Alexander wasn't quite so great after all. Sure, he conquered most of the world known to the ancient Greeks, but he didn't found the Egyptian city of Alexandria — he just rebranded it. It now seems that this part of the Nile has been settled for at least 4500 years, pre-dating Alexander's arrival by a good two millennia.

Alain Véron from the Paul Cézanne University in Aix-en-Provence, France, and colleagues made the discovery by measuring the variations in lead concentration in a mud core from Alexandria's ancient harbour. They determined how lead levels had changed over time by carbon-dating seashells found in the core...

Nile releases city's deep history, New Scientist, UK, Issue 2548, April 22, 2006, p. 17.

The touring exhibition, "Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs" will extend its hours of operation at the Museum of Art | Fort Lauderdale (MoA | FL) to be open around-the-clock for the final weekend, beginning Saturday, April 22 [2006], at 9 a.m., until the sale of the final ticket on Sunday, April 23 [2006], at 10 p.m. Tickets for the extended hours, as well as tickets for normal operating hours, are currently available. Sponsored by Northern Trust, the exhibition is organized by National Geographic, AEG Exhibitions and Arts and Exhibitions International, with cooperation from the Egyptian Supreme Council of Antiquities, and is sponsored locally by Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida.

With more than 640,000 tickets sold since the exhibition opened on Dec. 15, 2005, Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs has become the most popular exhibition in MoA | FL's history.

"The popularity of the King Tut Exhibit in Florida has prompted us to further extend viewing hours," said Irvin M. Lippman, president and executive director for MoA | FL. "Providing around-the-clock viewing is another opportunity for us to share the exhibition with as many people as possible and to celebrate the way the people of Fort Lauderdale have embraced King Tut..."

Museum of Art Fort Lauderdale Further Extends Hours of 'Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs' Exhibition, PRNewswire, USA, April 19, 2006.

More than a month before the mummies arrive at the Frist Center for the Visual Arts, tickets for all docent-guided school tours of a highly anticipated ancient Egypt exhibit are sold out.

Third-grade teacher Sue Collier, who plans to take her students on a field trip more than 3,000 years back in time, isn't surprised.

"Most of the elementary age (students) haven't had much exposure to ancient Egypt, to the mystery of it all and the fascination of how things were done," said Collier, a teacher at Goodlettsville Elementary School.

"There's history involved here, there's a multicultural exposure involved here. Any time you expose children this age to different cultures, they become more tolerant of other cultures. It becomes natural..."

Students set to walk with Egyptians, The Tennessean, Tennessee, USA, April 20, 2006.