The search for Hatshepsut has raised more questions than it answered. While scouring for clues that could lead to her whereabouts around her monuments and tombs, teams stumbled across love letters from her chief architect, bringing up questions about the nature of their relationship. Her daughter’s tomb was also discovered, as were indications that she was being groomed to take the throne after her mother.

CT scans created thousands of images of each of the mummies, revealing a trove of previously unknown facts about the ancient Pharaohs. Nearly all of the royals who were examined suffered from an unknown skin disease. The two Pharaohs who were examined, Thutmose I and II, both died violent deaths.

Of the many questions thrown on the table, one in particular has caught Hawass’ attention. The mummy believed to be that of Thutmose I died around the age of 30 from an arrow wound. According to historical accounts, Thutmose I lived past 50 and did not die in battle. “Which means this mummy shown in Cairo since 1881 is not Thutmose I,” he says excitedly. “I have to find Thutmose I.”

It’s a bit of a stretch to call the show about the identification a documentary. The attempts to reach dramatic effect are almost comical at points, and it was obviously edited for commercial television with strategically placed cliff-hanger breaks slotted in — warranted or not. That being said, it still manages to be both interesting and informative and worth watching. And if Dr. Hawass does go on the search for Thutmose I, we can probably expect another entertaining production about this time next year...

The Lost Queen, Cache Seel, Egypt Today, Volume 28, Issue 08, August 2007.

They follow her along the banks of the Nile, entreating: “Halloo. Come here!” They hike up their djellabas and wade in after her. They want to row for her; they insist they are “bolice” officers. And in ways at once oddly innocent and salacious, they nudge the conversation toward sex. Of the Egyptian men she encountered in Aswan and Luxor, Rosemary Mahoney writes: “You never knew whether to give them a brisk slap for the impertinence or to welcome the irreproachable trust they seemed to offer. It was ... what made them interesting.”

And most of them refuse to sell her a rowboat. It’s a good thing, for in this quest for a boat in a culture so at odds with her own, the author is vexed and perplexed and bemused — all of this rendered in gorgeously vivid prose...

Mahoney, the author of four previous works of non-fiction, most recently “The Singular Pilgrim: Travels on Sacred Ground,” arrives in sweltering Aswan, more than 500 miles south of Cairo, intent on making a solo rowing trip down the Nile. It is 1998, a year after the massacre of 58 tourists at the Temple of Hatshepsut in Luxor, but security issues aren’t her greatest obstacles. A woman rowing a boat? For fun? Fishermen laugh at her, dismiss her, flirt with her. Worn out by the banter and fed up with having to create a fictitious husband — the dozy fellow wants a boat but is always napping in the hotel — she is astonished when Amr, a gravely polite Nubian felucca captain, simply says: “This is my boat. You can using it any times. ... Just take if it is there...”

, Rosemary Mahoney, Little, Brown & Company, 2007, pp. 288.

Against the Current, Lisa Fugard, The New York Times, New York, USA, August 05, 2007.

First Chapter: ‘Down the Nile’, Rosemary Mahoney via The New York Times, New York, USA, August 05, 2007.

The discovery of the eastern fortress of the New Kingdom military town of Tharo [Tjaru] in North Sinai charts the military quarters used by the ancient Egyptian to protect Egypt's northeast border...

The fortified city of Qantara East (Sharq) in North Sinai is often hailed by historians as Egypt's eastern gateway to the Nile Delta. Its chequered history is a reminder of several military clashes from Pharaonic times to the early 1970s.

During the ancient Egyptian era, Qantara East was the stage of several battles, among the most important of which were fought and won by Ahmose I in his war of liberation against the Hyksos, Seti I in his military campaigns against the rebels in Sinai and Canaan, and Ramses II in his war against the Hittites...

The tale of a city, Nevine El-Aref, Al-Ahram, Egypt, Issue No. 857, August 09 - 15, 2007.

Scholars from all over America gather to discuss the history and archaeology of Egypt. There are many universities in the United States whose programmes are considered among the best in the world for the study of Egyptology. When I took a Fulbright Scholarship to study in the States, I chose the University of Pennsylvania. One day, I was sitting in the laboratory when I met a lady who was working for a busy colleague of mine. The lady looked at me and said, "where are you from?" I replied, "from Egypt." The lady laughed, and said, "you are here in America to study Egyptology?"

Many people do not know that Egyptology was essentially invented by great scholars from France, Germany and America. There are many departments of Egyptology in the States; at the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, for example, or the Oriental Institute at the University of Chicago. There are departments at the University of California, Berkeley, UCLA and others. There are also departments for the study of Greek, Roman, Coptic and Islamic Egypt, and even for the study of modern Egypt and the Arabic language. One of the best of these centres for the study of modern Egypt is at Penn. It was home to some great scholars, such as Tom Naff and Roger Allen. Allen spoke Arabic fluently, and told me one day that in Egypt today we have another Naguib Mahfouz in our great writer Gamal El-Ghitani.

The American Research Centre in Egypt (ARCE) organises the work of American scholars in Egypt, and its director reports to the board in the States. The presidency rotates annually, with an Egyptologist serving for one term and an Islamist for the next. Last year they had Carole Radman, who is excavating in Beni Sweif, and this year they will choose an Islamist. Every year ARCE chooses an American city, and professors and students give short talks on their fields of expertise. They also talk about excavation in Egypt. These conferences are good opportunities for them to meet socially, and everyone talks about their memories of Egypt, whether good or bad...

Dig days: Scholars who love Egypt, Zahi Hawass, Al-Ahram, Egypt, Issue No. 857, August 09 - 15, 2007.

The latest cinematic offering, Mummies: Secrets of the Pharaohs, opens at IMAX cinemas in Sydney tomorrow.

The movie, described as a "modern day forensic adventure", taps directly into our love affair with all things Egyptian.

It revisits the age of the mummies (about 1550-1069 BC) and the glory days of the great Pharaoh Rameses II whose body was discovered among a cache of other mummies almost 130 years ago...

The film also recreates the 1880s, when American Egyptologist Charles Wilbour made one of the greatest archaeological finds in history after noticing the sudden appearance of artefacts with royal inscriptions in Cairo's bustling market place...

Finally, viewers are taken to the present where modern day scientists have recreated a mummy using ancient techniques and are trying to unlock some of the secrets of the past by studying DNA extracted from its bones...

Mummies: Secrets of the Pharaohs is a short film that's educational and entertaining in equal parts, though some creative license may have been taken with regard to historical accuracy.

The giant IMAX screen and computer technology puts you in the middle of iconic locations like the Valley of the Kings, Luxor and the temple of Abu Simbel, and lets you get up creepily close and personal to some rarely viewed mummies — including Rameses II himself...

Forensic adventure into Egypt, Judy Skatssoon, AAP via The Brisbane Times, Australia, August 08, 2007.

MUMMIES: SECRETS OF THE PHARAOHS

The grandeur and scale of the Imax screen is perfectly suited to the subject matter in this fascinating look at the life and times of the Egyptian Pharaohs. The opening sequence in which the entire screen is filled by the enticing curves of the vast desert sets the scene, and takes us into the heart of Egypt, a country that dominated the Far East for thousands of years. We see the majesty of the pyramids, the obelisks, the sculptures, the carvings and paintings that represent a civilisation with many accomplishments, as well as secrets...

MUMMIES: SECRETS OF THE PHARAOHS, Louise Keller, Urban CineFile, Edition 544, August 09, 2007.

And a bad review here...

Mummies unwrapped

One of the world's forever beguiling topics is diluted with several unrelated tangents and it becomes a relief when this documentary finishes after a measly 40 minutes. Sure, its format and length lends itself to the IMAX, but it serves little purpose screening here. I can't help but feel "Mummies: Secrets of the Pharaohs" would be more at home on the ABC because this documentary is out of its league...

Mummies unwrapped, Brad Gray, Your Movies, August 09, 2007.

A stone's throw from Africa, on the banks of the mighty Nile, is Aswan, an Egyptian jewel, sun-baked, yet enjoying the lush advantages of life on the water's edge...

It starts out of nowhere, a sweet humming noise, which slowly builds to a powerful crescendo. Dressed in the traditional, long, dress-like costume of the region, the musician beats his hand on the side of a small hand-held drum as he sings. Oh la lei li — he repeats it, and we are invited to sing it back to him, each time louder than the first.

Such a simple, but powerful tune. One by one, we get up and move our hips to the beat of the drum, oblivious to our surroundings. The beautiful voice echoes around us, it bounces off the rugged desert dunes flanked by palm trees and reaches out across the powerful waters. All the while, our felucca, or traditional Egyptian sail boat, moves effortlessly along the mighty river, as other boats have done for centuries before.

As the music dies down and the dancing stops, we get lost in private thoughts, humbled by the history of this powerful waterway - the majestic Nile.

The Nile, meaning "river valley" in ancient Egyptian, has been the lifeline for this country's people for centuries...

Pride of the Nile, Jessica Hurt, The Adelaide Advertiser, Australia, August 11, 2007.

Mr Abu Saleeb is an Egyptian tout, one of a small army of notorious, largely loathed, hawkers who scrape together a living offering rides around the pyramids for about $4 an hour.

To most people, he is an annoyance — he routinely gets the finger and a curt order to "f*** off". To his wife and three children he is the source of a meagre family income. To the Egyptian economy, he is one little cog in a giant machine of tips, bribes and kickbacks — the infamous baksheesh — that makes the nation tick.

And in his eyes, he is a kind of anachronism whose livelihood is under constant pressure in a growing and changing city.

"Everything changes, except where I work," he says, staring at Cheops' pyramid, "These stones never change."

During the summer, peak season for rich visitors from the Arabian Peninsula, Mr Abu Saleeb is down at Nazlet al-Saman at 5.30am every day looking for business.

If he is unsuccessful, he heads to the pyramids, which he can do because he is one of few touts lucky enough to have a "licence-to-hassle" within the restricted grounds...

Touts fight push for hassle-free Egypt tourism, David Wroe, The Age, Australia, August 04, 2007.

The Brooklyn Museum Conservation Laboratory is beginning a study of the human and animal mummies in the Museum’s collection, using the tools of modern-day scientific investigation to reveal new information about mummification practices in ancient Egypt thousands of years ago.

The project will bring together scientists from the Brooklyn Museum, the Getty Conservation Institute in Los Angeles and the University of Bristol in England. It will begin with the X-ray fluorescence (XRF) of the first-century C.E. mummy known as Demetrios, which will be a part of the forthcoming exhibition “To Live Forever: Egyptian Treasures from the Brooklyn Museum.”

X-ray fluorescence will allow analysis of the painted surfaces associated with the wrapping of mummies, including painted linen bandages and shrouds. Preliminary results have shown that the red paint used on the Demetrios mummy may have been made, in part, from components imported from Spain.

The lead in the paint is suspected to have come from a Spanish silver mine, but it remains unclear whether the paint itself was manufactured there or, alternatively, whether if the lead ingredient was traded to Egypt with the paint then produced locally...

Mummies in Brooklyn Museum To Undergo Scientific Study, Brooklyn Daily Eagle, New York, USA, August 09, 2007.

Previously:

Mummy's Log: Visited Scan God in Land of the Dead , August 07, 2007.

Egyptian antiquities authorities have obtained eight mummified birds that had been displayed in a textile factory for nearly a century.

Three ibises and five falcons had apparently been kept in glass display cases since 1927 at the sprawling Mahalla factory, located about 75 miles (120 kilometres) north of Cairo, said Zahi Hawass, director general of Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities.

No one is sure how the mummies got there or why they came to be on display at the site's administrative offices.

Initially, however, the factory bosses were reluctant to let go of their ancient prizes.

"It was difficult at first to retrieve them," Hawass said...

Mummy Birds Recovered From Egypt Factory, Dan Morrison, National Geographic News, District of Columbia, USA, August 09, 2007.

cf. 8 mummies of birds received from weaving company for display at Egyptian museum, Egypt State Information Service, Egypt, August 07, 2007.

A stolen 4,500-year-old Egyptian relic that was to be included in a Christie's auction last year was returned to the consulate yesterday and will soon head to Egypt, officials said.

The duck-shaped, alabaster vessel was last year spotted on Christie's auction list by Interpol, which notified Immigration and Customs Enforcement. In October, investigators obtained a seizure warrant and Christie's turned it over.

The consul general of Egypt to New York, Sherif El-Kholi, received the vessel in a ceremony early yesterday.

"Today our two countries send a message to those who mistakenly perceive cultural theft as a low-risk/high-return business," the acting director of the ICE New York field office, Salvatore Dalessandro, said. "National artefacts and cultural treasures are not for sale to the highest bidder..."

Stolen Egyptian Artefact Handed Over to Consulate, Bradley Hope, The New York Sun, New York, USA, August 10, 2007.

The new issue of Minerva magazine is available now. It contains no specific articles of interest to Egyptophiles but contains a whole section of Egyptology book reviews.

• Online Book Reviews
• 
  by John Ray
• 
  by Elizabeth Blyth
• from Early Dynastic Times to the Death of Cleopatra
  by Joyce Tyldesley
• 
  by Geraldine Pinch
• 
  by Lise Manniche
• 
  by Michael Rice
• 
  Edited by Carol A.R. Andrews and Jacobus van Dijk. Philipp von Zabern
• 
  by Nigel Strudwick
• 
  by Edna R. Russman, Nigel Strudwick, and T.G.H. James

Minerva Magazine, London, UK, Volume 18, Number 4, July / August 2007.

Subscribe to Minerva Magazine via Amazon.com.

The latest issue of Ancient Egypt Magazine is out now. Below is a summary of its contents.

• Queen Tiye
  Marshall Hindley recounts the life and times of the Great Royal Wife of King Amenhotep III.
• From our Egypt Correspondent
  Ayman Wahby Taher brings the latest news from around Egypt, including more exciting discoveries in and around the temples of Karnak.
• New views of Luxor temple
  AE reports on the recent civil engineering works, new excavations and conservation work at Luxor. Robert Partridge
• Statues of Akhenaten
  AE looks at the many enigmatic colossal statues of Akhenaten surviving from his temple to the Aten at Karnak. Robert Partridge
• Ancient Egyptian Technology
  In his third and final article on ancient technology, Denys Stocks shows how the ancient Egyptians had mass-production techniques for cutting and carving the hardest of stones.
• Anticipating Tutankhamun
  An update on information about the forthcoming “Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs” Exhibition in London later in the year.
• The Dakhleh Oasis Project
  In the fourth of a series of articles on the Project, Dr. Colin Hope tells readers about the Roman Period village of Kellis, located at the heart of the Oasis.
• Per Mesut: for younger readers
  In this edition, Hilary Wilson looks at ancient Egyptian picnics.

Ancient Egypt Magazine, Empire Publications, Manchester, UK, Volume 8, No. 1, Issue 43, August / September 2007.

Subscribe to Ancient Egypt Magazine via Amazon.com.

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

Une tombe inviolée à Deir el-Barsha !
150 ans d'archéologie en Égypte
La renaissance de Karnak

Aventurier
Le temple du Thoth Berg
Le trésor de Toutankhamon
Les origines de la civilisation égyptienne

Which approximately says...

An un-touched tomb at Deir el-Barsha!
150 years of archaeology in Egypt
The rebirth of Karnak

Adventurer
The temple of Thoth Hill (Berg Thoth)
The treasures of Tutankhamun
The origins of Egyptian civilisation

Toutankhamon Magazine , Editions Neptune Diffusion, France, Issue 34, August / September 2007.