Jane Akshar has posted further information and pictures from the press circus at the Valley of the Kings last Friday where she was present.

KV63 the new Tomb in the Valley of Kings - Photos, Jane Akshar, Luxor News, Egypt, February 11, 2006.

Jane has also penned a ‘feature story’ for Tour Egypt on the KV63 discovery The Discovery in West Thebes (KV 63): A New Tomb on the West Bank at Luxor, Jane Akshar, Tour Egypt, Texas, USA, February 13, 2006.

Lost in the avalanche of press reports about the KV63 discovery, Queen Tiye statues, Sekhmet statues, Amenhotep III statues and 25th dynasty pharaonic statues, Francesco Tiradritti's Harwa excavation team have discovered a new tomb.

It is said to lie between the temple of Queen Hatshepsut at Deir el Bahari and the Valley of the Kings.

I have only seen this Italian press report and nothing in English so you'll have to wade through the tosh the machine translators turn out.

Scoperto nuovo sepolcro nella Valle dei Re , Avvenire, Italy, January 06, 2006.

See the update here: Update on new tomb discovered near Deir el Bahari.

A blind couple is suing the organizers of the King Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs exhibit at the Museum of Art in Fort Lauderdale.

Tom and Debbie Ryan claim the exhibit fails to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.

The Ryans claim they were unable to locate overhead descriptive signs and found the museum's restrooms, parking and aisles to be inaccessible. Other disabled patrons have also supported their claim.

Organizers have not yet responded to the allegations.

Blind Couple Sues Organizers Of King Tut Exhibit, Local10, Florida, USA, February 13, 2006.

Finding this article reminded me that I had missed posting a similar one a few days ago.

Several disabled museum patrons have sued the organizers of the Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs exhibit for allegedly failing to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.

All Disabled Americans Inc. and five of its members allege in a complaint filed last week in U.S. District Court that the Museum of Art in Fort Lauderdale provides "inadequate access to people with mobility and visual disabilities" at the Tut exhibit.

Some of the members of the Indiana-based group use wheelchairs or power motor scooters, while others are blind. During a visit to the exhibit, they were unable to read overhead descriptive signs and found the museum's restrooms, parking and access aisles to be inaccessible, according to the complaint...

Fort Lauderdale museum sued over disabled access to Tut exhibit, Bradenton Herald Today, Florida, USA, February 10, 2006.

Satellite technology has more than doubled the number of ancient sites known in part of the Nile valley, a new study shows. Although most of the sites date from Roman times rather than from the Pharaonic period, the dramatic increase suggests reasons why earlier sites have remained undetected. The survey was carried out on the west bank of the Nile, opposite the famous abandoned city of Tell el-Amarna or Akhetaten, the short-lived capital of the “heretic” Pharaoh Akhenaten in the 14th century BC. A sample area of 30km by 15km was chosen: Napoleon’s survey of 1798 had noted 12 sites in the area, and by 2004 the number had risen to only 23. Some recorded earlier may have been lost, Sarah Parcak explains in Egyptian Archaeology: “Sites that existed as distinct tells in Middle Egypt during the early 19th century may have been either levelled or built over.”

Dr Parcak used a combination of different satellite images, including high-resolution photographs taken in the 1960s and 1970s, when there was somewhat less building development, and multispectral electronic images taken by the Landsat 7 satellite in 2002. In addition the Quickbird satellite, which has a pixel size of only 60cm (2ft) and allows very detailed images to be constructed, was used on some sites, including Akhetaten itself...

Stone Age artists are getting older, The Times, UK, February 13, 2006.

cf. Sarah Parcak received her PhD from Cambridge University, and is the director of the Middle Egypt Survey Project.

Hassan Saadallah

Supreme Council of Antiquities Secretary-General Zahi Hawass is to open the First Conference on Encroachments on Archaeological Sites tomorrow.

"The conference will tackle the problem of encroachments and their impact on antiquities," said Hawass, stressing the need for the concerned bodies to play an active role in this.

Hawass noted that the conference will also discuss the possibility of introducing new laws and legislation to stop the encroachments, which are increasing all the time.

"The conference aims to decide on a plan to deal with the problem," added Hawass, who is expected to suggest that participants adopt a bilateral protocol between the SCA and the concerned bodies — different governorates, the Antiquities and Tourist Police and local councils — in a bid to expedite the removal of the encroachments and preserve the country's archaeological heritage.

The conference will also focus on enhancing archaeological and the cultural awareness of public and non-governmental organisations, as well as the role the media can play in preventing encroachments.

Preventing archaeological encroachments, The Egyptian Gazette, Egypt, February 14, 2006.

A County Antrim man who helped discover an intact Egyptian tomb has said he was privileged to be involved in the find.

Alistair Dickey, 26, from Broughshane, was part of the University of Memphis-led team which found the tomb and five mummies.

"It is a dream come true, I'm very privileged to have been involved — it doesn't happen to many archaeologists — you could go your whole career and not find anything like this at all..."

Archaeologist 'privileged' at role, BBC News, UK, February 14, 2006.

cf. Archaeologist Digs A Path For Home, Northern Ireland News Letter, UK, February 13, 2006.