A review of the first episode of the BBC's docudrama Egypt. The review doesn't read as being that positive but is not entirely negative either. Having been in Copenhagen at the weekend, I haven't seen it myself so cannot comment. I set the video on Friday, and even remembered to adjust for the British Summer Time change, so I hope I managed to video it correctly! I also videoed the Dan Cruikshank Egypt program that followed it on BBC2 and, ahem, Stargate SG1. So that gives me two-and-a-half hours worth of TV to find time to catch-up on.

Real pharaoh's curse is that we have to hear story again, The Scotsman, UK, October 31, 2005.

Amid displays about Antebellum Nashville and how the state Capitol was built, the Tennessee State Museum features a haunting exhibit: A 3,600-year-old Egyptian mummy.

Visitors strolling through the museum might find the mummy jarring, or at least out of place. Enclosed in a glass case, the mummy is unwrapped; the skin of his entire body is exposed. That skin appears leathery and taut against his skeleton. In a word, after being lulled by the heroic history of Daniel Boone and Andrew Jackson, it's downright scary.

And the mummy is here to stay, even if it has little to do with Tennessee history other than the fact it was brought here by a prominent Nashville resident in 1859 after he acquired it during a trip to Egypt...

He's no Tennessean, but state museum holds mummy dear, The Tennessean, Tennessee, USA, October 30, 2005.

by Zahi Hawass

On March 2, 1996, Mansour Boriak, my most experienced and trusted archaeological assistant burst in to my office, yelling "Doctor! Doctor! Ashry Shaker is here. Something important has been discovered in Bahariya Oasis! Mansour is a prankster and often tries to fool me. However, he kept insisting that there was exciting news from Bahariya. I refused to believe him until Ashry Shaker, the director for the Antiquities Department of the Oasis, came into my office.

Ashry informed me that an amazing tomb had been found.

The afternoon of March 1, guard, Abdel Maugoud, was working at the temple of Alexander the Great. While standing there, Maugoud noticed a donkey running with his lead rope in his mouth. This was unusual because donkeys don't run; they don't like the lead ropes, and they never voluntarily take them into their mouth.

Maugoud could not leave his post to chase the donkey. The donkey stopped about a mile away and then came back to the temple with the rope in his mouth. Finally, a replacement guard appeared and Maugoud took the donkey and started home.

The stubborn donkey refused to go and took Maugoud back out into the desert to the exact spot where he had ran away earlier. The donkey then dropped the rope near a hole in the ground. Maugoud dismounted and peered into the hole, and he saw gold shining deep within the sand.

Immediately, he ran off and told Ashry Shaker.

Ashry invested the hole and as he peered in he saw part of a mummy's face looking up at him. Even more surprising was that the face was shinning and appeared to be made of gold.

I drove to Bahariya a week after receiving the news. After preliminary work was done, we reburied the tombs to prevent tomb robbers from plundering the site, because there were no funds to launch a full-scale excavation. My first priory is always conservation and restoration.

In June 1999, when we were able to resume excavations, we announced this fantastic find.

Virtually overnight the Valley of the Golden Mummies attained international fame.

The first golden discovery, The Egyptian Gazette, Egypt, October 31, 2005.

By Hassan Sadallah

After its many problems last year, the Supreme Council for Antiquities (SCA) has started to develop the basement of the Egyptian Museum in the light of the anxiety about the artefacts that have gone missing from the basement.

The development project will cost LE12 million, after the committee registering the 600,000 or so artefacts has finished its work.

"There will be modern lighting, as well as new digital lockers for storing artefacts. We will also register all the data about these artefacts and their history.

"A file will be made for each antiquity. Each file will include the history of the artefact, the material which it is made from, its description, how and when it was discovered, the era it belongs to, its size, and who found it and where.

"In addition to this, the position of each antiquity in the basement will be registered and a photo of it will be enclosed in its file. The basement will also be prepared to allow archaeologists to do research on these antiquities.

"There will also be facilities for postgraduate students, as well a database of the basement's contents," says Dr Zahi Hawass, the SCA Secretary-General.

"We became concerned about the basement of the Egyptian Museum when a painting by Gay disappeared. It turned up after a committee was instructed to search for it.

"After that incident, we had to think about a project to protect the antiquities in the basement and get the utmost benefit from them, after finishing the registration of its contents, which started 18 months ago," Mahmoud Mabrouk, head of the Museums Sector explains.

Mabrouk stresses that there are two stages to the development project. "Firstly, it's necessary to make the basement more secure, as well as improving the lighting in all its halls, galleries and corridors.

"Secondly, a third of the basement area should be cleaned and vacated for the company, which we have hired for the development project," he says.

Mabrouk adds many of the artefacts in the basement have been gathering dust in boxes for over a century. These boxes haven't been opened since the Egyptian Museum was built.

They include statues, pieces of masonry, thousands of pieces of pottery from different ages, the skulls and skeletons of Nubian men, and wooden biers.

"There are boxes of antiquities that were confiscated by the Anti-smuggling Squad, affiliated to the Interior Ministry, which considers the Egyptian Museum as the only place that's safe and secure enough for storing antiquities.

"The contents of some of these boxes were confiscated by police more than 30 years ago, but we aren't allowed to open them as they have been sealed by the judicial authorities," Mabrouk declares.

"We also started to register all the artefacts displayed in the Museum 18 months ago, simultaneously with the basement project. The registration of the artefacts is being thoroughly and scientifically executed for the first time in every department.

"We are updating the descriptions on the displayed exhibits, giving more accurate information about the artefacts," says Wafaa el-Sedik, the general manager of the Egyptian Museum.

"We are also setting up a state-of-the-art database, using new techniques, that are used by the great international museums, in order to update the information on antiquities and to make it more interesting to read."

Into the basement of Egyptian Museum, The Egyptian Mail, Egypt, October 29, 2005.

By Hassan Saadallah

Two years of hard, serious and careful work and LE20 million have been lavished on the restoration of one of the most important palaces dating to the Mamelukes. This is Prince Taz Palace which was reopened last week by Mrs Suzanne Mubarak as part of the huge project for restoring Islamic Cairo. Mrs Mubarak has often supported such cultural projects.

The palace was built in the 14th century AD by the well-known Mameluke Prince, Seifuldin Abdullah Taz ben Katghaj.

The location of the palace was very carefully chosen, as it lies in the heart of Islamic Cairo, in the popular district of Khalifa. It's located in el-Siufia Street, off el-Saliba Street, which was one of the most important roads in Mameluke Cairo.

Egypt's Sultan at the time generously opened the palace after it was built, something which rarely happened.

Prince Taz, a prominent figure in Mameluke Egypt, is described in the history books as being brave, very generous and a patron of scientists.

He emerged in the reign of Mameluke Sultan Al-Saleh Ismail ben el-Nasser Mohammed (1343-1345 AD), who was succeeded by his brother al-Mozfer Haji.

During Haji's reign, Taz acquired much power and was very influential at the official level. Later on, he lost all influence and power, defying Sultan al-Nasser Hassan ben al-Nasser Mohammed (1347-1351).

He was caught and blinded, imprisoned in Alexandria, then moved to Damascus and, later on, to Jerusalem where he died in 1361.

It is said the location of the palace allowed it to be at the heart of political life in Egypt. It was used for some time in the 18th century as a residence of ousted Pasha rulers.

Over the decades, Taz Palace which had a large garden, with a fountain surrounded by halls, rooms, haramlek (halls where females only were allowed in) and stables, witnessed various events that took their toll on the building and its architecture.

The 14th century architecture of the palace has almost disappeared, after concrete ceilings were introduced, new walls were built and WCs added. The palace was also used for long years as a storage depot by the Ministry of Education.

As part of its ambitious plan for restoring Islamic Cairo, the Ministry of Culture retrieved Taz Palace from the Ministry of Education. Soon, the project to restore the old architecture of the palace was started. The project was divided into four stages, the first of which was the most urgent: shoring up leaning walls and mending the cracks.

The second stage included unearthing the palace's sewerage network, the tank that supplied the palace with water and a well over which there was a wheel that lifted the water to feed the animals kept there. The baths of the palace, laying to the east of haramlek, were almost worn out.

As for the third stage of restoration, it focused on strengthening the foundations and walls of the palace.

The fourth stage involved repairing the latticed woodwork and windows, while the pottery, glasswork and ornaments belonging to the palace were also restored.

Islamic Cairo enters the 21st century, The Egyptian Mail, Egypt, October 22, 2005.

By Demetre Kiayas

Anyone who wants to describe the history of Alexandria and its famous Library cannot dispense with recounting at least certain aspects of the life of a gifted individual who was Alexander the Great.

How it all started

Alexander was born in the first year of the 106th Olympiad corresponding to 356 before our era. At that time the years were counted according to the Olympiads (Olympic Games), starting from the first Olympiad in the year 776 before our era.

His father was Philip II, king of Macedonia, Northern Greece, and his mother Olympias, daughter of Neoptolemus, king of Epirus, northwest Greece. Alexander inherited his father's intelligence, countries and bravery and his mother's lack of sense of modesty. However, when as a teenager, his father appointed the 40-year old philosopher Aristotle to educate his son, Alexander, under the influence of his illustrious teacher, became more intellectual and an avid reader.

Alexander's reign

Alexander was barely 20 years when in 336 before our era, he succeeded his assassinated father. Alexander remained on the throne for 12 years until his own death. Before setting off to conquer Asia he went to Delphi wishing to have the support of the Delphic Oracle for the campaign he was preparing. Pythia, the Priestess, refused to deliver an oracle considering the day as one of ill omen. But the hot-tempered young Alexander would not take "no" as an answer. He entered the Temple and pulled the Priestess down from her tripod demanding an oracle. The Priestess was terrified and simply muttered:

"Alexander, you are invincible." This was enough for Alexander who immediately went out and announced the "oracle" to his army. Indeed, Alexander was never beaten in the dozens of battles he fought, an achievement never equalled until today.

Another event showing, this time, his boastful side and at the same time the magnanimity of his character was when he went to Corinth, in southern Greece, where he met the famous cynic philosopher Diogenes. It was a chilly day and the 80-year old philosopher was enjoying the warmth of the sun. Alexander stood in front of him and said he was ready to offer him anything he would desire. Diogenes replied: "Before you offer anything, please do not deprive me of something you cannot offer me" and added: "You are standing in my sunlight. move over a bit." Alexander was so much impressed by his reply that he said: "Had I not been Alexander, I would have liked to be Diogenes."

Alexandria and its library

Alexandria acquired immeasurable wealth and treasures and enjoyed a long era of prosperity, productivity and luxury.

When, after Alexander's death, his empire was dismembered by his Generals who became kings of a multitude of independent kingdoms, a strong rivalry commenced among them. Everyone wanted his kingdom to be the best, to excel in military strength and shine in culture. The most remarkable kingdoms were those of Seleukides in Syria, Attalides in Pergamus and above all the kingdom of Ptolemies in Egypt.

The first king of the Ptolemies dynasty was Ptolemy I, named Soter (323-284) who was succeeded by his son Ptolemy II, named Philadelphus (285-246).

There is contradictory information about the time of the foundation of the Library, but the majority of the historians tend to accept that it was founded during the reign of Ptolemy I, Soter. It was Demetrius of Phalerum, an Athenian politician and a prolific author, who inspired the king to establish "a big Centre of Scientific Researches".

The Centre became well-known under the name "Mouseion" (Museum). This word means a "Cult Centre for the worship of the Muses". The Muses were nine divinities who protected and encouraged the arts, sciences, literature and music. Demetrius of Phalerum also suggested to set up a universal Library affiliated to the "Mouseion". This idea was welcomed by Ptolemy I who wanted Alexandria to become not only the Capital of a strong Kingdom but also the cradle of new sciences and culture.

Initially only the "Mouseion" became famous attracting scientists and philosophers from all the parts of the world. It was the first State Research Centre for Theoretical and Applied Sciences that the world had known. It combined teaching and research and was imitated by the universities which came into existence during the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. The achievements were tremendous. The list of those who taught or worked in the "Mouseion" is long but it is worth mentioning at least the name of Euclid, the father of Geometry, who wrote the first book on geometry around the year 300 before our era.

The Library was located near the "Mouseion", inside the royal quarters next to the port. Later on, when the number of the books (actually "rolls") increased considerably, a second Library was built in the south of the town quite far from the royal palace. This second Library was never mentioned as a separate Library until the 15th century of our era. Everybody used to speak and write about "The Big Library", "The Royal Library" or simply "The Libraries" (In this article "Library" means both of them).

At that time, the Library of Alexandria was not the only one. There were many libraries in various cities outside Egypt but the Library of Alexandria was the best organized and had the biggest number of books or "rolls". The reason of this immense success was the zealous efforts of the Ptolemies to collect the "books" which were "published" in every part of the world. At a certain moment the Library contained 532.800 "books" according to Tzetzes, a medieval author, who based this information on an ancient source.

Gallimacus, a contemporary historian, explained the main method of the "books" classification: Rhetoric, Law, Epic Poetry, Tragedy, Comedy, Lyric Poetry, History, Mathematics, Medicine, Natural Sciences and Various. Under each topic the authors were listed in alphabetical order and every name was followed by a short biography and a critical text of the author's writings. This system was followed by all subsequent libraries up to the Middle Ages. This is confirmed by the Arab "Al Fihrist" or Index of Ibn Al-Nadim of 10th century.

The establishment of the "Mouseion" and the Library rang in a new era for the mankind. Surely, in the domains of literature, theatre and philosophy, the peaks had already been attained and it was difficult to surpass them. But in other fields such as medicine, geometry, mathematics, physics, and geography impressive progress was made. It was at that time that the scientific research really commenced.

Access to the "Big Library" had only been for the members of the "Mouseion" and high Officers of the State. The second Library, much smaller than the main Library and known also as "Serapeum", was open for all.

The Scholars of the Library decided how to divide an Author's work into "books". Long "books" were parcelled out into shorter rolls and the lines were numbered. The length of each line was 16 or 17 syllables or 36 characters. The "rolls" were made of papyrus or parchment and put into cylindrical case which were kept on wooden shelves.

The Director of the Library was a royal appointment known as "Bibliothekarios" (Librarian). It was a very important position and this can be seen from the fact that the Director of the Library had to educate the children of the royal family.

It was the Library of Alexandria together with the "Mouseion" which developed the science of Scholarship, made the book a tool to advance research and documentation and above all reproduce and disseminate knowledge.

Unfortunately, the fantastic, almost mythical wealth of Alexandria, led to a softness and vulnerability that sapped people's morale. They became obsequious and fawned upon a new conqueror, the Romans.

The destruction of the library

The worst thing happened in the year 48 before our era. The Romans were fighting to conquer Alexandria in Cleopatra's reign. Julius Caesar set fire to the Egyptian fleet and the strong northerly winds spread the fire to the Great Palace, the nearby "Mouseion" and its legendary Library. Both were burnt to the ground. The loss for the mankind was indescribable.

However, the "books" in the second Library, the Serapeum, were saved. They were about 42.800 volumes but this number, plus the 200.000 "books" which the Roman Emperor Anthony transferred from Pergamus to Alexandria 7 years later, would never amend the losses of Alexandria Library.

The subsequent events, rebellions, wars, and new occupations destroyed what had remained thus closing the chapter of an illustrious human achievement.

Will the new Library resuscitate the Glory of its ancestor?

Alexander and Egypt

Alexander reached Egypt towards the end of 332. He sailed by boat to Memphis where he offered sacrifices to god Apis in the temple of Pytha and later to god Ammon. It is said that Alexander chose the location to build Alexandria following the "advice" of his spiritual mentor Homer. According to Plutarch, Homer appeared to Alexander in his dreams and recited the extract of "Odyssey" where king Menelaos searched for a refuge on the island of Pharos. Next day, Alexander visited the place near Canopus and he immediately decided to build a city. In December 332, Alexander laid the foundation stone of Alexandria. He was 24 years old. He also laid out the boundaries of the new city on the soil with his lance giving to the city the shape of the Greek military cloak (Chlamys). At the same time, he gave orders to Dinocrates, a planner of cities from Rhodos, to begin sitting the market, the city walls, and the sanctuaries of the Egyptian and Greek gods.

However, escape from destiny is no easy matter. Alexander was only 32 years and eight months when, Babylon in Mesopotamia, died on June 13, 323 before our era. The cause of his death was a high fever, the result of his indifference towards his own perishable flesh.

After his death, his huge empire broke up, thus proving once more that History is written by Leaders and not by the masses.

The beginning of the military campaign

In the spring of 334, Alexander, excellently trained in fighting and morale, at the head of 30,000 infantry, 5000 cavalry and one month's supplies, crossed the Hellespont landing on the Dardanian shore and rushed forward to conquer Asia. It will be too long to narrate details. Only two battles will be mentioned . Late October in 333 at the river Issus at Cilicia, defeated the Persians and opened the way to Syria and Egypt. Another decisive battle was at Gaugamela, in Assyria, where he crushed the main part pf the Persian army allowing him to reach India and Uzbekistan.

The military campaign lasted 10 years. He covered 120,000 kilometres and was severely wounded five times. He was welcomed as Liberator. In fact, he liberated enslaved peoples, and gave justice to the weak. With his indomitable energy he built more than 70 cities, 20 of which were named after him. The most famous was Alexandria in Egypt. He built roads, bridges, factories and harbours. He made the world a safer place allowing trade to flourish and giving it, for the first time in the History of the mankind, an international character. The highly erudite Professor Mostafa El-Abadi of Alexandria University says in his excellent book "Life and Destiny of the Ancient Library of Alexandria" (UNESCO edition 1990):

"The horizons of the human knowledge were enlarged as it happened later in the 15th century of our era by the discoveries of new countries and by the exploration of Space nowadays...One would feel a new spirit, a renaissance, of the human culture. It was in this spiritual atmosphere that the Library and the Museum were founded.

Bibliotheca Alexandrina revisited, The Egyptian Mail, Egypt, October 22, 2005.

BBC1's lavish docudrama Egypt, telling the story of the archaeologists who discovered Tutankhamun's tomb, launched strongly last night with 7 million viewers.

Egypt featured the first part of the story of archaeologist Howard Carter and his patron Lord Carnarvon, interwoven with the boy king's tale — all narrated by Andrew Sachs.

The docudrama attracted a 29% audience share between 9pm and 10pm on BBC1, according to unofficial overnights...

BBC's tomb raiders win ratings game, The Guardian, UK, October 31, 2005.

Apologies for the lack of posts recently, I've just got back from Copenhagen this morning — more on this later — and was quite busy last week so I'll attempt to catch-up on things.

Photos seized from a Swiss warehouse paint a story of global skulduggery, Rome prosecutor Paolo Ferri says. The thousands of Polaroids depict how Greek pottery and Roman statues looted from 2,000-year-old tombs in Italy made their way to the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.

...

“The problem of Western museums is, they buy stolen artefacts,” says Hawass, 58, sporting an Indiana Jones-style hat that shades his forehead. “That is very bad.”

Hawass is battling looters at Saqqara, in the desert 12 miles (19 kilometres) south of Cairo...

Many of Saqqara's tombs are unexplored, making them prizes for archaeologists and looters alike...

Tomb-Robbing Trials Name Getty, Metropolitan, Princeton Museums, Bloomberg, USA, October 31, 2005.

Serene Assir travels through the Upper Egyptian governorate of Sohag to find that her understanding of the town was defied to its very core.

... Sohag is also, in and of itself, intensely beautiful, both in terms of its impressive, varied natural and historical scenery and in terms of the warmth, genuine hospitality, frankness and cultural integrity of its inhabitants, who genuinely wanted us to be there and to talk and write about their region when we returned home. Most Egyptian tourism websites and guidebooks catering to the global traveller tend to skip Sohag altogether, while the few that do include it only do so insofar as mentioning two or three of its historical sites, while failing to mention places to stay and less frequented and obvious sites of great artistic and cultural interest to anyone with a taste for beauty, politics, history or culture...

It's not what you think, Al-Ahram, Egypt, Issue No. 766, 27 October - 2 November 2005.

Traveller's notes, Al-Ahram, Egypt, Issue No. 766, 27 October - 2 November 2005.

This weekend sees the start of two new BBC TV series on Egyptology. The first, Egypt, has been getting quite a bit of press due to filming difficulties and budget overruns, whilst the second has snuck in without the slightest mention!

Egypt

Sun 30 Oct 2005, 9:00 pm - 10:00 pm 60mins

The Search for Tutankhamun

Part 1 of 6

Six-part dramatised documentary about the discovery of Ancient Egypt. Carter was an irascible Englishman who travelled to Egypt to work as a painter but soon became an archaeologist, being fascinated by Ancient Egypt and determined to make an important discovery. When evidence for Tutankhamun's tomb came to light, he became obsessed with finding it and after years of searching with his patron, Lord Carnarvon, eventually gazed at a sight not seen for thousands of years. Interwoven with Carter's adventure is the mysterious story of the boy king Tutankhamun who, aged eight, became king and married his sister.

And the second...

Egyptian Journeys with Dan Cruickshank

Sun 30 Oct 2005, 10:00 pm - 10:30 pm 30mins

First in a new six-part series in which Dan Cruickshank explores some of the most intriguing stories from Ancient Egypt.

In this programme, Dan visits the magnificent underground tombs in the Valley of the Kings in search of clues about the unsung heroes of this ancient world - the mysterious community of craftsmen who spent their lives building lavish burial chambers for the Pharaohs.

The tombs are wonderful feats of art and engineering and Dan finds a wealth of intriguing evidence about the lives of the supposedly anonymous people who built them. Given rare access to the most complex tomb of all - the 150-room necropolis built for the sons of Rameses II - Dan speculates on the skill of the men who designed and excavated this tomb thousands of years ago.

By Zahi Hawass

People say I live dangerously because they have seen my exciting adventures in many documentary films. They see me entering shafts and tombs, and also pyramids. In one section of a live show I did few years ago with FOX TV I entered one of the queens' pyramids located south of the Menkaure Pyramid at Giza.

The interior of this pyramid is unique. The width is about 20 to 30cm. and it slopes down about 20m. After that you reach the entrance of the burial chamber, which is secured by a granite door. Only about 15cm. lies between the bottom edge of the door and the ground.

I entered the pyramid on live TV with Suzie, a TV presenter. She was very slim and could easily enter the pyramid. She had a camera on her head so that the audience could see me. They had put the camera batteries on my back, and that made it much more difficult for me to move. I managed to enter the 20m opening and proceed down the shaft, but when I reached the entrance of the burial chamber and began to enter the 15cm shaft I got stuck...

Dig days: Adventures in the Step Pyramid, Al-Ahram, Egypt, Issue No. 766, 27 October - 2 November 2005.

Can the new antiquities law put an end to the antiquities trafficking business? Nevine El-Aref looks at the issues.

Grave robbing has thrived in Egypt from the days of the ancients. The tombs of royals and the elite were most at risk, since they contained great riches in the form of valuable funerary objects including gold jewellery and domestic objects inlaid with precious stones, alabaster and faience. Even the graves of the poor, however, were prey to robbery for the sake of the meagre offerings and adornments entombed with the deceased.

Despite the curse-invoking texts engraved on tomb walls, certain architectural steps taken to prevent theft, severe punishments and warnings that robbers would be judged by the gods in the afterlife, grave robbers continued to plunder tombs.

Robberies reached a peak in Roman times. Many ancient Egyptian monuments and other objects were smuggled from their original location to Europe, especially to Rome...

New law on the way, Al-Ahram, Egypt, Issue No. 766, 27 October - 2 November 2005.

Egyptian antiquities were often the price paid for building modern Egypt, writes Jill Kamil.

Muhammad Ali used antiquities as a diplomatic lever. His ambitious plan to modernise Egypt required foreign expertise, and sensitive as he was to Western fascination with the country's ancient monuments, he charmed professionals to Egypt by offering them a free hand to collect whatever they wished. It was no difficult task to gather beautiful objects in those days -- statues or parts of statues, painted reliefs from collapsed walls of tombs and temples lay all over the place, and the desert winds revealed burial grounds that could be dug up for mummies, sarcophagi and funerary objects.

This uncultured Albanian, who rose to powerful command in the Ottoman army in Egypt through sheer ability, had no interest in "blocks of stone". He assembled a small personal collection of antiquities, not because he appreciated them but in order to have a supply at hand to pay for foreign expertise or hand out bribes. He ordered one of his officials, Youssef Diya, to find a suitable location in which to store the treasures, and when they outgrew the space afforded them in a small building in Ezbekieh, they were transferred to a hall at the Citadel...

Treasures for the taking, Al-Ahram, Egypt, Issue No. 766, 27 October - 2 November 2005.

By Hassan Saadallah

An urgent project will start soon to preserve the el-Deir el-Bahari Temple of Queen Hatshepsut in Luxor, on the instructions of Minister of Culture Farouk Hosni.

The project will cost LE7 million[*], as part of a grant from the US Research Centre to preserve and develop the Valley of the Kings. The total grant is estimated at US$10 million[*].

Supreme Council for Antiquities Secretary-General Zahi Hawass said that the project includes providing the Temple of Queen Hatshepsut with close circuit cameras to monitor visitors inside the temple for security purposes.

He explained that visitors will only be allowed in through one entrance, which will be an electronic gate for checking visitors' personal belongings.

Hawass added that lighting round the temple will be upgraded to allow visitors entry at night, especially in the summer.

Upgrading Queen Hatshepsut's Temple, The Egyptian Gazette, Egypt, October 26, 2005.

Sherwood Baker and Evan Cornelissen hope a vegetarian crocodile can teach students about ancient Egypt.

Sherwood, 13, and Evan, 12, both seventh-graders at Memphis Junior High School, read their children's book, which had facts about Egypt woven throughout the story, Oct. 17 to groups of fourth-graders in Penny Samp's class at Memphis Elementary School.

"We gave it a twist," Evan said. "The other crocodiles make fun of him, and his friends tell him it doesn't matter what people think..."

On the Nile, Port Huron Times-Herald, Michigan, USA, October 26, 2005.

Tutankhamen, the Egyptian boy king whose tomb was opened in 1922, was buried along with pitchers filled with red wine, according to Spanish scientists.

Tests on three jars housed in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo and another three in the British Museum in London revealed traces of a compound found in red wine, said Maria Rosa Guasch-Jane, a member of a team of scientists from the University of Barcelona.

Egyptologists had previously been unable to determine what sort of wine was contained in the pitchers. Wine was a luxury drink in ancient Egypt and its production and consumption was often depicted in tomb paintings, Guasch-Jane said today...

I'm sure this is old news although it is all over the press?

Tutankhamen's Tomb Contained Pitchers of Red Wine, Study Finds, Bloomberg, UK, October 26, 2005.

The basement of the Egyptian Museum will be opened to visitors. Zahi Hawass, head of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, declared that a contract has been signed with a state-owned company to insure and reorganize the Egyptian Museum’s basement before making it accessible to visitors. The decision comes after several items from the basement storage area have been “lost” or stolen in the past year, to the embarrassment of those responsible.

Culture in brief: The basement of the Egyptian Museum will be opened to visitors, Cairo Magazine, Egypt, October 20, 2005.

Leila Elwi will act in an Egyptian-Swedish movie called Al Ahramat bi Laun Al Mafia (The Pyramids in Mafia Colours). The movie is about the destruction of historical monuments in Egypt.

Culture in brief: The Pyramids in Mafia Colors, Cairo Magazine, Egypt, October 20, 2005.

Aswan experienced one of the most flourishing days this week, when thousands of tourists gathered at the Rameses II Temple in Abu Simbel to follow up with the entrance of the sun rays into the temple and how they became perpendicular on the face statue of Rameses II, which is placed inside the temple. Tourists often gather to attend this occasion twice every year. The first time on February 22nd, which marks the birth anniversary of Rameses II; while the second time is on October 22nd, which marks the anniversary of his crowning.

The two dates are fixed every year and the sun is never late. It always rises and its rays move directly on the face of Rameses II alone, then it moves without being spotted on any other part of the temple or on any other statue inside the temple. It is actually an engineering miracle by all means, especially when it takes place in a temple that was carved in the rocks. It is really a miracle that reflects how the Egyptian creator was great.

Some people believe that the two dates refer to other things than the birthday and the crowning. They refer to the beginning of the summer and winter seasons, according to the Pharaonic calendar. Nevertheless, this would not change anything, as the sun still enters and spots on Rameses II's face on those two days only along the whole year.

Aswan this week hosted 5,000 tourists, who came specially to mark that unique astrological phenomenon, accomplished and created by the ancient Egyptians. Aswan actually is the main topic of our speech today.

Aswan did not take its right...

Aswan actually did not take its deserved right in the promotion witnessed by the Egyptian tourism industry along the past few years. It is by all means qualified to become an international tourist destination. It is a complete and independent tourist site that contains all types of tourism including entertainment, cure, fishing, safari and antiquities as well as river tourism. Aswan is very rich in its tourist product; yet it lacks the attention of its people, its cities, the travel companies and the Ministry of Tourism itself – how!! This is also the theme of our speech today. We have actually tackled this issue plenty of times before, but we will tackle it again and again until we give that region it due right.

Tourists head specifically for Aswan to enjoy the wonderful natural scenery and to enjoy its great atmosphere, or else to get cured from various diseases. They head to Aswan to enjoy the safari trips in its desert side by side with the deer. They head to Aswan to sail in boats in the Nasser Lake so as to enjoy fishing. They head to Aswan to enjoy its antiquities and to tour its temples in Abu Simbel, as well as view the Sound and Light show. They head to Aswan to enjoy the marvellous Nile cruise to Luxor. Some other tourists prefer to head afterwards to the Red Sea, specially to Marsa Alam, so as to get the entertainment and the rest on the Red Sea beaches, where they could enjoy diving and windsurfing.

Where is the role of travel companies?!

Aswan is an integrated tourist destination that should be promoted in this regard. This is exactly what the Egyptian travel companies do not do. Travel companies prefer the easier destinations as Sharm El Sheikh and Hurghada. They prefer the Red Sea in general, then Cairo, then the Nile cruise between Luxor and Aswan. The same things that we said about Aswan could apply to Luxor as well.

Where are the efforts that should be exerted by the travel companies in creating non-traditional programmes?! Where are the efforts of the people of Aswan and Aswan Governorate?! Aswan is in need of an intensified effort that should fill its empty hotels.

I believe the first thing we could do to promote Aswan is by creating numerous occasions on its land. We should also try to present that unique destination in all international events and exhibitions in London, Madrid, Milan, Berlin, Moscow and Dubai.

International conference

Why don't we consider holding an international conference in Aswan?! We could extend this invitation in the autumn of 2006 right before the start of Aswan's wonderful winter. We could extend the invitation to 100 top international travel companies, on the expenses of the Ministry of Tourism, so that the top 100 would get acquainted with Aswan. Such a conference, which I suggest could be held in the early September 2006 and should be prepared very well and should be held either before or after the Mediterranean Travel Fair (MTF). It means that there is still one whole year; which is enough to promote Aswan in the international events, including the preparation of brochures, videos and CDs.

The conference should cope with another conference that we – as journalists and travel writers of the three international, Mediterranean and Arab federations, should call for as a non-paid press campaign to promote that promising region.

I hereby call for a campaign that should be adopted by the Ministry of Tourism for creating a new and integrated tourist destination that we already have, but we waste it for nothing, although we want to enhance tourism, create thousands of new jobs and boost investments. Why don't we open the door to the south, exactly as we did when we opened the doors to the east of the Red Sea and Sinai and most recently to the north at the Egyptian Riviera on the Mediterranean?

Quick movement urged

Could we hope for a quick movement, starting now until we reach the organization of a tourism conference in Aswan in the early December 2006? Some might see it as a dream, but I find it a kind of determination. I am quite optimistic and I feel that everybody wants to move. I sense that the start should take part by the Ministry of Tourism and its Minister Ahmed El Maghraby and from the Egyptian Federation for Tourism associations and its Chairman Elhami El Zayat. El Gomhouria newspaper could also adopt the issue and collaborate to it, for the sake of quick movements towards the targeted goal.

Aswan - integrated tourist destination, The Egyptian Gazette, Egypt, October 24, 2005.

by Zahi Hawass

In 1987, I was appointed Director General of Giza, Saqqara, and Bahariya Oasis and set to work dealing with many problems facing these sites. I began setting up controls to collect fees from visitors and limited the number of people entering the pyramids. Furthermore, I fought off a ring road that would have run near Giza and threatened the monuments; and set up a site management plan that included excavation and preservation.

The last great Egyptian archaeologist Selim Hassan, the last to excavate Giza before I came, stated that the plateau held no more secrets and that everything had been found. But, the last fifteen years have proved him wrong and have made many important discoveries.

During the last few years, I have received national and global recognition for my work. The foreign press in Cairo gave me the Pride of Egypt Award, and Mansoura University, honoured me for my contributions to Egyptian society and the archaeological community worldwide.

In 2000, I received the Distinguished Scholar of the Year from the Association of the Egyptian-American Scholars, and was presented with the Silver Medal from the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences. Recently, I was chosen by the National Geographic Society as their eighth Explorer-in-Residence.

Two of the most important honours I have received are, the First Class Award for Art and Science, presented to me by President Hosni Mubarak in recognition of my achievement and conservation of the Great Sphinx. The other special award was given to me by my home village and held in the courtyard of my primary school. It was wonderful to see all the smiling faces of my family and friends and I could not keep back my tears.

The American Academy of Achievement awarded me a Golden Plate, placing me in the company of several Nobel Prize winners. Recently (2005), I was given an honorary degree of Doctor of Humane Letters from the American University in Cairo.

In 2002 I was promoted by Egypt's Minister of Culture, Farouk Hosni, to Secretary General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, the top antiquities job in Egypt.

Discoveries, recognition and promotion, The Egyptian Gazette, Egypt, October 24, 2005.

By Hassan Sadallah

The Ministry of Culture has started a project to develop St Catherine's Monastery in southern Sinai.

The project is part of a plan by the Ministry and the Supreme Council for Antiquities SCA to preserve Egypt's cultural, archaeological and historical heritage, said Minister of Culture Farouk Hosni.

"This project is composed of three stages, the first includes a comprehensive documentation of all manuscripts at the monastery," according to Zahi Hawass, the Secretary-General of SCA. The second, added Hawass, focuses on compiling an encyclopaedia on the monastery "from an Egyptian-Graeco perspective".

"The third includes filming a documentary on the monastery in cooperation with its custodians tracing the emergence of monasticism in the world as a whole and in Egypt in particular," said Hawass. The documentary will also highlight the geographical and historical features of the place.

Project to develop St Catherine's Monastery, The Egyptian Gazette, Egypt, October 24, 2005.

The latest issue of Ancient Egypt Magazine is out now. A summary of its contents follows.

• A Victorian View of Ancient Egypt
  John Hannavy looks at the social conventions revealed by the Victorian photograph albums of trips to Egypt.
• The Temple of Gerf Hussein
  Martin Davies describes the history of this temple, now partially reconstructed at New Kalabsha.
• Rameses II at the Ramesseum and in the British Museum
  Photographic skill and modern computer software allow Guy de Bédoyère to "re-unite" the two parts of a famous statue.
• Tales of the Crypts
  Following her investigation of the Egyptianising monuments in a Parisian cemetery, Cathie Bryan visits two London cemeteries.
• The Identity of the King and the Sun God
  Chris O’Kane finds links between the movements of the stars and planets and ancient Egyptian mythology.
• The (Royal) Mummy Returns but is he Rameses I?
  Dylan Bickerstaffe analyses the evidence.
• News of the Friends of the Petrie Museum
• Improved Facilities in the Valley of the Kings
  Marshall Hindley reports on proposed changes that could make visits to the Valley more pleasant for everyone as well as helping to protect the tombs from increasing numbers of tourists.
• Inspired by Egypt
  One Egyptian businessman has been so inspired by ancient Egypt that he calls himself Djed-Maat-Ra, and has built himself a temple dedicated to Hathor! — Ayman Wahby Taher interviews him for AE.
• You can look, but PLEASE don't touch!
  AE’s Editor warns of the danger to monuments from too many visitors.

Ancient Egypt Magazine, Issue 32, Volume 6, No. 2, October / November 2005, Empire Publications, Manchester, UK.

Perhaps the first organisation of true human globalisation, UNESCO's projects for protecting history and culture are themselves a heritage to be proud of, writes Chafik Chamass.

With the UNESCO campaign for safeguarding the Nubia monuments, initiated some 45 years ago, Egypt marked the launch of one of the first large-scale cultural heritage salvation initiatives in the history of mankind. By weight of its unique, ancient civilisation, Egypt ensures the centrality of the role it still plays internationally today. Thus, in 1959, when UNESCO launched its first international cultural heritage salvation campaign, it was with the aim of helping Egypt safeguard the Abu Simbel temples in the Nile Valley. These treasures of ancient Egyptian civilisation were threatened by the construction of the Aswan High Dam.

Once again, Egypt was advantageously on the front page: books, magazines and memoirs related this story of an emerging conflict between culture and human development. The story also brought to light the Pharaohs' obsession with immortality as well as their divine concepts of beauty and peace as exemplified by their civilisation. The modern threat to the survival of the unique temples demonstrated that the conservation of the world's common heritage concerned all countries...

Sixty years of beauty, Al-Ahram, Egypt, Issue No. 765, October 20 - 26, 2005.

Marking the final weeks in Los Angeles, an extensive exhibition of more than 130 artefacts from the tomb of the celebrated Pharaoh Tutankhamun (King Tut), other Valley of the Kings tombs and additional ancient sites is visiting the United States on a 27-month tour. The Los Angeles exhibit is open now and only runs until November 15. It will be the exhibit's only stop west of the Mississippi.

Organized by National Geographic and sponsored by Northern Trust — Marking the final weeks in Los Angeles, an extensive exhibition of more than 130 artefacts from the tomb of the celebrated Pharaoh Tutankhamun (King Tut), other Valley of the Kings tombs and additional ancient sites is visiting the United States on a 27-month tour. The Los Angeles exhibit is open now and only runs until November 15 [2005]. It will be the exhibit’s only stop west of the Mississippi.

Featured treasures in the exhibit, which are all between 3,300 and 3,500 years old, include Tutankhamun’s royal diadem — the gold crown discovered encircling the head of the king’s mummified body that he likely wore while living — and one of the gold and precious stone inlaid coffinettes that contained his mummified internal organs...

Last Chance To See King Tut In Los Angeles, PR Web, USA, October 20, 2005.

Currently the L.A. area is hosting two world-class exhibitions of ancient Egyptian artefacts: King Tut has taken up residence in Mid-Wilshire in the LACMA annex. Less than an hour away, in Santa Ana (of the eponymous hot winds), the Bowers Museum is showcasing one of the greatest exhibits of mummies ever seen in the United States from the collection of the British Museum.

Together, the two exhibitions offer more Egyptian artefacts and mummies on view in America than at any time since Boris Karloff played Im-ho-Tep [in 1932 classic The Mummy]. Since Howard Carter first uncovered Tutankhamun’s tomb in 1922, we have always known more about how ancient Egyptians died than how they lived. Our fascination has manifested itself in comedy and horror, scholarship and satire: from Abbott & Costello to the recent Brendan Fraser resurrections; from the Saturday morning cartoon “Tutenstein” to the record-breaking ticket sales for past and current Tut exhibitions...

Who’s Your Mummy?, The Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles, California, USA, October 21, 2005.

When the new M.H. de Young Museum in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park opens Saturday (Oct. 15), it will feature contributions by the University of California, Berkeley – on the grounds outside and in a major exhibit inside.

The landscaping of the nearly five acres surrounding the public art museum is the handiwork of Walter Hood, an award-winning UC Berkeley professor of landscape architecture and environmental planning.

Meanwhile, an exhibit on the female pharaoh Hatshepsut reflects consultation by Cathleen Keller, a UC Berkeley associate professor of Near Eastern Studies.

That exhibit also includes a piece of ancient medical papyri from The Bancroft Library's Center for the Tebtunis Papyri, as well as an ancient bronze and ivory dagger and an ivory clapper musical instrument excavated from Southern Egypt around the turn of the [century]...

New de Young museum features UC Berkeley contributions, UC Berkeley News, University of California, California, USA, October 14, 2005.

The rulers of ancient Egypt had different family values than those in rhetorical play these days.

Like European royalty before the Enlightenment, the Egyptian dynasts concerned themselves above all with succession. It mattered so much that marriages within the royal cohort frequently crossed boundaries deemed inviolable by modern morality and psychology.

The familial closed circle of access to kingship brought Hatshepsut to the throne in 1475, B.C., apparently by dint of circumstance and her own initiative...

How Hatshepsut became pharaoh in a man's world, San Francisco Chronicle, California, USA, October 15, 2005.

The BBC is investigating how its big new docudrama Egypt has overspent by millions of pounds.

As the corporation tries to be more cost-conscious in the run-up to charter renewal, it has emerged that despite an agreed increase in its budget, costs are still rising on the epic series on the wonders of the ancient world.

The corporation is now investigating internally how the eagerly awaited Egypt's overspend happened.

It's understood that the initial budget for the co-production between the BBC and America's The Learning Channel was around £6.5m[*].

But problems filming on location in Egypt, including the weather and illness, meant costs for the six-part series have spiralled...

cf. BBC investigates epic Egyptian overspend, The Guardian, UK, October 14, 2005. Requires subscription.

cf. BBC creates digital mini-programme to support Egypt series, New Media Age, UK, October 13, 2005. Requires subscription.

A prominent Egyptian archaeologist has refuted the widely held belief that the sun illuminates the inner sanctum of the main temple at Abu Simbel only on 22 February and 22 October – the birthday and the date of the coronation of Pharaoh Rameses II.

On those two days every year the sun's rays shine on seated statues of the sun gods Re-Horakhty and Amun-Re, and a statue of Rameses II. The statues sit in the company of the Theban god of darkness, Ptah, which is shrouded in shadow all year round.

"The sun lights up the statues on the two days in the year that mark the beginning of 'summer' and 'winter' according to pharaonic agricultural calendar," archaeologist Mohamed Hamid told the Middle East News Agency.

Abu Simbel will witness a rare phenomenon when the rays of the sun penetrate the darkness for more than 60 metres inside the temple to illuminate the seated three statues except for that of Ptah that remains in the dark all year round, he added.

Face of Rameses lights up tomorrow, The Egyptian Gazette, Egypt, October 21, 2005.

"Three years ago I decided to go back to the subject which fascinated me at university," he says. "I was interested in human origins, in what makes us different from the apes. I found that it wasn't the use of tools, as many people believe, but abstract thought and the ability to manipulate symbols." The answer was art. Cave paintings and writings which depicted thoughts and visions, none of which have ever been achieved by other species. In fact, even our human ancestors had no artistic capability. Or not until 40,000 years ago, at least.

"Previously, we were very uncreative and boring. We used the same tools continually without modifying them. Then, suddenly, a light switched on in our brain. Fossils from 40,000 years ago show that we began to explore spirituality, looked for signs of life after death and innovated specialised tools. And we began to paint. In France, Italy and South Africa and all over the world, they've discovered incredibly accomplished paintings, but no explanation for this burst of development."

This has been termed the "greatest riddle in archaeology..."

Drugs, art and the aliens who lit our way to civilisation, The Scotsman, UK, October 11, 2005.

Not strictly Egyptology but of interest anyway.

Like a dromedary that can travel a long distance without taking a drink of water, the Oriental Institute’s CAMEL computer project can traverse vast distances of ancient and modern space without pausing for the usual refreshment known best by archaeologists-digging in the soil.

CAMEL (the Center for Ancient Middle Eastern Landscapes) is at the leading edge of archaeology because of what it does not do and what it can do. First, it does not actually excavate. For a science based on the destructive removal of buried artefacts and an examination of them for meaning, CAMEL works in quite the opposite way: it aims to survey ancient sites and disturb them as little as possible.

What CAMEL can do however, is remarkable. It organizes maps, aerial photography, satellite images and other data into one place, allowing archaeologists to see how ancient trade routes developed and to prepare simulations of how people may have interacted, given the limitations of their space, the availability of resources and the organization of their cities...

CAMEL allows archaeologists to survey ancient cities without digging in the dirt, disturbing sites, The University of Chicago Chronicle, Illinois, USA, Vol. 25, No. 3, October 20, 2005.

Just a few weeks ago, three tins of ancient papyri belonging to the University of California, Berkeley, finally arrived home, shipped across the Atlantic more than a century after they were collected in Egypt.

British archaeologists Bernard Grenfell and Arthur Hunt excavated the temple, town and cemetery of Tebtunis, Egypt, in an expedition for UC Berkeley in the winter of 1899-1900 at the behest of university benefactress Phoebe Apperson Hearst. After uncovering a treasure trove of papyri and artefacts, they brought them to their home base at Oxford for study and publication of selected pieces. Fragments of papyrus rest in pages from back issues of the Oxford University Gazette (in this instance, the 15 July 1931 edition) in which they were shipped back from England.

After the first two volumes were published, further publication was slowed by the illness and death of the two scholars, so the papyri remained at Oxford for longer than expected, said Todd Hickey, a papyrologist and curator of the Center for Tebtunis Papyri at UC Berkeley's Bancroft Library.

Although much of the material was eventually sent to the campus from the late 1930s through the '50s, additional containers remained overlooked, Hickey said.

But a couple of years ago, Hickey noted that an inventory of the numbering applied by Grenfell and Hunt to many pieces in the centre's more than 30,000-piece collection showed many gaps in the sequence...

Tebtunis papyri returned to UC Berkeley's Bancroft Library decades after their discovery, UC Berkeley, California, USA, October 18, 2005.

cf. Virtual Exhibition: After Grenfell and Hunt, POxy: Oxyrhynchus Online, Oxford University, UK.

It may be some sort of mummy's curse. Nearly all of us who visit Egypt will find ourselves on a Nile cruise. But it does make sense: The ancient blockbuster sights are situated along this ribbon of life that slashes the country north to south. Once on board, though, cruisers may find the sightseeing stops frustratingly brief, the crowds oppressive and the number of ships jockeying for position at the docks boggling.

As many as 400 boats ply the Nile during high season. Most work the same 125-mile stretch of river, between Aswan and Luxor, and most visit the same attractions on a typical three- or four-day voyage. So even on a luxury cruise, you could end up traipsing across six other ships to reach the dock, only to be wedged into a sacred sanctuary with hordes of sweaty travellers.

But spend a night or two on land at the end of a cruise and you'll see attractions that aren't overwhelmed by mobs of package tourists and sense the rhythm of Egypt's 5,000-plus years of history. If you want to get a deeper feel for the "splendours of Egypt" (every tour brochure's fave phrase), you really should jump ship.

Luxor, often referred to as the world's largest open-air museum, is the perfect grand finale for a Nile cruise. After my husband and I disembark there, our Egypt adventure really begins...

Beyond the Nile Cruise, The Washington Post, District of Columbia, USA, October 16, 2005.

The end of the line for King Tut tickets comes into view today, when single tickets go on sale for the exhibit that arrives at Fort Lauderdale's Museum of Art in December.

In the meantime, "Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs," which runs Dec. 15 [2005] through April 23 [2006], already is big business in South Florida. Museum VIP memberships, corporate sponsorships, group sales and travel tie-ins are all hot items, along with an advance-sale gimmick called the certificate presale.

But fans looking outside normal channels for an inside track to buck long lines should be wary, according to both museum and Broward Center box office officials.

Don't believe any "no lines" sales pitch, says Michael Mills, the Fort Lauderdale museum's communications manager...

Although over-the-counter $75 VIP tickets are part of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art's exhibition offerings, no such price level is part of the Fort Lauderdale box office sales.

VIP tickets are available here only by signing up as a museum member with a minimum $150 donation, or buying a vacation package with Greater Fort Lauderdale Marriott Hotels & Resorts...

King Tut exhibit becomes the hottest ticket in town, Orlando Sentinel, Florida, USA, October 18, 2005.

cf. Ticket sales brisk for upcoming Tut exhibit, The Miami Herald, Florida, USA, October 19, 2005.

Neither complaints of high prices nor mixed reviews — not even the occasional power outage — has stemmed the success of "Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs," which is expecting a renewed surge in attendance through its close on Nov. 15 [2005].

The LACMA West exhibition, the collection's first stop on a four-city U.S. farewell tour, logged an average of 30,000 visitors a week in the midst of its run. John Norman, president and CEO of Arts and Exhibitions International, says crowds in the next few weeks are likely to rival the 45,000 to 50,000 counted in its early weeks.

"We went the first 10 weeks, or something like that, without having a ticket ever unsold through any day," he said. "A slow week for us would be an incredibly busy week for anybody with any other exhibit anywhere in the world..."

King Tut exhibit still a hot ticket, LA Daily News, California, USA, October 19, 2005.

This October, BBC ONE viewers are being offered the opportunity to explore Ancient Egypt through the eyes of some of the finest Egyptologists, adventurers and scholars in recent history: Howard Carter, The Great Belzoni and Jean-François Champollion.

For the first time on British television, the stories of these amazing and truly unique individuals are brought to life in a six-part historical drama-documentary series, which will reveal how the mysteries of Ancient Egypt were uncovered piece by piece by these three incredible men...

Egypt - How a lost civilisation was discovered starts this October, INFOSAT, Luxembourg, October 18, 2005.

In the first third of the 20th century the Ny Carlsberg Foundation provided financial support for the excavations undertaken by the English organisation, the Egypt Exploration Society, in Middle Egypt, which led to the unearthing of the sand-covered ruins of Amarna, the capital of King Akhenaten and Queen Nefertiti. In grateful recognition of this funding, the Foundation received a steady stream of superb, newly-discovered treasures which it generously donated to the Glyptotek, [Copenhagen, Denmark].

An agreement was concluded with the Egyptian Antiquities Service whereby objects of a unique character were to be handed over to the Cairo Museum, while it was permitted to send “duplicates” out of the country. In this way the Glyptotek assembled a small but outstanding collection of Amarna art which is, to this today, among the finest in the world.

[October 15, 2005] [t]hrough April 30, 2006, it will be possible, for the very first time, for the Glyptotek’s visitors to see the museum’s entire Amarna collection in the special exhibition Egyptian Art from the Amarna Period (c. 1365-1345)...

Egyptian Art From the Amarna Period, Art Daily, Mexico, October 18, 2005.

King Tut will make a big splash at the Museum of Art Fort Lauderdale when the exhibition opens in December. Will the high ticket price and anticipated crowds be worth it?

Expectations for King Tut are nothing short of monumental at the Museum of Art Fort Lauderdale, where the exhibit opens in December.

With ticket sales set to begin Tuesday, museum administrators have readied themselves for record attendance in the hundreds of thousands and an elevated profile as one of only four museums in the nation to present the blockbuster show.

“It has all the makings of a huge success for us,” director Irvin Lippman said.

But Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs also poses a dilemma for the museum: How to meet traditional standards of scholarship and accessibility while adapting to new demands for financial self-sufficiency and popular appeal? ...

King Tut exhibit to draw huge crowds, The Miami Herald, Florida, USA, Octoner 17, 2005.

cf. Tickets on Sale Tomorrow for ‘Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs,’ Opening at the Museum of Art / Fort Lauderdale in December 2005 , Business Wire, USA, October 17, 2005.

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.

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.

TravelVideo.TV have published a round-up of Egyptian Antiquity news covering:
Thutmose, Hatshepsut tour USA
New archaeological find in New Valley
Fayoum to be listed on world map
European grant to renovate silver artifacts at Egyptian Museum

Antiquity News from Egypt, TravelVideo.TV, Ontario, Canada, October 13, 2005.

A slew of stories about the opening of the new de Young Museum of Fine Arts, San Francisco, and its inaugural exhibition Hatshepsut from Queen to Pharaoh.

She married her brother, became queen and amicably ruled ancient Egypt with her nephew, who was also her stepson, for nearly 20 years.

A capable leader whose reign brought with it a surge of prosperity and a flowering of the arts, Hatshepsut should be as well known as Cleopatra and Nefertiti.

New de Young show restores lost queen to her throne, Inside Bay Area, California, USA, October 12, 2005.

cf. A new era for de Young, Contra Costa Times, California, USA, October 09, 2005.

cf. De Young again, San Francisco Chronicle, California, USA, October 09, 2005.

cf. New de Young Museum boasts fantastic galleries, controversial exterior, Vacaville Reporter, California, USA, October 07, 2005.

cf. A new day for the de Young, San Francisco Chronicle, California, USA, October 09, 2005.

cf. A new temple of art serves several faiths, Los Angeles Times, California, USA, October 12, 2005.

cf. Pretty on the Inside, San Francisco Weekly, California, USA, October 12, 2005.

cf. San Francisco de Young Museum Inaugural Weekend Celebration, San Francisco Blog, About.com, USA, October 12, 2005.

cf. San Francisco's new De Young is a museum for the 21st century, Contra Costa Times, California, USA, October 12, 2005.

Qasr el-Nil Street, one of Cairo's oldest and most prestigious streets, is to have its historical and urban features restored and revived. The project is part of a larger project to restore and revive the whole of downtown Cairo.

Mrs Suzanne Mubarak described the Qasr el-Nil project as "a beautiful dream" while she was watching a film about it.

This historic and cultural area has witnessed many changes over the centuries and it can offer us a valuable insight into the past.

Minister of Culture Farouk Hosni says that the project reflects the Ministry's efforts to restore one of Cairo's most famous streets and that it will serve as a model for similar projects.

Galal Ebada, an assistant professor of architecture at Ain Shams University, who designed the project, said that the street's original appearance will be preserved and illegal structures on the pavement will be removed.

"Traffic flow and parking will be reconsidered, while we will give a lot of attention to the facades of the buildings, removing anything that detracts from their beauty," added Ebada.

Qasr el-Nil Street, one of the oldest thoroughfares in downtown Cairo, was named after a palace built by Mohamed Ali Pasha on the banks of the Nile, near Qasr el-Nil Bridge.

It begins at Midan el-Tahrir and ends at Midan el-Opera in el-Ataba. It is full of company offices, cafes, cinemas, theatres and social clubs.

Qasr el-Nil Street to be restored, The Egyptian Gazette, Egypt, October 13, 2005

"Mummy: the inside story" is a new exhibit at the Houston Museum of Natural Science that runs through Feb. 12 [2006].

In the past the only way to learn about a mummy was to unwrap it, a process that was both destructive and irreversible. Now, with the development of modern imaging technology, it is possible to extract volumes of information about ancient Egypt without disturbing the mummies.

This exhibit presents two worlds, ancient Egypt through Nesperennub, a 2,800-year-old priest, and the 21st century through computerized tomography scans...

Mummies in Houston, San Antonio Express-News, Texas, USA, October 09, 2005.

So is it Thutmose or Tuthmosis? Or perhaps Thutmosis or Tuthmose?

Randomly picking a few books from the shelf I find that Peter Clayton seems to prefer Tuthmosis, yet Aidan Dodson uses Thutmose, and Regine Schulz Thutmosis.

The two exhibitions featuring recreations of T IIIs tomb, at the City Art Centre, Edinburgh and the de Young Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco opt for differing spellings also.

So I decided to conduct an experiment of sorts and asked Google what the world ‘thinks’. Here are the results:

• Thutmose — 159,000 pages
• Thutmosis — 77,000 pages
• Tuthmosis — 59,500 pages
• Tuthmose — 613 pages

So there you have it.

References

, Peter A. Clayton, Thames and Hudson, London, 1994.
, Aidan Dodson and Dyan Hilton, Thames and Hudson, London, 2004.
, Regine Schulz and Matthias Seidel, Könemann, Cologne, 1998.

Whilst trawling the net for Egyptology related articles I came across this useless fact. Punt is now a place again! It's an autonomous state in north-west Somalia.

See this Wikipedia article: Puntland and the CIA World Factbook entry for Somalia.

It is named after the Ancient Egyptian name for the area which is where Hatshepsut sent her famous expedition depicted upon the walls of Deir-el-Bahari.

Punt and Ta-Netjer, Jacques Kinnaer, Ancient Egypt from A to Z.

Hatshepsut, Female Pharaoh of Egypt, Caroline Seawright, Tour Egypt.

The Wonderful Land of Punt, Jimmy Dunn, Tour Egypt.

Credit Suisse has signed up to be the first founding partner for The O2, formerly the Millennium Dome.

The long-term deal makes the bank — which has the UK headquarters of its subsidiary CSFB at Cabot Square — the official banking and financial services partner of the £500 million[*] development on the Greenwich Peninsula, opposite Canary Wharf.

The deal, signed with Anschutz Entertainment Group (AEG) last week, will include title sponsorship of the Tutankhamun exhibition, scheduled to open in 2007...

CSFB signs up to Dome, The Wharf, UK, October 13, 2005.

Faced with raising close to $18,000 to cover their admission, plus the buses to take them [on a Nov. 15 2005 field trip to the King Tut exhibit at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art], the 480 sixth-graders have been fundraising. The latest effort was using their spare change to vote for the teachers they wanted to see perform a zany, agreed-upon task...

'Teacher torture', Venture County Star, California, USA, October 12, 2005.

Pass through the black curtain and you enter a different world ... a perilous world populated by five-headed serpents and terrifying demons, where it is not unknown for people to be boiled alive or decapitated.

You have just 12 hours to journey through this place to your final destination. Succeed and you will enjoy everlasting life. Fail and you will be condemned to eternal damnation.

It might sound like the tagline for the latest campaign to sell a computer game, but this is an ancient tale. And it is one which is being played out on the floors of the City Art Centre, [Edinburgh,] which has been transformed into an exact replica of the tomb of the Immortal Pharaoh, Thutmose III...

Journey to eternal life of Pharaoh, The Scotsman, UK, October 12, 2005.

For the first time in 26 years, the treasures of Tutankhamun (King Tut), an extensive exhibition of more than 130 artefacts from the tomb of the celebrated Pharaoh and other Valley of the Kings ancestors is coming to America.

Beginning Dec. 15, the Museum of Art/Fort Lauderdale hosts the collection.

Featured treasures in the exhibition, which are all between 3,300 and 3,500 years old, include Tutankhamun's royal diadem — the gold crown discovered encircling the head of the king's mummified body that he likely wore while living — and one of the gold and precious stone inlaid coffinettes that contained his mummified internal organs.

The exhibit opens for a very limited time Dec. 15 [2005 - April 23 2006] at the Museum of Art/Fort Lauderdale.

General ticket sales begin Tuesday [yesterday]...

King Tut's Treasures Coming To South Florida, Local 10, Florida, USA, October 11, 2005.

An admirer of Egyptian culture, Eduardo Vilela has already travelled to the Arab country to photograph the originals and then transform them into replicas. Some of his works, like sculptures and pictures, may be seen at exhibition 'Ancient Egypt – Myths and Symbols', which has been travelling Brazil since 1997 and will take place in the city of São José dos Campos, in the interior of Brazil, from October 18th to November 2nd.

São Paulo – Pharaohs, pyramids, mummies, temples and hieroglyphs inspire the work of Brazilian artist Eduardo Vilela, who reproduces in his pictures and sculptures replicas of Archaeological items. Some of the works may be seen at travelling exhibition "Ancient Egypt – Myths and Symbols", which has been travelling the country since 1997. The next stop is Shopping Colinas, in the city of São José dos Campos, in the interior of São Paulo, in south-eastern Brazil...

Ancient Egypt inspires Brazilian artist, Brazil-Arab News Agency, Brazil, October 06, 2005.

An Egyptian look — particularly the kind of Egyptian look inspired by the current travelling exhibit "Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs" — is the design motif du jour.

In 1976, when King Tut last popped up in the United States in a travelling museum exhibit, homes and offices and even movies were laced with lots of King Tut imagery.

Flash forward to today.

Soon after the new Tut exhibit's June debut in Los Angeles ... people who make the buying decisions at many retailers started stocking up on Tut-esque decor...

Tut craze has an afterlife, Orange County Register, California, USA, October 11, 2005.

Egypt is preparing to use the latest technology to solve a 4,500-year-old riddle. A robot is to be sent up two narrow shafts in the Great Pyramid in Giza to discover whether a secret burial chamber contains the real tomb of the pharaoh [Khufu].

The chief Egyptian archaeologist, Zahi Hawass, is to inspect the robot designed by Singapore scientists this week...

The Singapore team has been working on a new robot for the past two years. The device is to drill through the second door and a stone slab blocking the second shaft in the pyramid...

Egypt uses new technology to solve pyramid riddle, The New Zealand Herald, New Zealand, October 12, 2005.

cf. Robot to explore Great Pyramid's secret chamber, The Independent, UK, October 12, 2005.

A tourism article about Abu-Simbel from news.com.au that I missed when it was published over a month ago!

With 90 or so sons, countless daughters and territorial conquests, Rameses II launched a building program commemorating himself for eternity.

His magnificent temples, ornate underground tombs and innumerable huge statues across Egypt each are extraordinary. But one monument stands on a scale that stretches credulity – Abu Simbel.

About 300km south of Aswan on the desert banks of the Nile River's Lake Nasser, four enormous figures of the king are carved in the sandstone face of a mountain amid a region of stark desolation...

Guarding giant god of the Nile, News Interactive, Australia, September 04, 2005.

Egyptian Ambassador Mohamed El Sayed Taha opened an exhibition called the Legend of Pharaoh at the Mangga Dua World Trade Center in West Jakarta on Saturday.

The exhibition was held in conjunction with the fasting month of Ramadhan to give shoppers a brief glimpse at the culture and history of Egypt.

"The spirit of Ramadhan makes any occasion extra special and unique. Therefore organization of the exhibition during the Ramadhan month will add a cultural dimension to this holy month," Sayed Taha said in his speech.

The Legend of Pharaoh exhibition — held until Nov. 6 on the third floor of the Mangga Dua World Trade Center — also received recognition from the Indonesian Museum of Records (MURI) in the superlative criteria for the construction of the largest replica of a pyramid inside a shopping mall.

The whole exhibition is housed inside a replica of a 5.6-meter high Egyptian pyramid with a 153-square-meter base, according to Paulus Pangka from the Indonesian Museum of Records (MURI).

As they enter the pyramid, visitors are greeted by a 10-minute video of the mummy preservation techniques employed by ancient Egyptians, after which a replica of a mummy is displayed.

"All the pieces in the exhibit were contributed by the Embassy of the Arab Republic of Egypt," Sayed Taha explained.

Various replicas representing part of Egypt's rich history are also displayed, including the death mask of the boy pharaoh Tutankhamun.

Visitors interested in seeing the exhibition are charged Rp 10,000 (about US$1) with the proceeds to be donated to orphan children.

Legend of Pharaoh exhibit opens in Jakarta, Jakarta Post, Indonesia, October 09, 2005.

The so-called curse of Tutankhamun in the 1920s was the inspiration for the many mummy films that have been made over the past 70 years.

Stories of the curse of the pharaohs had been passed from generation to generation of Egyptians and was probably introduced by government officials in the ancient kingdom in an unofficial attempt to prevent tomb robbing.

It gave Hollywood plenty of scope for scripts, too...

We love... The Mummy, Western Mail, Wales, October 11, 2005.

Five artifacts from the Cairo Museum, including a statue of king Tuthmosis III, known as the greatest warrior of Egypt and another statue for Hatshepsut left Cairo on Monday for Chicago on a four-month US tour.

The rare pieces, weighing some 6,000 kg, were flown on board an Air France Paris-Chicago flight amidst tight security measures.

They will be displayed in the various American museums from October 15 to February 5 next year.

Tuthmosis, Hatshepsut tour USA, State Information Service, Egypt, October 11, 2005.

The new issue of Current World Archaeology is out now and contains a two page article, in the diary section, of interest to Egyptologists. Geoffrey J. Tassie, Managing Director of the Egyptian Cultural Heritage Organisation, looks at some of the recent undertakings in Egypt, with a focus on the sites of Giza and Hierakonpolis.

Current World Archaeology, Think Publishing, London, UK, Volume 2, Number 1, Issue 13, October / November 2005.

Subscribe to Current World Archaeology Magazine via Amazon.com.

You might think the Ancient Egyptians too remote in time to be anything other than intellectual curiosities for us. Jan Assmann, the great German Egyptologist, thinks otherwise. Early on in his masterful reconstruction of the Egyptian mind set, he tells us that "ancient Egypt is an intellectual and spiritual world that is linked to our own by numerous strands of tradition." A brief review can only barely touch on the topics discussed in this book, but I will try to give some examples of Assmann’s conclusions...

Book Review: The Mind of Egypt, Political Affairs Magazine, New York, USA, October 11, 2005.

The Mind of Egypt: History and Meaning in the Time of the Pharaohs, Jan Assmann (translated by Andrew Jenkins), Harvard University Press, New York, 2003.

Buy the book from Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.com, or Amazon.ca.

A couple more regarding the latest robot to survey Khufu's pyramid shafts.

Egypt will send a robot up narrow shafts in the Great Pyramid to try to solve one of the mysteries of the 4,500-year-old pharaonic mausoleum, Egypt's top archaeologist said.

Zahi Hawass said he would inspect a robot designed to climb the two narrow shafts which might lead to an undiscovered burial chamber in the pyramid of Cheops at Giza, on the outskirts of Cairo.

Hawass said the shafts and stone panels which block them could mark the location of the burial chamber of ... Khufu...

Pyramid probe may find mystery chamber, AAP via Sydney Morning Herald, Australia, October 11, 2005.

cf. Egypt Prepares New Probe of Mystery Pyramid Shafts, AP via CRI, China, October 11, 2005.

Egyptian police arrested two men in connection with the disappearance of three 3000-year-old pharaonic statues from the basement of the Egyptian Museum in central Cairo.

Police captured the men, both of them employees of a company contracted to do restoration work in the museum, in a sting operation with officers presenting themselves as antiquities dealers.

The statues, one representing a man and his wife side by side, another the head of the royal guard and the third an unknown character, vanished from the museum last month under mysterious circumstances...

Egypt arrests two over missing pharaonic statues, Wanadoo Jordan, Jordan, October 09, 2005.

The Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA) is taking legal steps to retrieve some antiquities, which, according to the Internet, are to be sold at auction halls.

SCA Secretary-General Zahi Hawass stated that 13 Web sites were advertising Egyptian antiquities for sale at auction this month, while the total for July was 22 Web sites.

The SCA's Archaeological Department has collected all the brochures of these auctions halls and forwarded them to Public Funds Prosecution, said Hawass, adding that an SCA committee has carefully compared the antiquities in the brochures with photos of Egypt's missing antiquities.

He added that some of the missing items belonged to an Egyptian trader, while others had gone missing from the museum at Cairo University's Faculty of Archaeology and the storehouses of the university's Faculty of Arts, as well as from an archaeological area at Marina, on Egypt's North Coast.

The committee has identified the items up for auction as antiquities that have gone missing from Egypt.

SCA to retrieve missing antiquities, The Egyptian Gazette, Egypt, October 11, 2005.

Minister of Culture Farouk Hosni okayed plan to renovate silver artefacts and antiques on display at the Egyptian Museum.

Dr. Zahi Hawass, Secretary General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, said the renovation is part of a master plan by the Ministry of Culture to maintain the metal artefacts through a 75,000 euro grant from the European Union.

Some 1,400 ancient pieces, including sarcophaguses, jewellery, crowns, belts and statues will be renovated.

European grant to renovate silver artefacts at Egyptian Museum, State Information Service, Egypt, October 10, 2005.

Egyptian culture minister Farouk Hosni ordered a probe on Tuesday into reports about mysterious damage to a Pharaonic statue during restoration work at the Egyptian Museum.

He asked Attorney General Maher Abdel Wahid to investigate the matter, the official MENA news agency reported, only hours after the country's top antiquities official dismissed the reports as being unfounded.

The Egyptian press, quoting museum officials, had reported that a statue of Khafre (2576-2551 BC), the fourth dynasty king and builder of the second pyramid at Giza, had been found damaged in the basement...

Egyptians argue over reported damage to Pharaonic statue, Middle East Times, Cyprus, October 05, 2005.

by Zahi Hawass

In 1976, I became an inspector of the Pyramids of Giza. I was working at Abu Simbel, the Nubian site of the temples of Ramses II, when I read that thieves had broken into the storage house at Giza and had taken dozens of artifacts. Dr Gamal Mokhtar, head of the Department of Antiquities, knew of my administrative abilities and believed I could make sure this would never happen again. One month later, we caught the thieves and all the artifacts were returned. They are still in jail today.

In 1977, Bahariya Oasis was put under the same jurisdiction as the Giza monuments and I went to visit the site. It is funny to think back that I was standing on one of the most exciting archaeological sites of the millennium and was not even aware of it. I realised this was virgin site but I never thought that I would excavate there. I was concerned with the protection and conservation of this site with only six guards and no Antiquities Inspector. No one from Cairo was willing to live in this remote site. So, in 1980, I returned to Bahariya to see about renting an office but I was granted no funds to support it. I recommended a young man from Bahariya, Ashry Shakr, a first-year student in archaeology to the Antiquities Department to open an office for us. I then accepted a Fulbright Scholarship to obtain my doctorate in Egyptology at the University of Pennsylvania and travelled to the United States.

In 1987, I returned to Egypt. The Antiquities Department had appointed Ashry Shakr as Antiquities Inspector of Bahariya. I was promoted to Director General of Giza, Saqqara, and Bahariya Oasis. I began work immediately and plunged into the thick of things, dealing with many problems.

How I found my true love – archaeology (Part 2), The Egyptian Gazette, Egypt, October 10, 2005.

Egypt will send a robot up narrow shafts in the Great Pyramid to try to solve one of the mysteries of the 4,500-year-old pharaonic mausoleum, Egypt's top archaeologist said on Monday.

Zahi Hawass told Reuters he would this week inspect a robot designed to climb the two narrow shafts which might lead to an undiscovered burial chamber in the pyramid of Cheops at Giza, on the outskirts of Cairo.

Hawass said the shafts and stone panels which block them could mark the location of the burial chamber of Cheops, also known as Khufu. That would mean none of the chambers already discovered in the pyramid were the pharaoh's real tomb...

Egypt prepares new probe of mystery pyramid shafts, Reuters, UK, October 10, 12005.

cf. Egypt prepares new probe of pyramid mystery, reuters via MSNBC, USA, October 10, 2005.

cf. Egypt to examine ancient shafts, Television New Zealand, New Zealand, October 11, 2005.

The disappearance of three ancient artefacts from the bowels of the Egyptian Museum has made it clear that the notoriously disorganized antiquities warehouse needs excavation as much as any pharaonic tomb.

Last week, Zahi Hawass, head of the Supreme Council of Antiquities and the archaeologist who excavated the artefacts in Giza, launched an investigation to find the missing pieces. But the national treasure is not stolen, he says; it’s “simply lost” somewhere in the museum’s vast and poorly organized basement...

Found and lost, Cairo Magazine, Egypt, October 06, 2005.

More on Egyptian-Sudanese cooperation.

The start of a giant Egyptian-Sudanese project in the field of antiquities was announced by Regine Schulz, Chairperson of the International Committee of Egyptology at the International Council of Museums (ICOM).

At a news conference recently held on the sidelines of a conference of museums at Alexandria Library HQ, Schulz told reporters the project would be held under the umbrella of ICOM and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

She said that Cooperation will involve the establishment of a museum for Nubian antiquities in Sudan's Wadi Halfa near the borders with Egypt...

Egypt, Sudan to promote cooperation in antiquity field, State Information Service, Egypt, October 08, 2005.

107,450 tourists from different nationalities visited the valley of kings in Luxor during September 2005, compared to 3,797 Egyptians visited the site during the same month.

Revenues from tourists hit LE 5.832 million [*] compared to LE 7,594 from Egyptians.

107 thousand tourists visited Luxor Valley of Kings, State Information Service, Egypt, October 08, 2005.

Egypt and Sudan will jointly establish a museum for Nubian antiquities in Sudan’s Wadi Halfanear the borders with Egypt, Egypt’s official MENA news agency reported Friday.

It is part of a recently started giant project of cooperation between the two countries in the field of antiquities.

At a press conference at Egypt’s Alexandria Library, Regine Schulz, chairperson of the International Committee of Egyptology [(CIPEG)] at the International Council of Museums (ICOM), announced the start of the project...

Egypt, Sudan to jointly build museum for Nubian antiquities, Xinhua via Sudan Tribune, Sudan, October 08, 2005.

cf. Egypt, Sudan to jointly build museum for Nubian antiquities, Xinhua via China View, China, October 08, 2005.

The Times have, what is ostensibly, a review of EGYPT: How a Lost Civilization was Rediscovered, Joyce Tyldesley, BBC Books, London, 2005, but appears to be more a write up on Petrie's life.

He liked to work in his underpants and ate only from tins, but Flinders Petrie changed the face of archaeology. Joyce Tyldesley on a neglected hero.

Egyptology has thrown up more than its fair share of adventurers and eccentrics. A forthcoming BBC series, Egypt, celebrates three of the most flamboyant: Belzoni, the former circus strongman who transported the huge “Younger Memnon” head of Ramesses the Great to the British Museum; Champollion, the delicate Frenchman who won the race to decode hieroglyphics; and Howard Carter, the Norfolk artist-turned-archaeologist who made the most spectacular discovery of all, the tomb of Tutankhamun.

Missing, however, although he features in my book relating to the series, is the “Father of Pots”, Flinders Petrie, whom most Egyptologists revere as the father of their discipline...

Reader in the sands of time, The Times, UK, October 08, 2005.

Buy the book from Amazon using the links below.

We have a fair idea of pyramids and sphinxes, but how many know the scents of Egypt?

The first impression I had of Cairo was that it's greener than I had thought. That was probably because the city sits on the banks of the Nile, the world's longest river.

Arriving there in early September the weather was pleasantly mild, not dry and humid as we had been told by our travel agent who also advised us to carry our own water bottles.

My tour began with a visit to Ptah Temple, 30 minutes drive from Cairo. The temple is the only significant relic still remaining of the legendary city of Memphis...

The highlight of this visit was a huge stone statue of Rameses II lying on his back. I walked around the statue and then moved on to the alabaster sphinx that flanked the entrance to the temple. It was the sphinx of Amenhotep II — four and a half metres tall and eight metres long — built in 1200 BC. There was another statue of Rameses II, this one standing...

Cairo cracker, Bangkok Post, Thailand, October 06, 2005.

By Zahi Hawass

Imhotep, the brilliant architect of the Step Pyramid of Djoser, should be universally remembered. He (transformed) the construction of the king's tomb from a mastaba (bench tomb) to a pyramid, and for the first time used stone in the construction. The Step Pyramid is in fact the first large scale structure to be built out of stone.

Imhotep's title was "the overseer of all the king's work". King Djoser honoured Imhotep by inscribing his name on one of his royal statues. In the Late Period, he was worshipped as the incarnation of Asklepios, the god of medicine. The Egyptians considered Imhotep a patron of the arts and recited his name before commencing any type of writing. Thousands of tourists visit Saqqara today to see his creation, the magnificent Step Pyramid. However, most of them are not aware of new discoveries at the site. I always say that Saqqara is a virgin site; almost every day we discover more artefacts, tombs, statues and even new pyramids...

Dig days: Imhotep: the first gifted architect, Al-Ahram, Egypt, Issue No. 763, 6 - 12 October 2005.

ICOM's annual meeting in Alexandria last week was less successful than hoped for. Nevine El-Aref attended.

This year the ICOM [International Council of Museums] meeting was held in the Bibliotheca Alexandrina overlooking the Alexandrian shoreline. Its quadrilateral halls and corridors were buzzing with almost 200 Egyptologists, historians, restorers, curators and museologists from around the world, who were there to exchange recent museological theories, studies and private experience in developing and upgrading displays. The packed schedule included a variety of issues. Attendance at the simple opening ceremony was low, since it coincided with another conference on the dialogue of civilisations. In his speech Ismail Serageldin, director of the Bibliotheca, said museums had unique potential for addressing and fostering cultural understanding in interdisciplinary ways and reaching a wide cross- section of the world's population. He called on all museum curators to play a role in building bridges of cooperation to achieve their goals and create a channel for civilisation and cultural dialogue...

All quiet in museum corridors, Al-Ahram, Egypt, Issue No. 763, 6 - 12 October 2005.

One part of Egypt that perhaps to this day gets scant attention — the vast desert stretches of the Sinai — was in the news in the summer of 1937 following the theft of buried antiquities and a subsequent court trial which rendered a surprising verdict. Professor Yunan Labib Rizk follows the case of the stolen goods.

One of the rare occasions when the attention of Egyptian public opinion was turned to the "unknown" part of Egypt occurred in 1937. The cause was what the press labelled "The Ameriya antiquities case" which surfaced in June that year and continued until a ruling was pronounced on 24 May of the following year.

Little did Egyptians know that there was a wealth of Greek and Roman antiquities buried beneath the sands and that these were being unearthed and sold to intermediaries who smuggled them abroad. This startling information was confirmed by reports in the press of a series of "strange charges," as Al-Ahram described them, that were brought against a number of government officials who took advantage of their postings in remote areas for pecuniary gain...

The other Egypt, Al-Ahram, Egypt, Issue No. 763, 6 - 12 October 2005.

When King Tutankhamun first toured US museums in 1979-80, Hollywood actor and comedian Steve Martin seized on the Egyptomania unleashed by the exhibition by inventing a song that asked King Tut, “How’d ya get so funky?” Banking on the likelihood that Tutankhamun is still funky, rock concert promoter AEG decided to back a second US tour for the boy king, and LACMA is the lead venue in the US tour. The show, which runs until 15 November [2005], has been assailed as profit-motivated popular entertainment, or as Los Angeles Times critic Christopher Knight puts it, “an ethically dubious ode to the cash register”.

“I don’t know why there has been this uproar”, says LACMA deputy director Melody Kanschat. “I feel strongly–and the museum stands behind me–that this is terrific for Los Angeles”.

Los Angeles is the third leg in a three-year tour that began in April 2004 in [the Antikenmuseu m Basel und Sammlung Ludwig,] Basel, Switzerland, and continued in [the K unst- und Ausstellungshalle,] Bonn, Germany this spring. The show was first suggested by the Egyptian government, keen to raise money to build a new museum near the Pyramids. For the US run, the Egyptians have tacked on an additional $5-million fee for each of the four venues.

The Egyptians chose University of Pennsylvania Egyptologist David Silverman as the organising curator for the US tour, but individual venues have “curatorial input and oversight”, although the same 130 objects from the Basel show are on view in the US...

King Tut, from Pharaoh to “product” The Art Newspaper, UK, October 06, 2005.

Minister of Culture Farouk Hosni approved plans to hold a Pharaonic monuments exhibition in [de Young Fine Arts Museums of] San Francisco, from October 15 2005, to January 29, 2006.

The exhibition will be held under the title: "Hatshepsut from Queen to Pharaoh".

The same exhibition will move to [Metropolitan Museum of Art,] New York[,] on March 20 to July 9 [2006] and to [Kimbell Art Museum] Fort Worth[, Texas,] on August 19 through September 10 [2006].

Zahi Hawass, Secretary General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA) expected the exhibition to achieve returns amounting to $100,000 adding that the New York-based Metropolitan Museum, which is due to host the exhibition, will present Egypt with equipment and tools used in renovation works.

Culture Minister approves Hatchepsut exhibition in US, State Information Service, Egypt, October 06, 2005.

King Tut fever has infected the world of design. Get ready for everything from pharaoh heads to sarcophagus storage.

Egyptian has become the motif du jour, inspired by Tutankamum and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs, a four-city traveling exhibit coming to the Fort Lauderdale Museum of Art on Dec. 15 [2005].

The boy king may seem an unlikely design muse, but he has proven 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 — from specialty stores to discount home furnishings retailers — have recognized that King Tut's return to the museum circuit could mean a new epidemic of pharaoh fever...

Egyptian decor has a firm foothold in design circles, and Tut is king, South Florida Sun-Sentinel, Florida, USA, September 30, 2005.

More on the CT scanning of the child mummy ‘Sherit’.

Two thousand years ago in the sands of Egypt, grieving parents put their tiny child to rest in a way that was customary even during the time of Christ. They removed all of the youth's organs except for the heart, packed the remains in salt to cure them and wrapped them in linen coated with perfumed resin. Like all Egyptians of the age, they were certain that their careful efforts would prepare their loved one to someday come back to life.

Today in Silicon Valley, a team of world-renowned experts proved those parents right — although the mummy's high-tech resurrection may not quite be what ancient Egyptians had in mind.

In a press conference at Silicon Graphics headquarters, researchers allowed attendees to literally come face to face with the rare mummified remains of the ancient Egyptian child...

SGI masters the curse of the mummy, Enterprise Networks & Servers, Texas, USA, September, 2005.

cf. Scientists Reach Back 2,000 Years to Bring Rare Child Mummy Back to Life, Silicon Graphics Inc., USA, August 03, 2005. Contains video and Audio footage as well.

Men have retreated to the desert for centuries in search of God, drawn by the quiet and the isolation, by a feeling of divine presence in the barren landscape, in the sand, the wind and the sun.

Maximous Elantony, a Coptic monk, knew that. He too was drawn to the desert in search of a relationship with God. But he could hardly believe it when he recently helped to discover some of the earliest physical evidence of Christians who made that quest as well...

In Egyptian desert, cells of earliest monks, International Herald Tribune, France, September 29, 2005.

An ancient mosque in Old Cairo will be reopened to the public after five years of restoration work, Egyptian Culture Minister Farouk Hosni announced Sunday.

The "mosque of al-Mu'ayyad Shaykh ... will be opened within the next few weeks after the completion of its renovation work" which cost up to 14 million Egyptian pounds (about 2.43 million US dollars), Hosni was quoted as saying by the official MENA news agency...

Egypt's ancient mosque to reopen after 5 years of restoration, Xinhua via People's Daily, China, October 03, 2005.

Hailing from the deserts of Egypt, across the Atlantic Ocean, and now settled snugly for a limited time in Orange County, comes the Bowers Museum’s “Mummies: Death and the Afterlife in Ancient Egypt – Treasures from the British Museum.”

This mummy exhibit, designed by Paul Johnson, who is the Bowers Museum director of exhibition design, introduces visitors to the Egyptian perspective of death and the afterlife through 140 ancient Egyptian artefacts, including 14 actual mummies and coffins, the largest exhibition to be shown by the British Museum outside of the United Kingdom...

Bowers Unwraps a New Mummy Exhibit, New University Newspaper, University of California, Irvine, California, USA, October 04, 2005.

Al-Arish museum is getting ready to receive tourist as monuments pieces are being moved to it from eight other museums in preparation for its inauguration, expected to be within days.

The construction works of Al-Arish museum lasted for five years with costs of 50 million pounds, Culture Minister Farouk Hosni said.

Celebrations marking the inauguration of Al-Arish museum are coinciding with the October victory celebrations, the Minister added.

Al-Arish museum is to display the history of Sinai from the prehistoric era till the Islamic rule, Zahi Hawass Secretary-General of the Supreme Council for Antiquities said.

Arish museum to open within days, State Information Service, Egypt, October 04, 2005.

Miniseries producer Hallmark Entertainment is going back in time to offer a new take on the discovery of King Tut's tomb in a project starring Malcolm McDowell ["A Clockwork Orange"] and Casper Van Dien ["Starship Troopers"].

The company recently wrapped shooting in India on " The Curse of King Tut's Tomb," a four-hour miniseries billed as a fact-based fantasy adventure. It's set mostly in the 1920s but includes flashbacks to ancient Egypt...

Hollywood Actors Play King Tut's Discovery, CHN, Iran, October 04, 2005.

An Australian institution working in ancient arts domain gave back to Egypt a number of rare Coptic scripts in response to the international campaign launched by UNESCO to restore stolen Egyptian monuments.

The institution sent a letter to Dr. Zahi Hawass, Secretary- General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities clarifying that it possesses these rare scripts which date back to the fifth century.

The institution expressed readiness to launch renovation operations of the scripts and publish them scientifically before handing them to Egypt...

Australian institution restores rare Coptic scripts to Egypt, State Information Service, Egypt, September 30, 2005.

As one museum decays, restoration specialists have their eyes on another at the neglected lake in Ain El-Sira.

Although envisioned as a sea of calm in the midst of Old Cairo, the lake has been run-down for decades. Today, it is slated to become the site of a national museum of Egyptian heritage. The grounds, lying on 50 feddans, should be finished by 2008 and will house the first heritage preservation facility as well as the first national archive.

Although the Minister of Culture had given the go-ahead for the project in 1999, there was a legal battle over the land, which was then registered to Arab Contractors. The two parties have since reached an agreement.

Site For Sore Eyes, Egypt Today, Volume # 26, Issue 09, September 2005.

The Egyptian desert is hot and dry. The land is parched, the dust still, under a hard, bright sun.

But Gerard Opel doesn't seem phased by the arid conditions.

"It's been up to 50C in August but it's cooled off now, sort of. When I was there last week the temperature had dropped to about 40. But it's very dry, you don't sweat and it's quite tolerable."

It would be easy to think that Gerard had lived in Africa his whole life. In fact he works in Newport, for a manufacturing firm called Cintec International...

... for the past decade the Cintec team have been doing their bit for archaeology in ancient Egypt ...

And today they're in the middle of their most exciting venture yet: restoring the Temple of Hibis in the Kharga Oasis...

The pyramid savers, icWales, UK, October 04, 2005.

cf. Post from June 22nd Firm secures Egypt temple mission.

A tale of a mismatched couple's visit to the Tut exhibition. He likes museums and can spend twenty minutes looking at one item. She finds a bench in the corner and has a snooze.

Royal shrine offers spot for slumber, San Bernardino Sun, California, USA, October 03, 2005.

[A] charming new exhibit at the Worcester Art Museum reveals the wonder Europeans felt as they once again encountered Egypt through the prism of 19th-century art.

Like the earliest travelers to the kingdom on the Nile, visitors will see the Great Sphinx sprawling across the sands, Queen Nefertiti in her palace and Bedouin crossing the desert.

The new show "Egyptomania: Modern Fascination for an Ancient Civilization" captures the European flush of excited curiosity about Egypt that still continues today...

'Egyptomania', MetroWest Daily News, Massachusetts, USA, October 02, 2005.

Golden Gate Park will finally open its doors to the de Young Museum this Oct. 15 [2005]!

... The first rotating special exhibition will be Egyptian Art from Queen Hatshepsut's reign (1473-1458 BC), showing the significance of a woman ruling in a patriarchal society.

It's Time to Let the Show Begin!, The Epoch Times, New York, USA, September 30, 2005.

I hadn't noticed this before but there are two exhibits with life-size reconstructions of the burial chamber of Thutmose III doing the rounds at the moment. See the previous post regarding the Edinburgh City Art Centre exhibition.

Take a tour through the ancient Egyptian afterlife this fall in Dayton, where the art institute is showing a blockbuster exhibit on the culture's practices and beliefs in immortality.

Among the items: a life-size reconstruction of the burial chamber of Pharaoh Thutmose III, who ruled Egypt in the 15th century B.C.; and a mummy and a coffin from Egypt's 21st Dynasty (1069-945 B.C.), complete with X-rays and CT scans, on loan from Emory University...

A display from beyond the tomb, Cleveland Plain Dealer, Ohio, USA, October 02, 2005.

A replica of the tomb of an ancient Egyptian pharaoh will be the centrepiece of a new exhibition in Edinburgh.

The Immortal Pharaoh – The Tomb of Thutmose III will be at the City Art Centre from tomorrow until January 8, and will be the UK's only showing of the exhibition.

The main attraction is an exact replica of the burial chamber of the Pharaoh Thutmose III.

Bury yourself in city's pharaoh exhibition, The Scotsman, UK, September 30, 3005.