The latest issue of Ancient Egypt Magazine is out now. Below is a summary of its contents.

• Ancient Egyptian Wine
  New investigations on the residue in wine jars found in the tomb of Tutankhamun have revealed some of the ancient vintner’s secrets. Maria Gausch Jane investigates.
• Belzoni’s Sarcophagus
  Explorer and adventurer Giovanni Belzoni was an avid collector of Egyptian Antiquities at the beginning of the nineteenth century; size was no object! Dylan Bickerstaffe investigates.
• Friends of Nekhen News
  Renée Friedman reports on the work to conserve one of the largest and oldest mud-brick buildings from Ancient Egypt to survive at Hierakonpolis.
• The New Tomb in the Valley of the Kings
  An update from Roxanne Walker, a member of the excavation team, on the recent discovery and the progress made in clearing the small chamber.
• Ancient Egypt in Zagreb
  Mladen Tomorad and Igor Uranic tell readers about the collections of the Archaeological Museum of Zagreb in Croatia.
• Visiting Middle Egypt
  AE reader Anne Eglintine tells how she arranged to visit Amarna and other Middle Egyptian sites by travelling from Luxor independently.
• Byzantine Egypt
  Sean McLachlan tells how Ancient Egyptian ideas are reflected in early Christianity in Egypt, which was a melting-pot of ideas and beliefs in the Late Roman and Byzantine periods.

Ancient Egypt Magazine, Empire Publications, Manchester, UK, Volume 6, No. 6, Issue 36, June / July 2006.

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Spectacular artefacts from two lost cities of ancient Egypt, rescued from the sea after more than 1,300 years, have taken the breath away from more than 1 million visitors to the Martin-Gropius-Bau Building in Berlin. They have even ignited religious debate — non-violent so far — in Egypt.

French archaeological adventurer Franck Goddio and his team of divers, armed with robotic equipment, swim masks and flippers, pulled the treasures from the depths at the ancient Egyptian harbour of Alexandria and the two lost neighbouring cities of Herakleion and Canopus in 1999 and 2000.

Presidents Hosni Mubarak of Egypt and Horst Kohler of Germany attended the opening of the Berlin exhibition in mid-May, evidence of its importance to both countries. But some Egyptians are not happy about it...

Treasures pulled from a briny tomb, Suzanne Fields, The Washington Times, District of Columbia, USA, June 28, 2006.

There was hope of finding a mummy inside the 3,300-year-old coffin, and when it was finally opened Wednesday someone excitedly whispered, "A neck." But it was not. Instead, the coffin was packed with bits and pieces of materials used to prepare mummies, including elaborate collars decorated with flowers, and one with gold beads.

That no mummies were found in KV 63 — the first tomb discovered in the Valley of the Kings in nearly 84 years — was neither disappointing nor entirely surprising to those who unearthed the tomb and painstakingly worked to preserve all that they found inside.

"We found hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of mummies, but we never discovered something like this," said Dr. Zahi Hawass, Egypt's chief Egyptologist, as he peered at the contents. "Look at what we discovered here. Look at it..."

His theory was that the tomb was the burial place of King Tut's mother, Queen Kiya. While there is evidence linking Tut's tomb with this one, others who have actually worked inside the newest tomb said there was no evidence a mummy was ever buried there... My emphasis.

Guardian of Egypt's Past Preserves a Moment of Mystery, Michael Slackman, The New York Times, New York, USA, June 29, 2006.

cf. A slight variant on the above story from the 28th: Tomb Yields Many Mysteries, but no Mummy, Michael Slackman, The New York Times, New York, USA, June 28, 2006.

Dr. Shadia Qenawi Egypt's ambassadress to the United Nations Educational, scientific and cultural organization UNESCO said the International organization supported a number of projects being implemented in Egypt and fostered by Mrs. Suzanne Mubarak.

Those projects included the sunken antiquities museum in Alexandria, the grand museum that will enable exhibiting all Egyptian antiquities which are not yet on display.

Dr. Qenawi added in an interview with Akhbar El-Yom that Egypt and UNESCO are to set up a training centre for archaeologists to benefit as well neighbouring countries.

UNESCO supports museums projects in Egypt, Egypt State Information Service, Egypt, June 24, 2006.

The Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA) has re-opened St. Paul Monastery for visits by Egyptian and foreign tourists after three-year renovation works.

Founded in the 4th century in the shape of a fort among the high hills near the Red Sea, St. Paul Monastery houses four churches and a library, said SCA Secretary General Zahi Hawass.

St. Anthony Monastery, near to St. Paul, was dedicated to the founder and godfather of priesthood St Anthony, the earliest hermit in the world, said director of Islamic and Coptic Monuments Department at SCA Abdullah Kamel.

St. Paul Monastery opens for tourists after renovation, Egypt State Information Service, Egypt, June 16, 2006.

The new issue of KMT is out now. A summary of its contents appears below.

• What’s New Under the Sun?
  Special Report on Luxor 2006 by Denis Forbes
• ‘Mystery Tomb’ Found in VOK
  by Dennis Forbes A Preliminary Account of KV63’s Surprising Discovery
• ‘New’ Hatshepsut, Neferure Reliefs
  Now on View at Karnak by Dennis Forbes
• Quest for Hatshepsut’s Mummy
  by Zahi Hawass Could She be the Lady in the Attic of the Egyptian Museum, Cairo?
• Egypt on the Danube
  by Lucy Gordan-Rastelli The Egyptian Collection of Vienna’s Kunsthistorisches Museum
• ‘Napoleon on the Nile’
  Exhibition at the Dahesh Museum of Art by Bob Brier
• The Aristeia of Rameses II
  by Omar Zuhdi Analysis of the Kadesh ‘Poem’
• Aliens in Egypt
  by Kenneth D. Ostrand Foreign Gods on the Egyptian Pantheon
• Mummymania: Mummies, Museums & Popular Culture
  by Jasmine Day

KMT, KMT Communications Inc., Sebastopol, California, USA, Volume 17, Number 2, Summer 2006.

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Dr. Zahi Hawass, Head of Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities, announced today that he believes tomb KV63 — first discovered in the Valley of the Kings in February — belongs to Queen Kiya, mother of King Tutankhamun. A result of thorough investigations, an extensive battery of scientific tests and a comprehensive timeline analysis, the tomb's identity was revealed at a press conference today in Luxor, Egypt.

"Eighty-three years, three months, and six days exactly to Howard Carter's discovery of the tomb of King Tutankhamun, I announce today my belief that KV63 is indeed the tomb of King Tutankhamun's mother, Queen Kiya," stated Dr. Zahi Hawass. "The identification of KV63 as the final resting place of Queen Kiya helps to solve the riddle of the location of King Tutankhamun's tomb in the Valley of the Kings. KV63 faces KV62, making it clear that the tomb was for someone near and dear to King Tutankhamun..."

Dr. Hawass' announcement is based on initial findings that include:

• A coffin that included a garland of flowers like that buried with Tutankhamun signifying sweetness in the afterlife, gold beads, lemons, cloves and garlic, which was considered a protector of the soul and guardian of riches in the afterlife;
• Contents within the last-opened coffin that date back to the time of King Tutankhamun and feature unique embalming materials and actual linen scraps used to wrap mummies;
• Seals and inscriptions that include "PA-ATEN," which an Egyptian expert believes is part of the former name given to Tutankhamun's wife, and point directly to the time of King Tutankhamun;
• A ceremonial bowl and additional pottery shards that exactly match those found in King Tutankhamun's tomb, including identical hieroglyphics messages;
• Pots found with gold lining, indicative of materials produced in a royal workshop; and
• An imprint found at the bottom of a coffin that suggests a mummy was once inside. There is a possibility a mummy may have been stolen from KV63.

...

Dr. Zahi Hawass of the Supreme Council of Antiquities Believes New Tomb in the Valley of the Kings Belonged to King Tut's Mother Queen Kiya, Explaining Location of King Tut's Tomb, PR Newswire, USA, June 28, 2006.