They were the real-life Indiana Joneses — the explorers whose feats revealed to an eager world the secrets of an ancient civilisation which until then had been lost to history.

The stories of Howard Carter, who made one of the greatest ever archaeological finds when he discovered Tutankhamen’s intact tomb, circus strongman and adventurer Giovanni Belzoni, who unearthed the 3000-year-old monuments of Rameses II, and Jean-François Champollion, who cracked the code of the hieroglyphs via the Rosetta Stone, are revealed in the handsome six-part documentary drama Egypt, which began on Seven and GWN last Sunday.

Series producer Paul Bradshaw says the stories were so compelling that they derailed original plans for a series focused purely on ancient history. Instead, Egypt became a fully dramatised account of the men behind these critical discoveries.

“They really are the giants of Egyptology,” Bradshaw says. “What attracted me to their story was they come from such a romantic time, when little was known about the world, when empires were expanding, and you could really have a good adventure somewhere and find some amazing stuff out...”

The BBC published a book to accompany this series entitled: , Joyce A. Tyldesley, BBC Books, UK, 2005, pp. 240. The four-part mini-series is also available on DVD: , BBC Video, UK, 2005.

Riddle of the sands, Tamara Hunter, The West Australian, Australia, November 16, 2006.

In the shadow of the rugged Mount Sinai in Egypt lies Saint Catherine’s, the world’s oldest continuously operating Christian monastery, established in the sixth century. Artistic treasures from this ancient site will travel to Los Angeles for Holy Image, Hallowed Ground: Icons from Sinai, at the J. Paul Getty Museum, the Getty Centre, November 14, 2006 – March 4, 2007. The exhibition offers an unprecedented look at some of the oldest surviving icons from the Byzantine world, and provides rare insight into monastic life, past and present, at the remote, historic monastery. This Premiere Presentation is one of the most ambitious and important projects ever undertaken by the J. Paul Getty Museum, which is the sole venue for the exhibition. The exhibition has been organized by the J. Paul Getty Museum in partnership with the Holy Monastery of Saint Catherine at Mount Sinai and the Supreme Council of Antiquities, Egypt.

The works on view were commissioned by the monastery or acquired as gifts over more than a thousand years, and have been in the continuous care of generations of monks at Saint Catherine’s. Featured in this exhibition are 43 icons — holy pictures or emblems regarded as sacred in the Greek and Russian churches — six manuscripts, and four liturgical objects used by the monks. These illustrate the central role of the icon in religious practice and introduce the public to the compelling history of Saint Catherine’s. Standing at the centre of an international crossroads, the monastery functioned as a place of cultural exchange, attracting pilgrims throughout the Middle Ages, and continues to do so to this day.

“This exhibition presents an unprecedented opportunity to enter the world of Saint Catherine’s without venturing to Sinai. But this experience will still feel like a pilgrimage,” says Michael Brand, director, the J. Paul Getty Museum. “To see these works in the flesh is to make a direct connection to the traditions that have been carried on over centuries at one of the world’s most holy sites...”

The book that accompanies the exhibition is available from Amazon: , Edited by Robert S. Nelson and Kristen M. Collins, Getty Trust Publications, USA, 2006, pp. 320.

Holy Image, Hallowed Ground: Icons from Sinai, Art Daily, Mexico, November 14, 2006.

The Tut exhibit was a glittery 'Wow!' in '77. Now it's a survey of history and culture...

I've been meaning to stop by the Field Museum to say hi to Tutankhamun, the god/king of ancient Egypt, since he opened in Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs May 26. But one thing after another seems to come up; and, before you know it, spring is gone and summer is getting small in the rear-view mirror and fall seems hell-bent on becoming winter, and by Jan. 1, he'd be gone...

I had last seen Tut, as he commonly is known, in his 1977 visit to the Field.

"Treasures of Tutankhamun" likely was the first museum show to have the hoopla and crushing crowds — 1.36 million people in just four months — to warrant the description "blockbuster..."

If my memory is at all intact of the "Treasures" show 29 years ago, it seemed that "The Golden Age of the Pharaohs" is less wowie-zowie, less Tut-centric than its predecessor and, instead, more educational about the history and culture of Tut's era. The difference in the names of the exhibits indicates that this was the intent. Archaeologist Carter's quote upon entering the tomb, "Everywhere, the glint of gold," is reproduced on a wall in one room, but there didn't seem to be the overwhelming glitter of the earlier show...

Contrasting Field trips, Charles Leroux, Chicago Tribune, Illinois, USA, November 15, 2006.

On this day in history: November 17, 1997: Egyptian militants kill tourists at Luxor.

More than 60 people have been killed after an attack on a group of foreign tourists visiting a temple in southern Egypt.

The tourists' bus was fired on as they visited the temple of Hatshepsut, one of the main attractions in the town of Luxor in southern Egypt.

An Egyptian police spokesman said most of the dead were Swiss and Japanese tourists...

My Egyptology lecturer, Angela Torpey, was leading a tour from my evening class at Warwick University and was on the West bank at the time of the attack. Their Egyptian guides had them hide in the tomb of Sennedjem. See here: What happened at Luxor?

1997: Egyptian militants kill tourists at Luxor, BBC News, UK, November 17, 2006.