We’ve come a long way baby. Peeing on a small, chemically enhanced stick, 4-5 days before our periods are due, to help determine whether or not a little nookie has become a little mass of rapidly developing cells hurtling towards being a baby. If that test can’t be considered reliable, we can duck into a doc’s office for a blood serum test. Poof. The instant results.

But pretend with me, for just a moment. You are an ancient Egyptian lovely, in the New Kingdom period. Some twelve hundred years prior to even Christ’s birth. The desert sands blow by your stone abode, maybe you’re applying your morning kohl and malachite, achieving that perfect Cleopatra look du jour. Suddenly, you feel ill. A bit peakish. Maybe as if you may vomit. Oh, darn that Ra. He’s sooo demanding after a day at the pyramids. Of all his wives, he just had to pick you, already a mother of seven. What to do? Oh, how can you know whether or not your household will be expanding? Whether or not your gold and lapis belt will soon be too snug?

Well, dear, go pee on some barley, of course. Or perhaps, some wheat. The seed to be exact. And if the barley grows, it’s a boy. The wheat? A girl, naturally. Nothing growing? No baby. D’uh.

It seems that the estrogens in a pregnant woman’s urine stimulate growth. At least in these two grains. And a study done in 1963 to determine the accuracy of this ancient pregnancy test revealed a 70% rate of being right-on. Go figure...

A History of the Pregnancy Test (or, Is the Rabbit in Heat?), Allison Welch Tannery, Bella Online, USA, July 15, 2006.

What: The Case of the Missing Scarab: Visitors will search for a missing golden scarab during this full day of activities at Adventure Science Center that includes deciphering hieroglyphics, taking measurements in cubits, exploring how the Egyptians built the pyramids with levers, and examining ancient broken pottery on their quest for the missing beetle.

Who: The Adventure Science Center in conjunction with The Frist Center for the Visual Arts exhibit. “The Quest for Immortality Treasures of Ancient Egypt” presents Pharaoh Forensics...

Midstate Datebook: Adventure Science Center holds Egyptian-theme event, The Tennessean, Tennessee, USA, July 15, 2006.

Who is the rightful owner of ancient artifacts – the famed Elgin marbles taken from the Parthenon, say, or the elegant Nefertiti head? Is it the museums and collectors housing them, or the lands from which these antiquities came?

The question takes on more relevance with each new case of ownership being passed back to the country of origin. In February, the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art agreed to return several prized items to Italy. Last week, the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles agreed to return two ancient works to Greece. Both countries claimed the items were stolen.

The Getty deal has emboldened Greece, which is drawing up a list of hundreds of suspect objects. "Whatever is Greek, wherever in the world, we want back," Giorgos Voulgarakis, Greek's minister of culture, told the British newspaper The Guardian.

That might send shudders through the museum world, but the key criteria for Greece and other countries is valid: They seek objects they believe were taken illegally. But just as important, they should keep in mind the concept of stewardship – the care of an object and the idea behind it...

The fine art of returning art, The Christian Science Monitor, Massachusetts, USA, July 18, 2006.

The Culture Ministry aims to build a museum in every city in Egypt to preserve its heritage and raise cultural and archaeological awareness among residents and visitors.

High-profile developments underway include the building of the Grand Egyptian Museum, National Museum of Egyptian Civilisation and Al Arish National Museum, and renovation of the Rashid National Museum, Coptic Museum and Graeco-Roman Museum in Alexandria.

The $350 million Grand Egyptian Museum, expected to attract five million visitors annually, will be the world's largest with around 150,000 artefacts when it opens in 2010 – making it larger than the Metropolitan in New York or British Museum in London...

New outlook for ancient wonders in Egypt, Janeta Novakovic, AME Info, United Arab Emirates, July 18, 2006.

cf. New outlook for Ancient Wonders in Egypt, Mena Reports / Al Bawaba, United Arab Emirates, July 18, 2006.