Major structural problems at Swaffham town hall have hit a £384,000[*] improvement scheme for the museum and delayed plans for a grand opening ceremony for a third time.

Originally scheduled for this autumn, then delayed until next Easter, the opening of the revamped museum is now not likely to take place until summer 2006 at the earliest.

Company secretary Richard Bishop was unable to say whether the extra cost of repairs to the grade II-listed building would hit ambitious plans for better displays in the extended museum.

But he said that an enlarged exhibition on Howard Carter, who lived in Swaffham and discovered Tutankhamun's tomb in Egypt in 1923, would not be affected because funding for this was separate...

Museum modernisation delayed yet again, Norflok Eastern Daily Press, UK, October 17, 2005.

Swaffham Museum web site.

In preparation for the more than 400,000 people expected to visit the King Tut exhibit, Fort Lauderdale's Museum of Art is closing its galleries to the public for two months, beginning today, to carry out a thorough renovation.

Plans call for a mini-theater screen for the Glackens wing, widening of the lobby doors and the installation of a cantilevered staircase that will become a permanent part of the plaza. An additional terrace entrance is also slated, and the building will receive a new coat of paint.

The museum will reopen Dec. 15 [2005] for the arrival of "Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs." In the interim, the museum's lobby and store will remain open during regular operating hours, and ticket buyers for Tut can visit the box office starting 11 a.m. on Tuesday. Member tickets will also be available for pickup at this time.

Museum officials anticipate a surge in ticket sales...

Tickets can also be purchased through TicketsNow.com.

Art museum sprucing up for Tut, South Florida Sun-Sentinel, Florida, USA, October 16, 2005.

King Tut fever has infected the world of design. Get ready for pharaoh heads, sarcophagus storage and more.

Egyptian has become the motif du jour, inspired by "Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs," a four-city travelling exhibit.

The boy king may seem an unlikely design muse, but he has proved to be an inspiration since his burial chamber was discovered in 1922. The result back then was a worldwide craze for Egyptian design.

He inspired decor from the grave again in 1976 with "The Treasure of Tutankhamun" exhibit.

And now he promises to do it again. Savvy buyers ... have recognized that King Tut's return to the museum circuit could mean a new epidemic of pharaoh fever...

From tomb to living room, Myrtle Beach Sun News, South Carolina, USA, October 15, 2005.

cf. King Tut: a design muse from the grave to the living room, Allentown Morning Call, Pennsylvania, USA, October 16, 2005.

cf. King Tut again on the rise, Baltimore Sun, Maryland, USA, October 16, 2005.

No need to go to Cairo. Local Metrolink train tracks lead to the mysteries of ancient Egypt and the treasures of King Tut – in Los Angeles. The exhibition, “Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs,” reveals a dazzling glimpse into the amazing Golden Age of Egypt more than 3,000 years ago in the Valley of the Kings.

King Tut has returned.

Opulent objects from the luxurious life (and after-life) of Tutankhamun will be on display at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art through Nov. 15 [2005].

On loan from the Egyptian National Museum, Cairo, the exhibition consists of 120 spectacular objects, 50 of which are from the tomb of King Tutankhamun.

Because of the popularity of the exhibit, advance tickets/reservations are required for specific time slots. Times are available daily, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tickets can be purchased through TicketsNow.com...

Make tracks to see mummy dearest, San Bernadino Sun, California, USA, October 17, 2005.

It is good to be the king. It is good to be the queen, too. But what if you are both? No problem. It's doubly good. An Egyptian woman who lived nearly 3,500 years ago had it all figured out and managed to pull it off in grand style.

Her name was Hatshepsut. You can learn more about this female ruler — every bit as intriguing as Cleopatra and Nefertiti — when the newly rebuilt de Young opens Saturday in Golden Gate Park after more than four years of construction...

Queen and King, Vacaville Reporter, California, USA, October 14, 2005.

San Francisco mayor Gavin Newsom opened the Hatshepsut exhibition entitled "Hatshepsut: Queen to Pharaoh", which is being held at the De Young Museum of Arts on the occasion of the reconstruction of the museum which was destroyed in 1989.

Hatshepsut guest of honour in San Francisco, State Information Service, Egypt, October 18, 2005.

A Polish archaeological team has discovered 13 gold coins made more than 1,000 years ago while excavating around a Coptic monastery outside Cairo, Egyptian antiquities officials announced yesterday.

The coins were found at the Monastery of Archangel Gabriel in Fayoum, about 100km southwest of Cairo, and date back to the era of the Fatimids, who ruled Cairo between 908 and 1187 A.D, according to a statement released by the Supreme Council of Antiquities...

Polish team finds 13 Fatimid-era gold coins, Khaleej Times, United Arab Emirates, October 16, 2005.

by Zahi Hawass

The Bahariya Oasis, lies about 225 miles southwest of Cairo, and is one of the five major oases that grace the Libyan Desert. Bahariya is rich in iron deposits, and enough groundwater exists to source five major oases. Geologists cannot explain the origin of this water, nor do they know how much there is. There is evidence that the supply has diminished over the years. Having rich iron deposits and a continuous water source, enabled the people to produce grapes, dates, and a variety of produce. There are three major towns in the area: el-Bawiti, the modern capital; el-Qasr, the ancient capital; and el-Haiz, the site of a Roman fortress.

This area was settled in the Palaeolithic Period and stone tools have been found dating to this period. Furthermore, to a trained eye, those walking the site will find prehistoric knives and hand axes lying in the surface of the sand.

The people who settled Bahariya were a mix of people from the Nile Valley and Bedouins from Libya. Currently, we cannot conclude where the earliest inhabitants actually lived, because we have not done a thorough survey of the area. Settlement sites dated to the Predynastic, Early Dynastic and Old Kingdom Periods have yet to be located in Bahariya. My guess is that there is an early settlement at or near the site of modern town of El-Bawti.

The Oasis contains a range of monuments, tombs and temples dating from the Eighteenth Dynasty through the Greco-Roman and Coptic Periods. Many of these sites were excavated by earlier archaeologists, subsequently abandoned, and buried again over time.

The distance from the urban areas insulated the oasis dwellers and preserved their traditions. However, over the last fifty years, improved roads, a railroad and television have made changes to their lives. Nevertheless, the people are considered direct descents of ancient Egyptian and Bedouin inhabitants, immigrants from Middle Egypt, and merchants who travelled this route.

Today, as in ancient times, the merchants are the richest people in Bahariya. Agriculture remains the primary source of income, although dates rather than wine are its principle export.

Background of the Bahariya Oasis, The Egyptian Gazette, Egypt, October, 2005.