The television series Egypt, and its accompanying book by Liverpool academic Joyce Tyldesley, show the colourful characters who rediscovered the ancient world.

It is hard to believe the world of ancient Egypt lay mostly hidden and almost forgotten for 2,000 years after the last Pharaoh ruled.

"Nobody went south of Cairo as it was regarded as highly dangerous to do so," says Dr Joyce Tyldesley, of Liverpool University's School of Archaeology, Classics and Egyptology.

"Then Napoleon's invasion of Egypt in 1798 opened western eyes and sparked a huge interest in the country's ancient civilisations...

Finding a lost civilisation, Liverpool Daily Post, UK, November 30, 2005.

... The Egyptian exhibit was far more modest in scale, being contained in one relatively small gallery. However, to me, it was probably more interesting because of the centrepiece of the exhibit, the Edwin Smith Papyrus. This papyrus was named after the American Egyptologist who purchased it in Luxor in 1862 and brought it back to the U.S. The papyrus dates to approximately 1600 B.C. and appears to be a copy of a document that dates back 200-300 years earlier still. What fascinated me is that this papyrus was a practical guide to the treatment of various ailments and embodied the medical thinking of Egyptian physicians of the time...

The Art of Medicine in Ancient Egypt: An Account by Orac, Medgadget.com, November 11, 2005.

A review of the Theban Mapping Project website from the blather.net blog.

Tomb by tomb, pharaoh by pharaoh the Theban mapping project is an online guide to the Valley of the Kings, the Valley of the Queens and a little known tomb called KV5...

Initially conceived and built by Egyptologist Kent Weeks, the Theban Mapping project website is a fast-growing portal of information on New Kingdom Egyptology — that's the period including the [Ramesside] kings and the ever popular Tutankhamun...

Wonderful Web: the Theban mapping project, blather.net, November 22, 2005.

One is a wrapped female — she has no name. The other is a man. A priest from the Temple of Mut at [Karnak]. His name is Ankhefenmut. They are two real life mummies — around 3000 years old.

Exhibit Curator Dr. Peter Lacovara says, "It's not just great sculpture and beautiful art, but really objects that touch every aspect of Egyptian civilization from its very beginning to the dawn of Christianity."

The exhibit is called Excavating Egypt and sponsored by General Electric. It's currently on a North American tour — on loan from the Petrie Museum in London. It's considered the primary teaching collection for Egyptology in the world.

"There are a lot of material in this show and in the Petrie Museum that are not represented in any other museum collections outside of Egypt so it's really a very important collection..."

Mummies Invade, WXXA-TV, New York, USA, November 09, 2005.

Throughout November, the Public Space at BBC Birmingham, in partnership with Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery and the Institute of Egyptology and Antiquity at the University of Birmingham, is trialling a new exhibition experience incorporating genuine artefacts and treasures dating back to ancient Egypt, 3500 years ago.

The exhibition is based on and includes actual sets from the epic new BBC ONE series, Egypt.

The exhibition transports visitors on a magical mystery tour of exploration, as they take on the role of a correspondent from the fictional 'Gazette' newspaper, and are tasked with reporting on the opening of Tutankhamun's tomb, the mysterious curse, and the fate of those involved...

'Tomb' It May Concern... Egypt Interactive Exhibition At BBC Birmingham, Creative Match, UK, November 15, 2005.

Stephen Thompson likes a good challenge. That's one reason he enjoys studying ancient Egyptian languages.

It's a little like a puzzle, he said. "But you don't know what the puzzle is supposed to look like."

Now the Coral Springs resident has a new challenge. Instead of interpreting ancient hieroglyphics, he started as interim principal last month at Donna Klein Jewish Academy's high school in Boca Raton. After serving two years as dean of students, he takes the place of Steve Bogad, who was the school's principal for two years...

Academy head has passion for ancient Egyptian languages, Palm Beach Post, Florida, USA, November 23, 2005.

Christie’s New York will regale lovers of the Ancient World with an Antiquities extravaganza comprising three superb sales, spread out over two consecutive sale days. On December 8, the seventh edition of the highly successful Ancient Jewellery sale will take place, offering ancient luxury with a modern look. On December 9, the traditional Antiquities sale will be preceded by Ancient Egyptian Art from the Harer Family Trust Collection, a splendid private collection of Egyptian art.

Ancient Jewellery — Status, luxury, beauty, emotion — each piece of jewellery has its story attached. Versatile as they are, these pieces continuously reinvent themselves and what was a nobleman’s golden device to close his cloak will in a next life become some superbly elegant lady’s evening brooch. Browsing through the catalogue of the Ancient Jewellery sale reveals a world of amazing elegance and exquisite craftsmanship, while each of the pieces have their own reflection in the mirror of history. Highlights of the sale include a suite of Achaemenid gold jewellery, circa early 5th century B.C. (lot 41, estimate: $80,000-120,000); a Greek gold and garnet snake armband, Hellenistic Period, circa late 4th – 3rd century B.C. (lot 52, estimate: $25,000-35,000) and a Greek blue chalcedony scaraboid, Classical Period, circa 4th century B.C. (lot 47, estimate: $20,000-30,000) in the category of more expensive pieces. Easy holiday gifts include a pair of Roman gold and pearl earrings, circa 2nd century A.D. (lot 93, estimate: $1,000-1,500); a Roman gold and eye agate finger ring, circa first century A.D. (lot 77, estimate: $1,200-1,800) and a fascinating group of Egyptian scarabs and amulets, Middle Kingdom to Roman Period, 2040 B.C. – 100 A.D. (lot 30, estimate: $2,500-3,500)...

Ancient Jewellery, Ancient Egyptian Art at Christie's, Iranian Cultural Heritage News Agency, Iran, November 29, 2005.

cf. Ancient Jewelry, Ancient Egyptian Art at Christie's, Art Daily, Mexico, November 29, 2005.

A mystery surrounding the death of one of the Hancock Museum's ancient residents is under investigation following a visit from world renowned Egyptologist Dr Joann Fletcher.

The mummy of Irt Irw, which dates back to 664-525BC, was found in a tomb near Thebes, Egypt.

Estimated to be aged between 30 and 40 years old she was first unwrapped during an autopsy in 1830 by three local doctors who removed 22.5 kg of bandages from her...

Mystery Mummy, N-e-life.com, UK, November 24, 2005.

In the cloisters of University College London in Bloomsbury is an unforgettable sight: the glass-fronted cabinet containing the Auto-Icon — philosopher and reformer Jeremy Bentham's bodily remains from 1832.

The Auto-Icon consists of a waxen head atop Bentham's skeleton clothed in one of his suits and arranged in the manner stipulated in his will — posed as he sat when thinking. One of his ideas was a prison surveillance system, the Panopticon — an octagonal tower with one-way vision so the warder could see into a surrounding octagon of cells but not be seen.

This was one inspiration behind Sarah Beddington's transformation of a security guard's kiosk in the cloisters into an art installation, the Panoptiscope.

It was commissioned to mark the move in 2008 of UCL's Petrie Museum from its current location in a former stables into a custom-built gallery in the college.

Beddington inspired by Bentham, Hampstead & Highgate Express, UK, November 18m, 2005.

The new King Tut exhibit coming to Fort Lauderdale's Museum of Art next month revisits an old discussion that has burned for decades: What did ancient Egyptians look like?

The exhibit, which runs Dec. 15 to April 23, features computer-generated re-creations of Tut that some activists say portray the young king with white features.

The opening of the exhibit in Los Angeles sparked protests in June. Though the event hasn't created a stir among black activists in South Florida, some agree that the new computer renderings of Tut that are part of the Fort Lauderdale exhibit, which has sold more than 275,000 tickets already, fail to portray him with Afrocentric traits...

Tut exhibit fails to face facts, some scholars say, Miami Herald, Florida, USA, November 25, 2005.

Egypt and Britain next Sunday will celebrate the passing of 83 years since discovering the tomb of Tutankhamun (King Tut), said Thursday Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA).

In a press statement, SCA's Secretary-General Dr. Zahi Hawass said Egyptian and British cultural organizations will celebrate the discovery, which was made in 1922, through a number of activities, including a screening of a documentary regarding the king who ruled Egypt during 1332-1322 BCE.

The celebration at the Egyptian Museum, he explained, will include a photo exhibition of the tomb and the process of its discovery, adding that although Tutankhamun was somewhat of a minor king in comparison to other rulers, the treasures found in his tomb made him quite a noteworthy pharaoh.

To share King Tut's heritage with others, 50 of the tomb's major artefacts are being shown at international exhibitions, such as in the US, Germany, Switzerland and Britain.

King Tut belonged to the 18th dynasty that ruled Egypt throughout 1539-1292.

Egypt, Britain to celebrate discovering King Tut's tomb, Kuwait News Agency, Kuwait, November 24, 2005.

The December 2005 issue of the Royal Geographical Societies (UK) magazine Geographical has the Giza Pyramids on the cover relating to an article inside entitled “Time Travel: Why we keep going back to Ancient Civilisations”

History is repeating itself. After the sun, sea and sand mass tourism of the 20th century, travel to sites of historical interest, one of the prime motivations behind the Grand Tour, is back in vogue. And, as Tom Chesshyre discovers, today’s historical tourists are often just as well educated as their forebears.

Time Travel, Geographical Magazine, The Royal Geographical Society, Richmond, UK, Volume 77, No. 12, December 2005.

Subscribe to Geographical Magazine via Amazon.com.

By Zahi Hawass.

The term "site management" is often used today by Egyptologists and archaeologists, but very few people understand its meaning. They use this term because it sounds good, and also to show that they know it. Site management is a programme designed to protect archaeological sites through conservation and restoration training, and to meet tourist goals. I was fortunate to go on a scientific cruise with archaeologists from all over the world, from Tunisia to Greece, arranged by the Getty Conservation Institute. Site management was the topic of discussion. We explored theories and ideas to ensure that we conserve our historical sites; we debated and heard from the experts and learnt that for the most part they concentrated on the conservation of a tomb or a temple but neglected the surroundings — the general area of the site. We were left with the important question: how can we protect these sites?

First, we can say that site management must look at the site as a whole and not only focus on a single monument in the area that needs restoration. In addition, site management needs to look not only at the site itself but also at the personnel on the site. Most important is the protection of the site from adverse surroundings, and the establishment of a safe zone. This can easily be achieved by building a wall, unless the site will have natural protection. Then vehicles must be prevented from approaching the site. With safe zoning the parking should be at least five kilometres away from the site. At the entrance of the site we should have a visitors' centre to educate visitors about the history and archaeology of the site and give directions round the site that will enable the visitor to view the site in the proper way...

Dig days: Protecting history, Al-Ahram, Egypt, Issue No. 770, November 24 - 30, 2005.

By Nevine El-Aref.

The black basalt Rosetta stone was found in 1799, a year after the French expedition to Egypt began, in a fortress located on the outskirts of Rashid by a young French officer named Pierre-François Bouchard. It measured 113cms tall, 75.5cms long and 27cms thick, and contained three distinct bands of writing. The most incomplete was the top band containing hieroglyphics; the middle band was written in the demotic script and the bottom was in Greek. Studies carried out on the stone by scholars revealed that the stone was a royal decree which stated that it was to be written in the languages used in Egypt at the time. Scholars began to focus on the demotic script, since it was more complete and resembled alphabetical letters rather than the pictorial hieroglyphs. This was essentially a shorthand form of hieroglyphics and had evolved from an earlier shorthand version of Egyptian called hieratic.

The first scholar to make any sense of the demotic script on the Rosetta Stone was a French linguist named Silvestre de Sacy, who succeeded in identifying the symbols which comprised the names "Ptolemy" and "Alexander", thus, establishing a relationship between the symbols and sounds. Using the Coptic language, Swedish diplomat Johann Akerblad was able to identify the words for "love", "temple" and "Greek" thus, making it clear that the demotic script was not only a phonetic script but it was also translatable...

Rosetta stone, Al-Ahram, Egypt, Issue No. 770, November 24 - 30, 2005.

A massive restoration project is breathing new life into the long-neglected Rashid National Museum. Nevine El-Aref witnesses the preparations for the opening.

On the Rashid branch of the Nile, famous for its splendid Islamic buildings, stands the Arab Killy house — now the Rashid National Museum — with its moulded, grouted burnt bricks alternatively coloured red and black and its very fine mashrabiya (lattice woodwork) façade.

This 400-year-old residential house of Rashid's Ottoman governor is the largest house in the town, a three- storey building with a large ground-floor area. It reflects the tall style of architecture, construction and carpentry typical of the time. Designed to echo the Islamic style, the house contains, as well as its exquisite mashrabiya, decorative inscriptions, inlaid sea shell work, a ceiling dome and a densely-ornamented door.

In its heyday, the ground floor housed a storehouse with a cross-vaulted ceiling, a cistern and a sabil (fountain). The second floor, which was reserved for men, contains a courtyard surrounded by a number of rooms with windows of iron grilles. The third floor was similar to the second, but was the domain of the women of the household...

The rose of the Nile, Al-Ahram, Egypt, Issue No. 770, November 24 - 30, 2005.

The Edward W Said Memorial Lecture was delivered on 1 November — the day that would have marked the Palestinian scholar's 70th birthday — by distinguished visiting professor David Damrosch, a professor of English and Comparative Literature at Columbia University and most recently author of What is World Literature? (Princeton University Press, 2003). Damrosch, while warmly remembering his former colleague and reflecting on his legacy, paid Said the tribute of avoiding hagiography...

Oblique refractions, Al-Ahram, Egypt, Issue No. 769, November 17 - 23, 2005.

cf. Edward W. Said Memorial Lecture at the American University in Cairo Transcript, Al-Ahram, Egypt, Issue No. 769, November 17 - 23, 2005.

by Dr Joyce Tyldesley, covers the history of Egyptology, from the end of the Dynastic age to the present, beginning with little known Egyptians who investigated the country's ancient monuments to famous archaeologists such as Howard Carter, who uncovered the resting place of the boy king, Tutankhamen.

Dr Tyldesley, from the University's School of Archaeology, Classics and Egyptology, said: "Napoleon's invasion of Egypt in 1798 sparked a huge interest in the country's ancient civilisations. Stories of lost treasure and mummies gripped the public's imagination and the world became obsessed with everything Egyptian. Explorers and collectors who went in search of Egyptian artefacts produced some of the first Egyptologists and a new area of scientific study. Amongst these 'explorers' are some of the most fascinating characters in modern history."

The book also looks at current archaeological research, such as underwater archaeology at Alexandria and the work of Dr Steven Snape in the excavation of Zawiyet Umm el-Rakham — that is now the centre of one of the biggest projects currently in progress in Egypt, a fortress-town built by Rameses II in the 13th century BC...

Egyptologist brings lost civilisation to life for television series, EurekAlert!, November 23, 2005.

Search for Joyce Tyldesley books at

Search for Joyce Tyldesley books at

By the time LACMA West closed "Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs" Sunday night, 937,613 visitors had viewed the ancient Egyptian artefacts from its June 16 opening to its 24-hour marathon closing weekend.

While it will remain overshadowed by the 1.25 million visitors to the 1978 blockbuster "Treasures of Tutankhamun," officials at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art clearly were delighted with the result. The museum reported that 46 percent of Tut customers said it motivated them to visit LACMA for the first time, and more than 20,000 purchased memberships. Some 150,000 children saw the exhibit, 60,000 of them on field trips.

"In addition to providing an opportunity to experience outstanding works of art and to learn about ancient Egypt, 'Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs' helped draw significant new audiences to the museum..."

937,600 see 'Tut' during 5-month LACMA run, LA Daily News, California, USA, November 23, 2005.

Mark Lehner has probably done more than anybody to advance our understanding of the ordinary Egyptians who built the Great Pyramids and the Sphinx at Giza. That he has never been a conventional Egyptologist may be the reason why.

When I caught up with him recently, he was moving out of his office at Harvard's Semitic Museum and into rented offices near the Massachusetts Turnpike. "No one gives up an office in a university," he said as he hauled his own photocopier into his new digs. Ten years ago, he gave up a tenure-track position at the University of Chicago to excavate at Giza, near Cairo, with private funds. "People thought I was crazy to leave Chicago," says Lehner, 55. But he wanted to work at the dig full time, not just between semesters. When Harvard offered him space at its museum with no teaching responsibilities, he gratefully accepted. Now his project has outgrown even Harvard's largesse, requiring new quarters. "If our funding dries up and we run out of money, we can always sublet them," he says...

35 Who Made a Difference: Mark Lehner, Smithsonian Magazine, Smithsonian Institute, District of Columbia, USA, November 2005, via Archaeology Briefs.

An ancient Egyptian mathematical scroll believed to be more than 3,500 years old will go on display in Wales on Thursday [24th November 2005]. The Rhind Mathematical Papyrus has been lent to the University of Swansea from the British Museum for a year.

Its unveiling will coincide with the first public demonstration of a draft virtual reality game inspired by the ancient Egyptian Book of the Dead and developed by Swansea's School of Engineering.

The Rhind Papyrus [BM10058] comes from a site at ancient Thebes, modern Luxor. It is believed to have been found in the tomb of a Theban official who lived around 1530 BC. It was acquired by AH Rhind in the 1850s and bought by the British Museum in 1865.

Egyptian maths scroll on display, icWales, UK, November 22, 2005.

by Zahi Hawass

Tomb 55 is a ten foot shaft tomb in which we found four burial chambers, one on each side of the shaft. The entrance to the northern and western chambers had been carved, with pylons and cornices on each entrance, and the western chamber was blocked by a piece of sandstone.

Inside the western chamber we discovered four mummies in poor condition, pottery vessels and a terra-cotta statue of Bes, the god of pleasure.

The northern chamber contained three skeletons, pottery vessels, a copper anklet and a faience-beaded necklace with a wadjet-eye amulet (eye of the falcon god Horus) in the centre.

The southern and eastern chambers had not been finished or used, but we found a well-preserved mummy at the bottom of the shaft.

At the end of our season, Mr. X travelled to Cairo for examination and x-rays which would ascertain causes of death, types of diseases, deformities, and dental practices during different periods of ancient Egyptian history.

We prepared a wooden box for transit and packed the mummy well. It was a very emotional moment. Many questions were in my mind: Did he or she ever visit the pyramids? Is he or she unhappy about leaving home for a strange new place?

On the day of our departure, Mansour asked me "Doctor! What will we name it? Does it already have a name?" No, I realised, it didn't. There are no inscriptions in Graeco-Roman tombs and it needed a name before the journey. So, I decided to call it Mr or Mrs X."

Normally, the trip from Bahariya to Cairo takes three hours but our trip took eight. Our driver carefully avoided potholes and other hazards as he carried the precious cargo.

Dr Azza Sarry e-Din, a physical anthropologist for the National Research Centre examined the mummy. The mummy was a male, who died at age 35-40 years old. He has two molars removed proving that dentistry was still actively practised during the Graeco-Roman Period. After the examination of Mr. X, I got an x-ray machine for the Bahariya site in order to carry out further studies there.

The hammer didn't fall, The Egyptian Gazette, Egypt, November 21, 2005.

The Attorney General has contacted authorities in Germany to put a stop to the auctioning of 86 Egyptian antiquities.

It was thought that they were going to be purchased by an American dealer for export to the USA.

It was the Egyptian Ambassador in Berlin who warned colleagues back home in Egypt and a team from the Supreme Council of Antiquities flew to Germany to recover the precious artefacts.

The antiquities had been smuggled out of the country by brothers Farouk and Mohammed el-Shaer, Abdel-Karim Abu Shanab and others, who were recently sentenced to up to 15 years with hard labour by Cairo Criminal Court for smuggling offences.

Since starting its major campaign, the SCA has managed to retrieve over 31,000 antiquities that have been smuggled out of the country since the 19th century.

The hammer didn't fall, The Egyptian Gazette, Egypt, November 22, 2005.

Sand and sarcophagi go hand in hand west of Cairo, with a string of oases that provide insights into Egypt’s golden past being found amid the world's greatest expanse of desert.

Amr Elezabi, Canadian director of the Egyptian Tourist Authority, says the outposts of greenery found amid Saharan sand enable tourists to see another side of Egypt that is overshadowed by such famed ancient landmarks as the Sphinx and the Pyramids.

Among those oases is Bahariya, found four hours from the Egyptian capital, and home to the Valley of the Golden Mummies, so named because an Egyptian archaeologist four years ago uncovered decorated sarcophagi dating back to the Greco-Roman period – a find that drew international attention to the site...

Greenery In The Desert: The Other Side of Egypt, Mathaba, UK, November 17, 2005.

Egypt is to recover more than a 100 stolen antiquities, smuggled out by a massive trafficking ring, from the United States, Canada and Germany.

Some of the antiquities were located after Egypt's largest-ever trafficking trial in August, which led to heavy prison sentences for seven people, antiquities chief Zahi Hawass told the official Mena news agency on Thursday.

He said members of his Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA) had found some of the