I recently attended the King Tut exhibit at the Franklin Institute, and to say that I was disappointed would be a gross understatement ("Tut is regal, not quite an experience, " Peter Dobrin, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Feb. 4 [2007]). I admit that my expectations were high because I had previously seen King Tut at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York during the mid-1970s.

There were three major problems with the Franklin Institute showing. First, some of the best artefacts shown at the previous King Tut exhibit were not shown at the Franklin Institute, most importantly the magnificent solid gold death mask. Second, the institute did not control the crowd. They did not impose a time limit on visitors and thus the exhibit rooms became so crowded that you could not move. Last, the distances the visitors had to walk were too long, especially the ramps, which were far too steep.

Other problems were also evident. Many of the exhibition rooms were too dimly lit. There was little seating in the exhibit area. The guards had no idea of where things were and responded poorly when a visitor fell. They called for an EMT who never came.

King Tut exhibit doesn't quite live up to its past, Paul D. Rosenstock, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Pennsylvania, USA, March 05, 2007.

The giant travelling exhibit "The Quest for Immortality: Treasures of Ancient Egypt" (a show, incidentally, that Mercer coordinated for its Portland run) ended Sunday after a visit that began Nov. 5 [2006].

"It's going bye-bye, but it's going with a big bang," museum spokeswoman Beth Heinrich said Friday afternoon.

The museum threw its doors open until midnight Saturday so last-minute tomb gawkers could get in, and closed for good at 5 p.m. Sunday. Final attendance figures aren't yet available, but Heinrich said it should come in at about 145,000 to 150,000, including about 30,000 schoolkids on field trips...

Art notes Museum offers a late, last glimpse of 'Egypt', Bob Hicks, The Oregonian, Oregon, USA, March 05, 2007.

American museums are returning some of the world's great antiquities to their original homes. Should they? A new debate over who owns the past is underway.

In 1972, New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art paid a record-smashing $1 million for an ancient Greek vase known as the Euphronios Krater. It was worth every penny. The krater — a 12-gallon pot for mixing wine and water — was one of only two dozen surviving examples by the great painter Euphronios, and it even had his signature. Thomas Hoving, then the Met's director, was so smitten by its classic beauty he called it "positively the finest work of art I've ever seen." (Take that, Michelangelo.) But the 2,500-year-old krater did have one major flaw. It was stolen — dug up by looters from an Etruscan tomb near Rome and smuggled out of Italy just months before it was sold, an inconvenient truth the Met finally copped to last year...

... Last year an Egyptian official declared that a rare, colourful 3,200-year-old burial mask in the St. Louis Museum of Art had been swiped from an Egyptian warehouse. Museum director Brent Benjamin says his staff thoroughly researched the mask with scholars, with Interpol and even with the head of the Cairo Museum before buying it in 1998. "We've said from the start, if there's sufficient documentation it was stolen, there's no question we will return it," says Benjamin. "But the burden of proof is on him..."

Whose Art Is It?, Cathleen McGuigan, Newsweek, New York, USA, March 12, 2007.

The directors of Arab antiquities authorities at a meeting in Cairo Sunday heavily criticized the UN cultural organization UNESCO for not having taken decisive steps against Israeli construction work at the foot of Jerusalem's Temple Mount.

The UNESCO was "weak" and supported Israel at the expense of Arabs, they said.

The Director of the Egyptian Antiquities Authority, Zahi Hawass, threatened to discontinue cooperation with foreign institutions that worked together with Israel on archaeological matters. This was true both for individuals and for museums, he said...

Antiques directors threaten to end cooperation in Aqsa mosque row, dpa via Jewish Federation of Delaware, Delaware, USA, March 04, 2007.

cf. Egypt seeks UNESCO surveillance concerning Aqsa restoration works, Egypt State Information Service, Egypt, March 02, 2007.

cf. Supreme Council of Antiquities called for adopting a serious stance over the Israeli violations in Al-Quds, Egypt State Information Service, Egypt, March 05, 2007.

Dr Aidan Dodson, a welcome visitor to the University of Warwick, has chosen as his title The Royal Family in ancient Egypt. The pharaohs dominate our image of the ancient Egyptian state. However, they were only one element of the overall ruling class. Curiously enough, amongst the least known members of this select group were the king's direct family. This day-school will lift the veil from the Egyptian royal family, summarising what is known of them and their role over three millennia. Do come, meet old friends and make new, and enjoy what promises to be a very interesting day...

Saturday March 20, 2007, 10:00 - 17:00, Room WCE0.10, Lifelong Learning Building, Westwood Campus, University of Warwick, Coventry, CV4 7AL, £25.00.

Egypt dayschool: The royal family in Ancient Egypt, Angela Torpey, Warwick University, UK, March 10, 2007.

After 10 years with the Portland Art Museum, curator Bill Mercer left this week with a notebook, pictures of his family and a final paycheque.

Museum officials would not let him back into his office.

Mercer, 46, said the museum had no good reason to fire him and museum officials refused to offer specifics on his ouster...

Mercer, the museum's coordinating curator for "The Quest for Immortality: Treasures of Ancient Egypt," said he had disagreements with his managers about the museum's biggest show of the past year. He said the travelling exhibit has lost $1 million.

But museum spokeswoman Beth Heinrich said the exhibit hasn't done that bad. "It won't be a big money-maker, but we won't lose any money on it," she said...

Portland Art Museum fires curator, AP via The Oregonian, Oregon, USA, March 02, 2007.