Musing on an age-old philosophical riddle, comedian Steve Martin once pondered "King Tut, how'd he get so funky," in a famed episode of Saturday Night Live.

Now we know. It was the wine. Fans of pinot blanc may be relieved to learn that an archaeology team has reported the first evidence of white wine in ancient Egypt. And it has turned up in the tomb of King Tutankhamen.

"In ancient Egypt, the royal family and the upper classes drank wine, which was also thought to be suitable among the necessities for a good afterlife," write the report authors, led by Maria Rosa Guasch-Jane of Spain's University of Barcelona, in the latest edition of the Journal of Archaeological Science. Wine jars and wine-making scenes appear in Egyptian tombs from 3150 to 332 B.C., across many dynasties from the time of the Pharaohs.

But until now, all the wine, or more accurately its dried remnants found inside clay amphora within tombs, has been red...

White wine turns up in King Tutankhamen's tomb, USA Today, USA, May 29, 2006.

You can kick back with a King Tuttini cocktail, learn to decipher hieroglyphs or indulge in an "Egyptian Golden Body Wrap" complete with exfoliating Dead Sea salts and a dusting of golden powder.

Yes, King Tut is back, and Chicago is fired up for the pharaoh. The travelling exhibit Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs opened Friday at The Field Museum, attracting long lines of ticket buyers.

Organizers believe the show could draw 1 million visitors before it closes here on Jan. 1, 2007. Businesses, restaurants and universities are lining up special promotions and events — hoping to benefit from the expected "Tutmania..."

'Tutmania' Takes Chicago By Storm, CBS News, USA, May 30, 2006.

cf. The return of the boy king, The Northwest Indiana Times, Indiana, USA, May 31, 2006.

The KV63 dig diary has been updated with several more entries. There are also some new pictures on the picture pages which has also been split into two pages.

Much has been accomplished recently with consolidation of the remaining coffins inside KV-63.

Coffin B revealed a large date palm fibre 'mat' resting on floor at the head end of the coffin. Conservators Amani Email and Ahmed Baghdady quickly 'treated' the mat. As you can see from the enclosed photos the mat is in remarkably good condition. The floor of the coffin, although exhibiting a midline split in the wood, proves to be surprisingly solid and strong. As of now, both side panels and the base of Coffin B have been removed, and the floor swept and sifted of debris.

Coffin C has already received preliminary consolidation work by the conservators and clearance should begin mid to late week...

KV63 Dig Diary Updated, Dr. Otto Schaden, Amenmesse Project, University of Memphis, Tennessee, May 23, 2006.

Robert Solé's new account of Napoleon's Egyptian expedition seems set to become the standard history of Egypt's short-lived French occupation, writes David Tresilian.

The involvement of Napoleon Bonaparte, at the time only an army general, in the French conquest of Egypt between 1798 and 1801 was in some respects unique. It was unique, first, because Napoleon's ambitions were otherwise restricted to Europe, and the Egyptian expedition was the only occasion on which France attempted to extend its long struggle for mastery of Europe beyond European shores. And it was unique, too, because Napoleon, known for his empire-building within Europe but not beyond, laid the foundations while in Egypt for the subsequent transformation of the country under Mohamed Ali, largely putting paid through his campaigns in Egypt, Syria and Palestine to Mameluke power and weakening that of the Ottomans.

How all this came about and its effects on both France and Egypt is the subject of Bonaparte à la conquête de l'Egypte (Bonaparte and the Conquest of Egypt) by the Egyptian-born French journalist Robert Solé. Written with the general reader in mind like Solé's many other works on Egyptian themes, the book provides a perfect introduction to its subject and draws on the most recent research.

"This book does not claim to contain any revelations," Solé writes, "aiming only to write the history of the Egyptian expedition in all its aspects — political, military, cultural and scientific — and relying on statements made by witnesses, as well as the work of specialists to which the general public does not generally have access. The aim has been to tell the story from beginning to end, knowing that this adventure, with its incalculable consequences, did not end [with the withdrawal of French troops] in September 1801..."

Adieu Bonaparte, Al-Ahram, Egypt, Issue No. 796, May 25 - 31, 2006.

An attractive publication with a somewhat formidable title draws Jill Kamil's attention to a worthy source on textiles, one of the finest of all Coptic arts.

The Coptic Tapestry Albums and the Archaeologist of Antino', Albert Gayet, is the lengthy title of a new book by Nancy Arthur Hoskins, who has researched Coptic collections in more than 50 museums around the world and who has produced a book that is a delight to handle and read. Here, at last, is a publication on Coptic textiles that is well-researched and illustrated with photographs in vibrant colour, along with detailed line drawings of weaving techniques and ancient weavers at the loom.

Thanks to Egypt's dry climate and sandy soil, textiles have survived in vast numbers and in an unrivalled state of preservation. Tens of thousands of coloured fragments found their way into the museums of the world, especially after 1889 when the French archaeologist Albert Gayet published a catalogue of Coptic art and, in the Bulaq Museum, staged the first exhibition of Coptic monuments.

"The first time I saw a Coptic tapestry portrait with its soul-searching gaze I was completely captivated," Hoskins writes in her introduction...

A tapestry of Coptic history, Al-Ahram, Egypt, Issue No. 796, May 25 - 31, 2006.

By Zahi Hawass.

With few exceptions, weaving methods are the same all over Egypt today. The weaver at Kerdassa sits at a loom which has changed little since Pharaonic times. Indeed, a weaver's studio from the late 18th century (as depicted in Description de l'Egypte ) shows weavers playing their looms with the same fervour and patience.

The embroiders of Akhmim often adopted a motif of enclosing figures in a circle like old Coptic tapestries, using an overlapping backstitch to resemble the relief effects of old Coptic tapestries, while young weavers of Harraniya, inspired by nature, produced a tapestry of birds which combines skill with inventiveness. The latter, the Harraniya tapestries, are now famous worldwide. They emerged from an experiment directed by the architect Ramses Wissa Wassef which demonstrates technical skill combined with naive freshness and vigorous inventiveness.

Today weavers are active, to a greater or lesser degree, in cities and villages throughout Egypt, and one can even find a solitary weaver who adheres to his own regional style of production.

Crafts of Egypt by Denise Ammoun, published by the American University in Cairo Press, provides a compendium of information about the diverse crafts of Egypt which include weaving and embroidery, basketry, pottery, leather work, metalwork and woodwork.

Dig Days: The Valley of the Kings: treasure without end III, Al-Ahram, Egypt, Issue No. 796, May 25 - 31, 2006.

The Egyptian Galleries at Cambridge’s Fitzwilliam Museum have re-opened to applause, with stunning new displays and exhibits never seen before.

The popular section of the museum hosts a world-class collection of more than 1,000 objects. A two-year, £1.5 million project of refurbishment, conservation and research has now been completed to enrich the experience of the museum’s 300,000 annual visitors.

“We are delighted that the latest stage in our ongoing programme of gallery improvements has reached a successful conclusion,” said Museum Director Duncan Robinson, “and that the Museum is now able to offer visitors an enhanced experience of one of the most popular areas of its collections...”

Ancient Egypt galleries open at Fitzwilliam museum Cambridge, 24-Hour Museum, UK, May 29, 2006.

[Jill Kamil's] last article discussed the remarkable tomb that was recently found in the Valley of the Kings. This tomb, or cache, was given the name KV 63. It contained five anthropoid coffins with mummification materials stored inside. Also found in the tomb were numerous vessels.

Before the investigation of KV 63, many people dreamed that it would contain the mummies of the Pharaohs that are believed to be buried in the Valley of the Kings but have not yet been found, such as the mummy of Tuthmosis I. Other missing mummies include the Pharaohs Ay and Horemheb. Some scholars hypothesise that the bone remains found in the tomb of Horemheb might be part of the mummies of these Pharaohs. Other scholars speculate that the mummy found in KV 55 might be that of Akhenaten. The mummy of Queen Nefertiti has never been found. Mummies of the Ramesside Pharaohs have also not been found, such as the those of Ramses VII, Ramses VIII, Ramses X and Ramses XI.

The dream of finding one of the missing royal mummies has been alive for a very long time, and so when this cache was discovered people thought it could perhaps be a tomb of one of the Pharaohs like Tuthmosis I whose tombs have not been found. Previously people thought — wrongly — that Tuthmosis I was originally buried in tomb KV 20 and that Queen Hatshepsut re-used the tomb for herself. Some scholars believe that the tomb of Tuthmosis I has never been found and that he is not buried in the Valley of the Kings. This would make Queen Hatshepsut the first Queen-Pharaoh to choose the Valley of the Kings for burial. Some scholars also think that the tomb of Tuthmosis II, which is thought to be tomb KV 42, belonged to him, while others believe that KV 42 is not a royal tomb and that the Pharaoh is buried in tomb number 258 at Deir Al-Bahari near the temple of Queen Hatshepsut...

A tapestry of Coptic history, Jill Kamil, Al-Ahram, Egypt, Issue No. 796, May 25 - 31, 2006.

By Lubna Abdel-Aziz.

Is the desert the forbidden, burning, wasteland we all shun and fear? This vast and empty wilderness, parched and dry, boundless and bare, has lured countless men of profound religious faith to its warm throbbing heart, making the desert their paradise on earth. Deserts, "those lone and level sands that stretch far away," cover about one seventh of the Earth's land surface. While they cannot support abundant plant and animal life because of their dry soil and insufficient rainfall, there is always a running stream or oasis nearby that nurtures certain plants and animals adept at adjusting to the hot dry climate. It has therefore, been a welcoming spot for men seeking its purity and power, to feel a union with their creator. Like the vast and endless sea, deserts seem to unite with the heavens in their strength and majesty. Unlike the sea though, men are able to spend their whole lives in the comforting warmth of its murmuring sands. And so they have — dedicated to serving their faith and glorifying their God. They separate themselves from the ways of ordinary men, for the peace and solitude the gentle desert affords. Wrapped in long cloth robes for protection against the scorching sun and blowing sands, they adopt a monastic lifestyle calling themselves monks, from the Greek monos, meaning "alone". "The ones who live alone" built the earliest Christian monasteries in the deserts of Egypt.

The first monk in history was St Anthony of Thebes. About 271 AD, St Anthony left the bustling towns to wander alone in the Egyptian desert and lead a solitary life. He became the world's first Christian monk. That marks the birth date of the monasteries. Others soon followed. Monasteries continued to rise from the desert sands, amidst striking green palm trees: "It is easy to feel a divine spirit where water suddenly rises from the desert floor". These monks were dubbed, "the desert fathers" and their desolate desert, the "monks' garden", bustan al-rohban. Living a Spartan life away from the amenities and distractions of civilisation, they were known as "those who did without"...

Limelight: Desert fathers, Al-Ahram, Egypt, Issue No. 796, May 25 - 31, 2006.

The date when Ramses II will bid a last good-bye to the traffic, fumes and noise of Cairo's busy Ramses Square has at last been set, reports Nevine El-Aref.

On Friday 25 August, at 6am [2006], when Cairo traffic is at its quietest, the colossus of the 19th Dynasty Pharaoh Ramses II will begin its journey from outside Bab Al-Hadid train station to its new home at the site of the Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM) overlooking the Giza Plateau.

The decision was announced two days ago by Culture Minister Farouk Hosni. Delaying the move until the completion of the museum's first phase would, he said, leave the statue exposed to unacceptable levels of threat given that the square is scheduled for massive redevelopment by the Cairo Governorate.

Hosni added that archaeological, geological, architectural and geophysical studies have now been completed and a special storehouse is under construction to house the statue until the GEM's first phase is complete.

Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA) Secretary-General Zahi Hawass said the red granite statue would be transferred in one piece, supported by an iron cage on two vehicles specially adapted to carry the 83-tonne statue on its 30-kilometre journey...

Farewell to Ramses, Al-Ahram, Egypt, Issue No. 796, May 25 - 31, 2006.

Egypt is one of the most historic and scenic countries in the world, and one of the best ways of taking in everything it has to offer is by taking a cruise down one of the most famous rivers in the world – the Nile.

On a cruise down the Nile, expect to be treated to trademark, friendly Egyptian hospitality, luxurious cocktails and often plush sleeping quarters as you make your way down the river, taking in the sights including the temples of Esna and Kom Ombo.

Many cruises, such as those offered by Nubian Nile Cruises, start in Luxor so try arriving a day early as there is plenty to see before you set sail.

Because Luxor is located on the ruins of Thebes, it is rich in historical and archaeological intrigue, and a visit to the Karnak Temple is a labyrinthine experience...

Cruise for miles on the Nile in Egypt, TravelBite.co.uk, UK, May 25, 2006.

The University of Tubingen in Germany has agreed to return to Egypt five fragments of a relief removed in the last century from the Temple of Pharaoh Seti I, Culture Minister Farouk Hosni said.

The fragments, which were cut out of the walls of the 19th dynasty (1307-1196 BC) pharaoh's tomb in the Valley of the Kings, are to be handed over next month, the minister said in a statement.

The university made its decision "voluntarily" and agreed to return the artefacts "without any conditions," said the head of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, Zahi Hawass.

The fragments are to be restored to their original resting place at the tomb, which is currently closed to the public because of the damage...

Hawass hailed the University of Tubingen's decision to return the artefacts and urged other foreign institutions with Egyptian antiquities of dubious provenance in their collections to follow suit...

Germany university to return ancient Egyptian relief, AFP via Yahoo! News, USA, May 25, 2006.

Facing indignant demands from Egypt's antiquities chief, a corporate sponsor of a touring King Tut exhibition opening today in Chicago agreed yesterday to relinquish an ancient sarcophagus that is kept at its company headquarters.

Zahi Hawass, the hard-charging secretary general of Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities, learned of the artefact's existence on Wednesday at a preview for the press at the Field Museum. At the event, Randy Mehrbert, a representative of Exelon, the giant energy company based in Chicago, observed in his formal remarks that the company's chairman, John W. Rowe, had such a passion for Egyptian antiquities that he kept one in his office.

Dr. Hawass immediately demanded that organizers of the show drop Exelon as a sponsor unless it agreed to give the sarcophagus to the Field Museum or return it to Egypt. Late yesterday, after a flurry of meetings at the museum, a spokeswoman for Exelon announced the resolution...

Antiquities in Office? Not While King Tut Rules Chicago, New York Times, New York, USA, May 26, 2006.

cf. Corporate sarcophagus irks Egyptian, UPI, New York, USA, May 25, 2006.

cf. Egyptian Sarcophagus Controversy Ends Well, AP via ABC News, New York, USA, May 25, 2006.

cf. Egyptian Sarcophagus Controversy Ends Well, AP via The Examiner, Colorado, USA, May 25, 2006.

cf. Threat over Tut exhibit resolved by loan, Chicago Tribune, Illinois, USA, May 25, 2006.

The tomb of Tutankhamun is one of the most famous archaeological finds of all time. When discovered in 1922, the tomb was filled with spectacular artefacts including gold-covered chariots, elaborately carved alabaster vessels, inlaid furniture, a vast array of jewellery, and the famed gold mask. Every step of the archaeologists' painstakingly detailed work in and around the tomb was documented through photography, one of the first large-scale excavations to be so thoroughly recorded. The dramatic and artistic images clearly convey the excitement and the tension of the work, indeed, many of the photos have become as famous as the artefacts themselves. From May 23 to October 8, 2006, the Oriental Institute Museum will present an exhibit: Wonderful Things! The Discovery of the Tomb of Tutankhamun; The Harry Burton Photographs consisting of 50 of the most exciting images.

The clearance of the tomb took ten years, and in that time, photographer Harry Burton took more than fourteen-hundred large format black and white images. The photos in this exhibit document the Valley of the Kings, the initial discovery of the tomb, the dramatic moment when the excavators first glimpsed the dazzling array of artefacts, the entry to the burial chamber, the series of shrines and coffins that protected the king, and the king's mummy, wreathed in floral collars and bedecked with gold jewellery...

... In conjunction with the Harry Burton photos, the Oriental Institute Museum will present The Ancient Near East in the Time of Tutankhamun. This exhibit presents special labelling of the permanent galleries devoted to ancient Iraq, Turkey, Iran, Israel and Palestine, highlighting objects that are contemporary with Tutankhamun (ca. 1325 B.C.), to give the visitor a broader appreciation of the era. Egyptian objects relating to Tut and his times which have not been on exhibit-including dishes used during the funeral of the young king, sculpture, and brightly coloured faience jewellery-will be on view in the Joseph and Mary Grimshaw Egyptian Gallery. The Ancient Near East in the Time of Tutankhamun will be on view through December 31, 2006...

Many thanks to Chuck Jones, who runs ABZU, for alerting me to this one.

Two new Tutankhamun exhibits to open May 23 at the Oriental Institute, University of Chicago, Illinois, USA, May 23, 2006.

cf. Two Special Exhibits at the Oriental Institute Opening May 26, 2006, Oriental Institute, University of Chicago, Illinois, USA, May 23, 2006.

... In the 1970s, crowds in record numbers lined up to take in these antiquities. Thirty years later, the exhibit of Tutankhamen's treasures has been expanded to include 130 ancient items, not only from his tomb but also other royal sites in Egypt's Valley of the Kings.

"Last time, we dealt with only 20 years of ancient Egypt. This time we're dealing with more than 100 years," said the University of Pennsylvania's Dr. David Silverman...

King Tut Exhibit To Open On Friday, CBS2 Chicago, Illinois, USA, May 24, 2006.

Does deal tarnish Tut's golden touch?

... The exhibit of more than 130 artefacts — with a cover charge of $25 for adults — opens at the Field Museum on Friday with an unusual and, in some circles, controversial, back story. Unlike most museum exhibits, this edition of Tutankhamun is the fruit of a profit-making private company, AEG, better known for promoting rock 'n' roll than pharaohs.

While museums don't run merely on good intentions, the institutions generally position themselves as places of education. Typically, museums erect their own exhibits or rent them with and to each other in the name of scholarship.

Financially, there's a king's ransom at stake with Tut: AEG is paying Egypt, which owns the artefacts, a minimum of $5 million to display Tut's riches at the Field, the third of four American museums hosting the exhibit. With a cut of the ticket price and a share of the souvenir gate, Egypt reportedly stands to rake in perhaps $36 million from the entire U.S. tour of "Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs..."

Does deal tarnish Tut's golden touch?, Chicago Sun-Times, Illinois, USA, May 24, 2006.

'Everywhere, the glint of gold ...'

"No freebies."

That was the response of Dr. Zahi Hawass, secretary general of Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities, last year about the possibility of bringing the treasures and tombs of Egypt to American museumgoers.

And when the Field Museum began courting Hawass and the Egyptian government more than a year ago to bring an Egyptian exhibit to Chicago, hosting a return visit of King Tutankhamun wasn't even a consideration.

"I thought maybe we would allow one of our other collections of artefacts," Hawass told the media and VIPs who gathered Wednesday in the main hall of The Field Museum in Chicago...

'Everywhere, the glint of gold ...', The Northwest Indiana Times, Indiana, USA, May 25, 2006.

And finally a review.

Well-chosen Tut artefacts pack a punch

... The exhibition begins in a small room as dark as a tomb, lit only by sconces. A brief movie sets the scene for what lies ahead. You learn how British archaeologist Howard Carter found the tomb in 1922 and how Tut ruled after a period of great change in ancient Egypt. After the movie, a curtain is supposed to whoosh open to reveal a large black granite statue of King Tut, but on the day we previewed the exhibition, the curtain wasn't working.

The exhibit quickly creates a sense of drama. In one room, you walk onto a golden marble floor imported from Egypt and suddenly you're in a temple, complete with massive columns.

In another, you walk into near darkness, with hieroglyphs from the Book of the Dead projected onto the walls. In the centre of the room sits the coffin of King Tut's greatgrandmother, massive and golden...

Well-chosen Tut artefacts pack a punch, Chicago Tribune, Illinois, USA, May 25, 2006.

The mummy of Queen Hatshepsut arrived at Cairo Airport yesterday.

The mummy, which was brought from Luxor under the supervision of a committee from the Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA), was discovered in the Valley of Kings at Luxor.

The queen's mummy will be transferred to the Egyptian Museum in down- town Cairo.

Queen's mummy arrives in Cairo, Egypt State Information Service, Egypt, may 24, 2006.

Crush Creative, a southern California-based visual communications agency, is currently in the process of producing and installing large format banners and graphic displays for the “Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs” exhibit opening this month at the Field Museum in Chicago.

Crush created a wall-mounted imaged Broadway cloth mural with custom aluminium frame that was 16 feet high and 26 feet wide for the exhibit. The exhibit showcases nearly 120 artefacts and treasures from the tombs of Tut and his royal family, many which have never been outside of Egypt. Crush also produced Aertex banners and imaged Broadway cloth measuring 26 feet by 22 feet that hung throughout the exhibit. These graphics showed artefacts from the original excavation in 1922 as well as Howard Carter, the British archaeologist who discovered the tomb, laying his eyes on the boy king’s sarcophagus for the very first time...

Crush Creative Portrays Life And Death From The 18th Dynasty Egypt, EWorldWire, New jersey, USA, May 23, 2006.

Police on the Cycladic island of Paros said yesterday that they had arrested a 56-year-old woman for allegedly possessing a number of illegal antiquities, including nine sections of ancient columns.

Officers from the Attica police antiquities department had been on the island to chase up leads from the discovery of a huge stash of illegal artefacts on the nearby island of Schinoussa.

Policemen searched the house of an archaeologist who had allegedly worked in the past with Marion True, the former director of the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles. Illegal artefacts were confiscated from True’s villa on Paros last month. But officers did not find anything suspicious at the unnamed archeologist’s house.

During their investigation, however, they found a total of 11 illegal antiquities in the possession of the unnamed 56-year-old woman after searching her home and the hotel owned by her husband. The find is not thought to be connected with the Schinoussa case.

Arrest on Paros over artefacts, Kathimerini, Greece, May 23, 2006.

Mystery swirled around the Field Museum as partygoers gathered to see the unearthed treasures of King Tutankhamun and his lineage. The mood, created by Heffernan Morgan for the museum's Women's Board gala Saturday, married the fertile earth tones of the Nile with the opulent aesthetic of its inhabitants of centuries ago.

Gold-rich table settings, fresh palm trees and swags of royal blue fabric draped from the balcony in Stanley Field Hall helped illustrate the wonderment of the occasion: this Friday's opening of "Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs." The four-city touring exhibition, organized by National Geographic, Arts and Exhibitions International and AEG Exhibitions, features nearly 130 pieces from the royal tomb of King Tut and other graves in the Valley of the Kings.

One can imagine the first time the tomb's contents of semiprecious stones, gold, precious wood, glass and alabaster — discovered by English archaeologist Howard Carter in 1922 — gleamed brightly before the eyes of curious onlookers at the Cairo Museum, and then throughout the world between 1961 and 1981. The same amazement circulated at this event as attendees, equally stunning in their regal attire, talked of the exhibition's initial buzz in 1977 and now in 2006...

Tut and fans raise $1 million for Field, Chicago Sun-Times, Illinois, USA, May 24, 2006.

Chinese workers putting the finishing touches to a replica of an Egyptian sphinx in preparation for the opening of a park with an Egyptian theme in Beijing, China, Wednesday, May 24, 2006. China's booming economy is granting it increased access to the world's market and culture.

Egyptian theme in Beijing, Yahoo! News, USA, May 24, 2006.

In the Thousand and One Nights stories, Cairo is described as the Mother of the World – "Its dust is gold, its Nile is a wonder."

True. But the storyteller could have added that in summer's heat its air quality is like smoking a packet of cigarettes a day and the wonder is that more people aren't killed trying to cross the road.

More than 16 million people are crammed into Cairo's teeming backstreets. That's three times the population of London in an area almost half the size.

A million Cairenes hurtle around in cars of indeterminate origin, few of which run on unleaded petrol. With the result that Cairo has become one of the most polluted cities on Earth.

For three days I sat on my balcony in the Royal Nile Tower hotel watching feluccas (traditional sailing boats) and pleasure cruisers darting under bridges and zig-zagging across the banks of a timeless waterway. Then, on the fourth day, a slight breeze brushed away the polluted air... and there were the Pyramids...

TRAVEL: FUN OF THE PHARAOH, The Daily Mirror, UK, May 20, 2006.

The big King Tut exhibition comes rolling into Chicago on Friday.

"Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of Pharaohs" is at the Field Museum through Jan. 1 [2007]. It is the largest Tut show since a 1977 exhibition toured the world.

This show is bigger, but its artefacts are smaller and more diverse. Its coffins are miniature. Its gold treasures, while exquisite, are not the most important (Egypt no longer allows them out of the country). This show presents artefacts and stories from many pharaohs, not just Tut which may disappoint some but will fascinate others interested in seeing the Tut story in context...

Tut exhibit set to open in Chicago, Detroit Free Press, Michigan, USA, May 21, 2006.

cf. Wonders of Tut reign in Chicago, The Louisville Courier-Journal, Kentucky, USA, May 21, 2006.

cf. Return of the king, The Indianapolis Star, Indiana, USA, May 21, 2006.

Our next day's adventure began early again with a bus taking us to another dockside area in Aswan, where we boarded a motor boat for a short ride to the Island of Philae and its Temple of Isis. This site, like Abu Simbel, would have been flooded with completion of Aswan Dam, but also was moved in its entirety to another nearby island.

There, Wafa, our guide, regaled us with stories of the Egyptian gods — mythic and fascinating.

The Temple of Isis

The Temple of Isis on the Island of Philae was built as a place of worship in the fourth century B.C. by the Ptolemy pharaohs. Its entrance façade is made up of two massive towers with grand bas reliefs of the pharaohs and gods, and hieroglyphic descriptions of their exploits. You pass through a portal to a long courtyard with a colonnade, then into columned halls adorned with pictographs and hieroglyphics. I found it especially remarkable that each column had its own unique capital — that special design at the top of a column...

Nile cruise explores exotic sites, Ventura County Star, California, USA, May 21, 2006.

cf. Part 1: A view from the Nile: Treasures of the temples.