By Zahi Hawass

We always say that we do not have many American tourists in Egypt because they think it is dangerous to travel here. Whenever there is a terrorist incident it receives a good deal of coverage in the American media, making Americans more and more afraid. They believe that Egypt is not safe. Once, during the question and answer session at the end of my lecture at the Natural History Museum in Los Angeles, a man stood up and asked why he should travel to Egypt, because he was always hearing about Egyptians killing tourists. I explained that terrorists do bad things everywhere — in the main squares of famous European cities, in the streets of Los Angeles, and in New York. People are killed all the time. I told him that last New Year's Eve I had invited my friend Betsy Bryan from Johns Hopkins University to a party at the Capital Club in downtown Cairo. When Betsy wanted to leave and go back to her hotel, which was about a mile away from the club, I told her to wait and said I would take her, but she insisted on going alone. She told me that she often walked through the streets of Cairo after midnight, and felt absolutely safe. But in the end I told the questioner at the lecture that when he died and went to heaven, he would never go to paradise because he hadn't visited Egypt. Everyone in the audience laughed a lot.

I always tell people that the best thing in Egypt is not the Pyramids or the Valley of the Kings or the famous temples, or even the magic of the sunrise and sunset over the River Nile, but the Egyptians. They are very kind and honest, and always protect and respect foreigners...

Dig days: King Tut and the American tourist, Al-Ahram, Egypt, Issue No. 782, February 16 - 22, 2006.

Well-preserved wrecks of Pharaonic seafaring vessels unearthed last week on the Red Sea coast reveal that the Ancient Egyptians enjoyed advanced maritime technology, Nevine El-Aref reports.

The long-held belief that the Ancient Egyptians did not tend to travel long distances by sea because of poor naval technology proved fallacious last week when timbers, rigging and cedar planks were unearthed in the ancient Red Sea port of Marsa Gawasis, 23 kilometres south of Port Safaga.

The remains of seafaring vessels were found in four large, hand-hewn caves which were probably used as storage or boat houses from the Middle Kingdom to the early New Kingdom periods. Early examination revealed that each cave measured 60 square metres and had an entrance constructed of reused anchors, limestone blocks and wooden beams. Other stone anchors were located outside the entrances...

Sailing to Punt, Al-Ahram, Egypt, Issue No. 782, February 16 - 22, 2006.

The discovery of a red granite head of a king with Nubian features in the precinct of Amenhotep III's temple on Luxor's West Bank has puzzled Egyptologists, writes Nevine El-Aref.

"This really is a very surprising discovery," Hourig Sourouzian, director of the German conservation project for the Colossi of Memnon and Amenhotep III's temple, told Al-Ahram Weekly. She explained that since excavation of the site began in 1998 the mission had consistently stumbled upon homogenous New Kingdom statuaries until last week, when a well-preserved red granite royal head with Kushite features — full cheeks and bulging lips — was unearthed.

The 50-cm-tall head was found among several decaying granite block on a sandstone slab at the north end of the temple. Its top and right side were damaged, the nose was lightly chipped and the chin was broken. "It is a very beautiful head wearing a nemes (regal headdress)," says Sourouzian, who asserts that it does not belong to the area where it lay buried.

"If this head belongs to the Kushite period of the 25th dynasty, which is seven dynasties later than the reign of Amenhotep III, why is it deposited here?" Sourouzian asks...

Enigmatic discovery, Al-Ahram, Egypt, Issue No. 782, February 16 - 22, 2006.

The first intact tomb since Tutankhamun's has been found in the Valley of the Kings. Nevine El-Aref witnessed the discovery.

Last Friday was a hot, sunny day in the Valley of the Kings, and no less than 50 journalists, photographers, TV anchors and directors were waiting with heightened expectations near a large pit located just across the pathway to Tutankhamun's tomb. They were following the progress being made by Zahi Hawass, secretary-general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, and his Memphis University colleague Otto Shaden as they uncovered the first intact tomb to be found in the Valley of the Kings in 84 years.

As the two Egyptologists entered the pit for a preliminary view of its contents, the journalists were barred from following. Anxious to see what lay beneath, they reacted angrily, but a few minutes later they were permitted to enter the pit one by one to allow for the shortage of space. To access the tomb's entrance, everyone had to leap over a dozen huge stone blocks and then negotiate a five- metre-long wooden ladder. I found it hard to contend with these obstacles, but coming face to face with the royal mummies quickly caused my sufferings to melt away.

Through a 30-centimetre large hole it was possible to see five wooden anthropoid sarcophagi with painted faces resting undisturbed in a plain, rectangular rock-hewn tomb...

Face to face with ancient royals, Al-Ahram, Egypt, Issue No. 782, February 16 - 22, 2006.

KV-63 ˜ Newly Discovered Tomb

Update information on KV-63 will be delayed until my return to the United States. Further information and photos will be posted pending evaluation.

Please see below for instructions regarding donations to our mission and contact information. All emails will be graciously forwarded to me in a timely manner.

We appreciate your support and well wishes.

Sincerely,

Dr. Otto J. Schaden

Director of the Amenmesse Project and KV-63...

There is very little on the site at the moment other than this one page with details of making a donation to the mission.

KV-63, Amenmesse Project, University of Memphis, Tennessee, USA, February 12, 2006, via Jane Akshar at Luxor News

Although the Greeks invented the Olympics, the ancient Egyptians were no couch potatoes in athletic feats.

Pharaoh Amenhotep II — an accomplished horse rider, runner and archer — bragged that he was the greatest sportsman of all time and made sure royal sculptors captured his massive biceps and pecs.

The granite colossus of the 15th century B.C. ruler is just one of the ancient marvels that Turin's Egyptian Museum offers to visitors looking for a break from the Winter Games hosted by this northern city and the surrounding Alpine slopes.

The Museo Egizio claims one of the largest collections of Egyptian antiquities outside Cairo...

TUT IN TURIN: Ancient Egyptians at home in Olympic city, ESPN, USA, February 16, 2006.