and 11 p.m.
• Monday, September 5: 8 p.m.

Hours Extended for “Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs” During Labor Day Weekend, Business Wire, USA, August 31, 2005.

Thousands of Americans booked their tickets for an exhibition of Egyptian treasures in Dayton, Ohio.

The number of ticket buyers for the exhibition "The [Quest] for Immortality" stood so far at 25,000.

Director of the Modern Art Museum, which hosts the exhibition, expected the number to reach 400,000 by January...

US newspapers urge Americans to visit Egyptian exhibition, State Information Service, Egypt, August 29, 2005.

A number of documents of Egyptian Princes and Sultans have been chosen to enter world memory register.

Minister of Culture Farouk Hosni said on Sunday that the International Advisory Committee for UNESCO's World Memory programme during a meeting in China recently selected a number of documents of Egypt's Sultans and Princes to be among the world memory register sponsored by UNESCO.

Documents of Egyptian Princes, Sultans selected by UNESCO, State Information Service, Egypt, August 29, 2005.

A team representing Japan's TV Man channel is currently visiting Egypt to shoot a tourist programme on archaeological sites in Aswan and in Saqqara — Giza.

Youssef Khaled, representative of the Japanese university of Waseda, said the delegation, which is visiting Aswan at the invitation of the Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA) will shoot the programme in cooperation with SCA.

The programme is due to be aired on TV Man channel that covers Japan, China and most of the European countries with the aim of promoting tourism in Egypt.

Japan TV programme Aswan, Saqqara, State Information Service, Egypt, August 29, 2005.

A joint Egyptian-US archaeological team has discovered a 5,000-year-old funerary complex in Upper Egypt, the Egyptian Gazette reported Wednesday.

The tomb was found in the Kom al-Ahmer region near Edfu, some 97km south of the famous ancient city Luxor on the west bank of the Nile, Zahi Hawass, secretary-general of Egyptian Supreme Council of Antiquities, was quoted as saying.

Three mummies were found inside the tomb alongside a small flint statue of a cow's head and a ceramic funeral mask, Hawass added.

The tomb is believed to have belonged to one of the first rulers of the Greek city of Apollinopolis Magna, the ancient name of Edfu*.

Edfu was the capital of the second nome (Horus) of Upper Egypt.   The main attraction here is the Temple of Horus, which is widely considered to be the best preserved cult temple in Egypt.

Egypt discovers 5000-year-old tomb, Xinhua, China, August 31, 2005.

cf. Egypt discovers ancient tomb, People's Daily, China, August 31, 2005.

* The ancient Egyptian name for Edfu was not, of course, Apollinopolis Magna as that is the ancient Greek name.   The ancient Egyptians called the town Wetjeset-Hrw — “The Place Where Horus is Extolled”.   It also seems to go by the name Djeba.

The Dayton Art Institute is counting down the days before the Sept. 1 [2005] opening of its most expensive exhibit in museum history.   The museum hosted a preview of "Quest for Immortality: Treasures of Ancient Egypt" Tuesday morning and announced it already has sold 30,000 tickets...

30K tickets sold for Egypt exhibit, Dayton Business Journal, Ohio, USA, August 29, 2005.

This is the third part of this article about King Tut from the Marco Island Sun Times Florida.   The second part can be found here.

Howard Carter, A. C. Mace, his patron Lord Carnarvon, and Lady Evelyn Herbert, the lord's devoted companion in Egyptian digs, were eagerly awaiting this day, to enter the burial chamber in the Tomb of King Tutankhamen.

What would they find?

The first thing they found, lying beside a small hole in the door made by robbers in ancient times were portions of two necklaces, dropped by the thief.   Ancient Egyptian officials had resealed the doors...

Who was King Tut? - Part III, Marco Island Sun Times, Florida, USA, September 01, 2005.

PBS have a transcript of an interview with Bonnie Burnham, of the World Monuments Fund, which is also available in streaming video format.

The World Monuments Fund, a nonprofit organization, released a list of the 100 most endangered sites around the world in an effort to call attention to buildings and monuments threatened by natural disasters or pollution.   The fund's president discusses the organization's effort to save the world's architectural treasures.

One of the sites that we've had on several watch lists is the ancient Egyptian monuments at Luxor.   First, the Valley of Kings was listed and now the entire West Bank of the Nile...

World Monuments Fund releases a list of the 100 most endangered sites around the world, PBS, USA, August 23, 2005.