Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and his French counterpart Jacques Chirac Friday unveiled an exhibition of sunken treasures recovered by French underwater explorers and spanning 1,500 years of Egyptian history.

Mubarak, in Paris as part of a five-day European tour, toured the display of 500 rare pieces at the Grand Palais in Paris in company of his wife Suzanne, Chirac and his wife Bernadette.

The artefacts, dating from 700 BC to 800 AD, were recovered by a team of archaeologists led by the Frenchman Franck Goddio, who have been working on the sea floor off Egypt's coast for the past 10 years.

They include the largest known statue of Hapy, the Egyptian god of the Nile, a five-metre (11-foot) colossus dating from 2,000 years ago, which forms the centrepiece of the display along with statuettes of deities, coins and everyday objects.

A total of 8,000 artefacts have been excavated from the Mediterranean depths, from the ancient harbour of Alexandria, the nearby site of Canopus and the lost city of Heraklion some seven kilometres (four miles) offshore.

The show, "Egypt's Sunken Treasures", drew almost half a million visitors when it was put on in Berlin earlier this year. It opens to the Paris public on Saturday and runs until March 16 [2007]...

The exhibition catalogue can be obtained from Amazon here: , Franck Goddio, Prestel, 2006.

Chirac, Mubarak Unveil Egyptian Treasure Trove in Paris, The Tocqueville Connection, France, December 08, 2006.

Previously: UNESCO presents project for National Museum of Egyptian Civilization at exhibition of Egyptian antiquities in Paris.

As the importance of cultural patrimony increases, American museums will probably never again be able to acquire Greek, Roman, and Egyptian works at the rate and with the freedom they did in the late-19th and early-20th centuries, when major collections, like those of the Metropolitan Museum, were assembled.

In different ways, two events in New York this month — a sale on Thursday at Christie's, and an exhibition opening in two weeks at the Met — offer reminders of that time, an exciting one for archaeologists, collectors, and curators, when some of the most important discoveries of Egyptian art were made. On Thursday, the Western Reserve Historical Society is selling a mummy and sarcophagus brought back from Egypt in 1900 by Liberty Holden, the publisher of the Cleveland Plain Dealer, who made his fortune in silver mining. Two weeks from tomorrow, the Met will open an exhibition of photographs by the archaeological photographer Harry Burton, "Tutankhamun's Tomb: The Thrill of Discovery," documenting the excavation of the tomb between 1922 and 1933.

According to the head of Christie's antiquities department, G. Max Bernheimer, Holden was taking the "obligatory trip up the Nile" in the winter of 1900, when he learned that an Egyptian dealer had discovered a cache of four mummies and was offering them for sale. He bought this sarcophagus with its mummy, shipped it to Cairo for export clearance, and, on his return to Cleveland, donated it to the Historical Society, where the sarcophagus was publicly opened and the mummy partially unwrapped.

The Historical Society is selling the mummy, Mr. Bernheimer said, because it doesn't fit their mission, which is to collect objects related to Northeast Ohio...

Mummies in Manhattan, Kate Taylor, The New York Sun, New York, USA, December 04, 2006.

Scholars have long believed that ancient Egypt was a genetic stew of ethnicity, as the fabled kingdom was both a center of international trade and often the victim of foreign invasions.

Now, new evidence suggests that may have been true even in the upper echelons of society, according to researchers who have used a blend of art and science to re-create what the ancients looked like in real life.

They have used CAT scans to model the skulls of seven mummies from various museums, including one unveiled last month at Philadelphia's Academy of Natural Sciences, revealing physical features that range from Mediterranean to African.

All seven were buried with the trappings of a high status in society, including two clearly connected to the priesthood, said project leader Jonathan Elias, director of the Harrisburg, [Pennsylvania]-based Akhmim Mummy Research Consortium...

A new picture of ancient ethnic diversity, Tom Avril, The Columbus Ledger-Enquirer, Georgia, USA, December 08, 2006.

Previously: I'm sure this is a reprint of this one from last week A new picture of ancient ethnic diversity. There is a link from here to a Q&A forum with the project's leader.

While many New Yorkers were hunting for bargains in the pre-Christmas sales on Thursday, one anonymous buyer opted for a more unusual purchase, picking up a 3 000-year-old mummy at auction.

The unnamed, private collector paid $1.1-million for the ancient Egyptian sarcophagus, believed to date from 990 to 940 BC.

The mummy was brought back from Egypt by Liberty Holden, a publisher from Cleveland, Ohio, and donated to a local museum in 1901, according to Christie's auction house in New York.

Texts on the painted sarcophagus describe the occupant as Neskhons, believed to have worked in a temple performing rituals, although it is not known where he was originally buried.

A recent X-ray examination found that Neskhons was in his early 20s at the time of his death and likely died of an infection. His internal organs were removed, embalmed and replaced inside the body in wrapped bundles.

Christie's did not say what the unidentified buyer intended to do with his new purchase.

Million-dollar-mummy sold in New York, Sapa-AFP via The Independent Online, South Africa, December 08, 2006.

cf. Million-dollar-mummy sold in New York, Sapa-AFP via The Sunday Times, South Africa, December 08, 2006.

Visitors to the Segedunum Roman Fort in Wallsend will come face to face with an ancient Egyptian mummy this week, as a 3-dimensional digital image of her head is put on display at the Museum for the first time.

The mummy, known as Bakt Hor Nekht, has never been seen before; her intricately decorated coffin sealed out of respect and to preserve her remains. However, a CT scan carried out by Newcastle General Hospital this summer has now been used to create an accurate, detailed digital reconstruction of her head.

Gill Scott, Egyptologist for the Hancock Museum, which has loaned Bakt Hor Nekht to Segedunum, explained the significance of the model:

“Although we already have a forensic-style model of her as she would have appeared in real life, this 3 dimensional reconstruction will show how the mummification process has affected her. The CT footage provides us with fantastic computerised images of the mummy, but seeing the physical reconstruction of the head is quite an eerie experience...”

Mummy shows face after 3,000 years at Segedunum, Rachel Johnson, 24-Hour Museum, UK, November 30, 2006.

Since the SCA have found Qar's sarcophagus complete with a mummy this week I thought I'd link a couple of useful sites.

The Tomb of Qar (G 7101) At Giza, Jimmy Dunn, Tour Egypt, Texas, USA.

G7101; Tomb of Qar, Jenny Hill, Ancient Egypt Online, Scotland, UK.

There is also a book: , William Kelly Simpson, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, USA, 1976. I found one copy on Abebooks for £364.63!

Suzanne Mubarak's dedication to children, women, and peace is recognised all over the world. She has worked hard to improve the situation of women in Egypt, and is trying to educate the world about Muslim women. She is also responsible for raising issues concerning laws that give women more freedom to the attention of the public.

I have witnessed personally her dedication to children. I have had the honour of working with her to build a special museum for children in Cairo. There is already a children's museum in Heliopolis, but Mrs Mubarak has realised that we are now in the 21st century and really need a museum for children that teaches them to love their country even more, and especially to care for their environment and their heritage.

I began working with Mrs Mubarak on the new children's museum more than two years ago. She appointed me to be in charge of the project. All of the plans have been discussed with her in detail, and I am always very impressed by her knowledge of children's education. In fact, I have learnt much from her. She has great passion for children, and feels that every child in Egypt is her own.

As we began our work, the team made a new architectural plan and a new scenario. Everyone was happy with the architectural design, but we were aware that Mrs Mubarak was not at all happy with the interior...

Dig days: A noble dream, Zahi Hawass, Al-Ahram, Egypt, Issue No. 823, December 07 - 13, 2006.

Archaeologists are sizing up a splendid painted anthropoid wooden sarcophagus found by chance at the Saqqara necropolis last week.

The sarcophagus was found by an Egyptian archaeological mission engaged in cleaning the burial shaft of the sixth- dynasty royal physician Qar, which neighbours King Djoser's pyramid complex at Saqqara almost 35km south of the Giza Plateau...

Early studies of the mummy revealed that it had been wrapped in a large number of linen shreds, and that it could be dated to the 30th Dynasty. However, a fracture found on the right side of the sarcophagus proves that it did not belong to the mummy it contained, since it was too short for the body. This raised the possibility that the priests in antiquity had to act in a hurry to insert the mummy inside the short sarcophagus to protect it. They had also removed it from its original location, but it turned out that they found a safe place to rebury it.

The mummy and the sarcophagus are now at the Saqqara restoration laboratory. More research will be carried out on the paintings and hieroglyphic texts in order to identify the owner and the reason why it was inserted into this sarcophagus and placed in Qar's tomb...

Too big for a coffin, Nevine El-Aref, Al-Ahram, Egypt, Issue No. 823, December 07 - 13, 2006.

Over the ages Denderah Temple, one of the best preserved in Egypt, was isolated in the parched desert. The only tourists who paid a visit were making a stop on a journey between Cairo and Luxor. More recently, it has been a destination from the Red Sea resort of Hurghada or a stop on a Nile cruise itinerary.

However, interest in it was low, and a few years ago the temple was closed to visitors and its cafeteria and gift shops were almost derelict. Now the SCA's site management policy to rescue Egypt's archaeological sites and make them more tourist-friendly has brought new life to Denderah. The temple has been resurrected not only as an ancient temple but a comprehensive tourist complex providing visitors with various cultural and entertainment facilities.

Abdel-Hamid Qutub, head of the Engineering Department at the SCA, told Al-Ahram Weekly that one of the main goals of the development project was to reduce the number of visitors rooming around the temple's different galleries and corridors as well as the time spent inside the temple by constructing a visitors' centre in the empty space before the lofty monument, which will become an obligatory stop on any visitor's itinerary. It has a lecture hall and a cinema where a 15- minute documentary film gives an overview of the history of the temple and its important scenes and reliefs. As at all visitors' centres there is a small bookshop and a counter selling souvenirs. In order to control the movement of tourists and to protect the temple reliefs, plans have been set in motion for tour guides to lecture their groups outside the temple in front of a three-dimensional plan of the corridors, the halls and the sanctuary, and to show photographs of the most noteworthy scenes on the temple walls. All the old wooden kiosks erected for selling souvenirs have been demolished and replaced by a dozen smart new bazaars within the centre complex...

Back on the tourist map, Nevine El-Aref, Al-Ahram, Egypt, Issue No. 823, December 07 - 13, 2006.

Relocating the Gurna villagers to more suitable premises has been debated since 1948. There have been several attempts to persuade them to move. The government commissioned the renowned Egyptian architect Hassan Fathi to build the village of New Gurna, five kilometres away and on the edge of the cultivation, much preferable, it was thought, to the barren desert of the Valley of the Nobles. The villagers, however, had other ideas: they found fault with the houses, considering them to be built to an idealised plan of what a rural house should be but without any real respect for their needs.

Now, with a budget of LE180 million provided by five ministries and governmental bodies, New Gurna, or Al-Taref, has been extended and follows a similar design to the original Gurna but with improved facilities and services. The 600 vaulted houses incorporate those built by Fathi but with some modifications. There is a youth centre, two schools, a hospital, a modern market, a police station and a telephone and post office, a cultural centre with a small cinema, a children's playground and a football field. The streets are wider than in the old village, and the houses are equipped with running water and are connected to Luxor sewage system.

Villagers' reactions to the bulldozers were a mix of trepidation, anxiety, anger and contentment. This time round some were finding it easy to leave their homes to the archaeologists, who will now move into the area, bent on unearthing no less than 100 ancient tombs which they believe lie underneath. Other villagers stood in mournful silence, while a third and more vitriolic group cursed from the rooftops. A significant number of residents strongly oppose the resettlement plan, which will cut them off from contact with the tourists on whom most depend for a living...

Nobles left to the ghosts, Nevine El-Aref, Al-Ahram, Egypt, Issue No. 823, December 07 - 13, 2006.

I have just noticed that tagged on to the announcement of the discovery of a mummy in the tomb of Qar the other day that there is a piece about a new project to restore 950 tombs on the west bank.

Meanwhile, the SCA on Tuesday called for implementing an archaeological project on restoring 950 Pharaonic tombs that were sculptured at the foot of El-Qarna Mountain on the Western Bank of Luxor to immortalise kings and other royalty of Ancient Egypt.

The project will be carried out through foreign grants to be raised by an international fund on overhauling monuments in Luxor within the framework of the Comprehensive Development for the City of Luxor project (CDCL).

Luxor's Supreme Council Chairman Samir Farag said that the project would be carried out in cooperation with the UN Development Programme (UNDP), under the aegis of Mrs. Suzanne Mubarak.

Mummy dating back to 6th dynasty in Sakkara discovered, Egypt State Information Service, Egypt, December 06, 2006.