A group of Egyptian and foreign archaeologists and university professors reviewed 30 archaeological researches on the history of Sinai and the Red Sea, at the 6th Egyptian-Italian conference held in Sharm El-Sheikh over the past three days.

The conference is part of a series of Egyptian-Italian conferences organized every three years by the Egyptian Society of Graeco-Roman Studies, in cooperation with the Italian Cultural Institute in Cairo.

The conference was attended by Mostafa Afifi, Governor of South Sinai, Antonio Badini, Italian Ambassador in Cairo, and Marcia Kazini, Chief of Archaeology Department at the Italian Cultural Institute.

Dr. Ahmed Osman, Chief of the Egyptian Society of Graeco-Roman Studies said that the society has chosen the title "Culture of Sinai and the Red Sea from Old Times till Today" for the conference.

He added that Egypt will soon see the opening of important cultural projects including the opening of El-Arish Museum in April 2006, with a cost of LE100 million , and the Regional Sharm El-Sheikh Museum in 2007.

30 scientific researches on history of Sinai & Red Sea, State Information Service, Egypt, December 13, 2005.

Secretary-General of Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities Dr. Zahi Hawass opens on Wednesday "Tutankhamen and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs Exhibition" in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

Hawass will hold a press conference following the opening ceremony in which he will highlight the recent scientific findings by a team of Egyptian experts after inspecting the mummy of the young Pharaoh, using developed Computerized Axial Tomography (CAT) scanning.

He said that holding the Tutankhamen exhibition in a number of US cities had scored record revenues ($9 million so far).

Hawass opens Tutankhamen exhibition, State Information Service, Egypt, December 14, 2005.

Seeking to rediscover the "avenue of sphinxes", an Egyptian mission found the first Luxor . Secretary-General of the Higher Council of Antiquities Dr. Zahi Hawass said that the carries several carvings together with a royal "Cartouche".

On his part, Samir Farag, Head of the City of Luxor, described the discovery as a turning point for Luxor.

First “sphinx” found, State Information Service, Egypt, December 13, 2005.

Watching a local television program recently, I heard Spike Lee express his belief that Queen Cleopatra of Egypt was Black. The African American hostess of the TV show agreed with Mr. Lee saying “Cleopatra certainly looked nothing like Elizabeth Taylor”. But the historical facts contradict Spike Lee’s belief. Queen Cleopatra VII of Egypt [for indeed that was who Spike Lee was referring to] was definitely not Black. And since I have dared to follow in the footsteps of that literary genius, Frank Yerby who was known as ‘debunker of historical myth’, I realized that I had to marshal the proofs of Queen Cleopatra’s ancestry that would satisfy any reasonable person that she was a white European.

Though not proof of her ancestry, Queen Cleopatra VII’s [questionable] conduct cannot be admired by anyone interested in heralding the achievements of Black culture. Cleopatra behaved shamefully in the furtherance of her ambitions. Her sole interest was to control the affairs of Rome from her bedchamber. She married both her younger and elder brothers and quickly arranged for their early deaths to consolidate her hold on the throne of Alexandria.

She became the mistress of Pompey, Julius Caesar as well as Mark Antony, giving birth to a number of illegitimate Roman [children]. But in the end, her faithlessness to her Roman lovers caused her own demise...

Why Queen Cleopatra was definitely not Black!, The Westside Gazette, ????, USA, December 14, 2005.

Sex, drugs and music, cosmetic surgery, gay hairdressers, desperate housewives and a mysterious sex manual ... is it a new TV offering aimed at overshadowing the BBC's sex and swords drama Rome?

No; welcome to the world of the ancient Egyptians – and their music, sex lives and cosmetic foibles are just some of the topics to be debated at Swansea University's Sex and Gender in Ancient Egypt conference at the campus' Egypt Centre this month.

The conference, the third the centre has organised, will welcome leading Egyptologists and experts in gender from academic institutions across the world...

Sex experts head to Wales to talk Egyptian, icWales, UK, December 10, 2005.

The recent BBC series Egypt revealed some of the real life dramas that led to our modern understanding of this very ancient civilisation - and the discovery of some of the fabulous treasures.

It told the stories of three very different men, beginning with Howard Carter, who, in 1922, with Lord Carnarvon, made what is still considered archaeology's greatest ever find, the tomb of Tutankhamun.

It revealed not only the battles he faced with the French-influenced Egyptian authorities, but how his own abrasive character often led to conflict with others...

Rival collectors in ruins of an ancient civilisation, icWales, UK, December 10, 2005.

At a reception Wednesday night, archaeologist Zahi Hawass, secretary general of Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities, told a crowd of VIPs that “Egypt is the oldest civilization in the world and America is one of the youngest, so we hope this union of art will bring us closer.”

The reception was followed by fireworks that filled the sky over Fort Lauderdale -- a spectacle grand enough for royalty.

Tut, of course, is the young Egyptian pharaoh who ruled from 1333 B.C. to 1323 B.C., dying of mysterious circumstances at the age of 19.

Carter's discovery led to an exhibition that took the world by storm in the 1970s, spawning films, books and even songs...

King Tut exhibit opens to fanfare, The Miami Herald, Florida, USA, December 15, 2005.

cf. “Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs” Exhibition Debuts December 15 at Museum of Art/Fort Lauderdale; Tickets Still Available for Visits Through April 23, Business Wire, USA, December 14, 2005.

Tutmania has officially begun in Chicago. Field Museum members snapped up 4,000 discount tickets to next year's "Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs" by 4 p.m. Tuesday, the opening day for individual sales, the museum said.

Including prior group sales, the museum has sold 33,000 tickets so far to the exhibition, which is to open a seven-month run May 26. The general public has to wait until Jan. 24 to buy tickets, at $25 each. Members pay $10.

The museum recently established two premium membership levels for this exhibition, the Royal Tut ($125) and the Tut at Twilight ($250), which add such kingly touches as a priority admission line and special "connoisseur" viewing nights...

Tutmania grips Chicago early, South Florida Sun-Sentinel, Florida, USA, December 14, 2005.

If all goes as planned, anyone with tickets to Thursday's opening of Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs will enter the exhibit through the dramatic new staircase at Fort Lauderdale's Museum of Art.

A crew of construction workers was the only sore spot at an otherwise seamless preview held Wednesday to welcome King Tut, this winter's most important snowbird.

"Absolutely, it's going to be done," said Irvin Lippman, the museum's executive director, as a crew of welders laboured outside.

Overnight construction was scheduled for the third night in a row in all-out effort to complete the staircase...

Construction crews work overnight to prepare for King Tut exhibit's opening, South Florida Sun-Sentinel, Florida, USA, December 14, 2005.