The remnants of ancient civilizations inspire a certain awe, and not only for their artistry. They are like voices from people who lived thousands of years ago — exotic but strangely familiar.

On Wednesday, the George Walter Vincent Smith Art Museum in Springfield will unveil a permanent gallery called the "Hall of Ancient Treasures," featuring art from ancient Egypt, China, Rome, Greece and other areas.

"We have such a strong collection of ancient art, some of which has never been displayed," says Heather R. Haskell, director of the Springfield Art Museums on the Quadrangle...

Museum offers a modern look at ancient art, Pat Cahill, The Republican, Massachusetts, USA, July 02, 2006.

An increasing number of traces indicate that on a rock shelf above the temple of Hatshepsut is a tomb belonging to a Pharaoh from the 21st dynasty — says Prof. Andrzej Niwiński of the Institute of Archaeology at Warsaw University. If this hypothesis proves right, Polish archaeologists are a step away from a great find. However, there is one obstacle in the way of solving the mystery — a 1000 ton rock hanging over the precipice.

Prof. Niwiński is heading the work on the Rock Archaeological Expedition run by Warsaw University in collaboration with the Ain Shams University in Cairo. The area of research is a 100m tall rock wall on the back of the temple of Hatshepsut, which is being reconstructed by Polish archaeologists.

According to Prof. Niwiński, Egyptian pharaohs who have not been found in the Valley of the Kings, or other known necropolises, may be resting in Deir el Bahari.

“There is a text from the beginning of the 18th dynasty in Egypt, which talks of a huge downpour that destroyed earlier tombs. After this natural disaster, the kings decided to move their place of burial to a higher spot. This matches my hypothesis about a tomb above the temple of Hatshepsut” — explains Prof. Niwiński...

A Tomb under hanging Rock, Szymon Łucyk, Science & Scholarship in Poland, Poland, June 30, 2006.

Swiss archaeologists are joining the scramble to recover invaluable ancient remains in Egypt before they are lost forever beneath modern developments.

Cornelius von Pilgrim is leading efforts to unearth evidence of how people lived thousands of years ago near the southern city of Aswan.

"Many ancient towns are being covered by modern towns with deep foundations that destroy the ancient remains," von Pilgrim told swissinfo.

The archaeologist from the Swiss Institute for Egyptian Architectural and Archaeological Research in Cairo has been working alongside Egyptian experts for the past six years in Aswan.

"We still do not know much about these old towns. They have been neglected because they are more difficult to dig and not as spectacular as tombs and pyramids..."

Race on to save Egypt's ancient treasures, Matthew Allen, Swissinfo, Switzerland, July 04, 2006.