Philadelphia's Franklin Institute, which is hosting "Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs," now predicts that 1.14 million people will see the exhibit before it closes Sept. 30, [2007,] which represents a 10 percent increase over the museum's original estimate. The show has been on display since Feb. 3...

King Tut exhibitors raise their ticket sale expectations, Peter Van Allen, Philadelphia Business Journal, Pennsylvania, USA, June 22, 2007.

Xaar, one of the world's leading suppliers of inkjet technology and an example of ultra modern printing technology, is proud to sponsor an exhibition of one of the finest examples of an ancient coloured document in the world: The Book of the Dead of Ramose at The Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge. The 3,000 year old document made up of papyrus sheets originally forming a 20m roll, was unveiled on Tuesday 19 June [2007] and will be displayed until Sunday 21 September. Visitors will have the rare opportunity to view one of the finest and most recently restored Egyptian Books of the Dead in existence.

'One of the most striking features of the Ramose papyrus is the vibrancy of colours used in the painted scenes. It feels particularly appropriate that a company whose primary concern is with colour printing should be involved with this project.' said Julie Dawson, co-curator of the exhibition and senior assistant keeper (Conservation) in the Antiquities Department. 'The technical expertise of the Egyptian artists who worked on this papyrus is outstandingly high. Xaar has provided invaluable sponsorship towards an exhibition that allows us to bring this beautiful document before the public after two years of conservation work,' added Helen Strudwick, co-curator and Outreach Officer (Ancient Egypt).

The Book of the Dead of Ramose, a high official who lived in the 12th century BC, was discovered in 1921 by the eminent archaeologist Flinders Petrie in the entrance to a tomb at Sedment in Egypt. Its frail and fragmentary condition has prevented it from being seen ever since it was excavated more than 80 years ago. Thanks to a major conservation and investigation project at the Fitzwilliam Museum, the papyrus will now be on display for a short time only, in order to preserve the vivid colours, allowing visitors a rare insight into the Egyptian world of the dead.

'Xaar's sponsorship of this exhibition nicely illustrates the juxtaposition of Xaar's extraordinary high-speed inkjet printing innovation in the 21st century with the lengthy, manual dexterity that was required to produce the stunning hieroglyphs in the 12th century BC...

Xaar travels back to Ancient Egypt, Graphic Repro On-line, South Africa, June 20, 2007.

I recently returned from a two-week trip to Egypt. While the Pyramids, tombs and temples were incredible, I will forever be haunted by the images of the poor work animals that are severely uncared for and mistreated, particularly in Luxor and Aswan.

The horses who are left hitched to the buggies 24 hours a day for days or weeks at a time, unable to stretch or lay down, are pathetic. Being a horse owner, I know what a healthy, well-cared for horse looks like. These animals were atrociously mistreated with sores, and much worse, that go undoctored. Many are listless and lethargic due to the lack of basic needs.

Many are woefully underfed having to eat with the bit in their mouths from a feedbag when they eat at all. The skin hung over their ribs like tissue paper. In a week along the Nile, never once did I see a person give a horse a drink of water, and this was in 90-100 degree heat...

Letters: Horses in horror, Kathleen Silver, Al-Ahram, Egypt, Issue No. 850, June 21 - 27, 2007.

Precious amulets that once decorated the mummy of the boy king Tutankhamun are on special display at the Egyptian museum, [Cairo].

The three-month exhibition hall on the ground floor of Cairo's Egyptian Museum is currently hosting the collection of splendid amulets once concealed within the cloth wrappings of the mummy of Tutankhamun.

The 12 layers of cloth wrapped around Tutankhamun's mummy originally enveloped 143 objects. On the neck alone were 20 amulets arranged in six groups, each separated from the next by several layers of wrappings...

Among Tutankhamun's mummy amulets are the chased gold falcon collar with small counterpoise, and the fine dagger and sheath which lay on top of the abdomen. There is also a beautiful cobra amulet. Among the objects on show at the exhibition are chains, necklaces, pendants, earrings, bracelets, anklets, sheaths for fingers and toes, pectorals and a large piece of jewellery worn on the chest...

Tut — it's a wrap, Nevine El-Aref, Al-Ahram, Egypt, Issue No. 850, June 21 - 27, 2007.

Archaeologists from the Katholicke Universiteit Leuven working at the Middle-Kingdom (2066-1650 BC) tomb of Uky, a top government official, have discovered an intact tomb chamber, complete with funerary goods.

While removing the debris out of a rock-cut shaft found inside the chamber of Uky's tomb, the archaeologists came across a huge limestone block indicating that a major find was imminent, in line with the ancient Egyptian custom of blocking their burial chambers with such a barrier. Through a hole in the block, they could see what they described as a beautifully-carved wooden statue of a man with large, staring eyes. After only an hour the block had been removed, and the team discovered a small but intact chamber richly stuffed with well-preserved wooden objects and containing a decorated sarcophagus.

"Even though the burial took place more than 4,000 years ago, the colours on the painted objects are very fresh, and there was even no dust covering them," mission director Harco Williams said.

The tomb lies on the southern slope of the hill of Deir Al-Barsha, near the Upper Egyptian town of Minya. Here the Leuven team members are nearing the completion of the excavations they began two years ago at Uky's tomb. After clearing the debris, they are restoring and documenting the objects they have found...

Of bricks and boats, Nevine El-Aref, Al-Ahram, Egypt, Issue No. 850, June 21 - 27, 2007.

There are two strands to this intriguing documentary about the famous bust of the Egyptian queen, which was discovered in 1912 by German archaeologist Ludwig Borchardt. The first is about Borchardt and how he pulled a bit of a swiftie on the Egyptians to get the thing back to Berlin, while the second is about what Nefertiti has been up to lately — being X-rayed and so on in a bid to dispel doubts about her authenticity.

The man who connects the strands is Adolf Hitler, who fell in love with the spectacular limestone bust, left, and wanted it to be the centrepiece of a new Egyptian museum in Berlin. The Egyptian government, having realised what it had lost, had been clamouring for the piece's return but Hitler refused, eventually having it hidden away in a salt mine for protection from Allied bombing raids.

Rumours have persisted, however, that the bust was swapped for a fake en route to the mine — hence the high-tech examinations. Under the X-ray everything looks OK, but curiously the face beneath the colourful make-up looks older and more wrinkled than the glamorous beauty the world has come to know. Looks like somebody got a makeover.

Nefertiti's Odyssey, Brad Newsome, The Sydney Morning Herald, Australia, June 23, 2007.

The Spanish archaeological team working in the Beni Suef governorate has discovered a Pharaonic tomb in the district of Ahnsia.

The 3,500-year-old tomb is multi-layer and contains bones and human remains of 190 people, including 96 children, 55 men and 39 women.

Researchers found that the dead died of diseases like fever, syphilis and TB.

Pharaonic tomb discovered in Beni Suef, Egypt State Information Service, Egypt, June 22, 2007.

Previously:

3500 year old cemetery discovered in Beni Suef, June 18, 2007.