The main campus of the American University in Cairo (AUC) has been a landmark in Tahrir Square for more than 80 years, its exquisite Fatimid-style architecture dominating the landscape of the square and the attention of passers-by. However, as the new AUC building emerges in New Cairo, some 40 kilometres east of the university's present location, rumours about the future of the historic building are rife. Word is circulating that a wealthy Egyptian businessman has taken an interest in the property, and even that the campus will become the new premises of the Israeli Embassy in Cairo.

AUC president David D Arnold, annoyed by the stories that have been spreading all over Egypt and have even appeared in the press, has denied all the tittle-tattle. He has announced that, as part of the university's transition to a new campus, AUC's Board of Trustees has voted to pursue the sale of the university's Greek Campus and the Rare Books and Special Collections Library in downtown Tahrir, as well as the hostel in Zamalek. "The university is not selling the buildings on the main campus, including the Ewart Memorial Hall and the new Falaki building," Arnold said.

Early this week the Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA) declared the main building an Islamic monument listed on Egypt's Antiquities List. The action was described by some archaeologists and intellectuals as "brilliant", since it will preserve the edifice's distinguished architecture and its genuine decorative elements should any unpredicted event take place in the future.

For his part SCA Secretary-General Zahi Hawass told Al-Ahram Weekly that the AUC's main campus architecture had been finely executed in the Fatimid style...

Tahrir's gem protected, Nevine El-Aref, Al-Ahram, Egypt, Issue No. 811, September 07 - 13, 2006...

Excavations continue in the Valley of the Kings inside tomb KV63, which has now been identified as a storage place for embalming materials. The little curse of this tomb continues. In a previous article, I told the story of this remarkable discovery and the fight between the two Egyptologists Otto Schaden and Lorelei Corcoran, who both wanted to be director of the excavation. Since that article was published many things have happened. Corcoran came back to Egypt from Memphis and wanted to take photographs of the excavation. Schaden, as the official director according to the concession, prevented her from doing so. Mansour Boraik, director of Luxor antiquities, told me that Corcoran had been seen sobbing in the valley.

I do not know what we can do to resolve this problem but I believe we must encourage them both to finish their work, because the wood is deteriorating and they still have two coffins (one for an adult and one for a child) that have not been opened. Schaden wanted to leave the excavation for 10 days while he presented a talk at the American Research Centre in New Jersey, and planned to close the excavation because he would not be there. I thought this might be dangerous because the work should have continued and conservation needed to be done. The Discovery Channel was also filming a documentary, and they cannot just stop production for 10 days. This film is not exclusive. In fact, it will be aired all over the world and shown free on Egyptian TV.

KV63 requires more work. No royal names have been found there, but one of the most interesting seals shows a crocodile and a lion with a captive man standing between them. One of the jars is believed to have contained moringa oil (related to horseradish). Hieratic inscriptions were also found on one of the pottery shards that has been restored by a member of the Egyptian team...

Dig Days: Secrets from the embalming storeroom, Zahi Hawass, Al-Ahram, Egypt, Issue No. 811, September 07 - 13, 2006...

The 16th-century fort at Quseir on the Red Sea coast, Egypt's gateway to the East for thousands of years, has been conserved and restored and an exhibition installed for visitors. The wall paintings in the monasteries of St Paul and St Antony on the Red Sea coast have been revealed in the natural pigments in which they were originally painted. The fragmented sarcophagus of Ramses VI has been reconstructed and is exhibited inside the tomb for which it was designed. The villa of a Roman aristocrat in Alexandria has been restored and its fire-blackened and disintegrated mosaics restored. Bab Al-Zuweila, one of Cairo's oldest and most magnificent structures, has been developed into a tourist-friendly mediaeval monument. Finally, the sabil-kuttab of Nafisa Al-Bayda, an architectural gem, has undergone structural repairs and conservation of the building's various architectural and artistic elements.

What do all these have in common? They are among the many projects carried out in recent years by the American Research Centre in Egypt (ARCE), a non-profit institution dedicated to fostering the history, culture and civilisation of Egypt through a variety of programmes and projects, and the Egyptian Antiquities Project (EAP), a programme funded by USAID in collaboration with the Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA) for the restoration and preservation of antiquities...

Priority on site management, Jill Kamil, Al-Ahram, Egypt, Issue No. 811, September 07 - 13, 2006...

It is claimed that the monuments have been uncovered in the east of the country and that they predate the pyramids in Egypt.

But the claim that there is evidence of pyramids is being disputed. The prestigious Academy of Sciences has sent its own expert to the dig.

It believes that this could be the Ukrainian version of Stonehenge...

It is claimed that pyramids are buried underground in eastern Ukraine. A team digging at a site near to the city of Luhansk has unearthed a huge religious complex...

'Pyramids' discovered in Ukraine, Helen Fawkes, BBC News, UK, September 07, 2006. With video here Pyramids found in Ukraine.

cf. Bronze Age pyramid found in Ukraine, Tom Parfitt, The Guardian, UK, September 08, 2006.

cf. Ancient pyramids found in Ukraine, Translated by Leila Wilmers, Pravda, Russia, August 11, 2006.

And it gets worse: “The majority of scientists consider that underground pyramids of Sevastopol confirm the guess of American scientists about that 65 million years ago an ancient civilization died out because of fall of giant meteorite”. So they dinosaurs built them huh?

cf. Scientists to dig mysterious pyramids in Sevastopol, ForUm, Ukraine, July 17, 2006.

cf. Pyramids in the Crimea, Gokh Vitaly Anatol'evich, Ukraine.

Thanks to the Hall of Maat for most of these links.