The expert archaeologists huddled together. They exchanged nervous glances and tried to decipher their mission from the crackling voice of Director Cavendish.

They had three tasks: Enter the ancient Egyptian tomb, reconnect with a long-lost professor and find the Pharaoh's mummy.

These archaeologists, students from Boston-area colleges, were about to embark on 5-WITS' Tomb, a 45-minute journey through three chamber-like rooms where their vision, hearing, strength, courage and problem-solving skills would be challenged.

They were participating in last Thursday's College Night, an event organized by middlers Matt Collette and Stephanie Turmelle and junior Brittany Blackmon...

Ancient Egyptian expedition attracts students, Julie Balise, The Northeastern News, Massachusetts, USA, June 06, 2007.

“How could I have been so foolish as to have missed this until now?” I said to myself over and over one day while 785 miles south of Cairo visiting Abu Simbel, near the Egypt-Sudan border in an area where the ancient Egypt of the Pharaohs once stood looking out toward the ancient Kingdom of Nubia.

I was on an Abercrombie & Kent trip to this fascinating land. As I looked up at four colossal sandstone statutes of the great Egyptian King Rameses II seated upon his throne wearing his huge double crown signifying reign over both Upper and Lower Egypt, I felt the same way I felt the first time I gazed upon such wonders as the pyramids, the Great Wall of China, the Taj Mahal or the effigies of Easter Island.

I had been to Egypt twice before, but only to Cairo to see the pyramids and tour the Egyptian Museum of Antiquities. Now I realize that is just not enough. To truly appreciate Egypt you have to look beyond the pyramids...

Egypt: Look beyond the pyramids, Fred J. Eckert, The Eureka Reporter, California, USA, June 07, 2007.

I think this is a recycled story from March. See here and here.

Ancient colours of Egyptian wall paintings are being recreated in a modern lab in Italy, where art restorers say that they have learned how to preserve the artefacts.

Trapani, Italy-based conservation lab ISAD gained permission from Egyptian authorities to examine bits of the wall paintings to learn more about their origins and perhaps develop an answer about why their colours were fading, the Italian news agency ANSA reported Thursday.

"Up till now people thought the frescoes were made from earth colours, which is why the results [of conservation efforts] have been so disappointing," said ISAD's Giuseppe Claudio Infranca.

They found, however, that the paintings' pigments were from a variety of minerals that restorers are trying to recreate...

Modern lab recreating ancient pigments, UPI via Middle East Times, Cyprus, June 08, 2007.

The latest issue of the French language magazine “Toutankhamon” is out now.

L'énigme des pyramides
Thoutmosis IV et le dieu Aton
Le char de guerre égyptien

Aventurier
La naissance de l'égyptienne

Découverte
La tombe de Kherouef

Voyager
Le Nil en felouque

Which approximately says...

The enigma of the pyramids
Tuthmosis IV and the god Aten
The Egyptian war chariot

Adventurer
Birth of the Egyptian woman

Discovered
The tomb of Kheruef

Traveller
The Nile on a felucca

Toutankhamon Magazine , Editions Neptune Diffusion, France, Issue 33, June / July 2007.

I have created a KML file to link you to the satellite image in Amarna from yesterday's article.

Google Earth: Ancient Egyptian City Spotted From Space.

Google Maps: Ancient Egyptian City Spotted From Space.

The Google Earth link wasn't working, although the Google Maps one did and they both use the same file. It was because my server did not have the correct MIME type configuration for .kml files so I had to set them up in a .htaccess file.

Ancient Egyptian City Spotted From Space, June 07, 2007.

Situated on a plateau between the modern city of Cairo and the ancient Pyramids of Giza, the Egyptian Grand Museum (EGM) will be home to over 150,000 artefacts. Amongst these are the treasures of King Tutankhamun, many of which will be on public display for the first time, having spent years in storage since their discovery by Howard Carter in 1922. The 480,000sqm museum will consist of a high-tech complex of facilities, providing visitors with access to a broad range of information. Mohamed Ghoneim, general coordinator of the project, says that "the EGM is expected to open in 2011, having cost US$550 million, including a US$300 million long-term loan from Japan, US$100 million from the Egyptian Fund for Development and Financing Antiquities and Museums, and US$150 million in donations." The purpose is to create a state-of-the-art museum which tells the story of ancient Egypt and provides access to information and future knowledge. "With the support of new technologies, more information can be obtained in the most up-to-date ways, enabling the EGM to be an enjoyable, entertaining, educational and cultural experience for all visitors," says Farouk Abdel Salam, the general director of the project. Uniquely, the Egyptian Grand Museum allows its visitors to go back in time and navigate through the story of ancient Egypt over the past 7,000 years, enjoying a voyage through one of the world's richest cultural heritage. The master plan and landscape of the Grand Museum are perceived through light and vision. The harsh sunlight of Egypt is mediated to create a story of light modulating in quality and intensity between the sun and shade, exterior and interior, day and night. Ghoneim says that, when the Egyptian Museum in el-Tahrir Square was inaugurated on 15th November, 1902, the building met with contemporary air circulation and natural lighting standards. Approximately, 500 persons originally visited the museum daily and there were 35,000 artefacts exhibited in halls with an area of about 15,000sqm. As there were more and more exciting finds in the first half of the 20th Century, the number of artefacts in the collection grew and grew to more than 160,000. The exhibition halls have become very crowded and the exhibits are at risk from the increasing air pollution. "The EGM, which lies at the intersection of modernity and antiquity, with its updated facilities will solve the problem, while the present Cairo Egyptian Museum will retain its function as an archaeological museum reflecting the ideas of the early 20th century," he explains, adding that it will also accommodate nearly 7,000 artistic masterpieces. Yasser Mansour, head of the EGM's Technical Committee, says 4 million tourists are expected to visit the museum every year and an average of 150,000 visitors per day. Secretary-General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, Zahi Hawass has announced that the Statue of Rameses II will stand at the entrance to the museum.

At the intersection of modernity and antiquity, Hassan Saadallah, The Egyptian Gazette, Egypt, June 08, 2007.

A Spanish archaeological team in Ihnasia, Beni Sueif Governorate, yesterday unearthed a cemetery dating back to the 1st Intermediate Period (2200-2040 BC). It is here that Miro-Hor-Aib, who is said to have held the post of royal secretary, is buried. The walls of the cemetery are decorated with funeral scenes in red. On the lower part of the western wall is a painting of a harpist. People with funereal offerings, such as oxen and birds, are featured on the rest of the wall. The remains of 94 adults of both sexes and 96 children have been found in graves on the site.

Ancient cemetery unearthed in Beni Sueif, Hassan Saadallah, The Egyptian Gazette, Egypt, June 08, 2007.

The High Dam flooded much of Lower Nubia, and this mandated a resettlement of more than 90,000 Nubians whose land was simply gone. Their history was at stake. Though UNESCO led a rescue operation to save Nubia's archaeological sites, no less than 24 major monuments were relocated to higher grounds, including Abu Simbel and the Temple of Philae, or granted to countries that participated in the work, such as the Debod Temple in Madrid and the Temple of Dendur in New York.

Travel: Snap Shots, Mohamed El-Hebeishy, Al-Ahram, Egypt, Issue No. 848, June 07 - 13, 2007.