A veteran archaeologist, hailed as Scotland's "Indiana Jones", has discovered one of Egypt's most elusive ancient sites 3,000 years after it was buried in the desert sand.

Ian Mathieson, 78, director of Saqqara Geophysical Survey Project, has located part of a seven-mile ceremonial burial route to the Step Pyramid of Djoser, near Cairo.

Treasure hunters have long tried to pinpoint the Serapeum Way, and in 1798 Napoleon sent 1,000 men...

Scottish 'Indiana Jones' finds ancient burial path, The Scotsman, UK, September 13, 2005.

cf. University of Birmingham Institute of Archaeology and Antiquity.

The ancient Egyptians left proof of their scientific prowess for people to marvel at for millennia.   Their engineering skills can still be seen at Giza, their star charts in Luxor, their care for head wounds on Fifth Avenue.

...What researchers call the world's oldest known medical treatise, an Egyptian papyrus offering 4,000-year-old wisdom, has long dwelled in the rare books vault at the New York Academy of Medicine.

It is about to become much better known.   After a short trip down Fifth (insert down-the-Nile metaphor here) to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the papyrus will go on public display, probably for the first time, on Tuesday, as part of the Met's exhibition " The Art of Medicine in Ancient Egypt ." ...

Secrets of the Mummy's Medicine Chest, The New York Times, New York, USA, September 10, 2005.

cf. Secrets of the Mummy's Medicine Chest, The New York Times via Wilmington Morning Star, North Carolina, USA, September 10, 2005.

The Louisville mummy's full name was Tchaenhotep.

Its heart and brain are intact 2,500 to 3,000 years after death, despite the fact that many mummies' vital organs were removed upon burial.   Tchaenhotep ... was excavated from an area of Egypt known as the Valley of the Queens, but there is no indication the person was royalty.

The mummy sustained leg fractures and a crushed pelvis in Louisville's 1937 flood, when rising floodwaters spilled it out of its coffin, separating the head and torso.   A piano ended up on top of the mummy.

These are some of the results of more than a year of analysis after medical tests on the mummy last summer and some additional research...

Analysis unravels more on mummy, The Louisville Courier-Journal, Kentucky, USA, September 07, 2005.

cf. Louisville Science Center, The World Around Us exhibit which opens on the 24th of September.

A book review from The Independent.

Not the most alluring of titles, but a fascinating story.   Smallpox appears to have an African origin.   Judging by his mummified corpse, Rameses V was a sufferer.   Brought back by Crusaders from the Middle East, it killed millions and disfigured many more.   The disease curtailed the Stuart line by killing Queen Anne's son in 1700.   A century on, Jenner, who grew up with immune milkmaids, used knowledge of cowpox to develop vaccination.   The last natural case was in 1977; it's still "a horribly tempting weapon".

The Life and Death of Smallpox, The Independent, UK, September 12, 2005.

Buy the book from .

When [Jim Regan] first started writing reviews for this space, about seven years ago, one of the first websites [Jim] covered was the Theban Mapping Project.   This online record of the excavation of "KV 5" (the largest Pharaonic tomb ever found in Egypt, with over 100 corridors and chambers) became such a popular destination for virtual Egyptologists that it was receiving some 18 million hits per year.   Since that time, the Project launched a major revision of its site — expanding its focus from a single tomb to the entire Valley of the Kings, and coincidentally, illustrating just how far the Web has come as a teaching tool in a relatively short time.

If you visited the original KV 5 site, you'll find a very different presentation in the new version — so different that it is, to all intents and purposes, an entirely new creation.   Even the domain name has been changed from kv5.com to thebanmappingproject.com, reflecting the wider mandate of the new site ... If you've never seen the original site ... you can still, shall we say, 'unearth' the original kv5.com, with the kind assistance of the WebArchive...

The mummies return, Christian Science Monitor, Massachusetts, USA, September 07, 2005.

The Temple of Hatshepsut is located near the city of Luxor in Middle Egypt, on the west bank of river Nile.   It is situated in a spectacular natural amphitheatre, the place — now known as ‘Deir Al-Bahari’ in Arabic — chosen by the queen's chief architect, Senenmut.

The Thebes mountains form the backdrop to the temple.   Archaeologist Neville discovered the ruins in 1891, which led to renovation work, stone by stone; but nothing matches the brilliance of the ancient master-craftsmen...

The queen's temple, The Hindu Business Line, India, September 02, 2005.

Warwick University, Coventry, UK, are running three open studies Egyptology courses in the Autumn 2005 term.

Details as follows.

Egypt: Discovering death in the Nile Valley

From the end of the predynastic period to the end of the Old Kingdom was arguably the formative period of belief in an afterlife in ancient Egypt which would continue, changed and modified, throughout all of ancient Egypt's long time-span. Architecture, funeral goods and skeletal material show the development of the funeral cult. Come and discover the fascinating and vibrant beliefs in death and the afterlife in ancient Egypt.

Tutor: Angela Torpey.

Starts Tuesday 27 September 2005 from 19:00 to 21:00 for 10 weeks.

And Starts Friday 30 September 2005 from 11:00 to 13:00 for 10 weeks.

Egypt in the 18th dynasty

The New Kingdom represented a highpoint of cultural achievement in Ancient Egypt's fascinating 3000 year history. With such personalities as Hatshepsut, Akhenaten and Tutankhamun, this period saw the rise of Egypt's great empire and also the beginning of its demise. Looking at the many preserved royal and private monuments and a wealth of historical literature; this module will explore both king and court through this 'Golden Age'.

Tutor: Christopher Kirby.

Starts Wednesday 28 September 2005 from 19:00 to 21:00 for 10 weeks.

Further details including contact information and a registration form can be found here www.warwick.ac.uk.

Officials might try to deny it, but the recent terrorist attacks in Sinai were a heavy blow to Egyptian tourism.

Egypt relies on tourists and would like to attract as many as possible.   Major attractions have always included the pharaoh's tombs and the Red Sea's rich aquatic environment.   Now, Christian pilgrimage sites rank among those tourist destinations...

Egypt encourages Christian tourism, Sapa-DPA via Mail & Guardian, South Africa, September 13, 2005.

More than 250 stalwarts packed the outdoor event tent at Sierra Nevada College Wednesday to hear archaeologist Dr. Zahi Hawass speak.

As Hawass materialized wearing his famous "Indiana Jones" fedora after the audience viewed a slideshow of his life, anyone unfamiliar with the personal achievements of "Dr. Zahi" was well-versed in the Egypt's Secretary General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities' accomplishments...

Archaeologist shares adventures, North Lake Tahoe Bonanza, Nevada, USA, September 09, 2005.

cf. Archaeologist brings Egyptian lore to Incline Village, AFP via San Diego Union-Tribune, California, USA, September 05, 2005.

cf. Famed archaeologist to speak at Incline college, North Lake Tahoe Bonanza, Nevada, USA, September 02, 2005.