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.

The wait is finally over! The highly-anticipated Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs opens this Friday, May 26th [2006] at The Field Museum. To date, The Field Museum has sold more than 190,000 tickets to this blockbuster exhibition.

When the British archaeologist Howard Carter uncovered the remarkably preserved tomb of Tutankhamun in 1922, he created a worldwide sensation. When the boy king's riches toured the world in 1977, the term "blockbuster exhibition" was born. Now a new exhibition, Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs, offers visitors a chance to see new treasures and to enter the world that gives them meaning: 250 years that marked the pinnacle of ancient Egypt's culture, wealth, and imperial power.

Visitors to the new exhibition, twice the size of the 1977 exhibition, will have an even broader and deeper experience. The exhibition includes more than 130 ancient artefacts — of gold and silver, jewels and semi-precious stones, alabaster and gilded wood — excavated from the tomb of Tutankhamun and other royal tombs in the Valley of the Kings. Visitors will learn about life and death in ancient Egypt, and the intimate relationship between the two, as well as discover what the latest technologies reveal about how the young king may have died.

Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs is an exhibition from National Geographic. Organized by Arts and Exhibitions International and AEG Exhibitions in association with The Supreme Council of Antiquities of Egypt and The Field Museum. Tour Sponsor is Northern Trust. Chicago Sponsor is Exelon, Proud Parent of ComEd...

Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs, PRNewswire, USA, May 22, 2006.

For the first time ever audiences will descend down a narrow shaft beneath desert sands to enter a world untouched, and watch as Discovery Channel exclusively reveals the most significant find discovered in the Valley of the Kings in more than 80 years. Located less than 50 feet from the tomb of King Tutankhamun (KV62), the Discovery Quest expedition team of world-renowned archaeologists excavate and explore this new cache (KV63), unearthing coffins and delicate artefacts, sifting through intricate inscriptions and discovering unprecedented treasures when EGYPT'S NEW TOMB REVEALED premieres on Sunday, June 4 [2006] at 9 PM ET/PT.

Why is this tomb of painted coffins hidden in a chamber of solid rock in the Valley of the Kings? There are clues that is was used for embalming and it shares more than common real estate with that of the famed Tutankhamun. A seal with a faint inscription carries the word PA-ATEN, which an Egyptian expert believes is part of the former name given to Ankhesenamun, wife of Tutankhamun. Pieces of pottery found in the tomb match pottery in Tutankhamun's tomb. The painted facemasks on the coffins have also been dated to this period. This past February, KV63 was first discovered, sending shockwaves through the archaeological and scientific world.

Science will tell us the true identities of who is buried in the coffins. Only Discovery Channel provides exclusive first-time access to the unearthing of an Egyptian tomb, step by step from exploration to examination.

EGYPT'S NEW TOMB REVEALED is the first Discovery Quest project of 2006. As the premier provider of the highest-quality factual programming in the world, the Discovery Quest fund reaffirms Discovery Channel's commitment to support groundbreaking research and inventions that change our world. As part of this network initiative to support the scientific community's work, The Supreme Council of Antiquities has enabled Discovery to follow the University of Memphis' excavation...

Discovery Channel Presents Most Significant Find in Egypt's Valley of the Kings in More Than 80 Years in Dramatic World Premiere Exclusive, EGYPT'S NEW TOMB REVEALED Airing Sunday, June 4, PRNewswire, USA, May 22, 2006.

cf. Discovery Channel Announces EGYPT’S NEW TOMB REVEALED, Reality TV Website, USA, May 23, 2006.

Chicago-area residents will get a chance this Friday to experience the story of King Tutankhamen and the golden age of the pharaohs of ancient Egypt.

The exhibit at the Field Museum officially opens Friday, but NBC5's Bob Sirott took an early tour of the more than 100 artifacts from ancient kingdom's boy king. The exhibit will be at the Field Museum through the end of the year. Ticket prices range from $15 to $30.

"This discovery never happened in history," said Zahi Hawass, Egypt's secretary general of The Supreme Council of Antiquities. "Maybe this discovery will never be repeated..."

Ancient King Makes Return Royal Visit, NBC5, Illinois, USA, May 22, 2006.

Authorities have given the go-ahead for the underwater exploration of what appears to be a Roman city submerged in the Mediterranean, Egypt's top archaeologist said Monday.

Zahi Hawass said in a statement that an excavation team had found the ruins of the Roman city 20 miles (35 kilometres) east of the Suez Canal on Egypt's north coast.

Archaeologists have found buildings, bathrooms, ruins of a Roman fortress, ancient coins, bronze vases and pieces of pottery that all date back to the Roman era, the statement said. Egypt's Roman era lasted from 30 B.C. to A.D. 337...

Egypt OKs study of submerged city, Reuters via MSNBC, USA, May 22, 2006.

The 'Egyptian Week' event is back in Como, from 23 to 28 May [2006], displaying items and artefacts at the Archaeological Museum "Paolo Giovio" , donated by collector Alfonso Garovaglio . The collection consists of almost 1000 pieces, the most outstanding one being a sarcophagus dating back to the 9th century BC, which still holds a mummy, a priestess of god Amun, Isiuret. The casket of priestess Isiuret, with the mummy inside, was donated in 1819 by [the] Khedive of Egypt, Mohammed Ali, to Mr Baldassarre Valerio. The casket is actually a cartonnage envelopment: several strata wrapped directly around the mummy, and then painted accurately. It presupposed the presence of an outer casket, probably made of wood, never found. The casket was cut horizontally at the end of the 20th century: the mummy of Isiuret was completely wrapped up and tied with a 7-metre long linen thread. The sarcophagus decoration consists in several pictures of gods, with inscriptions asking for her protection. Isiuret, which means 'Isis the Great', was a priestess of god Amun, and carried out three important duties: "player of 'sistra for Amun", "singer of the Mut chorus"; "nurse of Khonsu".

MUSEUM. "EGYPTIAN WEEK" IN COMO WITH ISIURET SARCOPHAGUS, Agenzia Giornalistica Italia, Italy, May 19, 2006.

The Discovery Channel has announced that on June 4, 2006 at 9:00pm EST they will be airing a special on KV63 called "7 Coffins". I tried to verify by searching Discovery.com, but found no mention. Check your local listings.

Roxanne Wilson is inflight from Luxor, Egypt and will arrive home tomorrow. I expect that she will have new info and photos for the KV-63 site.

KV63, Bill Wilson, Webmaster, KV63 Official website, May 21, 2006.

It's the oldest of cold cases: A girl's death 2,200 years ago. Can modern technology explain it?

When she was rediscovered three decades ago, in a darkened storage area at Philadelphia's Academy of Natural Sciences, she caused a bit of a sensation.

Lying in a plain wooden crate was an Egyptian mummy, her gilded death mask undimmed by the passage of centuries.

The Egyptian government had restricted the export of such artefacts decades earlier, so the appearance in 1977 of a "new" one outside the country drew some interest.

X-rays taken at the time led researchers to identify the body tentatively as that of a 14-year-old girl.

But mysteries remained. When did she live, and where? How did she die? Might her dusty linen wrappings hold any clues as to her place in society, or the customs of her time?

In short, who was she?

Now, almost 30 years after the mummy was first rediscovered, new clues are starting to emerge...

There is a nice slideshow attached to this article also.

Mummy Mystery, The Philadelphia Enquirer, Pennsylvania, USA, May 22, 2006.

cf. Akhmim Mummy Studies Consortium.

An archaeological mission searching for sunken treasures in the Red sea of the Mediterranean has discovered a castle dating back to the Roman era.

The castle was discovered off the shores of the northern city of Arish, the first find of its kind in the area.

The castle was lying 30 metres beneath the water surface.

Roman castle dating back to roman era discovered, Egypt State Information Service, Egypt, May 22, 2006.

Pieced together from dozens of works of art and hieroglyphic texts carved between 1479 and 1458 B.C., the story of Hatshepsut, the princess who was crowned as a king, reads like a Shakespearean plot. It is the subject of an admirable show on view at the Metropolitan Museum of Art until July 9 [2006], punctuated by some of the most breathtaking masterpieces of Egyptian art.

Few apart from Egyptologists had heard the name "Hatshepsut," which narrowly escaped erasure from history when systematic havoc was wreaked about 20 years after her death on the statues immortalizing her strikingly beautiful features.

History sheds no light on the enigma. In the remarkable exhibition book Hatshepsut: From Queen to Pharaoh — edited by Catherine Roehrig, Renee Dreyfus and Cathleen Keller — Ann Macy Roth in her essay on Hatshepsut's predecessors notes that the king in ancient Egypt was seen as a manifestation of the male god Horus. He therefore had to be hailed as a man - which did not preclude women from ruling. Princesses had already exercised power as the "King's Mother." Two queens in the Old Kingdom, both named Khentkawes, associated this title with the phrase "King of Upper and Lower Egypt..."

The Egyptian princess who was king, International Herald Tribune, France, May 19, 2006.

An exhibition for Tutankhamen monuments will be held in the US city of Chicago on May 21 [2006], after a tour by the exhibition of a number of European and American cities including the Swiss city of Basel and the German city of Bonn.

The exhibition, which also moved to Los Angeles and Colorado as part of a two-year tour ending late next year, would achieve returns estimated at $20 million .

Dr. Zahi Hawass, Secretary-General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, said Minister of Culture Farouk Hosni approved the travel of an archaeological delegation under his chairmanship to open the exhibition.

Hawass said the exhibition returns will be used to renovate Egypt's monuments and establish museums.

Tutankhamen Antiquities Exhibition in US harvest $20M, Egypt State Information Service, Egypt, May 18, 2006.

Back in 1998, with help from prominent local donors, the St. Louis Museum of Art cobbled together $499,000 to buy a beautiful ancient Egyptian burial mask. The piece, one of the gems of the museum's collection, recently became controversial when the Egyptian government demanded its return, contending it had been stolen from a warehouse in the late 1980s or early 1990s.

"We regard this as a very serious charge," says Brent Benjamin, the museum's director. "We've spoken with [Egyptian authorities] and asked them to provide documentation. We'll make a disposition based on the facts."

The case is one of many indications that the scandals in the antiquities trade are far from over. Indeed, high-profile disputes have hit the headlines recently. New York's Metropolitan Museum — without admitting fault — agreed to return 21 artefacts that the Italian government alleges were stolen. Marion True, former antiquities curator at Los Angeles' Getty Museum, is on trial in Italy on charges of conspiracy to traffic in antiquities...

Hey, That's Our Art!, Business Week, USA, May 16, 2006.

For the next five months Berliners can dive to the Mediterranean seabed and explore the submerged world of ancient Egypt. Nevine El-Aref reports from the German capital on the influx of visitors to the Egypt's sunken treasures exhibition.

Against the 19th-century colonnaded façade of the Martin Gropius-Bau Museum, smiling girls wearing costumes modelled on those of ancient Amarna and with gilded cobra crowns on their heads greet visitors to Berlin's “Egypt’s Sunken Treasures” exhibition, which opened last week. In this innovative scenario visitors can enjoy the lost treasures of the Pharaohs which have lain underwater off the Alexandria coast for more than 1,500 years.

With the strains of classical music interrupted from time to time by the echo of waves, the aura of the Mediterranean Sea is everywhere apparent. French Art director David Delice has converted the Martin Gropius-Bau Museum's galleries into a replica of the ancient sunken cities of Herakleion and Canopus in Abu Qir Bay, near Alexandria. The walls and floors of the galleries are covered with a black sparkling material to reflect sea water, while the sound of the waves can be heard in all parts of the exhibition. Enormous colossi are shown against black wooden panels, while small artefacts are displayed inside very fine plexiglass showcases lying on black granite bases. Giant plasma screens showing films documenting the progress of the marine archaeologists as they uncovered the mysteries of Alexandria's ancient Eastern Harbour are also placed in each gallery of the exhibition. A prologue and an epilogue provide information about the underwater missions of the Institut Européen d'Archéologie Sous-Marine (IEASM) and the natural disasters that led to the submergence of the area more than 1,500 years ago. Audio-visual technology and visual effects are used to invoke the Mediterranean ambiance from which the antiquities were retrieved...

Taking a plunge, Al-Ahram, Egypt, Issue No. 795, May 18 - 24, 2006.

An Egyptian geologist who has joined Bosnian researchers unearthing what are thought to be Europe's first pyramids believes they bear similar hallmarks to the ancient structures in his homeland, an official said on Wednesday.

Aly Abd Alla Barakat, of the Egyptian Mineral Resources Authority, believes large stone blocks found near Sarajevo were man-made and polished in the same way as the pyramids of Giza, said the Bosnian Pyramid Foundation's Mario Gerussi.

"Barakat has also found the presence of a special material linking the stone blocks which is identical to that used for pyramids in Giza," he added.

Barakat had extensive knowledge of the pyramids in Giza and had been recommended for the Bosnian mission by Zahi Hawass, one of the world's foremost Egyptologists, said Gerussi...

Click on the image above to see ten images from the Yahoo! News Anthropology & Archaeology slideshow.

Bosnian pyramids bear Giza hallmarks - expert, AFP via Independent Online, South Africa, May 18, 2006.

cf. Egyptian Geologist: Bosnian 'Pyramid' Likely Man-Made, AP via FOX News, USA, May 17, 2006.

Zahi Hawass, the Secretary General of Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA), said a deadline for a US museum to turn over an ancient mask in its collection ended Tuesday 16/05/2006.

The mask was stolen and smuggled illegally out of the country. At a press conference, Hawass said Egypt's Attorney General office is to take legal action against the St. Louis Art Museum after having given the museum an ultimatum to hand over the 19th dynasty (1307-1196 BC) mask of Ka-nefer-nefer.

Egypt will also seek the Interpol's aid to help restore the mummy mask he added.

Egyptologist Zakaria Goneim excavated the mask in the Saqqara area some 25 Kilometres (16 miles) south of Cairo in 1952 and registered the artefact.

It depicts a young woman with inlaid glass eyes and a gold-coated face wearing a wig and holding a wooden amulet in each hand.

SCA to take legal action to retrieve mask, Egypt State Information Service, Egypt, May 17, 2006.

Egypt's Grand Mufti Ali Gomaa, the country's top Muslim religious authority, last month issued a religious ruling, or fatwa, condemning the display of statues in Egypt.

Gomaa said he based the edict on texts in the Hadith, a record of the sayings or customs of the Prophet Muhammad and his companions. The hadith declare the exhibition of statues in homes to be un-Islamic.

The fatwa did not specifically mention statues in museums or public places. But many academics and art lovers were outraged.

Critics say the ruling could encourage militant Muslims to attack Egypt's thousands of ancient statues, which are a mainstay of the country's tourist industry.

Others point out that the religious edict has no legal authority, as far as the Egyptian government is concerned...

Egypt Monuments Endangered by Muslim Ruling?, National Geographic News, District of Columbia, USA, May 12, 2006.

Egypt is the Nile. It is its past and its future. Without the great river, even today, the country would drift away under the sands of the Sahara. The Nile, the longest river in the world, travels 4,160 miles [6,695 kilometres] from its source at Lake Victoria, through Egypt, and into the Mediterranean. The Greek name for the Nile was Aigyptos — hence the name "Egypt."

My trip to Egypt began in Cairo with visits to the Great Pyramids at Giza. But any holiday to Egypt would be incomplete without experiencing the Nile.

The sites on the Nile have been tourist attractions for more than 2,000 years. Alexander the Great was a tourist. It was a vacation spot for ancient Greeks and Romans. Napoleon rediscovered Egypt for the Western world, returning from his campaigns there with relics of the pharaohs. In the 19th century, there was a virtual Egypt mania for tourists, archaeologists and artists from England, France and Italy. Today, a flotilla of luxurious riverboat hotels sits ready to transport new tourists up and down the great river and into Egypt's past, to experience the greatest archaeological theme park in the world.

Our flight from Cairo to Aswan was about 75 minutes. There, we boarded a small ferry to Isis Island Hotel, a modern 447-bed hotel on Elephantine Island in the middle of the river with a view of Aswan city...

A view from the Nile: Treasures of the temples, Ventura County Star, California, USA, May 14, 2006.

Alexandria Library managed to reach the finals of the Stockholm Challenge 2006 via its project on Digitisation of "Description de l'Egypte".

The Stockholm Challenge is a well established global networking programme for Information and Communication Technology (ICT) entrepreneurs for over ten years. It continues to be a leader in demonstrating how information technology can improve living conditions and increase economic growth in all parts of the world.

One of the main features of the Stockholm Challenge is the ICT prize, the Stockholm Challenge Award, which has attracted over 3,000 projects over the years.

The valuable collection of Description de l'Egypte containing text and images related to antiquities, natural history, and the modern states of Egypt, has been fully digitized, digitally restored, and integrated on a virtual browser with the objective of preserving it and making it publicly available...

Alexandria Library's project on Stockholm challenge 2006, Egypt State Information Service, Egypt, May 17, 2006.

The smile of Ka Nefer Nefer is thin, intimate, knowing, a little like the Mona Lisa’s.

The unknown artist who shaped Nefer’s funerary mask about 3,200 years ago had a deft touch.

His mask of the lady Nefer is a minor masterpiece — which is why it has caused an international art squabble, one of many shaking display cases of museums around the world.

One of those cases is in the St. Louis Art Museum, located between two mummies on the first floor. It is where the memory of Nefer lives on.

But Zahi Hawass, the stocky Egyptian version of Indiana Jones — complete with trademark hat — wants her to come home. Now...

Loot or legit? Artefact sets off fuss, Kansas City Star, Texas, USA, May 17, 2006.

After months of intense pressure, the director of Los Angeles' J. Paul Getty Museum agreed Tuesday to recommend to the museum's board to return ancient artefacts in its collections that Greece claims were illegally spirited out of the country.

The agreement was struck as museums come under increasing pressure from countries with rich archaeological pasts to return artefacts of potentially dubious provenance.

It also raised the possibility that Greece may now go after other U.S. museums that own ancient Greek artefacts.

Under the agreement, Getty Museum director Michael Brand will recommend to the museum's Board of Trustees the return of some of the four antiquities wanted by Greece...

Getty Museum director to recommend return, The Boston Globe, Massachusetts, USA, May 16, 2006.

An Egyptian geologist and pyramid expert has said he supports the controversial claim of the existence of unexcavated ancient pyramids near the central Bosnian town of Visoko, it was confirmed Wednesday.

Aly Abd Alla Barakat of the Cairo-based Egyptian Mineral Resource Authority recently came to Bosnia to assist local researchers in looking for the alleged pyramids in Visoko, some 30 kilometres north of the Bosnian capital, discovered a year ago by a Sarajevo-born American Semir Osmanagic...

... An expert who built his experience in geological researches of famous Egyptian pyramids in Giza, Barakat was recommended to researchers by the world's leading Egyptologist Zahi Hawass, said Mario Gerussi of the Bosnian Pyramid Foundation...

Egyptian geologist backs claim of pyramids in Bosnia, Monsters & Critics, UK, May 17, 2006.

For more on the controversy surrounding this discovery see this latest article from the New Yrok Times.

... It's not just any pyramid," [Osmanagic] said from beneath his flat-crowned Navajo hat, which has led the local press to liken him to Indiana Jones. "It's the biggest pyramid in the world."

Archaeologists and historians inside and outside Bosnia are appalled, insisting it is simply a peculiarly symmetrical bit of geology. But pyramid fever is spreading through the country. Largely uncritical television and newspaper reports have made the photogenic Mr. Osmanagic a national celebrity, and volunteers are flocking to Visoko hoping to help uncover the Pyramid of the Sun, a prehistoric edifice that will redeem the country by giving it a glorious and important past...

Some See a 'Pyramid' to Hone Bosnia's Image. Others See a Big Hill., New Yrok Times, New York, USA, May 15, 2006.

Skeletal remains suggest conquered Nubians participated in governance of colonized state In approximately 1550 B.C., Egypt conquered its southern neighbour, ancient Nubia, and secured control of valuable trade routes. But rather than excluding the colonized people from management of the region, new evidence from an archaeological site on the Nile reveals that Egyptian immigrants shared administrative responsibilities for ruling this large province with native Nubians.

"The study of culture contact in the past has conventionally used ideas of unidirectional change and modification of a subordinate population by a socially dominant group. The idea that authoritarian European powers forced changes in submissive native cultures dominated this work," explains Michele R. Buzon (University of Alberta). "However, more recent research has re-evaluated these traditional notions and suggests that this model might not be appropriate for all situations of culture contact."

Through an examination of the archaeological site of Tombos, a strategic point of control in Egyptian-controlled Nubia, Buzon sought to determine whether the people buried in a colonial cemetery were immigrants from Egypt or Nubians who had adopted Egyptian practices...

Ancient tomb sheds new light on Egyptian colonialism, EurekAlert, USA, May 17, 2006.

Egypt's chief archaeologist Zahi Hawass asked state attorneys on Tuesday to sue the Saint Louis Art Museum in the United States to regain possession of a 3,200-year-old mask from the Pharaonic era that was allegedly stolen.

"All the measures will be taken" to bring the mummy mask back to Egypt, Hawass told The Associated Press.

The prosecutor general's office could not be reached late Tuesday. Hawass, the secretary general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, said he would also be writing to Interpol and the U.S. State Department "to ask them to intercede to bring back the mask."

"I have the evidence that this mask was stolen," Hawass said in English...

Egypt to sue museum for mummy mask, AP via CNN, USA, May 16, 2006.

cf. Egypt to go to court in US to secure return of ancient mask, dpa via Monster & Critics, UK, May 16, 2006.

Soji Eze Fagbemi, who was in Cairo, Egyptian capital, for the 4th All Ordinary Session of Labour and Social Affairs Commission, writes on how the body of King Ramses, the 19th dynasty Pharaoh of Egypt, as well as the bodies of other pharaohs before and after him still ‘live’ in Egyptian museum over 5000 years after their deaths.

It may sound unbelievable, but it is real. The story of mummification in Egypt and the sight of mummies would make the strongest man and renown scientists freeze under intense sun. To the people of Egypt, it is known as mummification, but to ordinary people, and in common language, it is embalmment. But the Egyptian mummification, though over 5000 years, is a more advanced way of embalmment. Cairo is better tagged as the city of kings and dynasties because its significant history is replete with those of kings, especially the Pharaoh. Going by history and tradition, Cairo, perhaps, is qualified to be the capital of the world.

“I am very, very happy ! Walahi ! I am happy”. This was the remark of Nigeria’s Minister of Labour and Productivity, Dr Hassan Lawal, as he stepped out of the magnificent historical Egyptian museum. Dr Lawal was expressing his deep feelings on what he had seen at the museum with his colleagues (ministers) from other African countries and his friends shortly after the tour of historical places in Cairo capital...

Egyptian Museum where 5,000-year-old remains of Pharaoh lay, The Nigerian Tribune, Nigeria, May 17, 2006.

The St. Louis Art Museum will keep a 3,200-year-old mummy mask unless it gets more proof that it belongs to Egypt.

The museum won't meet a Monday deadline set by Egyptian antiquities authorities to return the mask, museum director Brent Benjamin said Friday. He noted that the Supreme Council of Antiquities never officially gave the museum a deadline.

Zahi Hawass, secretary general for the Supreme Council of Antiquities in Egypt, said that the mummy mask was probably stolen before it was obtained by the art museum in 1998.

"Nothing that we have seen to this date supports his claim," Benjamin said.

Hawass gave the museum some documentation, including a register that recorded the burial mask of Ka Nefer Nefer being sent to the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, Egypt, in 1959.

Hawass has been critical of the museum for not returning the mask and has threatened to turn the dispute over to authorities. He also has threatened to tarnish the museum's reputation...

Four photographs, two of the mask in question and two of Brent Benjamin at the press conference on Friday, can be found on Yahoo! News' Anthropology & Archaeology slideshow.

St. Louis museum refuses to return Egyptian mask, AP via Deseret News, Utah, USA, May 14, 2006.

cf. Art museum keeping 3,200-year-old mask, AP via Knoxville News Sentinel, Tennessee, USA, May 14, 2006.

The St. Louis Art Museum has refused to meet a Monday deadline for returning a mummy mask to Egypt.

At a Friday press conference, museum director Brent Benjamin called upon Zahi Hawass, secretary general of Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities, to "provide documentation substantiating his claim that the mask was stolen – or to cease his attacks on the St. Louis Art Museum."

In a letter dated Feb. 14 [2006], Hawass charged that the 3,200-year-old mask was illegally taken in the early 1990s from a storage facility near the site of its excavation, and he demanded that the process of returning it start within two weeks.

Hawass later changed his deadline for the mask's return to Monday. The museum maintains that it has not received any communication from him setting a date. He did not reply to a Post-Dispatch request for comment...

U.S. museum rejects deadline for returning mummy mask to Egypt, The Charlotte Observer, North Carolina, USA, May 12, 2006.

cf. Museum refuses to return mask, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Missouri, USA, May 13, 2006.

cf. Museum refuses to return mask, The Barre Montpelier Times-Argus, Vermont, USA, May 13, 2006.

cf. Egyptian complains of antiquity inequity, Columbia Daily Tribune, Missouri, USA, May 13, 2006.

Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul-Gheit on Monday attended during his visit to Japan the signing ceremony of an Egyptian-Japanese agreement to establish the National Grand Museum.

Under the agreement, Japan will grant Egypt a soft loan of $300 million and provide the technical know-how to establish the museum, the Foreign Ministry said in a press release.

The museum's construction is expected to complete by 2011 to be the largest museum in the world.

Assistant Foreign Minister for Asian Affairs Ali el-Hanafi signed for Egypt's side, while Kyosuke Shinozawa, the governor of Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC), signed for the Japanese.

The museum is the brainchild of Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, when he visited Egypt in 2003...

Egypt, Japan sign agreement to establish National Grand Museum, Egypt State Information Service, Egypt, May 16, 2006.

An archaeological mission belonging to the Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA) announced the discovery of 36 tombs dating back to the pre-history era.

Dr. Zahi Hawass, Secretary-General of SCA said that the mission unearthed the tombs during an archaeological survey in Ain Hadra and Abul Rdeis, central Sinai.

Key archaeological finds in Sinai, Egypt State Information Service, Egypt, May 16, 2006.

It was the most famous archaeological find of all time, but still it holds secrets that have yet to be unravelled. Now Oxford scholars are preparing to post the notes, diaries, drawings and photographs from the 1922 excavation of the tomb of King Tutankhamun on the internet in an attempt to study it completely.

Howard Carter and his patron, Lord Carnarvon, first opened a mysterious doorway in the Valley of the Kings in Egypt 84 years ago and established an unknown boy king who died 3,500 years ago as one of the most famous faces in the world. Research at the tomb continued for eight years up to 1930. But most of the thousands of objects have never been properly studied, and most of the documentation has remained locked in archives in Oxford...

From then, research progress has been slow, Dr Jaromir Malek, of the Griffith Institute in Oxford, told a Bloomsbury Academy conference in London last Saturday. "We came to the conclusion that probably 20% of the material had been properly published, and if the current rate of progress was going to continue it would probably take another 200 years," he said...

Tutankhamun's mysteries to be put online, The Guardian, UK, May 15, 2006.

President Hosni Mubarak and his German counterpart Hoerst Koehler opened in Berlin on Thursday Egypt's Sunken Treasures exhibition.

The opening was attended by various top officials, public I figures and personalities interested in Egyptology.

Mrs. Mubarak, Mrs. Koehler and Higher Council of Antiquities Chairman Zahi Hawass were present at the inauguration ceremony.

Some 489 breathtaking artefacts retrieved from the Mediterranean Sea in Alexandria are being exhibited in 18 halls and more than 100 display cases...

Yay! I have finally got around to updating my scraper to the new format State Information Services site. What is it? Six months perhaps?

Mubarak, Koehler open Egypt's sunken treasures exhibit, Egypt State Information Service, Egypt, May 12, 2006.

The Bodrum Underwater Research Institute's Conservation Centre launched an initiative on Monday to display the region's underwater archaeological wealth, which has so far been stored in warehouses.

The discoveries were unearthed from sunken ships located off the Aegean and Mediterranean costs and will be displayed following cleaning, conservation and restoration.

Speaking at the event Bodrum Underwater Research Institute Chairman Tufan Turanli said work on several artefacts from a 3,300-year-old Uluburun Late Bronze Age shipwreck — considered to be one of the 20th century's most significant archaeological finds — is still continuing...

He also said a 3,300-year-old seal believed to have belonged to Egyptian Queen Nefertiti will be on display...

If you are visiting Bodrum do not forget to visit the Mausoleum of Maussollos at Halicarnassus (i.e. ancient Bodrum), one of the seven wonders of the ancient world.

Turkey's underwater archaeological wealth to be unveiled in Bodrum, Turkish Daily News, Turkey, may 10, 2006.

A large section of Yarmouth's beach is to be transformed this summer into giant sand sculptures on the theme of Ancient Greece.

Sixty leading sand sculptors will be jetting in to work on the £1m project, which will take nearly three weeks to complete.

Five thousand tons of special river sand are being brought through the port of Yarmouth from Holland to build sculptures up to 9m high.

Dutch company Sculpture Events Factory International is budgeting on at least 200,000 visitors paying to see the sculptures on a football pitch-sized area behind the Marina Centre.

It is only the second time the Eindhoven-based firm has worked in the UK, the first occasion being last year's successful sand festival in Brighton which had an Ancient Egypt theme...

Sand sculpture coup for town 'brilliant', EDP 24, UK, May 10, 2006.

cf. Last year's post about the Brighton event: Wonders of Egypt created in sand.

Belgian Egyptologist Jacques Kinnaer created this Web site with pictures and clickable maps of the treasures of ancient Egypt.

His updates detail the continued uncovering of archaeological artefacts, such as the recent discovery of a pre-dynastic brewery in the Nile Delta.

www.ancient-egypt.org.

A look at an ancient civilization, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Texas, USA, May 06, 2006.

Do we have to wait for overseas protests so that we get our act together? Asks Samir Raafat.

To date, laws and regulations defining a historic building or landmark remain equivocal, which makes it all the easier for developers to pursue their mission to fill up the city with concrete structures. Moreover, the absence of a Commission for Historical and Architectural Preservation (CHAP) is translated into the accelerated disappearance of historic neighbourhoods and sites across the nation. Which is why many are demanding that our government-appointed city mayors actively intervene to preserve our historic neighbourhoods.

Take the neighbourhood of Garden City, for example, or what's left of it. Here's a story that can be told elsewhere in Cairo. It is the story of an upper middle-class elite who sought to balance their middle-class sensitivities with their patriotic political convictions. The last Ottomans in Egypt nicknamed it Beyoglou (sons of beys) a reminder of a comparable Istanbul district on the shores of the Bosporus, where the privileged dreamt of a modern independent Turkey. While Beyoglou's landmarks are still around, Garden City's are disappearing.

The story of Garden City was also the story of a state in the making. Architects, musicians, politicians, educators, ideologues, judges and many of the most prominent figures of the pre-republican era lived there, leaving their ephemeral mark on Egyptian society as they walked along its shady winding streets admiring the district's eclectic architecture...

Preserving our Historic Neighbourhoods, Al-Ahram, Egypt, Issue No. 794, May 11 - 17, 2006.

President Hosni Mubarak joins German President Horst Köhler today to inaugurate the exhibition Egypt's Sunken Treasures. Nevine El-Aref reports from Berlin.

The streets of Berlin, its shops, airport, train stations, buses and hotels are plastered with posters of granite colossi of the goddess Isis, the Nile god Hapi, Ptolemaic royal figures and the head of Caesarion, Cleopatra's son by Julius Caesar, half buried in the seabed. Magazine covers show divers face to face with monuments beneath the waves, while photographs of objects from Napoleon's sunken fleet dominate the front pages of newspapers. Berlin, it sometimes feels, has been cast beneath the spell of sunken treasure.

At the Martin-Gropius-Bau Museum, where an exhibition of 489 objects excavated from beneath the Mediterranean is today inaugurated by the Egyptian and German presidents, enormous care has been taken in recreating the Alexandrian theme. The central courtyard connecting the 16 rooms of the exhibition is designed to resemble the sunken cities of Heracleion and Canopus in Abu Qir Bay, while in the galleries the echoing sound of waves accompanies visitors to the exhibition. Giant plasma screens show films documenting the progress of marine archaeologists as they uncover the mysteries of Alexandria's ancient Eastern Harbour.

A prologue and an epilogue provide information about the underwater missions of the Institut Européan d'Archéologie Sous-Marine (IEASM) and the natural disasters that led to the submergence of the area more than 1,000 years ago...

Mysteries of the deep, Al-Ahram, Egypt, Issue No. 794, May 11 - 17, 2006.

St. Louis Art Museum officials strategised with their attorney into the night Thursday about how to respond to the Egyptian government's demands that the museum return an ancient mummy mask by Monday.

The museum has called a press conference at 9:30 a.m. today to announce its response.

Earlier this month, Zahi Hawass, secretary general of Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities, told the Post-Dispatch and other media that he sent a letter demanding the 3,200-year-old mask's return by Monday. He did not reply to a Post-Dispatch request for comment late Thursday.

The museum said Thursday that it had not received any communication from Hawass setting a date...

Art Museum weighs Egypt's demand for mask, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Missouri, USA, May 11, 2006.

A $9 million facelift has Pharaoh’s Lost Kingdom Adventure Park roaring again.

Backed by a pair of new partners, Aryana Group and Braswells, the amusement park in Redlands off Interstate 10 has banked that its new make-over can attract the interest of youth and adults through its Egyptian-oriented gates.

“We’re in the process of a renovation and improving the park overall,” said Ken Kowalski, vice president of advertising and marketing management for Pharaoh’s Lost Kingdom...

Pharaoh’s resuscitated, Highland Community News, California, USA, May 11, 2006.

You’ll be able to journey to ancient Egypt without leaving the country when King Tut and his treasures arrive in Chicago for an exhibit at the Field Museum from May 26 [2006] through Jan. 1 [2007].

The exhibit has had two very successful runs in Los Angeles County Museum of Art and the Museum of Art Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and will travel to the Franklin Institute Philadelphia in 2007, completing its American tour.

Field Museum has sold nearly 170,000 advance tickets, according to its Web site, www.fieldmuseum.org...

Treasures of Tut to shine in Chicago, Canton Repository, Ohio, USA, May 11, 2006.

Those lips, those eyes, that perfect nose and flawless skin:

It's Tut.

Or is it?

As the Field Museum Tuesday began installing its Tutankhamun exhibit, which opens May 26, officials showed reporters one of the show's 130 items, a wood and plaster bust of the boy king.

That's a good lookin' kid.

But it's not how Tut actually looked, experts say...

Tutankhamun show unmasks king, Chicago Sun-Times, California, USA, May 10, 2006.

Traces of pollutant lead found in harbour sediments have revealed that Alexander the Great did not found the Egyptian city of Alexandria — he just rebranded it.

One of antiquity’s most opulent economic and cultural centres, Alexandria is named after the Macedonian emperor Alexander the Great, who was believed to have ordered its construction on the western branch of the Nile River in 331 B.C.

But new geochemical data, published by Alain Véron from the Paul Cézanne University in Aix-en-Provence, France, and colleagues in the current issue of Geophysical Research Letters, revealed that this part of the Nile was settled 4,500 years ago, more than two millennia before Alexander's arrival...

Sediments Reveal Alexandria's Hidden History, Discovery Channel News, USA, May 11, 2006.

The lost world of Cleopatra’s palaces has been dug out of the muddy Mediterranean sea bed by a man dubbed the Underwater Indiana Jones.

The results of Franck Goddio’s excavations, comprising 500 priceless finds that shed light on 1,500 years of ancient history, will be put on public view today for the first time.

President Mubarak of Egypt will open the exhibition in Berlin, and it will later transfer to Paris and London and eventually to a specially prepared site in Egypt...

... The exhibition [of “Egypt's Sunken Treasures” (Ägyptens versunkene Schätze)] at the Martin-Gropius-Bau, a converted Kaiser-era palace near the former Berlin Wall, will be open until September 4 [2006].

That's the first time I've seen London mentioned!

Ten photographs can be found on Yahoo's Anthropology & Archaeology slideshow.

Cleopatra's gems rise from the deep, The Times, UK, May 11, 2006.

cf. PORTRÄT FRANCK GODDIO , Spiegel, Germany, May 10, 2006.

More on the goings on at the Getty. This one being about an Italian claim for a ancient Greek bronze statue that left the country illegally after being netted by an Italian fishing trawler in international waters.

... The statue depicts a young athlete. Remnants of flax found in its core suggest that it was made in the ancient Greek city of Olympia, where the grain grew abundantly, said Carol Mattusch, an expert in Greek bronzes at George Mason University in Virginia.

Several experts have concluded that the statue is perhaps one of dozens depicting Olympic victors that Lysippos, the personal sculptor of Alexander the Great, created to line the pathways of the birthplace of the games. But proving that Lysippos was the artist may not be possible, Mattusch and others say. If Lysippos did sculpt the statue, it is the only one of his 1,500 works thought to have survived. His craftsmanship is known today only through several Roman copies of his work...

... When, in March 1989, Italian authorities requested that the bronze be returned, Getty Museum director John Walsh replied that the request was an "unwelcome surprise." The statue has "little possibility of being related to Italian cultural heritage," he wrote, and only a "tenuous relation" to Italy's patrimony.

When Italy renewed its demand in 1996, Getty antiquities curator Marion True said it was "not realistic" for Italy to think the bronze would be returned, noting that the statute of limitations for a claim had expired...

The Amazing Catch They Let Slip Away, Los Angeles Times, California, USA, May 11, 2006.

A 10-year-old fourth-grader finally got to show students her science fair project Tuesday.

Whitney Ingraham's project on the mummification of pigs was deemed too graphic for the science fair at her Colorado Springs elementary school, but school officials finally let her show it to high school students.

Ingraham, an avid reader on life in ancient Egypt got the OK for the project from Stetson Elementary School officials, but when they saw the finished result, they thought it was not appropriate for elementary school audiences...

Ingraham had used dead piglets that a butcher discovered in a sow and used mummification techniques used by Egyptians to preserve the piglets. That included removing the tiny organs herself and pulling the brains out of the animals with a hook through the nose — the same way humans were mummified thousands of years ago...

Fourth-Grader's Mummified Pig Project Creates Controversy, ABC 7 News Denver, Colorado, USA, May 10, 2006.

Someone in America is offering the curse of King Tutankhamun for sale on eBay...

... In addition to working with other Englishmen and Americans, a lot of the actual excavation and digging was conducted by local laborers. One of these laborers, an Egyptian by the name of Ali Salameh, was a friend of my great grandfather's. During earlier excavations, Ali was one of the men in the group of people passing rocks and debris taken from the Pharaoh's tomb in order to clear the passage for entrance. Ali saved a handful of rocks while clearing the broken seal of Tutankhamun's tomb as a good luck talisman. In the winter of 1923, when my great grandfather was visiting Ali, he learned of the rocks, and showed great interest in them. As it customary in the Middle East, one always gives up what's theirs for their good friends, so Ali presented the stones (enclosed within a glass jar) to my great grandfather. Ever since, these rocks became a family relic that has been passed down, along with this story, to my grandfather, then myself. When I got it, I was strictly warned: "This is a double edged sword; it brings good luck when closed, but can bring grave misfortunes when opened - never open it..."

Curse of the Mummy of Egyptian Pharaoh Tutankhamun, eBay, USA.

Thanks to Naissur Bara for tipping me off about this one.

Did daily life in Ancient Egypt involve rush hour panics to get to the pyramid building site, or protests over asses being exploited for their milk?

Those questions may be answered at Land of the Pharaohs, a new exhibition at the Atkinson Art Gallery beginning Monday, May 15 [2006].

The interactive display will show how people lived, and what they did to help them through everyday life, as well as the afterlife when it approached.

Museums from across the North West have donated exhibits to the display, complementing the Atkinson's existing collection.

Land of the Pharaohs runs until Saturday, July 22 [2006]. Admission is free.

Ancient Egyptian life in focus, icLiverpool, UK, May 05, 2006.

From time immemorial, tourists from Pliny the Elder to Napoleon Bonaparte have arrived at Giza's great pyramids only to be confronted in their majestic shadows by cries of "My friend! My friend!" from hoards of irritating, persistent camel touts intent on selling them a ride on their ungainly "ships of the desert." It's among every visitor's top 10 complaints about the country...

From the moment your taxi pulls onto the stretch of chaotic highway leading to the pyramids, you're a sitting target. Multitudes of teenage boys, employed by nearby stables, waylay taxi drivers, hammering on the hoods of cars and sticking their heads through open windows. "You need camel? Cheap price. Pay us, and entry to pyramids free!" This, of course, is one of the oldest scams in the book. And the assault by the touts, tricksters, and pushy salesmen continues up the steep hill to the pyramids' ticket office.

The camel touts who do infiltrate the fenced pyramids enclosure itself — a core group of around 20, comprised mostly of friends and family allegiances — are not as pushy as their sharkish counterparts outside. They work alone, sidling in and dotting themselves about the foot of the great Cheops Pyramid...

But smart white-suited tourist police, also mounted on camels, won't tolerate such solicitation, and thus repeat one curious ritual from dawn to dusk. Every half hour or so, a policeman spurs his snoozing steed into action, and lollops around the pyramid's base, chasing the touts away. The touts' camels reel and totter on their huge, two-toed feet, before breaking into an ungainly sprint as they disappear behind the nearest sandbank in a cloud of dust. Minutes later, they reappear and it all begins again...

The camel tout is as eternal as the pyramids, Christian Science Monitor, Massachusetts, USA, May 08, 2006.

Mrs. Suzanne Mubarak and Mrs. Bernadette Chirac, co-inaugurated Amenhotep Museum at Saqqara area...

New Treasure uncovered in Karnak temple...

Egyptian antiquarian among "People who Shape our World" list...

News about Antiquities from Egypt 06, TravelVideo.TV, Ontario, Canada, May 09, 2006.

He made a huge splash when he visited Chicago in 1977, then we didn't hear from him for more than three decades.

But now, King Tut is back and, to hear Field Museum curators tell it, he's not getting older, he's getting better.

The "Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of Pharaohs" exhibition comes to Chicago later this month, 31 years after the Boy King's first visit caused a citywide frenzy. The display includes more than 130 priceless treasures from the tombs of the young ruler and his royal relatives.

Only a few pieces on the current tour were included in the 1977 blockbuster exhibit. Many have never left Egypt...

Tut II — Return of the king, The Chicago Daily Herald, Illinois, USA, May 10, 2006.

Officials at Chicago's Field Museum say they've already sold 170,000 advance tickets to the exhibit "Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs."

It opens May 26 [2006] and runs through January 1 [2007].

Workers put the first artefact into place Tuesday. The nearly life-sized, painted wooden model of Tutankhamun was discovered in Egypt in the tomb of the boy king in the 1920s.

"There are CAT scans, reproductions of what his skull probably looked like, and then you get to see the real individual," said David Silverman, curator of Egyptology of the University of Pennsylvania...

You can find three photographs of the workers setting up the exhibition on Yahoo's Anthropology & Archaeology slideshow.

Museum: 170,000 King Tut Tickets Sold, NBC5 Chicago, Illinois, USA, May 09, 2006.

On April 29, at the annual meeting of the American Research Center in Egypt (ARCE), Earl L. Ertman of the University of Akron and an associate director of Otto Schaden's University of Memphis team investigating KV-63 gave a brief update of the findings there. Ertman emphasized that the clearance of the KV-63 "burial chamber" was ongoing, with Schaden at work there now.

Concerning the KV-63 shaft, Ertman noted that it had an overhang similar to two 18th Dynasty tombs, KV-46 and KV-55. KV-46 was the tomb of Yuya and Tjuyu [Thuya / Thuyu / Tuyu] (parents of Queen Tiye, wife of Amenhotep III, and likely mother and grandmother, respectively, of Akhenaten and Tutankhamen). Many scholars believe KV-55 is the burial place of Smenkhkare, perhaps a younger brother or son of Akhenaten. Others, including Ertman, maintain it is Akhenaten's.

The fill of the shaft, on the south side consists of large stones, noticeably larger than the fill elsewhere. This, said Ertman, indicates KV-63 was probably entered at least once after being originally sealed...

KV 63: A Look at the New Tomb, Archaeology Magazine, New York, USA, May 01, 2006.

The KV63 dig diary has been updated with several more entries. There are also some new pictures on the pictures page.

Coffin G (the Youth Coffin) was bought up successfully. The coffin appears very solid and in good condition (no termite damage). The coffin does possess a very exquisite painted face. Of particular interest is the resin-coated underside of the lid, this is indeed unusual, and possibly points to an effort to conceal decoration and/or text.

Lid fragments, a side panel, and the mask from Coffin B were also removed from the chamber this week. The inside of Coffin B is filled with pot-sherds (some belonging to large storage jars and blue-painted ceramics), natron, small animal bones, linen, seals (object seals not to be confused with door seals), wood items, and additional funerary goods...

KV63: Otto's Dig Diary, Dr. Otto Schaden, Amenmesse Project, University of Memphis, Tennessee, May 09, 2006.

Well, this post was going to be just about Google Scholar, which has been around for some time, but upon investigating I find that Microsoft launched their own academic search tool a couple of weeks ago.

A good write up and comparison of Google Scholar and Microsoft Windows Live Academic can be found at ZDNet here: Google Scholar beta, ZDNet, UK, may 02, 2006.

The Google Scholar beta is a terrific search tool for students, teachers, scientists, librarians and journalists seeking articles within established academic journals. In our tests, we found that the Google Scholar beta sifts through more publications than does Windows Live Academic Search beta (although Microsoft plans to add more sources)...

A couple of news reports about Microsoft's new offering...

Microsoft launches Google Scholar rival, The Scientist, UK, April 25, 2006.

Microsoft's academic alternative to Google, The Australian, Australia, May 10, 2006.

A painting by Egyptologist Howard Carter is to be sold after being discovered at a charity antiques valuation event in Mid Wales.

The gouache by Carter (1874-1939), who discovered the tomb of Tutankhamun in the Valley of the Kings on November 4, 1922, is of Queen Senseneb from Deir el Bahari and is valued at up to £3,000 .

Signed by Carter and dated 1897, the painting was discovered by Halls Fine Art's William Lacey in Barmouth during a valuation event that raised over £200 for the town's Dragon Theatre and Community Centre...

Egypt art unearthed, icWales, UK, May 08, 2006.

Scientists now report new radiocarbon evidence to support the contention that the Late Bronze Age in the Aegean began in the 17th century B.C., at least a century before the date previously assumed by many scholars. The radiocarbon samples showed that the age extended from about 1700 B.C. to 1400 B.C.

If correct, the earlier date would require a critical re-examination of cultural and trade relationships at the time between Minoan Crete, Mycenaean Greece and Cyprus, on one hand, and the civilizations of Egypt and the rest of the Middle East.

It would mean that the Crete of the elaborate palaces that tourists flock to see and of the legends of King Minos reached an apex a century earlier than once thought.

Specifically, two independent radiocarbon studies set an earlier date for the volcanic eruption on the island of Thera, now known as Santorini, which set off tsunamis and spread ash and pumice throughout the Aegean and Mediterranean region...

Ancient Crete more ancient than thought?, John Noble Wilford, The New York Times via the Columbus Dispatch, Ohio, USA, May 09, 2006.

Egypt's tourism minister is confident the tourism industry will recover within the next couple of weeks, following the deadly attack on the Red Sea resort town of Dahab. Zoheir Garannah told Middle East Economic Digest we are confident people will continue to travel here. Egypt relies heavily on tourism revenues from the more than 8.6m visitors that come every year.

Egypt optimistic on tourism, AME Info fn, United Arab Emirates, May 09, 2006.

Those born on this date are under the sign of Taurus. They include ... Howard Carter, the Egyptologist who discovered the tomb of Tutankhamen, in 1873...

The Almanac: Today is Tuesday, May 9, Monster & Critics, UK, May 09, 2006.

What could be better than touring the King Tut exhibit with Egyptian-born actor Omar Sharif?

Maybe touring with Julie Christie, circa Doctor Zhivago. But that would certainly have distracted me from the artefacts.

Sharif narrates the superb audio tour accompanying “Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs,” which will open this month at Chicago’s Field Museum.

A good audio tour can help even the most fascinating exhibition — and can make or break lesser shows...

Audio tours can enliven any exhibit if done well, The Columbus Dispatch, Ohio, USA, May 07, 2006.

Millions viewed King Tut’s treasures when they first toured America in the late 1970s. Now, almost 30 years later, Tut has another blockbuster exhibition travelling the country.

Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs includes more than 130 artefacts — all more than 3,000 years old — from the tomb of Tut and other Egyptian royals, including a gilded miniature coffin that held Tut’s liver. The exhibit also includes a golden sarcophagus from the tomb of his great-grandparents.

Most of the artefacts were not part of the 1977 exhibition, and many have never left Egypt before.

"Tutankhamun" will open at Chicago’s Field Museum on May 26 [2006] and run through Jan. 1 [2007]...

The return of Tut, The Columbus Dispatch, Ohio, USA, May 07, 2006.

It is not a cliché to call Zahi Hawass a modern-day Indiana Jones. Time magazine called him “The Man.”

As head of Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities, Hawass has complete control and free reign over Egypt’s myriad of relics, tombs and pyramids. And the adventurer, scholar and preservation crusader has become the international face of Egyptology with his archaeological discoveries and ground-breaking research.

Fresh from recent explorations in Egypt, Hawass will speak at TPAC’s James K. Polk Theater at 7 p.m. June 15 [2006]. Tickets go on sale today and are expected to sell out. Hawass’ presentation, “Recent Discoveries in Egypt” will detail his latest anecdotes about hidden treasures found near the tomb of King Tut as well as new findings of how the young king really died; two intact tombs found at Giza and a new pyramid found at Saqqara; and the discovery of 105 perfectly preserved mummies in the Valley of the Golden Mummies, said Julie Roberts, the Frist Center for the Visual Arts’ manager of public programs...

Egyptologist to share Egypt’s greatest secrets at the Frist, The Nashville City Paper, Tennessee, USA, May 08, 2006.

If the local social scene has seemed just a little dull lately, don't despair — we've heard about a very special guy nearby who's just dying to meet you.

You could say he's a little wrapped up in himself, but there's no denying that this gent has been around. For a long time.

Meet ... Nesperennub...

Nesperennub is the captivating, if quiet, star of the Gulf Coast Exploreum's latest international exhibition, "Mummy: The Inside Story..."

Inside the mummy, Pensacola News Journal, Florida, USA, May 08, 2006.

The Greek authorities said Thursday that they would press charges against Marion True, the former antiquities curator at the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles, for illegal possession of 29 ancient artefacts police officers found this spring in her Greek villa.

George Gligoris, head of a special police unit that investigates antiquities smuggling, said that the scope of the charges would hinge on archaeologist appraisals of the objects. If their value is determined to be less than $96,000 , he said, Ms. True could simply face a misdemeanor charge punishable by fines.

If they are worth considerably more, Mr. Gligoris said, Ms. True could face a criminal trial that carried potential penalties including imprisonment.

"This shouldn't come as a surprise," he said. "None of these items were registered with local archaeological authorities as the law requires..."

... Greek officials have not suggested that any of the objects in Ms. True's summer villa on Paros, in the Cyclades Islands, were intended for the Getty. Ms. True has said through her lawyer that all the antiquities were in the villa when she bought it in 1995...

Greek Officials Planning to Bring Charges Against Ex-Curator, The New York Times, New York, USA, may 05, 2006.

The new issue of Minerva magazine is available now. It contains a couple of articles that may be of interest to Egyptophiles as follows.

• Spectacular Turin: The Reopening of the Museum of Egyptian Antiquities
  Dalu Jones
• Life & Death in Ancient Egypt: The Contribution of Modern Science
  Rosalie David
• The Conservation and Deaccessioning of The Ancient World
  Jerome M. Eisenberg, Ph.D
• New Finds & Sphinxes at Hadrian’s Villa, Tivoli
  Dalu Jones
• Statue of the Priest Pe-shery-aset Reunited with his Sarcophagus and Mummy in Genoa
  Dalu Jones
• News from Egypt
  Jerome M. Eisenberg, Ph.D.

Minerva Magazine, London, UK, Volume 17, Number 3, May / June 2006.

Subscribe to Minerva Magazine via Amazon.com.

The Great Desert Circuit runs over 1,000 kilometres [621 miles] from Cairo to Asyut through the desert oases of Bahariya, Farafra, Dakhla [Dakhleh] and Kharga. Located 265 kilometres [165 miles] south of Cairo, Bahariya is a drive-thru geological museum. Its black and orange basin is littered with fossils of the Cretaceous-era sea creatures that lived here when it was an inland sea.

If fossils are your fancy, take a 4WD to Gebel Dist at the north end of the oasis, which is chock-full of them. Even dinosaur bones have been found here, including the remains of a huge herbivore dating back 94 million years. Unfortunately, they were stored in Germany and destroyed during the Second World War by Allied bombs.

Fossils are not the only surprises to be found in the Western Desert. Cairo’s travel agencies organize tours to Qarat El-Hilwa for a peek at the much-hyped cache of “golden” mummies of the Ptolemaic era, as Zahi Hawass defined them upon their discovery in the 1990s — though despite their rich exteriors, their embalming was actually much sloppier than in previous eras. You might also be able to wrangle a permit to visit on your own. A ticket can be purchased at the local antiquities inspectorate for LE 30 ...

The Great Desert Circuit, Egypt Today, Egypt, Volume 27, Issue 05, May 2006.

It's an old story: archaeologist unearths Egyptian mummy, mummy's penis goes missing, new technology arrives and locates the errant organ, Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities sits back with a satisfied smile on its face. When Tutankhamun was first discovered, by Howard Carter and his team in 1922, all his parts were present and correct, albeit in dire need of some moisturiser. Steeped as they were in Britain's glorious imperial traditions, the explorers were naturally less concerned with the niceties of preservation or respecting the peace of the ancient dead than with carting off as many valuables from the tomb as they could. Carter and his boys cut up the body into pieces, the better to prise free jewellery that was stuck to the mummified remains by that pesky embalming resin, severed the head, and used hot knives to detach the famous golden mask from the king's face.

After such uninhibited plundering, it should not perhaps have come as such a great surprise that when the mummy was x-rayed by experts at the University of Liverpool in 1968, it appeared that someone had made off with more than antique amulets...

Tutankhamun re-membered, The Guardian, UK, May 08, 2006.

... Al-Gilf Al-Kebir enjoys three main rock art sites: the Swimmers' Cave, Shaw's Cave and El-Mestekawi Cave. The Swimmers' was the first to be rediscovered, when Hungarian aristocrat and adventurer Count Almásy came upon it in 1933 naming the whole valley Wadi Soura, or the "Valley of Pictures". This cave features paintings of men swimming, thus suggesting the area once enjoyed plenty of water sources, such as rivers and lakes. Shaw's Cave on the other side contains paintings of cattle. And unlike those in the Swimmers' Cave, those in Shaw's remain in good condition.

El-Mestekawi Cave was discovered during an expedition similar to ours in 2002. It is by far the largest site among the three, both in terms of the number of paintings and engravings as well as in terms of variety. Not all the paintings are of the same colour, with some being painted over the other indicating different periods and thus adding to the site's value. Handprints dominate the half-buried wall with alternating paintings of human figures, different animals and representations of hunting scenes. There were also works of art so surprising that they left me truly puzzled and above all impressed, including one representation of a headless bull, repeated in various parts of the cave. Could this be the mystical water creature which, according to legend, had the power to bring rain?

Another image which we found particularly perplexing was that of the footprint. While handprints regularly act as background for other paintings in most parts of the cave, there are only two footprints — one engraved and another painted. If you stand right in the middle of the cave, lift your head slightly and you will find two adjacent carvings. Both are astounding, and appear to have been created by a highly imaginative avant-garde artist, or perhaps even an alien! I lost track of time as I stood in complete amazement in El-Mestekawi Cave, seeing priceless pieces of art as old as rock art. Indeed, this constituted an unmatched experience that left my soul indulged in mystical harmony.

Most unfortunately, some irresponsible tourists spray water on rock art in order to secure a more vibrant photograph. Although it works, there is also a hefty price to pay in the form an accelerated deterioration of the art itself. Having been dry for thousands of years, the sandstone on which most of the rock art is painted reacts negatively with water. Soon enough, the colours start to fade and the paint starts to peel. Water spraying and camera flashes are lethal when it comes to rock art, so please be very careful whenever present in such a crucially important site...

Into the heart of mystery, Al-Ahram, Egypt, Issue No. 793, May 04 - 10, 2006.

... Though he was an emir, his father was a slave of Mongol origin who had been sent from Bukhara as tribute to the Abbasid court at Samaraa. In a matter of years the promising leader had risen to power, gaining Egypt's independence and commencing the Toulounid Dynasty (868-905 AD). His name was Emir Ahmed Ibn Touloun.

The Toulounid Dynasty was rather a short-lived one, surviving only for 26 years. Nonetheless, Ibn Touloun was determined to make his mark in history. He extended Egypt's capital with Cairo's first aqueduct, he built himself the Dome of Air Palace on a spur of the Muqqattem hills and called his newly established capital Al-Qatai, or "the wards". The most remarkable architecture and monumental achievement he left behind, however, was the mosque bearing his name — Ibn Touloun Mosque....

Snap Shot, Al-Ahram, Egypt, Issue No. 793, May 04 - 10, 2006.

Dozens of documents were dissected in a courtroom here on Wednesday as prosecutors sought to weave the doings of art dealers, collectors and museums into what they argue is a broad criminal pattern: the trafficking of archaeological artefacts looted from Italian soil.

"This was one big swamp where many swam and many others came to drink," said the trial prosecutor, Paolo Ferri, summing up the day's testimony. "Marion True and Robert Hecht were part of this swamp. In fact Hecht was the biggest pike in the swamp."

Ms. True, the former antiquities curator at the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles, and Mr. Hecht, an American dealer, are being tried on charges of conspiring to deal in looted antiquities.

Much of Wednesday's testimony centred on Gianfranco Becchina, a Sicilian antiquities dealer working out of Basel, Switzerland, and his contacts with dealers, museums and collectors around the world. Mr. Becchina is not on trial but is under investigation in a related case...

Focus in Getty Trial Shifts to a Sicilian Antiquities Dealer, The New York Times, New York, USA, April 27, 2006.

Greece's culture minister said Wednesday that he will meet with J. Paul Getty Museum director Michael Brand in Athens to press Greece's claim for the return of four ancient artefacts from the Los Angeles museum.

Greece claims the artefacts are among thousands believed to have been illegally exported as part of a booming trade in the country's priceless archaeological heritage.

Culture Minister Giorgos Voulgarakis said he was "extremely interested in the matter of the return of the Greek antiquities."

The Getty confirmed the May 16 meeting, and said in a statement, "We believe these discussions should take place between Dr. Brand and Greek officials and we will have no further comment at this time..."

Greece asks Getty to return artefacts, AP via The Long Beach Press Telegram, Florida, USA, May 04, 2006.

Learning about ancient cultures may be as simple as reading the writing on the wall, if you're Eugene Cruz-Uribe.

Cruz-Uribe, a professor of history at Northern Arizona University, has been awarded a Fulbright Scholar grant to lecture and research at Egypt's South Valley University for the 2006-07 academic year, where he will continue his exploration of Egyptian graffiti.

Fondly known as the "Egypt Guy," Cruz-Uribe will teach ancient history at the university and will record Egyptian script from historic sites dating back from 600 B.C. until A.D 300. He said his findings reveal Egypt's reaction to its loss of internal control and its suppression by the Persians and later the Greeks and Romans.

"The research portion of my Fulbright is a project to record graffiti at the temple of Isis on the island of Philae at Aswan," Cruz-Uribe said...

'Egypt Guy' awarded Fulbright grant, Northern Arizona University, Arizona, USA, May 04, 2006.

Egypt and Japan sign a cooperation protocol to build the planned Grand Egyptian Museum, Nevine El-Aref reports.

It was a scenic evening at the Prince Taz Palace in Mediaeval Cairo, classical music tunes filled the air and a soft spring breeze played with the soaring palm tree branches in the courtyard. Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif, Culture Minister Farouk Hosni and Fayza Abul-Naga, minister of state for foreign affairs, gathered at the palace's Mashrabiya terrace along with scores of Egyptian ministers, government officials and the Japanese ambassador to Egypt to exchange notes on a long-term loan offered by the Japanese government to help in the construction of the Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM). The loan provides $300 million of a total approximate budget projected at $550 million. Abul-Naga told reporters that the loan will be due after a 10-year grace period, to be settled in instalments through another 30 years with an interest rate of 1.5 per cent. "According to such an agreement, Japan has granted Egypt 70 per cent of the whole sum," she pointed out, adding that through the last three decades Japan has been a strong supporter of Egypt's development projects. On the morning of the same day, Japan also granted Egypt $40 million to finance the second phase of the Resist Industrial Pollution project. At the end of her speech Abul-Naga expressed her appreciation to the Japanese government for its support to help Egypt built such an important museum, which has been described internationally as "the project of the millennium"...

The museum of eternity, Al-Ahram, Egypt, Issue No. 793, May 04 - 10, 2006.

Zahi Hawass has been selected by Time magazine as one of the world's most influential people, reports Nevine El-Aref.

The world's 100 most influential people will gather on Monday at Lincoln Centre, in the scintillating new Time Warner Centre in New York. Among them will be an Egyptian, Egyptologist Zahi Hawass.

Described by Time as "The Guardian of Egypt's Antiquities" and "The perfect image of a modern-day archaeologists with his jeans and trademark Indian Jones hat" Hawass, the secretary-general of Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities, has to be -- and is -- a master of multi-tasking. He tours the world lecturing, making TV appearances and churning out a steady stream of books and articles. He has been described as theatrical, passionate about Egypt and archaeology, as well as controversial. He makes news by demanding the return of artefacts stolen and smuggled out of Egypt and his recent edicts restricting new excavations, particularly in such popular sites as Saqqara and the Valley of the Kings, have aroused the ire of some foreign archaeologists...

He made it in Time, Al-Ahram, Egypt, Issue No. 793, May 04 - 10, 2006.

By Zahi Hawass.

When I arrived in the Valley of the Kings to see the newly-discovered tomb KV-63, I found there hundreds of people from the media from all over the world. Otto Schaden and I gave interviews about the discovery, but we could not say anything definite. Was it a royal tomb? Or was it a cache of mummies? Many questions were raised on the day of the opening because, in the royal valley, the king or his cook could be buried.

It was immediately clear to all of us that the tomb was probably not royal. We could see no sign of a uraeus (royal cobra), no cartouches, nothing that would suggest the presence of a king or queen. When I got back to my hotel I began to reflect that if this were a mummy cache, which is what it most looked like, it could be the fourth such cache to be discovered in the valley (not including the royal cache found at Deir Al-Bahari in the late 1800s).

The first cache in the Valley of the Kings was found in 1898 by Victor Loret inside the tomb of Amenhotep II (KV-35). The mummy of the Pharaoh was still inside his sarcophagus, and there were other mummies in the tomb. One, already damaged by ancient tomb robbers and later, in 1901, destroyed by modern vandals, was lying on top of a large model boat in the first columned hall..

Dig days: Treasure without end, Al-Ahram, Egypt, Issue No. 793, May 04 - 10, 2006.

Last evening in the Egyptian Museum garden, Egypt celebrated World Heritage Day for the third consecutive year.

It was a beautiful evening as the Cairo Opera Symphony Orchestra played classical melodies in front of French archaeologist Auguste Mariette's mausoleum. Culture Minister Farouk Hosni, Supreme Council of Antiquities Secretary-General Zahi Hawass, and renowned actor Omar Sharif were seated along with Egyptian actresses Nadia Lutfi and Layla Elwi. Archaeologists, restorers and curators, prominent cultural figures, foreign and Egyptian journalists and television presenters also attended.

The idea of holding an "International Day for Monuments and Sites" to be celebrated simultaneously throughout the world was first mooted on 18 April 1982 at a symposium organised by the International Council of Monuments and Sites in Tunisia. The project was approved by the executive committee, who provided practical suggestions to the various national committees on how to organise the day. The idea was also approved by the UNESCO General Conference, which passed a resolution at its 22nd session in November 1983 recommending that member states examine the possibility of declaring 18 April each year "International Monuments and Sites Day". This is now traditionally called World Heritage Day, and is celebrated worldwide...

World Heritage Day, Al-Ahram, Egypt, Issue No. 793, May 04 - 10, 2006.

A number of remarkable archaeological sites on Luxor's east and west banks are undergoing a facelift, says Sherine Nasr.

Over the past few years, Luxor has seen elaborate conservation projects led and financed by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The first 10 sites are now restored and open to the public.

"USAID is financing conservation of Egyptian antiquities through four grants, two of which have been completed while the other two are still ongoing, in addition to two endowments," Francis Ricciardone, US ambassador to Egypt, said during a two-day visit to Luxor early this month.

One of the most significant projects has been the reconstruction of the sarcophagus of Ramses VI, which is displayed in the burial chamber of the tomb where Ramses was originally buried in the Valley of the Kings on the West Bank. The project reflects the successful partnership between the Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA) and the American Research Centre in Egypt (ARCE), which received a grant from the USAID to conclude the project...

Smoothing the gaps, Al-Ahram, Egypt, Issue No. 793, May 04 - 10, 2006.

As archaeological research in Egypt is an ongoing process to enhance understanding of Pharaonic culture, new discoveries are made on a regular basis. Nevine El-Aref tracks the most recent finds in Fayoum and Luxor.

Fayoum and Luxor are two magnificent Upper Egyptian regions with rich and interesting histories. Last week, as Egyptologists were busy digging across Egypt's various archaeological sites searching for more hidden treasures, the Egyptian mission working at Medinet Madi in Fayoum and the French-Egyptian mission at Karnak Temple in Luxor both came across interesting discoveries.

Archaeologists have discovered a yard at the back of the Medinet Madi Temple structure thought to have been used by ancient Egyptians for administrative work and as a residential area for the temple priests. With it was found a number of related artefacts.

Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA) Secretary-General Zahi Hawass said this was a very important discovery and claimed it shed more light on how the Pharaohs of the Middle Kingdom built the temples that played such a major role in the people's ordinary lives...

What's old is new, Al-Ahram, Egypt, Issue No. 793, May 04 - 10, 2006.

The only copy of the Egyptian vizier Merefnebef’s 3rd millennium B.C. tomb is in Warsaw’s National Museum – Prof. Karol Myśliwiec heading the Polish archaeological mission in Saqqara told us. This was down to the decision made by the initiators of the project – the Polish Academy of Science (PAN) and the National Museum.

The real tomb, containing unique reliefs and paintings was found in 1997 in Saqqara, Egypt by Polish archaeologists headed by Prof. Myśliwiec. This was one of the biggest Polish archaeological successes.

Constructing the copy and giving viewers access to it is a form of homage to Polish archaeologists. “When the tomb model is constructed, Warsaw residents will be able to see this masterpiece of Egyptian Art” – Myśliwiec emphasised...

A copy of the Egyptian vizier's tomb in the National Museum, Science & Scholarship in Poland, Poland, May 03, 2006.

For more than 3,000 years they lay unseen beneath the Egyptian sands: gleaming treasures of gold and semi-precious jewels; statues and chests of breathtaking artistry; magical amulets and articles of ancient life; the mummified body of a young pharaoh.

When the British archaeologist Howard Carter uncovered the remarkably preserved tomb of Tutankhamun in 1922, he created a worldwide sensation. When the boy king's riches toured the world in 1977, the term "blockbuster exhibition" was born. Now a new exhibition, Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs, offers visitors a chance to see fabulous new treasures and to enter the world that gives them meaning: 250 years that marked the pinnacle of ancient Egypt's culture, wealth, and imperial power.

As those who saw the earlier exhibition can attest, coming face-to-face with the treasures of King Tut is an encounter not soon forgotten. Visitors to the new exhibition, twice the size of the 1977 exhibition, will have an even broader and deeper experience. They'll see more than 130 ancient artefacts — of gold and silver, jewels and semi-precious stones, alabaster and gilded wood — excavated from the tomb of Tutankhamun and other royal tombs in the Valley of the Kings. They'll learn about life and death in ancient Egypt, and the intimate relationship between the two. And they'll discover what the latest technologies are revealing about how the young king may have died...

Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs, PRNewswire via FOX Carolina, USA, May 03, 2006.

cf. Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs, PRNewswire via Yahoo! Finance, USA, May 03, 2006.

About Antiquities

Some 330 monuments rescued from the Mediterranean waters off Alexandria, including three five-meter tall colossi, are on exhibit in Berlin through September. According to Zahi Hawass, secretary-general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, Egypt will get LE 6 million in return for displaying its breathtaking artefacts during the four-month exhibit.

Hatshepsut Mummy Found

The true mummy of Egyptian Queen Hatshepsut was discovered on the third floor of Cairo’s Egyptian Museum, Hawass revealed during a lecture at the New York-based Metropolitan Museum of Art in March. The museum is hosting an exhibition of 270 Hatshepsut artefacts through July 9 [2006].

Pharaonic Monuments in Fayoum

Egyptian archaeologists have uncovered new monuments dating back to the pharaohs’ Middle Kingdom in Al-Fayoum governorate, the Ministry of Culture has announced. Chief among the relics is the temple of Madi City, the only temple remaining from that time period.

Hatshepsut-Era Parlour Unearthed

An Egyptian-Spanish archaeological expedition working in Luxor has unearthed a 34-meter-long parlour belonging to [Djehuty], a workers’ superintendent in charge of decorating temples and galleries during the reign of Queen Hatshepsut, 1502-1487 BC. A game board was also excavated in a nearby room.

Travel News, Egypt Today, Egypt, Volume 27, Issue 05, May 2006.

Dr. Samir Farag, president of the Supreme Council of Luxor, has big plans for his city and the wealth of antiquities there. One plan is to restore the road connecting Luxor and Karnak. Stretching over three kilometres, the planned road would cut a 60- to 70-meter-wide swath right through a largely residential area of modern Luxor.

Luxor Temple is believed to be the oldest functioning house of worship in the world. Archaeologists estimate that people have been worshipping at the temple for more than 4,000 years. An early Christian church replaced the gods of the Pharaohs and the Romans. Later, when the local community converted to Islam, the church was bricked up and a mosque, which continues to function today, was built on top of it.

In ancient times, a road linked the Luxor temple with Karnak, the two holiest sites in the Pharaonic religion. The Ancient Egyptians believed that the sun god Ra was born in Luxor, but lived in Karnak. Once a year, Ra needed to travel back to the place of his birth to rejuvenate himself. A ceremonial procession, including the pharaoh, followed the sphinx-lined road to accompany Ra...

Relocation Game in Luxor, Egypt Today, Egypt, Volume 27, Issue 05, May 2006.

Music professor Dr. Khairy El-Malt has been calling for a national project to revive ancient Egyptian music for a dozen years now, and it seems his dreams are finally coming true.

Last month, the Supreme Council for Antiquities and the Faculty of Musical Education of Helwan University agreed to make it possible for music students to acquire a graduate diploma in ancient Egyptian music, with classes set to begin in September 2006.

The SAC will allow students access to museums and sites and to ancient musical instruments and relief drawings. Classes for the diploma will take place in the evenings, and include subjects such as ballet, music, anthropology and philosophy.

Ancient music reborn, Egypt Today, Egypt, Volume 27, Issue 05, May 2006.

Saint Louis museum says purchase in 1998 was legal.

If only the 3,000-year-old mummy mask at the Saint Louis Art Museum could talk. Maybe then the mystery of its rightful owner could be laid to rest, much like it was in an ancient Egyptian pyramid so many ages ago.

The Supreme Council of Antiquities for Egypt has given the Saint Louis Art Museum a May 15 deadline to turn over the burial mask of Ka Nefer Nefer, which they believe left the country illegally.

Officials with the museum are evaluating documents from the council that seek to prove that the mask from around 1307-1196 B.C., could have been stolen from an Egyptian Museum storage room...

Egypt demands return of mummy mask, AP via MSNBC, USA, May 02, 2006.

Men still fight over the legendary Egyptian beauty Nefertiti, 3,300 years after her death. In 2003, when the director of the Egyptian Museum in Berlin allowed two Hungarian artists to briefly unite the famous bust of the ancient queen with a new bronze body, Egyptian cultural officials reacted as if the lady had been violated. She was no longer safe in German hands, said culture minister Farouk Hosni.

Zahi Hawass, who had become secretary general of Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities a year earlier, was incensed by what he called “an insult to Egypt’s heritage.” Not long after the event, he demanded the return of the bust to Egypt, along with four other objects in European and American museums. In a recent interview at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, Hawass told ARTnews that he plans to ask UNESCO to support his demand. He does not charge that the five objects he is asking for were looted. He calls them “icons of our Egyptian identity” — unique artefacts of Egyptian cultural patrimony. “They should be in the motherland,” Hawass insists. “They should not be outside Egypt.”

Hawass’s list of national icons starts with the Nefertiti bust in Berlin and the Rosetta stone (ca. 200 B.C.) in the British Museum in London. Both of these objects left Egypt a long time ago, the Rosetta stone in the 1820s and the Nefertiti bust in 1912. From the Louvre, Hawass wants the Denderah zodiac (50 B.C.), a map of the heavens that was sawed and blasted out of the ceiling of the Temple of Hathor at Denderah by the agent of a French collector in 1821. By modern standards the Rosetta stone and the zodiac were looted, although the term wouldn’t have made sense to the French and British agents who swarmed over Egypt in the early 19th century in a competitive quest for treasure — nor to most Egyptians...

Descendant of the Pharaohs, Sylvia Hochfield, ARTnews, May, 2006.

Japan will extend up to $307.7 million in loans to Egypt to help rebuild the Egyptian Museum, where King Tutankhamen's golden mask is exhibited.

Japan and Egypt exchanged notes on the loans in Cairo Sunday evening. The loans will cover nearly half of the total rebuilding costs of $617.09 million , Jiji Press reported Monday.

During talks with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in May 2003, Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi promised to support the project.

The plan is to rebuild the museum, which opened in 1902, to a new museum called Grand Egyptian Museum, with about 100,000 items on display.

Japan to help rebuild Egyptian Museum, UPI via The Washington Times, District of Columbia, USA, May 01, 2006.

Only 21 finalists remain in the final stretch of the public's selection of the new seven most noteworthy landmarks in the world, the Swiss-based New7Wonders Foundation has told Discovery News.

The goal of the project is to revise the original "seven ancient wonders of the world," since only one — the pyramids of Egypt — still exists today...

Seven World Wonders Finalists Picked, Discovery Channel News, USA, April 27, 2006.

TIME magazine have named Zahi Hawass in the top 100 ‘people who shape our world’. ‘[A] list of 100 men and women whose power, talent or moral example is transforming our world’.

He walks briskly toward the television cameras, the perfect image of a modern-day archaeologist-having traded his suit for jeans, blue work shirt and trademark Indiana Jones hat. The confident stride is justified. Zahi Hawass, 58, head of Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities, is The Man. He determines who will excavate in Egypt and when and where. Unlike some of his predecessors, he does not keep a low profile. He ranges the world lecturing, making TV appearances and turning out a stream of books and articles.

Hawass has to be — and is — a master of multitasking. A friend and I once had coffee and shisha (water pipe) with him in Cairo. He sipped his coffee, chatted with us, dictated to a secretary and took phone calls more or less simultaneously...

TIME 100: The People Who Shape Our World, TIME Magazine, USA, Volume 167, No. 19, May 08, 2006.

cf. TIME 100, TIME Magazine, USA, Volume 167, No. 19, May 08, 2006.

The world's oldest and largest pyramid found in Bosnia? It sounds incredible. The story has swept the media, from the Associated Press and the BBC, from papers and websites in the U.S. to those in India and Australia. Too bad that it is not a credible story at all. In fact, it is impossible. Who is the "archaeologist" who has taken the media for a ride? Why did the media not check the story more carefully? ARCHAEOLOGY will address these questions in depth in our next issue, July/August, but for now let's at least put the lie to the claims emanating from Visoko, the town 20 miles northwest of Sarajevo where the "Bosnian Pyramid of the Sun" is located.

Semir (Sam) Osmanagic, a Houston-based Bosnian-American contractor first saw the hills he believes to be pyramids last spring. He is now digging the largest of them and plans to continue the work through November, promoting it as the largest archaeological project underway in Europe. (His call for volunteers even slipped into the Archaeological Institute of America's online listing of excavation opportunities briefly before being yanked.) He claims it is one of five pyramids in the area (along with what he calls the pyramids of the Moon, Earth, and Dragon, plus another that hasn't been named in any account I've seen). These, he says, resemble the 1,800-year-old pyramids at Teotihuacan, just north of Mexico City. Osmanagic maintains that the largest is bigger than the pyramid of Khufu at Giza, and that the Bosnian pyramids date to 12,000 B.C.

Construction of massive pyramids in Bosnia at that period is not believable...

The Bosnia-Atlantis Connection, Mark Rose, Archaeology Magazine, Archaeological Institute of America, New York, USA, April 27, 2006.