A travel Q&A from the Daily Mirror.

Q. We're thinking about taking a cruise down the Nile, so when is the best time and will we need to get a visa?

A. Unless you want to be flash-fried on deck and come home looking like a mixed grill, don't go to Egypt in July and August. Temperatures can soar well above 37¡C and even Indiana Jones might think twice about visiting the temples and tombs or pyramids of Giza in such stifling heat.

That said, a Nile cruise is one of those things everyone ought to try at least once in their lifetime...

Travel: Nautical Nile, Daily Mirror, UK, June 03, 2006.

Minister of Culture Farouk Hosni said Friday June 2nd that a research mission has discovered the remnants of a two-room house dating back to the era of Salaheddin El-Ayoubi and a single golden dinar of the same age in Al-Shaboul district of Daqahliya governorate.

On his part, Zahi Hawass, Secretary General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, told reporters that the dinar is of a great scientific and historical value.

Old as it is, the coin gains its importance being of the Ayoubi age when minting gold money was a rarity. The names of leader Salaheddin El-Ayoubi and Abbasid Calif Abul-Abbas Ahmed (575-622 AH) are engraved on the dinar.

Research mission discovers ancient dinar, Egypt State Information Service, Egypt, June 03, 2006.

cf. Salahuddin era dinar found in Egypt, NNN-MENA via Indian Muslim News, California, USA, June 03, 2006.

"A US archaeological mission from Memphis University has deciphered new mysteries about the life of ancient Egyptians, their rites before burial and mummification in preparation for the other life," Dr. Zahi Hawass, the Secretary-General of Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities, said on Saturday.

He said the American archaeologists had found a sarcophagus in an area five kilometres away from Tutankhamen's tomb in the Valley of the Kings in Luxor.

Hawass said the secrets included rituals for burials, mummification and preparations for the after death period...

Heh, we're back to the spurious five kilometres again! Quite confusing this article as it is not obvious at first glance that they are talking about KV63.

Valley of the Kings reveals new secrets on life of pharaohs, Egypt State Information Service, Egypt, June 04, 2006.

The Chicago House, a conservation group based in Luxor under the auspices of the University of Chicago, has been collecting and creating photographs and prints of antiquities dating back to the late nineteenth century. Their unique collection of nearly 40,000 images allows them to track the deterioration and help pinpoint the causes.

“What took centuries in antiquity is now only taking a few years,” says the project's Dr. Raymond Johnson. Johnson goes on to tell how even during his tenure here in Luxor, reliefs in photographs from the late 1800s, which were just as clear when he first arrived close to a decade ago as they were back then, are now completely gone.

Many archaeologists believe that if the present situation continues, the columns in the Luxor and Karnak temples will be so eroded that the entire structures will be in danger of total collapse in a few short years.

“There has been a huge change in the water table since ancient times,” Johnson says. “These temples never settled, and the only reason they’re still standing is because of the genius of the ancients’ building techniques.” He compares the process of the water leeching up into the stones to dipping the edge of a paper towel into a glass of water — the water will eventually climb all the way to the top of the paper towel...

High-Water Mark, Egypt Today, Egypt, Volume 27, Issue 06, June 2006.

FOX have several video clips from last night's Discovery Channel showing of Egypt's New Tomb Revealed.

The gold coffin was found under a grouping of 3,000+ year-old Pharaonic pillows inside a youth size coffin.

The surprise find is one of a series of recent treasures revealed by a team of world-renowned archaeologists led by Dr. Otto Schaden and the University of Memphis.

In what has become a true detective story, the team investigates clues that suggest the tomb is tied to Tutankhamun (it lies less than 50 feet from Tut's tomb)...

The First Egyptian Tomb Found in Over 80 Years, FOX6 San Diego, California, USA, June 04, 2006.

cf. The First Egyptian Tomb Found in Over 80 Years, FOX23 Albany, New York, USA, June 04, 2006.

There are also some clips to be found on the Discovery Channel's website Discovery Channel: Egypt's New Tomb Revealed.

Naperville Central could be the only high school in the country to have a resident, authenticated mummy...

"They had done a search, and the only area they ever found was Naperville Central," Henneberry said.

The mummified young girl — who was initially thought to be a boy before DNA evidence proved otherwise four years ago — was probably 5 or 6 years old when she died more than 2,000 years ago. She was brought to the school in the 1940s after being donated by Dr. Winifred Martin of Naperville, but sat in the basement for decades collecting dust until a teacher rescued her 22 years ago.

"It was in very bad condition, as you can imagine," Henneberry said.

Tom Paulsen, Naperville Central's principal at the time, donated $1,500 in 1992 for a restoration of the mummy by conservation expert Laura D'Alssandro of the University of Chicago's Oriental Institute...

Mummy rests peacefully at Naperville Central, The Chicago Beacon News, Illinois, USA, June 05, 2006.