Three years ago, the directors of some of the world's top museums, meeting in Munich, commiserated over a major annoyance: the growing demands from countries such as Greece and Italy that they return ancient artefacts.

What emerged was a defiant statement defending their collecting practices. Signed by the directors of 18 museums — from the Louvre in Paris to the Hermitage in St. Petersburg to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York to the J.Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles — the document argued that encyclopaedic museums have a special mission as treasure houses of world culture, and that today's ethical standards cannot be applied to yesterday's acquisitions.

That philosophy is under siege as never before. The long-time director of the Metropolitan Museum, Philippe de Montebello, recently met in Rome a lawyer for the Italian Culture Ministry to discuss works in the museum's collection that the Italians say were looted. Also in Rome, the former Getty curator Marion True has gone on trial for conspiring to import illegally excavated antiquities for the museum...

Winds change in the battle over ancient artefacts, The Sydney Morning Herald, Australia, December 06, 2005.

Egyptian Nobel laureate is best known for "The Cairo Trilogy," his saga about a modern Egyptian family living under British colonial rule between the two world wars. So it comes as a bit of a surprise to learn that his first three novels — published in Arabic in 1939, 1943 and 1944 — were set in Ancient Egypt.

In their pages, Mahfouz moves deftly between grand spectacle and behind-the-scenes intrigue, between lofty rhetoric and deflating remark, as he immerses you in a world where Egypt was the only reality and everything else was mere rumour. All three books are now available in a uniform Anchor edition. Yet each is quite different in character.

"Khufu's Wisdom" portrays the builder of the Great Pyramid at Giza, but it focuses only partly on the building of that landmark. Instead, the book is about a king trying to outwit fate — and, in doing so, making exactly the moves that play into fate's hands...

Ancient Egypt shrouded in intrigue, passion, Seattle Times, Washington, USA, December 09, 2005.

By Zahi Hawass

I have met Queen Sofia of Spain four times, three times in Giza and once in Spain. I first met her majesty when she was accompanying an important group from Spain to the Pyramids.

At that time I was a young archaeologist and had just started excavating at Giza. No one told me that the queen was joining this group. I was very surprised when I met her because she had heard of me and called me by name. I took the group to visit the Great Pyramid, the Sphinx and the Solar Boat Museum.

On our second meeting, she came with the king. This visit was incredible. I found out that she was knowledgeable about the site and very interested in ancient Egyptian history. When we went down to the Sphinx, I took the king and queen to the secret tunnel we had found in the back of the Sphinx. I explained the mystery that surrounds the Sphinx and how some people believe that a record of a lost civilisation is hidden under the right paw of the Sphinx...

Dig days: Queen Sofia of Spain, Al-Ahram, Egypt, Issue No. 772, December 8 - 14, 2005.

As Egypt celebrates the 83rd anniversary of the discovery of the boy king's tomb, the Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs exhibition has arrived to Florida on the second leg of its American tour. Nevine El-Aref looks at how the young king is acclaimed at home and abroad.

As 2005 drew towards a close, the Egyptian Museum in Tahrir Square celebrated the 83rd anniversary of the discovery of Tutankhamun's tomb with a gala party. This featured the opening of a landmark exhibition of 50 black and white photographs portraying the legendary discovery in 1922. The photographs, which are courtesy of the [Griffiths] Institute, Oxford, show British explorer Howard Carter at various stages of the discovery; entering the intact tomb, brushing the sand of Tut's golden sarcophagus, examining the golden mask and precious amulets decorating the mummy while a young Nubian child listens to his explanations, and walking through the Valley of the Kings with Lord Carnarvon, who funded Carter's excavations in Egypt. Portraits of Carnarvon and Carter are also on show in the exhibition, along with copies of Carter's birth and death certificates. Photographs of Tutankhamun's collection of treasures, seen piled on one side of the tomb on the day of the discovery, were also on show...

Celebrating Tut's birthday, Al-Ahram, Egypt, Issue No. 772, December 8 - 14, 2005.