A mummified cat in the possession of the Ballarat Fine Art Gallery has been booked in for an appointment with a veterinarian today.

X-rays are expected to reveal what has been hidden beneath layers of linen cloth for thousands of years.

A snout and mouth poking out give a fair idea of what might be inside.

"The vets are really excited because it's something different," said Anne Rowland, registrar at the gallery.

"Hopefully we will know a little bit more, but we might not. It might just unearth more questions...

The Ballarat Fine Art Gallery has decided to have two mummified parcels — one a cat and the other an unknown object — tested in a bid to shed light on an enduring mystery...

Mummy, you're purr-fect, Simon Gladman, The Ballarat Courier, Australia, January 11, 2007.

Halved puss still a cat-egorical mystery

X-rays have revealed that the two mummified parcels, belonging to the Ballarat Fine Art Gallery, contained the two halves of a cat.

The contents of one package had been unknown before yesterday's examination at a veterinary clinic, while those in the other were confirmed as a cat's upper portion.

But the art gallery's registrar Anne Rowland said the discovery of what was beneath the layers of linen cloth prompted more questions than answers...

Halved puss still a cat-egorical mystery, Simon Gladman, The Ballarat Courier, Australia, January 12, 2007.

The Cleveland Museum of Art is next on the list of American museums from which Italy will seek the return of ancient treasures it says were looted from Italian soil.

Maurizio Fiorilli, the Italian government lawyer leading negotiations with American museums, confirmed Friday that he has been trying to open discussions with the Cleveland museum as part of an international campaign to halt the trade in illegally excavated antiquities.

He said three e-mails to the museum have gone unanswered, although he acknowledged that the e-mails may not have been addressed properly and may be missing.

In the latest message, sent Dec. 20 [2006], Fiorilli said he proposed that the museum send representatives to Rome in February for a discussion about how the Cleveland museum could return ancient works in exchange for long-term loans from Italian museums...

Italy asks museum to return works, Steven Litt, Cleveland Plain Dealer, Ohio, January 13, 2007.

The North Texas Chapter ARCE present a lecture "Recent Activities at KV-63" by Roxanne Wilson on January 20, 2007.

North Texas Chapter ARCE: Activities, North Texas Chapter ARCE, Texas, USA.

An exhibition of vintage photographs celebrating one of the most memorable episodes in the history of archaeology — the discovery and exploration of the tomb of the ancient Egyptian pharaoh Tutankhamun (Dynasty 18; ruled ca. 1336-1327 B.C.) — will be on view at The Metropolitan Museum of Art through April 29, 2007.

The photographs, documenting every stage in the process of the excavation, were taken by the renowned archaeological photographer Harry Burton, who was a staff member of the Metropolitan Museum Egyptian Expedition when he was “lent” to Howard Carter, the famed excavator of Tutankhamun’s tomb.

Discovering Tutankhamun: The Photographs of Harry Burton features his spectacular black-and-white images of the entrance passage to the tomb, the opening of the sealed chambers inside, the first view of the contents and removal of the objects, and the beautifully made and decorated treasures that were found. The four chambers of the tomb were crammed with objects such as gold-covered chariots; elaborately inlaid furniture and chests; a vast array of the king’s personal belongings, including jewellery; a series of shrines and coffins that protected the king; and the famous solid-gold mask that adorned his mummy — the last, among the most iconic examples of ancient Egyptian art ever to have come to light...

Discovering Tutankhamun: The Photographs of Harry Burton, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USA.

Metropolitan Museum Presents “Discovery Of Tutankhamun’s Tomb”, HULIQ Media, North Carolina, USA, January 17, 2007.

cf. Egyptian Art At Metropolitan Museum, HULIQ Media, North Carolina, USA, January 17, 2007.

A stone carving of the head of a guardsman from the ancient palace of Persian kings at Persepolis is at the centre of a High Court battle that could have worldwide repercussions for museums and art collections.

For more than 30 years, the 5th century BC relief has been in the possession of a Frenchwoman who bought it at an auction in New York in 1974 and displayed it on her living room wall.

When Denyse Berend, 85, tried to sell it through Christie's auction house in London in 2005, the Islamic Republic of Iran claimed it as stolen and launched a legal attempt to get it back.

Now Mr Justice Eady must decide who is the rightful owner in a case that one expert has described as having the potential to act like a "nuclear bomb" on the antiquities market...

"If the High Court goes the direction of Iran it will send shivers down the spines of art collectors and museums," he said. "It could set a precedent and Iran could claim many more pieces worldwide" said Michel van Rijn...

Museums face fallout in fight over carving, Stephanie Condron, The Telegraph, UK, January 16, 2007.

The trial of a former official of the Getty Museum in Los Angeles resumes today as Italian authorities campaign to retrieve antiquities they believe have been stolen and sold to some of the world's leading collections.

Marion True, 57, is charged in Rome with buying antiquities from Italy which she knew were stolen.

The outcome of her case may force art galleries and museums around the world to reconsider their exhibits. Already, the case has given the Italian government the confidence to demand the return of hundreds of statues, bronzes and plates from museums in New York, Boston, Cleveland and Japan. The Greek government has followed its cue, launching its own court case against Miss True and winning back prizes including a million-dollar golden funerary wreath...

Italy campaigns for antiquities in Getty trial, Malcolm Moore, The Telegraph, UK, January 17, 2007.

Believed extinct in Syria for more than 70 years, the northern bald ibis was rediscovered near the ancient city of Palmyra in 2002 (photo of Palmyra ruins). The species was once common across the Middle East and North Africa, but now fewer than 300 remain in the wild.

Relive the hunt for the elusive bird with team leader and National Geographic Society grantee Gianluca Serra, who said: "Discovering this bird was like finding the Arabian Phoenix regenerated from the ashes."

“Extinct” Ibis Found in Middle East, National Geographic News, District of Columbia, USA, January 04, 2007.

cf. “Bird of the Pharaohs” Stages Comeback, National Geographic News, District of Columbia, USA, October 03, 2003.

"The number of tourists visiting the country in 2006 stood at 9.82m, marking a 5.5 per cent increase, surpassing the rate expected by the International Monetary Fund," Egyptian Tourism Minister Zoheir Garana said at a press conference Tuesday 16/01/2007.

Garana noted that tourism revenues mushroomed by 11.8 per cent.

He noted that LE 53.9m was allocated to securing the movement of floating hotels, LE 72.8m to revamping Alexandria harbour, Luxor airport and the Salam road in Sharm el-Sheikh and LE 74m for charter flights...

Tourist's number increases by 5.5 percent in 2006, Egypt State Information Service, Egypt, January 17, 2007.

On the second day of his visit to Luxor, President Hosni Mubarak on Monday inaugurated the new Qurna town located on the west bank of Luxor and built by the State for inhabitants of the old Qurna village.

The new Qurna town is the place to which inhabitants of the old village were moved to protect the archaeological sites they were living in.

The inauguration of the new town and the relocation of the Qurna villagers there ends a 50-year-old battle to evict squatters from one of Egypt's most renowned archaeological site where the nearly 10,000 inhabitants of the old village used to live in mud-brick houses erected over ancient Egyptian tombs on the Theban hills...

President Hosni Mubarak inaugurated on Monday morning in the Valley of the Kings and Queens on the west bank of Luxor the Visitor Centre, which is a museum and exhibition for tombs of Pharaonic dynasties.

The Visitor Centre includes large screens airing documentaries on all monuments and tombs in the West Valley to have tourists acquainted with such precious sites without the need to get into them.

Similar visitor centres will be established in other archaeological sites to give tourists a chance to see the various antiquities and tombs through films instead of entering the sites to protect them from any damage in the long run...

Mubarak visits new Qurna Town in Luxor, inaugurates visitors centre, Egypt State Information Service, Egypt, January 16, 2007.