Ancient Egyptians must have been familiar with aviation. They could manufacture types of airplanes to get aerial views of some important locations in Egypt; a technology that helped them secure their builders lots of essential materials, opined an Egyptologist Basam Al Shammaa.

Al Shammaa, who has a special interest in the subject, pointed out that centuries before the science of geography came into existence, a papyrus map showing the locations of copper and gold mines in some mountainous areas could prove that the ancient engineers must have invented sail-propelled planes to explore the mountains and deserts.

Al Shammaa noted: "It's only one map that for some might offer little evidence, but only 30 percent of secrets related to ancient Egypt have been revealed. There may be a lot more in store. So we shouldn't rule out the possibility that future discoveries will reveal more about ancient Egyptians and aviation..."

Erm, nope. Moving on... There were many maps produced in the Renaissance, for instance, which is where the Mercator projection map comes from. Does that mean he borrowed Da Vinci's helicopter? Obviously not.

When the ancient Egyptians soared, Ahmed Maged, The Daily Star, Egypt, May 11, 2007.

Bulgarian scientist will try to prove their hypothesis that the rock sanctuaries of Tatul and Perperikon in the Eastern Rhodopi Mountains are more ancient than Egyptian pyramids.

To prove their hypothesis, the scientists will organize the biggest archaeology expedition in the country that will be situated near the southern town of Kardzhali. The top Bulgarian archaeologist Nikolay Ovcharov will lead the expedition.

The hypothesis of the rock sanctuaries' age was voiced some months ago by two Bulgarian historians. According to them the first cuts in the rocks there date back to the fifth millennium BC...

Yeah, I know, not Egyptology again!

Ancient Bulgarian Sanctuaries "Older" than Egyptian Pyramids, Sofia News Agency, Bulgaria, May 16, 2007.

I think everyone has one single place they want to go, somewhere they are determined to experience no matter what. For me, that place is and always has been Egypt. My best friend and I grew up fascinated by its ancient culture, adopting goddess names and having our own Egypt Club meetings in cardboard boxes in her garage.

When she and her husband moved to Kuwait in 2005 to take jobs at the American School, we began to talk about finally fulfilling a dream. We plotted and planned our two-week immersion into the culture. Still, it wasn't until we breathed the thick air of Cairo, walked among the pyramids, descended into the Valley of the Kings, that it became real. All I knew going into the trip was that I would learn something. And I did...

10 things I learned in Egypt, Katherine Dillinger, The Austin American Statesman, Texas, USA, May 20, 2007..

A nice piece by Margaret Maitland about the various museums that Zahi Hawass has recently asked for loans from, including Berlin for the Nefertiti bust and the British Museum for the Rosetta Stone etc. And contrasting that with the Egyptian's own insistence that Tutankhamun's gold mask is too fragile to travel for the current tour.

Too fragile to travel, Margaret Maitland, The Eloquent Peasant, UK, May 16, 2007.

The Great Pyramids of Giza, Egypt are some of the most famous monuments in the world and a huge tourist attraction. According to Amr el-Ezabi of the Egyptian Tourist Authority (ETA), the ancient buildings attracted more than 2.5 million visitors over the course of 2006. every hotel room in the city of Cairo, the outskirts of which encompass the pyramid sites, was booked out for most of the year - and 2007 is set to be no different, the body claims.

The pyramids are not the only ancient monuments in Egypt. There are many others, some of which are important enough to have been declared World Heritage Sites. The Great Sphinx of Giza, for instance, is situated next to the Great Pyramids and is equally as famous as its neighbours. To the south, the city of Luxor and its surrounding environs offer the Karnak Temple and the Valley of the Kings, site of Tutankhamen's Tomb.

In recent years, overseas visitor numbers have also been boosted by the development of "products for upmarket tourists", according to the ETA.. Aside from culture tourism packages taking in the ancient monuments, the body has also promoted desert safari trips, sport tourism and marine wildlife tourism.

The Red Sea area in particular has been pushed by the ETA, which remarked that the programme is "doing well and lots of people come to enjoy the sea now"...

Great Pyramids prove great attraction, Assetz via openPR, UK, May 22, 2007.

Through the Internet-based digital mapping platform, Presner's students can not only visit Berlin as it exists today, [via Hypermedia Berlin], but can time-travel through 800 years to experience the city, language, history and culture of another era - adding insights and discoveries of their own to the site along the way. The project is Presner's brainchild, put together with help from an interdisciplinary team of geographers, urban planners, architects and computer scientists...

What has this got to do with Egyptology? I hear you say. Well at the end of the article there is this...

Other projects included the Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative, the St. Gall Virtual Reality Project, the Electronic Literature Collection, the Encyclopaedia of Egyptology, the Chicano Archives Digitization Project, the California Land Opportunities Tracking System and the Qumran Visualization Project.

Digital Showcase Touts Interdisciplinary Innovation, Judy Lin, UCLA International Institute, California, USA, May 23, 2007.