These days, we are less and less comfortable about having the monuments of other countries in our museums. When we go to the British Museum, or drive alongside the Thames and notice Cleopatra's Needle, the immediate response is not what it used to be. Fifty years ago, we might have thought: "How wonderful to live in a country with all these wonderful treasures." Now, we are just as likely to speculate as to who stole them, and how long it is going to be before they are handed back...

National sentiment often runs high in these matters. I remember once going round a temple in Egypt with some Italian friends, and the Egyptian guide remarked of a sarcophagus that its pair had long ago been "stolen" and was now "nel Sir John Soane Museo a Londra", giving me a very accusing glare...

Last week, I was on holiday in Sudan. The territories now lying within Sudan form a minor but fascinating part of the ancient Egyptian story, and I wanted to see what treasures were still there. Of course, it was difficult. Until recently, to visit historical sites outside Khartoum, you had to go to various ministries, asking civil servants to stamp your letter of request to see the pyramids at Meroe or the temples of Naqa. It is only in the past month or so that you have been able to just turn up and pay the price of admission...

Honour amongst thieves, Philip Hensher, The Guardian, UK, April 24, 2006.

The Museum of Art | Fort Lauderdale (MoA | FL) today announced that 707,534 people visited Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs during its run at the museum from December 15, 2005 to April 23, 2006. Sponsored by Northern Trust, the exhibition broke all previous attendance records at the museum and increased the membership base by 150 percent. The exhibit 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.

Roughly a month after opening, attendance numbers to the King Tut exhibition surpassed the two previous MoA | FL blockbuster exhibitions combined. "Saint Peter and the Vatican: The Legacy of the Popes" touted more than 150,000 visitors in 2003-2004 and "Diana: A Celebration" drew more than 130,000 patrons in 2004-2005.

"It has been a tremendous honour for Florida to host the 'Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs' exhibit over the past four months," said Governor Jeb Bush. "More than 700,000 visitors have seen this awe-inspiring collection, which has made a positive impact on our state's economy. As one of the top travel destinations in the world, we thank those who have come from far and wide to view this historic exhibition..."

'Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs' Breaks Attendance Records Drawing 707,534 Visitors to The Museum Of Art Fort Lauderdale, PR Newswire, USA, April 24, 2006.

cf. King Tut frenzy reigns right till closing time, Miami Herald, Florida, USA, April 25, 2006.

Aside from its mind bogglingly comprehensive permanent exhibits, the Met’s “Hatshepsut: From Queen to Pharaoh” amasses a once-in-a-lifetime collection of ancient Egyptian artefacts and art from the time of Hatshepsut’s reign.

The Hatshepsut exhibit, displaying a massive collection of art and sculpture, becomes a strange partner to the Walker exhibit; Walker, simply will not let the history of slavery rest, while the Hatshepsut exhibit makes no mention of the cost of ancient art.

One wonders whether slave labour had a hand in the glorious remnants of ancient Egypt. Amidst the praise for and objectification of the objects within the exhibit, one cannot hear mention of a producer, the forgotten labourer who had originally quarried the stone bearing Hatshepsut’s face...

Cross-dressing pharaohs and Hurricane Katrina, The Daily Colonial, The George Washington University, District of Columbia, USA, April 24, 2006

There is also a 12 minute audio special feature, where actor Sam Waterston narrates the story of Hatshepsut, that can be downloaded from The Metropolitan Museum of Art website as a podcast, an MP3 or a RealAudio stream.

by Hassan Saadallah

The Egyptian Museum will soon open a hall to display the four mummies of high priests. The mummies were found in sarcophagi dating back to the XX Dynasty (1188-1069 BC).

The hall, on the second floor of the museum, has been equipped with glass showcases and ventilation system costing LE6 million .

Eleven mummies of kings and princesses, dating back to the XXI and XXII Dynasties (1069-715 BC), will also be on display.

New hall for mummies, The Egyptian Gazette, Egypt, April 23, 2006.

Minister of Culture Farouk Hosni has given the go-ahead for the creation of Egypt's first judicial museum to document the judicial history of the country.

The museum will be registered as the first of its kind in the Arab world. It will display rare manuscripts and books in three pavilions at an estimated cost of LE450,000 .

First Egyptian judicial museum to be established, State Information Service, Egypt, April 16, 2006.

Mrs. Suzanne Mubarak and Mrs. Bernadette Chirac, Thursday co-inaugurated Imhotep Museum at Saqqara area, situated on the West Bank of the River Nile, about 30 km south of Cairo.

The Ministry of Culture has modernized the museum in tribute to Imhotep, who was the chief architect to the Third Dynasty King Djoser (2687-2668 BC).

Mrs. Mubarak and the French first lady toured the museum's various halls and watched a film about the history of Saqqara area.

They also made a tour of the Step Pyramid plateau, the causeway, the Serapeum: a gallery of tombs, Saqqara North and Saqqara South.

In addition to Djoser's, there are another 16 pyramids on the site, in various states of preservation or dilapidation.

Mrs. Mubarak, Mrs. Chirac Inaugurate Imhotep Museum in Saqqara, State Information Service, Egypt, April, 21, 2006.

The Egyptian people mark today [Monday] Sham el Naseem feast, Spring Festival. Families went out to gardens and national parks since the early morning to celebrate this day.

The feast of Sham al-Naseem is one of the Pharaonic feasts. It is celebrated by all Egyptians, Muslims and Christians.

Pharaonic feasts were related to the astrological phenomena and their relation to nature and life. They celebrated the Spring Feast on a date determined by the Spring equinox. On that day, night and day are equal when the sun rises over Aries. It is on the 25th of Barmehat. It says in their holy book that they thought that this day marked the beginning of creation...

Egypt marks Sham el Naseem, State Information Service, Egypt, April 24, 2006.

cf. Welcoming the spring, The Egyptian Mail, Egypt, April 22, 2006.

Three blasts tore through Dahab, a crowded resort town on the Sinai Peninsula, on Monday night, killing at least 30 people and wounding more than 115.

The attack, the third at a popular Sinai resort in two years, once again raised the spectre of one of the United States' closest allies in the Arab world facing a home-grown terrorist threat trying to destabilize the government.

There was confusion in the hours after the blasts, but what was clear was that this resort town on the Gulf of Aqaba, a quaint tourist spot frequented by back-packers and scuba divers, was awash in blood on one of the most popular holiday weekends of the Egyptian calendar.

It was the third time that terrorists struck near a national holiday. It is on this day that Egypt celebrates the anniversary of Israel's withdrawal from Sinai in 1982...

30 Are Killed in Sinai as Bombs Rock Egyptian Resort City, The New York Times, New York, USA, April 25, 2006.

cf. 30 killed, 115 hurt as blasts again rip an Egyptian resort, Houston Chronicle, Texas, USA, April 24, 2006.

cf. Triple explosion spoils Easter for Egyptian resort, dpa via Monsters & Critics, UK, April 25, 2006.

cf. PM condemns Egypt terrorist bombings, AAP via The Age, Australia, April 25, 2006.

cf. Deadly blasts at Sinai resort town coincide with busy holiday, The Seattle Times, District of Columbia, April 25, 2006.