Minister of Culture Farouk Hosni agreed to add three new sites in Al Qusser area in the Red Sea governorate to the list of the Islamic and Coptic monuments.

He said the measure is part of a plan to develop the ancient sites in the city and put them on Egypt's tourism map.

Qusser monuments on Egypt's tourism map, State Information Service, Egypt, September 12, 2005.

The history of mummies is a long and sad one.   Had Egypt’s ancient civilizations been able to fathom the degree of shocking desecration to which their dead would be subject, they might have thought twice about embalming them for eternity.   Mummies have been treated with the utmost disrespect: dug out, reburied, dug out again, sold, bought and even ground to make medicines or paint pigments.   They have been shipped around the world and put on show — their unwrapping staged as part of some circus-like exhibition.

One of the most interesting figures in the history of mummy unwrapping is George Gliddon, the American vice-consul to Egypt in 1832.   Gliddon was not particularly interested in the mummy business at first...

A Sad Obsession, Egypt Today, Egypt, Volume 26, Issue 09, September 2005.

An exhibition for Egyptian artefacts will be staged in three American states as of mid-October for three months under the title "Hatshepsut the Queen and Pharaoh"...

Hatshepsut visits three US states, State Information Service, Egypt, September 09, 2005.

Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif on Monday night opened the Ibn Tulun Mosque together with Minister of Culture Farouk Hosni following a four-year long renovation project at a cost of LE 12 million.

Nazif termed the restoration of the mosque, originally built in 853 AD, as a great step in maintaining Egypt's heritage...

Nazif opens renovation project of Ibn Tulun mosque, State Information Service, Egypt, September 07, 2005.

Dr. Zahi Hawass, Secretary-General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, said that the Egyptian artefacts being displayed at Dayton, Ohio, are unique and rare pieces.

Hawass said that all the pieces are original and that they were displayed abroad in accordance with law 117 for 1973 on protecting the monuments.

He said that some 30,000 people visited the Egyptian Monuments Exhibition in Dayton in one week, adding that 50,000 tickets were sold till now. He expected that the number of people who are to visit the exhibition would reach 400,000.

30,000 Americans visit Egyptian Monuments Exhibition, State Information Service, Egypt, September 06, 2005.

Minister of Tourism Ahmed Al Maghrabi is to meet with a delegation representing the Federation of British Tourist Writers on Thursday.

The delegation will also meet with head of Tourism Promotion Authority Ahmed Al Khadem.

The British delegation's visit to Egypt falls within the framework of cooperation with the Egyptian Tourist Writers' Society.

British support for Egyptian tourism, State Information Service, Egypt, September 05, 2005.

Minister of Culture Farouk Hosni had a telephone call with Dr. Zahi Hawass, Secretary-General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, currently visiting the United States.

...Hawass said he received two reports from archaeologists Suad Rushdy, who supervises the Golden Pharaoh, Tutankhamen, exhibition in Los Angeles and Hanem Barakat, who supervises Dayton exhibition...

Egyptian antiquities in US safe, State Information Service, Egypt, September 03, 2005.

A half million Americans visited Tutankhamen exhibition being staged at Los Angeles Museum for Arts during the past three months, setting a record for the people entering the exhibition.

Dr. Zahi Hawass, Secretary General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities said that he received a report from Dr. Wafaa El Seddiq, Manager of the Egyptian Museum and Head of the Foreign Exhibition Committee in which she affirmed that the Tutankhamen exhibition in Los Angeles witnessed an unprecedented number of visitors...

500,000 Americans visit Tutankhamen exhibition in USA, State Information Service, Egypt, September 11, 2005.

By Zahi Hawass

As an Egyptologist, I have met many strange people. Some of them, known as "pyramidiots", have far- fetched ideas about aliens, lost civilisations and the power of the pyramidal form. Others want to drill inside the Pyramids. Some want to become famous, so they announce mere theories as facts. We live in a strange world.

Recently I heard from Jack Graves, a professor at the University of California...

Dig days: Surprise delivery, Al-Ahram, Egypt, Issue No. 759, 8 - 14 September 2005.

Historic Cairo continues to shake the dust off monuments that once were the symbol of a great Islamic empire.   Nevine El-Aref reviews the latest revamped pieces of history.

Cairo is an unequalled treasure house of Islamic architecture displaying distinguished Mameluke, Ottoman and Fatimid edifices.   However, due to urban expansion during the past 50 years, many of the city's monuments virtually disappeared while others were largely neglected, thus turning them into something other than what they used to look like.   They suffered from leaking subterranean water, misuse of the surrounding areas by inhabitants, the deterioration of walls as well as a serious environmental threat from air pollution, a high level of humidity and decaying foundations.   Added to the problem was the 1992 earthquake which cracked the city's monuments, and forced more art work to fall or peel off.

The expected but still upsetting result: the original floors of some monuments completely vanished as well as parts of their mashrabiya (woodwork) façade...

Back to the original, Al-Ahram, Egypt, Issue No. 759, 8 - 14 September 2005.

The metal spiral staircase leads to a room with 1278 manuscripts — 18 Persian, 46 Turkish, and the rest Arabic — all encased for protection in anti-acid boxes.   Haifa opens a grey box which reveals a 400-year-old Qur'an with beautiful gilded pages stamped by the royal blue emblem of the Ottoman Turkish Sultanate.   Another box exposes a medical book on "Poisons and Remedies" from 843AH (l439AD).   Haifa opens another box containing an 800-year-old book, dated 598AH (1201AD), written by the Arab historian Malik al-Nasr about the last battle between Salah al-Din and Richard the Lionheart.   Then she extracts a 1000-year-old book of the Hadith (the Muslim Prophetic Traditions) dated 418AH (1027AD) and flips through the worn pages...

Of manuscripts and thorns, Al-Ahram, Egypt, Issue No. 759, 8 - 14 September 2005.

After five years of painstaking work, the splendid Ibn Toloun Mosque is again welcoming worshippers and visitors.   Nevine El-Aref attended its official inauguration.

When Ahmed Ibn Toloun decided to build an immense and sturdy mosque in Egypt's new Abbasid Al-Qatai (quarter) capital, he chose the solid bedrock of Gabal Yashkour at the city's core.   The mosque was to resemble those in Ibn Toloun's home city of Samaraa: a vast, imposing structure built around a courtyard, with arcades running along its four walls and engaged columns at its corners.

Its location was probably the reason why the Ibn Toloun Mosque survives today.   The solid bedrock on which it stands, and the site's relative elevation, have protected it from natural catastrophes ranging from floods to the more insidious threat of rising groundwater — if not always from the harm inflicted by human beings...

Islamic masterpiece, Al-Ahram, Egypt, Issue No. 759, 8 - 14 September 2005.

Diarise the date of March 29 2006 for this is the day on which there will be a total eclipse of the sun.   Though it will be visible in various countries across the globe, in Africa it will be seen in Egypt, Benin, Chad, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Libya, Togo, Nigeria and Niger.

Of these countries, Egypt is not only extremely accessible, but is regarded as one of the cradles of civilisation.   It also has an ancient past mythologically linked with the sun.

...Egypt is one of the most tempting places to be when next year's total eclipse takes place.   Not only will its visitors have "front row seats" of the eclipse, they'll also have the opportunity to experience the many Egyptian antiquities...

Watch the sun vanish in Egypt..., Independent Online, South Africa, September 12, 2005.

Apologies for the lack of posting for the last week, I have been on holiday to the Isle of Wight.   I'll attempt to catch up with the news from last week and post all of the relevant articles.

I visited Osborne House whilst there and was surprised to find that it had a small Egyptian collection housed in the Swiss Cottage museum!

cf. At her majesty's leisure, The Telegraph, UK, September 06, 2003.