A one-time forger and art smuggler has accused the St. Louis Art Museum of purchasing in 1998 a stolen Egyptian mummy mask and displaying it in its galleries.

Museum director Brent Benjamin said the history of the mask was thoroughly researched before its purchase, and he is confident the piece was not stolen.

The accusation comes at a time of heightened scrutiny of the international trade in antiquities. This case also illustrates the difficulty of constructing complete records detailing the ownership of ancient objects - proving the object wasn't stolen or forged...

Art Museum dismisses claim, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Missouri, USA, January 19, 2006.

cf. Michel van Rijn.

In 1880, William Matthew Flinders Petrie went to Egypt to measure the pyramids.

While getting established as an archaeologist, the young adventurer lived in an abandoned tomb at the Giza necropolis, where he used a hammock for a bed. In one feat of excavation, he swung down 25 feet on a rope ladder and squeezed through a pyramid doorway into a flooded burial chamber. With only a candle to light the pitch-black walls, he waded through fetid water filled with floating coffins, skulls and other debris. Shortly after, his sensational finds made him the talk of London.

Petrie went on to lead excavations at many of the most important sites in Egypt, including Hawara, Abydos and Amarna. The excitement surrounding his discoveries — he identified the palace complex of Nefertiti — is believed to have inspired the movie character of Indiana Jones. More importantly for Egyptology, he's also credited with transforming archaeology from a treasure hunt to a real science. His innovations include the development of historical chronology based on differing styles of pottery and meticulous field practices...

Great digs, Albany Times Union, New York, USA, January 22, 2006.

cf. Egypt exhibit is work of 'real Indiana Jones', The Barre Montpelier Times Argus, Vermont, USA, January 22, 2006.

cf. EXCAVATING EGYPT: Great Discoveries from the Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology, University College London, Albany Institute.

A team of US archaeologists have discovered a statue depicting Pharaoh Akhenaten's mother, Queen Tiy, Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities told AFP.

The team from John Hopkins University found the statue near those of Tiy's husband Amenhotep III in the southern Egyptian city of Luxor, the council's Sabri Abdel Aziz said.

The black granite statue measuring 4.5 feet in height and 17 inches in width was found in good condition but the feet are missing, he added.

Tiy, the matriarch of the Amarna family, died in 1338 BC after giving birth to six children, including Akhenaten, who went on to become one of the most powerful kings in Ancient Egypt and married Nefertiti.

According to Zahi Hawass, the statue bears 11 hieroglyphic inscriptions referring to Amenhotep, who ruled over the pharaonic empire during the 18th dynasty.

Tiy played an important political role during her husband's reign and after his death, when their son took over.

US archaeologists find statue of Akhenaten's mother, AFP via Yahoo! News, USA, January 23, 2006.

Luxor City in southern Egypt will get a new cultural heritage centre due to open in April, Fathi Salah, the Director of Center for Documentation of Cultural and Natural Heritage (CULTNAT), told The Gazette.

The new centre, which will be named "Mubarak Cultural Centre", is part of a huge complex that will also house the Mubarak Public Library with an average total cost of LE15 million, added Salah.

The CULTNAT-affiliated centre is designed to contribute to showcasing Egypt's cultural heritage, using the latest technologies, to the massive number of tourists who are visiting the City, elaborated Salah.

He added that the centre would have a micro gallery, a showroom with several booths displaying information on various cultural heritage, and also a 'culturama', a variety of interesting cultural topics will be projected on panoramic 180- degree screens.

Cultural heritage centre to open in Luxor in April, The Egyptian Gazette, Egypt, January 22, 2006.

[Shirley Halleen has] discovered a way to feel really young. It isn't getting a face-lift, using wrinkle creams, taking energy pills or exercising daily. Give up? It's taking a trip to Egypt where everywhere you look, every temple you step into, every mummy you examine is at least 3,000 years old. In this atmosphere, 70 years seems like a mere drop in the bucket.

Egypt had not been the top country on my list of "places to visit," until several months ago when I received a brochure describing a two-week educational and sightseeing trip that included several days in Cairo, Aswan and Luxor and a seven-day cruise on the Nile. Because the tour company has an excellent reputation and the price was unbelievably low a friend and I booked a trip to leave on New Year's Day.

What an exciting way to start 2006. After flying for 20 hours and losing eight hours, we arrived in Cairo on Jan. 2 and began an incredible journey into ancient times. After settling into a hotel in Cairo, which is the third largest city in the world, our first adventure was the Museum of Egyptian Antiquities, where more than 1,700 glittering items from King Tut's tomb are on display. The U.S. tour of items from King Tut's tomb contains only 6 percent of the total items. The other 94 percent are in this museum...

3,000-year-old Egyptian artefacts made me feel young, Sioux Falls Argus Leader, South Dakota, USA, January 23, 2006.