Classical historian of the 5th century, Herodotus, once said “Egypt is a gift of the Nile.” Flowing through nine countries, including Egypt, the Nile (6,650km long) is the lifeblood of a country where 95% of its land is desert.

We checked into a luxury cruise ship with five-star facilities for a three-day cruise on the Nile to Luxor.

Old, romantic paddle-steamers like the Karnak in Agatha Christie’s novel are a rare breed these days. Most of the boats plying the Nile are motor-run cruisers. But the view stays the same. We sipped cocktails on the top deck and watched the languid, rural life slip by — mud-brick houses amid lush, green fields and farmers hard at work...

Journeying down the Nile, The Star, Malaysia, March 10, 2007.

Luxor was our starting point, the beginning or the end of the line for the 300 or so craft that ply the route between it and Aswan further upstream. We had to walk through one unremarkable vessel to get to the Sun Boat IV — our home for the next three nights — and it felt like stepping out of a Ford into a Mercedes.

The five-deck Sun Boat IV is the plushest of the four boats owned by upmarket tour operator Abercrombie & Kent. It was relaunched late last year following a refurbishment by one of Egypt's most lauded interior designers, Mohammed Noaman. The result is Art Deco-inspired, but it's more of a homage, so if you're looking for the Agatha Christie experience in all its teak and steamer-chair glory you might be a tad disappointed.

The refit is also clearly an attempt to persuade some of the boutique hotel generation that cruising might not be quite so naff after all. It is easy to see where the reported $1m (£510,000) has gone, from the teak floors to the Murano chandeliers. The 40 cabins, for 80 passengers, continue the theme with picture windows, plasma TVs and small bathrooms with walk-in showers...

Hip sailing by the ancient world, Aoife O'Riordain, The Independent, UK, March 11, 2007.

08.00: You could be forgiven for thinking that you have not quite woken up, as you breakfast in the dining room at Mena House Oberoi ..., Pyramids Road, Giza. Its picture windows look directly at the Great Pyramid of Cheops [Khufu]. Be sure to insist on a room in the Palace Wing, for its shabby-chic glory. Doubles start at $225 (£125) per night...

24 hours in: Cairo, The Independent, UK, March 11, 2007.

Spectacular plans for a repeat of the great 1972 Tutankhamun exhibition were unveiled yesterday — but the boy king's gold death mask, the big draw 35 years ago, will not travel to Britain because the Egyptians say it is too fragile to move...

Organisers of the new show — to be opened at the troubled Millennium Dome in London in November — are confident of attracting at least two million visitors during its run to August next year.

The exhibition has been organised on a vast commercial scale — partly to help Egypt's archaeological services earn badly needed cash — and ticket prices will reach a record high. Adult admission is expected to be at least £15, and possibly higher, way above the £8 to £12 charged for London's blockbuster art shows...

Dome to stage Tutankhamun exhibition, Nigel Reynolds, The Telegraph, UK, March 13, 2007.

cf. After a 35 year wait, Tutankhamun makes a golden, glittering return, Charlotte Higgins, The Guardian, UK, March 13, 2007.

cf. Millennium Dome’s curse could yet be lifted by the golden touch of King Tut, Dalya Alberge, The Times, UK, March 13, 2007.

cf. Tutankhamun returns — without golden mask, Reuters via Scotsman, UK, March 12, 2007.

cf. Tut tut, a new curse at the Dome, The Mail, UK, March 12, 2007.

cf. Treasures of Tutankhamun's tomb come to Britain, Dalya Alberge, The Times, UK, March 12, 2007.

cf. Tut, as you will not be seeing him, David Smith and Vanessa Thorpe, The Observer, UK, March 11, 2007.

A blockbuster exhibition of the treasures of Tutankhamun is set to be the most expensive ever held in Britain when it opens to an estimated two million visitors this November.

Weekend tickets for adults wanting to visit the show at the new entertainment complex at the Millennium Dome in London — now named O2 — will be £20. The London leg of a tour already attracting record crowds in America, is expected to make $100m (£52m) for the Egyptian government which sanctioned the loans of the exhibits from the boy-king pharaoh's tomb.

Zahi Hawass, secretary general of Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities, said this was being invested in the preservation of its ancient monuments which will have disappeared within decades without drastic intervention. Dr Hawass said Egypt had failed to capitalise on previous loans abroad.

But he sought to persuade British visitors that it was "fair" that his nation should profit through its partnership with the private sector at the Dome.

"If the ticket is expensive, tell the people it's very important. It's going to the monuments. These monuments will be gone in 50 years in my opinion, if we do not take action."

£20 to see King Tut show at Dome, Louise Jury, The Independent, UK, March 13, 2007.

Discovering Tutankhamun: The Photographs of Harry Burton will be the subject of a lecture by Phyllis Saretta from The Metropolitan Museum of Art at 7 p.m. on, March 27 [2007] at the Bernardsville Public Library.

The exhibition is on display at the museum until April 29 [2007]. The lecture is funded by contributions to the library made in honour of former Bernardsville resident Helen Fitzpatrick’s birthday.

This slide-illustrated lecture will examine the vintage photographs which celebrate one of the most memorable episodes in the history of archaeology — the discovery and exploration of the tomb of the ancient Egyptian pharaoh Tutankhamun...

“Discovering Tutankhamun” at the Library, The Bernardsville Courier News, New Jersey, USA, March 08, 2007.