... But in a wide-ranging interview last week ... Mr. [Philippe] de Montebello made it clear that his philosophy about collecting — and even the cultural value of an international market in illicit antiquities — has changed little in 29 years at the museum's helm.

He offered no apologies for the way the Met has built one of the world's greatest Classical collections, often by acquiring works with little knowledge of their origins, to the dismay of archaeologists. And while he stressed that museums should abide by the law, he questioned the wisdom of some cultural-property laws and recent American court decisions that have exposed museums to greater liability for their collecting...

Met Chief, Unbowed, Defends Museum's Role, New York Times, New York, USA, February 28, 2006.

A copy of the agreement between the Met and Italy, and some commentary, can be found here: Suzan Mazur: The Italy-Met Euphronios Accord?, Suzan Mazur, Scoop, New Zealand, February 23, 2006.

The Hyksos would be fundamentally proto-Greek or Mycenaeans, according to recent linguistic discoveries.

Georgeos Diaz-Montexano, scriptologist and Egyptologist amateur, has been able to identify the names of the Hyksos kings like pertaining to the group of languages and proto-Greek or Mycenaean's dialects.

The true ethnic origin of the mysterious Hyksos that were able to take control of the power of a considerable part of [Ancient] Egypt, during centuries XVII to the XVI before Christ, has been always a true challenge for the Egyptologists. However, the generalized opinion more for a long time has been that the Hyksos would be Semitic towns, fundamentally coastal inhabitants of the strip Syrian-Palestine, that is, Canaanites or proto-Phoenicians. Nevertheless, as it indicates Diaz-Montexano, to date an identification had not been made signs or solid of each one of the names of the Hyksos kings according to the data contributed by Manetho in its chronicle of Egypt; in fact, as soon as only two of the six names of Hyksos kings mentioned by this Egyptian amanuenses have been able to relate approximately — to other two names of Semitic origin.

Diaz-Montexano now has been able to identify with a greater degree of approach the six names of the Hyksos kings...

Old Egypt investigator identifies mysterious kings Hyksos..., The World Forum, February 27, 2006.

This has obviously been translated from a Spanish original which I have found here.

Estudioso del Antiguo Egipto identifica a los misteriosos reyes Hicsos, Egiptologia Noticias Descubrimientos Jeroglificos, February 24, 2006.

Hmmm. A quick search on amateur Spanish-Cuban scriptologist and Egyptologist Georgeos Diaz-Montexano turns up a lot of Atlantis references. Make of that what you will.

A team of archaeologists from Boston University and the University of Naples l’Orientale recently uncovered the oldest remains of sea-faring ships in the world and cargo boxes containing goods from the lost-land of Punt — a fabled southern Red Sea trading centre. The discoveries were made during a round of excavations inside two man-made caves previously found by the team at Wadi Gawasis on Egypt’s Red Sea coast.

In remarkable condition, the unique artefacts of cedar planks and decking timber — some with the mortises and tenons, and copper fastenings still in place — demonstrate that the Ancient Egyptians were excellent ship builders and provide further evidence that they reached Punt by sea. The findings may also help researchers determine the location of Punt, a long-time source of debate among scholars.

In addition to the ship timber and cargo boxes, the archaeologists discovered five parallel rock-cut rooms that served as storage areas for ship equipment.

“One of the rooms contained coils of ship rope, all neatly tied and knotted — just as the sailors left them almost 4,000 years ago,” said Kathryn Bard, associate professor of archaeology at BU and co-director of the excavations. “The view into this cave is truly astonishing...”

Archaeology Team Discovers Oldest Remains of Sea-faring Ships in the World, PhysOrg.com, USA, February 27, 2006.

cf. ARCHAEOLOGY TEAM DISCOVERS OLDEST REMAINS OF SEA-FARING SHIPS IN THE WORLD, Boston University, Massachusetts, USA, February 27, 2006.