Antiquities police arrested a police guard in the Egyptian governorate of Qena who attempted to sell four pharaonic statues to a rich Arab for 4 million US dollars, a police source said Friday.

A criminal confessed after he was arrested in Suez that he met the guard frequently and that he was mediating between him and a wealthy man from the Gulf who wanted to buy the statues.

The police stormed the guard's house in Negada village in Qena and found four small pharaonic statues in his possession.

One of the statues is ebony and the three others are golden. One is in the shape of a bird, another is a statue of a 16th dynasty (about 1600 BC) king, the third is of a pharaonic fighter and the fourth is of a noble...

Egyptian policeman arrested for trying to sell four ancient statues, dpa via Monster & Critics, UK, February 09, 2007, via EEF News.

A team of Latvian specialists exploring Egypt's ancient pyramids have rediscovered a forgotten column from the Djoser Pyramid in Saqqara, Egypt. The column had been taken to a Berlin Museum, but went missing from its collection during World War II bombing.

A team of Latvian specialists exploring Egypt's ancient pyramids have rediscovered a forgotten column from the Djoser Pyramid in Saqqara, Egypt.

The column had been taken to a Berlin Museum, but went missing from its collection during World War II bombing.

Bruno Deslandes, head of a Latvian team of scientists, said they discovered the forgotten column in museum archives in Berlin and returned it to Egypt...

Latvian specialists find forgotten Egyptian pyramid column, The Baltic Times, Latvia, February 19, 2007.

A rare double wooden statue of an ancient Egyptian scribe and his wife has been found in their tomb south of Cairo, Egypt's chief archaeologist said on Monday.

The double statue, dating from around 2300 BC, was among a total of five wooden statues found at the tomb in Saqqara, the necropolis of the ancient Egyptian city of Memphis, said Zahi Hawass, chairman of the Supreme Council of Antiquities.

The official was Ka-Hay, who kept divine records, and his wife, Spri-Ankh. They lived late in the 5th dynasty or early in the 6th and were buried in the part of the necropolis associated with the pharaoh Teti, he said in a statement.

"It is a unique statue... In general double seated statues are made of limestone and are rarely carved in wood," he said.

The find was uncovered by an Egyptian-Australian team ... led by Naguib Kanawati of Macquarie University in Sydney...

The Australian Centre for Egyptology, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia.

Archaeologists find rare wooden statue in Egypt, Reuters, UK, February 19, 2007.

cf. Archaeologists find rare wooden statue, Reuters via The Australian, Australia, February 20, 2007.

cf. Archaeologists Find Rare Wooden Statue in Egypt, Reuters via ABC News, USA, February 19, 2007.

cf. Rare wooden statue dating from around 2300 BC found in Egypt tomb, eitb 24, Spain, February 19, 2007.