The title of this book [The Building Crafts of Cairo: A Living Tradition], adorned as it is with a photograph of an aged stonecutter, may not be very appealing, but do not be deceived. It is painstakingly researched, lavishly illustrated, and beautifully designed by the author herself.

Dobrowolska, a conservation architect who has been living and working in Cairo for going on 15 years, has succeeded in capturing what she considers an endangered way of life and work before it is too late. "My point of view was not that of a social anthropologist or ethnographer," she writes in her introduction, "but of a conservation architect dealing with the craftsmen on a day-to-day basis, making use of their skills or practical purposes. This approach has its limitations," she admits, "but working with the craftsmen of Cairo has been a fascinating and enriching experience." Fortunately for the rest of us, she has chosen to share some of the insights that she has gained from this knowledge. The result is a work at once intimate, well observed and written in lively prose.

"The philosophy behind architectural conservation has been never to chance the substance of historic buildings," Dobrowolska writes. "Wherever possible, repairs [have been] done using the same materials and techniques that were used for the original construction." This brought her into contact with a large number of people practicing traditional crafts in Cairo "in small workshops located in the same neighbourhoods since immemorial", whose professional skills have been passed down from father to son for generations...

, Agnieszka Dobrowolska, American University in Cairo Press, Egypt, 2006, pp. 128.

Endangered talents, Jill Kamil, Al-Ahram, Egypt, Issue No. 827, January 11 - 17, 2007.

Located in the Eastern Desert, Saint Paul Monastery remains one of the most popular in Egypt, attracting a regular horde of visitors tempted as much by the desert journey as by the architectural and spiritual experience. In AD 250 — so the story goes — the saint fled Alexandria from the wrath of the heathen Emperor Decius; he was only 16. He found a place of hermitage in a cave flanked by a palm tree and a spring, where, nearly a century later in AD 343 he was eventually joined by Saint Anthony, who saw him come out of the cave in a dream and found his way to him.

Saint Paul had been provided for by a crow, who brought him half a loaf of bread every day, which grew to a whole loaf on the arrival of Saint Anthony. Soon after that Saint Paul confided in Saint Anthony that his death was near, and that he wanted his body to be covered in a cloak of Bishop Athanasius's; on his return from fetching the cloak Saint Anthony found Saint Paul's soul departed. He was at a loss how to bury him for lack of a spade; it is believed that two lions appeared, dug a hole with their paws, and left. Both saints were commemorated 30 years later by Saint Jerome, and later by Saint Athanasius: Saint Paul became known as the First Hermit, and Saint Anthony as the Father of Monasticism. For its part the cave became a place of pilgrimage, and the two monasteries grew around its site.

Not so long ago a visitor could only get to Saint Paul by hiring a camel in Beni Sueif; a separate, 25km journey was required to get to Saint Anthony. Today the Al-Sukhna Highway reduces the journey to a straightforward 120km drive. The monastery had been closed for restoration work until 2006, when it reopened: Qummous Daniel offers a complete tour of the premises, featuring the waterwheel and rock art of ancient monks, as well as a full historical account of the site.

Monastery of St. Paul, William Lyster, The American Research Center in Egypt, 1999, pp. 96.

, William Lyster, Yale University Press, 2007, pp. 304.

The saintliness of sand, Mohamed Wassim, Al-Ahram, Egypt, Issue No. 827, January 11 - 17, 2007.

For more than three centuries, since historians and Egyptologists began to write the first history in modern times of the 20th dynasty of Ancient Egypt, compiled from hieroglyphic texts drawn on papyri or engraved on tombs and temple walls, the history of the dynasty has remained virtually unchanged. However, this is archaeology, and in archaeology nothing can be said to be fixed. A newly-unearthed stelae in the avenue lined with ram-headed sphinxes that once connected the temples of Luxor and Karnak, along which official and religious processions passed for centuries, has thrown further light on this ancient era.

The new information not only illustrates the growing power of the priesthood during the New Kingdom, but also changes some concepts of the 20th dynasty, especially the facts and figures relating to its founder, the Pharaoh Setnakhte.

The stelae is a quartzite religious relief engraved in two parts; the upper one featuring Setnakhte wearing the blue crown and kneeling before the god Amun-Re, who holds the key of life in his right hand and the waset symbol in his left hand. The pharaoh is offering the god the feather of justice, while the goddess Mut, standing in the background, raises her left hand as a symbol of protection and holds the key of life in her right. The lower part bears 17 lines of hieroglyphic text followed by a scene showing Bakenkhonsu, the High Priest of Amun-Re, wearing his religious robes and praying...

Dynasty revealed, Nevine El-Aref, Al-Ahram, Egypt, Issue No. 827, January 11 - 17, 2007.

Previously: Ancient Egyptian carving sheds light on Karnak temple, December 28, 2006.

Greek authorities ordered Marion True, former antiquities curator of the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles, to post about $19,000 bail, two sources familiar with the case confirmed.

True's appearance Wednesday before a Greek magistrate and prosecutors, first reported by the New York Times, was the latest step toward a criminal trial on charges that the former curator conspired to buy an ancient golden funerary wreath that Greek authorities say was illegally excavated.

The Getty returned the golden wreath to Greece in mid-December, days before True was formally charged with the crime. True's attorneys have denied that she is guilty of the charges.

Bail set for former Getty curator, Los Angeles Times, California, USA, January 12, 2007.

The international effort to recover “stolen” works of art from some of the world’s best museums gathered pace today with reports that Italy is seeking the return of Roman antiquities from Japan.

Authorities in Italy suspect that up to 100 treasures from ancient Rome were looted and have asked the Japanese government to help secure their return, the Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper reported.

About 50 of the missing treasures, including a sculpture and fresco painting, are being kept at the Miho museum, a private museum in Shiga prefecture in western Japan known for its large collection of Asian and western antiques, the newspaper said, citing unnamed Italian prosecutors...

Italy to ask Japan for return of 'looted' = antiques, Justin McCurry, The Guardian, UK, January 11, 2007.