Egypt has a new museum to tell its millennial history. Early this month, the Egyptian city of Al-Arich, located in the Sinai Peninsula, opened a museum that brings together 2,000 items from the Pharaonic, Greco-Roman, Coptic, Byzantine, and Muslim periods. The official inauguration will take place in the following weeks. The Al-Arich Museum took three years to build, and its premises cost 45 million Egyptian pounds, the equivalent of US$ 8 million. Statues, busts, icons, coins, lanterns, and manuscripts from all periods of Egyptian history are now showcased at the site.

In the museum, modern techniques were adopted in order to highlight the value of the objects. "Our goal is not only to make a simple exhibit of the pieces. We want visitors to understand the culture linked to our heritage," says the director general at the Egyptian Authority for Regional Museums, Ahmed Charaf. The museum spans an area of 19,000 square metres, with indoor and outdoor sections. In the open air, in an arch-shaped garden, there is also an amphitheatre. The indoor section of the museum is divided into several halls.

"This is not a simple museum. The idea, in fact, is to create a cultural centre, in which visitors may have access to historical information and entertainment at the same time. This is the reason why the amphitheatre and the garden occupy most of the area of the museum," says Charaf. Upon arrival at the museum, visitors watch a 15-minute long series of documentary films, translated into various languages, about the history of the Sinai Peninsula. The productions show not only the pieces in the museum, but also famous archaeological vestiges from the Sinai, such as those of ancient churches and monasteries located along the path travelled by the Holy Family...

Egypt opens museum at Sinai Peninsula, Gabriel Pomerancblum, ANBA, Brazil, June 18, 2007.

Around 15,000 people have already visited the Treasures of Ancient Egypt Exhibition at the Bahrain National Museum, officials have revealed. Acting director Fuad Noor declared the event a huge success and said it was one of the highest attendance figures the museum has achieved.

He said nearly all public and private schools in Bahrain had visited the exhibition and the display had also attracted people from across the Gulf, including Saudi Arabia and Oman.

Bahrain became the first country in the Arab world and North Africa to hold an exhibition of Egyptian antiquities when the event was launched by Prime Minister Shaikh Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa in April [2007]...

"The summer vacation is coming up and we should have a lot of visitors from the Gulf, so considering that and the number we have had already, I think we will probably reach 20,000..."

Treasures of ancient Egypt draw 15,000, Geoffrey Bew, Gulf Daily Times, Kuwait, Vol. XXX, No. 88, June 16, 2007.

Previously:

Treasures of Egypt on show, April 12, 2007.

Walter James “Doc” Daugherty, a Santa Maria man known for his love of King Tut, died Thursday in his sleep at the age of 90.

Daugherty was born Dec. 18, 1916, in Oklahoma City to silent film actors Lilly Mae and “Two-Gun” Monte Williams, who were touring with their latest film. Williams died while Daugherty was still a baby, and he was adopted by his stepfather, Jessie M. Daugherty.

Daugherty had been studying Egypt and the tomb of King Tut since 1933. He gave his first talk on the subject when he was in junior high school.

“From there on, it just blossomed,” he told the Santa Maria Times in a 2005 interview. Daugherty eventually earned a Ph.D. in anthropology, but he never worked professionally in the field.

Still, he gave countless lectures and presentations at institutions including UCLA, USC, Long Beach State and various Los Angeles museums, along with Central Coast schools and organizations...

Walter Daugherty, King Tut expert, dies at 90, Emily Welly, Santa Maria Times, California, USA, June 16, 2007.

With a click of his computer mouse, Peter Janosi, a lecturer at the Institute of Egyptology in Vienna, analyzes ancient statues and decodes hieroglyphs unearthed in the distant Giza Necropolis.

From the comfort of his study in Norwich, England, Colin Newton, a retired television repairman, explores rare Giza maps and expedition diaries in an effort to catalog all Old Kingdom tombs.

Meanwhile, Laurel Flentye, an Egyptologist who specializes in art and archaeology, downloads excavation photos and roams inside subterranean chambers, zooming in on relief decorations in tombs around the Sphinx and Great Pyramid from her Cairo home.

They are virtual explorers, travelling through time and space via an online, interactive collection of one of the most famous archaeological sites in the world — the Old Kingdom Giza Necropolis, with its royal tombs, pyramids, temples, and other Egyptian monuments circa 2500 BC.

The Giza Archives Project, established by Boston's Museum of Fine Arts in January 2005, aims to become the world's central online repository for all archaeological activity at the necropolis, beginning with the major 20th-century excavations that were jointly funded by the museum and Harvard University...

Virtual explorers comb Egypt's ruins, Pamela Ferdinand, The Boston Globe, Massachusetts, USA, June 18, 2007.

In an ideal world everyone would get to take month long holidays, but in the real world often 7 days is the most we can do. So is 7 days enough to make an impact on a destination like Egypt ? Stuart Cheese, UK Director of Operations for One World Tours says yes it is and tells you how to best spend your time.

Day 1. Depending upon where you have flown in from, it may be a good idea to just take the rest of the day to acclimatise you to the pace of things in Cairo.

Day 2 Cairo — The Pyramids are a must. You have to stand next to the pyramids to really appreciate the enormity of them. It is mind boggling to try and imagine how such craftsmanship was achieved so long ago and with such little resources. The sphinx is also an awesome masterpiece to behold. Books and TV images cannot capture the pure magnitude of the stunning structure that has endured the elements and time.

That night we suggest taking an overnight train to Aswan. Waking early in the morning, if you can, and peering from the train, you will more than likely be welcomed by a beautiful sunrise, mist swirling from the river and locals harvesting their humble crops. A most magical experience and one that will stay with you for a lifetime...

Is a week long enough for a holiday in Egypt ?, Stuart Cheese, One World Tours, UK via Article Warehouse, Japan, June 17, 2007.

The French Ministry of Defence has agreed to translate the Napoleon messages into Arabic.

A ministry spokesman said the cultural project comes in cooperation with the Egyptian National Centre for Translation.

France to translate into Arabic Napoleon messages, Egypt State Information Service, Egypt, June 17, 2007.

"Close to 1.31 million tourists from all over the world visited Egypt last April, up by 12% compared to the same month a year earlier," said chairman of the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics Abu-Bakr al-Gindi.

European tourists to Egypt during last April hit 75.6% of total number of tourists followed by Middle Eastern tourists 12% and African tourist 3.6%.

Some 149,000 Arab tourists visited Egypt during last April, with 15.6% increase versus April of 2006, al-Gindi noted.

Tourist nights spent by Arab tourists accounted for 1.7 million nights, up by 35.5% against April 2006.

One million tourists visited Egypt last April, Egypt State Information Service, Egypt, June 17, 2007.

An ancient cemetery was discovered in the governorate of Beni Suef.

The cemetery, discovered by a Spanish mission in the Ahnasia district [Variant transliterations: Ihnasya, Ehnasya, Ahnasiya. Ancient Greek: Heracleopolis Magna. Ancient Egyptian: Henen-Nisut], includes a cabin, votive room and grave.

Sources said that the cemetery was engraved with red inscriptions portraying the owner of the cemetery while standing with the vessels of the seven holy oils behind.

The sources added that the cabin had two fake doors and a table. The votive room is located at the eastern part of the cemetery with two tableaux inside, the sources added.

A report was drawn up and would be submitted to Culture Minister Farouk Hosni for allocating funds for completing the excavations in the area and restoring the discovered pieces.

The excavation appears to be run by the Museo Arqueológico Nacional Madrid [National Archaeological Museum, Madrid].

3500 year old cemetery discovered in Beni Suef, Egypt State Information Service, Egypt, June 16, 2007.

Previously:

Spanish mission excavates 11 ancient tombs in Ahansia, January 31, 2005.

few weeks ago my husband and I spent a delightful afternoon at the British Museum during a visit to London. Among its fabulous riches is the world's largest collection of ancient Egyptian art outside of Egypt.

As we headed in the direction of that wing, we had second thoughts. "Let's wait," I suggested, "because we can see many of the same treasures in Raleigh."

I was referring to a wonderful special exhibition at the N.C. Museum of Art on loan from the British Museum. It will be on display through July 8 and is well worth a drive to Raleigh. Besides, the museum is partly funded by your tax dollars.

The special exhibition is titled "Temples and Tombs: Treasures of Egyptian Art from the British Museum." It features 85 masterpieces that seldom travel outside the British Museum...

Ancient Egypt lies just down I-40, Rosemary Roberts, Greensboro News Record, North Carolina, USA< June 08, 2007.

Sudanese authorities have arrested 12 people accused of smuggling ancient antiquities including two entire mummies, a state news agency said on Saturday.

"The police authorities in Nile state have thwarted an attempt to smuggle ancient artefacts," the state Sudanese Media Centre said.

It gave no details of the age of the mummies...

For some bizarre reason Reuters have released an image of South American Chachapoya mummies with this story.

Sudan arrests 12 trying to smuggle ancient mummies, Reuters, UK, June 16, 2007.

cf. Sudan arrests 12 trying to smuggle ancient mummies, Reuters via The Sudan Tribune, Sudan, June 17, 2007.

cf. Sudan arrests 12 trying to smuggle ancient mummies, Reuters via Scoop, New Zealand, June 16, 2007.

cf. Sudan arrests 12 trying to smuggle ancient mummies, Reuters via Scoop, New Zealand, June 16, 2007.

cf. Sudan arrests 12 mummy-smugglers, Reuters via The Australian, Australia, June 16, 2007.

Egyptian Minister of Culture Farouk Hosni decided the travel of an Egyptology archaeology delegation under chairmanship of Chairman of Egyptian Archaeology Sector Sabry Abdul Aziz and Upper Egypt Monuments Director Mansour Boriak to U.S.A. for inspecting and examining a set of Pharaonic antiquities that were seized by the American Security bodies at San Francisco city.

The Minister of Culture, who left Cairo earlier today Thursday in a medical treatment trip in France, said that the Egyptian delegation will carry out all procedures for verifying that seized pieces are of monumental value and the illegal means of transferring these pieces from Egypt, in preparation for returning them to homeland, as it is a huge diversified collection that are regarded as a monumental treasure.

On his part the Secretary General of the Supreme Council for Antiquities Dr. Zahi Hawass stated that he received a letter from the Egyptian embassy in Washington informed him that they received notification from the American Security Bodies at the city of San Francisco concerning the seizing a collection of the rare pharaonic pieces displayed in one of auction halls...

Egypt verify a "Pharaonic Treasure" seized by U.S. Police in San Francisco city, Ayman El-Kady, Egypt ICT, Egypt, June 16, 2007.