The latest issue of KMT magazine is out now. (Actually it arrived on my doormat last Thursday and it's taken me until now to blog it!)

A summary of its contents is detailed blow.

• Thutmose III: Warrior-Pharaoh & Master Builder by Dennis Forbes
  A Review of His Monuments at Waset
• An Eternal Harem: Tombs of the Royal Families of Ancient Egypt by Aidan Dodson
  Part III: The New Kingdom
• Pyramids from on High by Miroslav Bárta & Vladimír Brůna
  Satellite Photography, Remote Sensing & Egyptology
• Egypt on the Adriatic by Lucy Gordan-Rastelli
  The Egyptian Collection in Trieste, Italy
• Karnak Before the French Arrived by Claire Russell Osian
  A Photographic Record
• Re Shining by Dennis Forbes
  Egypt's Sun God, No. 8 in the Egyptian Pantheon Series
• The Pharao & the Poet by Donald P. Ryan
  Seeking the Source of Shelley's Poem "Ozymandias"

The link below doesn't appear to be working as yet.

KMT Magazine, KMT, A Modern Journal of Ancient Egypt, KMT Communications Inc., Sebastopol, California, USA, Volume 16, Number 4, Winter 2005-06.

Warwick University, UK, are running an Ancient Egyptian Day School with Joyce Tyldesley as the guest speaker. This is to be held on Saturday 10th December 2005.

The lectures are chaired by Angela Torpey and the itinerary is as follows.

• 10:15 - 10:30 Registration
• 10:30 - 11:30 General introduction to Egyptian queenship including the Old Kingdom queens
• 11:30 - 11:45 Tea & Coffee
• 11:45 - 12:45 Hatshepsut
• 12:45 - 13:30 Lunch (not provided)
• 13:30 - 14:30 Nefertiti
• 14:30 - 14:45 Tea & Coffee
• 14:45 - 15:45 Ramesside Queens and harem plots

The Location is Room WCE10, Institute of Lifelong Learning, Westwood Campus, Warwick University, Coventry, UK.

Price is £21.00

Course reference 5081/AU05

For more details check the open studies website or contact them on +44 (0)24 7652 4229. A booking form can be downloaded in PDF format from here also.

The Berlin state prosecutor has opened an inquiry into the origin of an Egyptian sarcophagus from the Pharaonic period, recently seized in Germany and which Cairo wants returned, his spokesman said on Thursday.

"We will check whether these items were brought into Germany illegally," said spokesman Michael Grunwald.

The 2.2-meter (7-foot) sarcophagus, dating from the fourth century BC, as well as various funereal objects and jewels, were picked up in late October by German police.

The antiquities were due to be delivered from Switzerland to the United States, where they were to be sold for $2 million (EUR1.9 million)...

Germany launches probe into sarcophagus claimed by Egypt, Middle East Times, Cyprus, December 02, 2005.

Cambridge academics have scored a £1m grant to find out how much the Victorians reinvented history.

[There] were two principal discoveries of ancient Egyptian remains, in 1880 and then 1920. Each led to completely different interpretations about what life in ancient Egypt was like.

In 1880 when the Victorians discovered Tutankhamun's predecessor Akhenaten, they interpreted their findings to show that the Egyptians were conservative — they emphasised how they rejected the old gods and discovered one god, as well as values of truth and beauty, respectability and honour. It was some contrast to the discovery of Tutankhamun's tomb in the 1920s which led to a glamorous reinvention of Egypt as glittery and exotic and brutal, like something out of a Hollywood film...

Researchers to look into Victorian historical 'truths', The Guardian, UK, November 25, 2005.

St Catherine's Monastery in Sinai is famed for its unique collection of manuscripts. Jill Kamil looks into the wealth of the scriptorium and the plan to update its literary wealth.

Deep in South Sinai, snuggled amidst dry gorges and naked valleys, 17 centuries of uninterrupted asceticism in an orthodox monastic centre trace back to the reign of the Roman Emperor Justinian in the sixth century. Never in its long history has St Catherine's Monastery been conquered, damaged, or destroyed. It is famous for its icons and manuscripts, and it is the latter that is about to receive attention.

The Ministry of Culture, in cooperation with the custodians of the monastery, have announced a three-phase project, the first of which includes comprehensive documentation of all the manuscripts — one of the richest monastic collections in the world and second in importance only to the Vatican.

The holy fathers of St Catherine's exercise much secrecy and reserve regarding their heritage, especially their sacred manuscripts. This is largely owing to their unfortunate experience with Konstantin von Tischendorf, a German scholar from the vicinity of Leipzig. He took a precious codex, the oldest translation of the Bible into any language, to old St Petersburg and gave the monks a handwritten note saying that he was taking the work on loan in order to copy it and promising to return it undamaged. The monks counted on the return of the precious codex, but they never saw it again...

The importance of the written word, Al-Ahram, Egypt, Issue No. 771, December 01 - 07, 2005.

A spirit of religious tolerance, Al-Ahram, Egypt, Issue No. 771, December 01 - 07, 2005.

The Citadel, or Fortress of Qusseir, was built by order of the Ottoman sovereign, Sultan Selim at the end of the 16th century. Qusseir at the time was a vital trading port, in addition to being one of the main Red Sea ports that served Muslim pilgrims bound for Mecca. Hence, a fortress to protect Qusseir was very much needed.

The strategic location of Qusseir on the Red Sea and its proximity to the Nile heightened the curiosity of many invaders. During the French invasion of Egypt, Napoleon Bonaparte managed to occupy the city in May 1799. In August of the same year, British warships pounded the fortress, causing considerable damage to its structure. Mohamed Ali Pasha restored much of the fortress while using it as a base for operation against the Wahabis in Hegaz...

Snap Shots: The Citadel of Qusseir, Al-Ahram, Egypt, Issue No. 771, December 01 - 07, 2005.

Using forensics to make King Tutankhamun appear to be white is a move to remake him, like all things Egyptian, to fit a non-African image, according to Maulana Karenga, a popular Afrocentric scholar.

"This new initiative can easily be called a forensic fantasy born of the continuing need to de-Africanize ancient Egypt," Karenga said in a telephone interview Thursday from Terre Haute, Ind., where he is travelling.

Karenga, the creator of Kwanzaa, is coming to Fort Lauderdale on Saturday to deliver a lecture on King Tut and the character of ancient Egypt.

It will be at 7 p.m. at the African-American Research Library and Cultural Center in Fort Lauderdale...

Facing up to the real King Tut, South Florida Sun-Sentinel, Florida, USA, December 02, 2005.

Lying down in the stone sarcophagus in the King's Chamber of the Great Pyramid is like trying eternity on for size. It turns out the granite is neither too warm nor too cold, there's plenty of foot room and an unexpected feeling of peace as I stare up at the flat granite monoliths holding millions of tons of stone overhead.

Our small tour group has been granted a rare two hours alone in this last of the ancient world's seven wonders, time enough to repose like a pharaoh — except that no mummy was ever found here.

The missing mummy is just one of countless mysteries surrounding this ancient structure, built across the Nile from Cairo. Why are its dimensions so precise? Why does its shape seem so perfect? Why the odd slopes of its passageways? And why does one feel benign focus, instead of terror, in its dark chambers? ...

Egypt : 5,000 years of mystery, The Seattle Times, Washington, USA, December 02, 2005.