"The discovery confirms the existence of tombs from important men of state during the time of pharaoh Akhenaton after the same delegation found another tomb from this period several years before," said SCA head Zahi Hawass, who described it as one of the "most important" discoveries in the area...

The tomb, which bears the royal cartouche for "Ptah Am Waya" is covered with wall paintings done in the realistic style of the period when classic artistic conventions were abandoned.

The wall paintings include those of "Ptah" going to the afterlife as well scenes of daily life, such as monkeys eating dates...

I'm not sure whether this is a picture of the new find or not as the picture is referred to as the 'Scribe of the Treasure' but nowhere in the articles is the new tomb's owner referred to having this epithet and the tag on the picture says 'File' which may indicate that it is just a photo that they dug out of the archives. Can anyone confirm this?

Dutch team finds 'heretic Pharaoh' era tomb in Egypt, AFP via Yahoo! News, USA, February 14, 2007.

Previously: Dutch team finds 'heretic Pharaoh' era tomb in Egypt.

It was one of the Culture Ministry’s grandest plans for the Olympics — but was never implemented. Highlighting the Egyptian temple at Brexiza as part of an archaeological and tourist itinerary that would have included the site of Rhamnus, the Marathon Museum, Tymbos and the Tsepi cemetery would have been an interesting project for an archaeological site in Attica that is significant both for its size and the finds that have been unearthed there.

That was the theory, but in practice the prefecture rejected the project. Now it has been saved at the last minute at the initiative of Culture Ministry General Secretary Christos Zachopoulos, who has found a way to include it as a sub-project to technical work on the Lavrion mines, thus securing the sum of 400,000 euros, which will come from Third and Fourth Community Support Framework funds.

Iphigenia Dekoulakou, excavator of the Egyptian temple and an archaeologist with 35 years in the field, sounded the alarm. “The walls must be stabilized or the temple will collapse. Fragile materials and damp are the temple’s basic problems...”

Excavating works at Brexiza.

Isis and Osiris in Attica, Iota Sykka, Kathimerini, Greece, February 14, 2007.

Dutch archaeologists have discovered a tomb in the Saqqara necropolis from the time of Egypt's monotheistic Pharaoh Akhenaton some 3,300 years ago, the Supreme Council of Antiquities said Wednesday.

The discovery shows that notables contemporary with Akhenaton continued to be buried in Saqqara, just outside the modern day capital of Cairo, indicating the enduring importance of old religious orthodoxy under "the heretic Pharaoh."

"The discovery confirms the existence of tombs from important men of state during the time of Pharaoh Akhenaton after the same delegation found another tomb from this period several years before," said SCA head Zahi Hawass, who described it as one of the "most important" discoveries in the area...

Dutch team finds 'heretic Pharaoh' era tomb in Egypt, AFP via Middle East Times, Cyprus, February 14, 2007.

Archaeologists find Akhenaten-era tomb

Dutch archaeologists have discovered the tomb of the Pharaoh Akhenaten's seal bearer, decorated with paintings including scenes of monkeys picking and eating fruit, Egyptian antiquities officials said on Wednesday.

The tomb belonged to the official named Ptahemwi and was discovered during a Dutch team's excavation in the Sakkara area, the burial ground for the city of Memphis...

cf. Archaeologists find Akhenaten-era tomb, Reuters, USA, February 14, 2007.

Adam Hart-Davies, author and presenter of What the Ancients did for us etc, advocates teaching of the three Rs over teaching of history.

I am dubious about the projects thrust upon schoolkids — Romans, Victorians, the second world war, ancient Egypt. Treating each of these as separate things prevents children from getting any grasp of the whole flow of history...

If I had to teach history — and I pity any pupils of mine — I would try to convey the broad sweep through single people or events with which pupils could identify: Brunel could provide the backbone for a canter through the Industrial Revolution, or Victorian England, while the atom bomb could be the culmination in a study of weapons of war throughout the ages.

Are pupils missing out? I doubt it. If they are keen, they will stay with the history, unless the ridiculous league tables force the school to persuade them to take up cake decoration or Kylie Minogue studies. There is plenty of time to study history later in life. What really matter at school are English, maths, and science.

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Does it really matter if history lessons are history?, Adam Hart-Davis, The Guardian, UK, February 14, 2007.

A study of a 2,000-year-old silver coin found the Egyptian queen, famously portrayed by Elizabeth Taylor, had a pointed chin, thin lips and sharp nose.

Her Roman lover, played by Richard Burton, had bulging eyes, thick neck and a hook nose.

The tiny coin was studied by experts at Newcastle University.

The size of a modern 5p piece, the artefact from 32BC was in a collection belonging to the Society of Antiquaries of Newcastle, which is being researched in preparation for the opening of a new Great North Museum...

Coin shows Cleopatra's ugly truth, BBC News, UK, February 14, 2007.

cf. Antony and Cleopatra: coin find changes the faces of history, Martin Wainwright, The Guardian, UK, February 14, 2007.

And on the slightly less tactful note from the tabloids we have from The Mirror "Cleopatra was a minger" and from The Sun "Queen Cleopatra... the minger".

This is not actually new as I have seen these coins before but the only post that fits the bill is "Hollywood brightens up Cleopatra's looks to conceal her true ugliness", August 25, 2005.