With Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs headed to the Museum of Art in Fort Lauderdale from Dec. 15 [2005] through April 23 [2006], we've turned to photographer Renato Rotolo for a sampling of Egyptian-style stateside landmarks and monuments that should make the boy-king feel at home.

Egyptian motifs are found throughout our culture, he notes, in everything from tattoos (the ankh and the eye of Horus are particularly popular) to the pyramid on the back side of the $1 bill and that towering obelisk, the Washington Monument, far taller than any ancient Egypt ever had...

Egyptian motifs on everything from dollar bills to tattoos, South Florida Sun-Sentinel, Florida, USA, October 13, 2005.

Renato Rotolo has been to Cairo (New York) and Luxor (the hotel). He's photographed pyramids and obelisks and sphinxes. For 22 years, he's tracked things Egyptian — without ever leaving the United States.

In Illinois, he visited the "ancient" cities of Cairo, Thebes and Karnak. In Las Vegas, he studied the features of the great sphinx, mused over hieroglyphics and stood transfixed before the tomb of King Tut.

Rotolo has never experienced the real thing, the real land of pharaohs and the Valley of the Kings. Just as well, because he knows he'd never want to leave that land of mystery and antiquity.

So he satisfies his Egypt-mania with stateside copycats, savouring the irony that, "You find more pyramids in the United States today than in Egypt..."

Taking to Tut: Americans have been fascinated by things Egyptian for centuries, South Florida Sun-Sentinel, Florida, USA, October 13, 2005.

A plot fit for a Hollywood thriller has been unfolding at the venerable J. Paul Getty Museum, a gleaming hilltop refuge that Italian authorities claim houses pilfered art.

A decade after leading efforts against the illegal trade of artefacts, the museum's recently departed antiquities curator faces trial next month in Rome over allegations that she knowingly received dozens of stolen items.

Greece has long sought the return of statues and fragments known as the Elgin Marbles from the British Museum, taken in the 19th century from the Parthenon by Lord Elgin, then British ambassador to the Ottoman Empire; Egypt wants to reclaim iconic artefacts including the Rosetta Stone from London and a Nefertiti bust from Berlin...

Troubles at the Getty Museum ripple through the art world, Mainichi Daily News, Japan, October 14, 2005.

During the holy month of Ramadan, Muslims around the world unite in religious belief and tradition, while retaining their distinctive cultures. Jill Kamil looks at how this dynamic manifested itself in Egypt over the ages.

... such was the enduring nature of the ancient Egyptian civilisation that whoever acceded to power and ruled the country for a certain length of time became Egyptianised.

The Libyans and the Kushites — Egypt's neighbours to the west and south — early on adopted Egyptian traditions and beliefs, and ruled like Pharaohs. The Persians, who controlled the country from 525 to 332 BC, and whose own culture was vigorous and enduring, adopted Egyptian burial practices. This is evidenced by the numerous so-called shaft-tombs excavated at Saqqara and Abu Sir, where the dead were laid in grand limestone sarcophagi of Egyptian design and inscribed with local mortuary texts.

The Ptolemaic rulers who inherited Egypt after the untimely death of Alexander the Great governed successfully for three centuries mainly because they were politically and culturally accommodating: they ruled both as Greeks and Pharaohs, and respected local traditions. The Romans did likewise; and although the emperors left Egypt to be controlled by governors while they resided in far off Rome, they had themselves depicted as Pharaohs on temple walls and observed seasonal and national festive occasions, and Romans in Egypt were buried in the traditional manner...

Tradition breaks the time barrier, Al-Ahram, Egypt, Issue No. 764, 13 - 19 October 2005.

The three Ancient Egyptian limestone statuettes which disappeared three weeks ago from the basement of the Egyptian Museum have been recovered in an undercover operation, reports Nevine El-Aref.

It seemed that the Egyptian Museum's basement had been afflicted with the Pharaohs' curse. Three weeks ago, when the Giza archaeological inspectors asked for the return of 14 objects placed on loan with the museum last April to celebrate World Heritage Day, curators realised that three of the pieces had vanished. In an attempt to find the missing objects up to 40 inspectors have been exploring the museum's basement, sorting through the overwhelmingly large collection of stored artefacts, but with no luck. That was until early this week, when the Tourism and Antiquities Police (TAP) arrested two men who were trying to sell the objects to a policeman working undercover as an antiquities trader. Culture Minister Farouk Hosni has called for an investigation into the theft.

The three statuettes date back to the Old Kingdom era. They are a headless, seated limestone figure of the commander of the royal guard; a seated pair statuette of the director of artisans, Neferref-Nessu, and his wife, who wears a colourful collar; and a burnt clay Osirian statuette...

Arrests in 'museum curse' case, Al-Ahram, Egypt, Issue No. 764, 13 - 19 October 2005.

Wha-hey! The thousandth post!

Transformed from a neglected storehouse to a splendid Islamic monument, the former palace of Prince Taz is dazzling visitors and reviving a great Mamluke era. Nevine El-Aref attended the opening ceremonies.

One of the most beautiful historic sites in mediaeval Cairo, the Prince Taz Palace is located in Saliba Street neighbouring several magnificent Islamic monuments. Like numerous Islamic edifices in heavily populated areas, it was seriously suffering from environmental damage including air pollution, a high subsoil water level, a high level of humidity, leakage from the water fountain, and outdated and decayed sewerage installed 100 years ago, not to mention the more recent adverse effects of the 1992 earthquake which caused a number of cracks on the palace walls.

"One of the most serious causes of the damage has been the ill-use of the palace's various halls by the Ministry of Education, which used it as a main storehouse for books, desks and cars..."

Most splendid of Mamlukes, Al-Ahram, Egypt, Issue No. 764, 13 - 19 October 2005.

Tickets to the exhibition Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs will go on sale Tuesday online and by telephone.

The exhibition's sponsor, Northern Trust, will donate the first 100 tickets to a group of sixth- through eighth-grade students from the Downtown Academy of Technology and Arts.

The touring exhibition, organized by National Geographic, AEG Exhibitions and Arts and Exhibitions International, with cooperation from the Egyptian Supreme Council of Antiquities, will open at Fort Lauderdale's Museum of Art Dec. 15 [2005].

Tickets can be purchased online at ticketsnow.com.

More information is available at www.kingtut.org or www.moafl.org.

Tickets to King Tut on Sale Tuesday, The Miami Herald, Florida, USA, October 13, 2005.

cf. Tickets to “Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs” at Museum of Art/Fort Lauderdale Go on Sale October 18; Northern Trust Donates First 100 Tickets to Local Middle School, Business Wire, USA, October 13, 2005.