Egypt arrested and charged with bribery Thursday two ranking officials at the Culture Ministry for taking kickbacks from the construction companies restoring the nation's antiquities, a security official said.

Ayman Abdel Moneim, the director of the Cultural Development Fund and the No.2 man in the ministry, and his colleague Hussein Ahmed, were being questioned Thursday by prosecutors, said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the press.

No further details on the nature of the charges or the companies involved were given...

Egypt arrests top culture officials for taking bribes in antiquity projects, AP via International Herald Tribune, France, August 09, 2007.

The Culture Minster Farouk Hosni accepted to hold an exhibition of the Egyptian antiques in Monterrey City and Mexico City in Mexico during the period from next September 20 until June 15 2008 under the title "Isis and the snake with feathers... Ancient Egypt.. Mexico before the Spanish era".

Dr. Zahi Hawass, the Secretary-General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities said that the exhibition includes 144 pieces of exhibits museums Egyptian and Greek and Roman Luxor, Nubia and the Karnak and Denderah regions; pointing out that Egypt will get $ 1.6 billion physical back at & 800 thousand for each city, and if the number of the visitors exceed 800 thousand will get 25% of the revenue.

144 archaeological pieces to be displayed in Mexico, Egypt State Information Service, Egypt, August 11, 2007.

I don't know if I took these or I got them from an earlier expedition. I think this is KV-27 but don't, um, quote me on that. Heh. These were left open and during the rare rainstorms in the area, Valley of the Kings being a wadi and all, water and sediment pours down the valley bring sediment with it. Any open tombs get flooded. This is the last flood event in this tomb. The top layer is a very fine silt or clay which develops polygonal cracks as it dries.

... The flooding is usually heavy and is a major problem in the Valley. Matter of fact, I think just a few years after these were taken they had a major flood event (update: it was 1994). Part of our work was to map the drainage channels in the Valley, some major, some minor. Depending on how long the tomb was open, it's flood deposits can be very substantial and if open for long enough the tomb can be nearly completely choked with sediment...

Field photos du jour, Tony Cagle, ArchaeoBlog, USA, August 04, 2007.

Previously:

ArchaeoBlog in KV-20, July 05, 2007.

It was a hoot watching gardeners fight over the papyrus plants at this year's garden and patio shows. Botanically speaking, the papyrus is Cyperus papyrus.

If you remember your elementary history, this plant is native to Egypt and was used for making papyrus sheets for writing. Our word "paper" comes from "papyrus." It is a close relative of the umbrella palm Cyperus alternifolius, which is from Madagascar...

The two that really caught savvy gardeners' eyes were the King Tut dwarf variety and the regular giant form, known as Egyptian papyrus or Giant Umbrella papyrus, which can reach 10 feet in frost-free areas. Both gracefully arch over and give a tufted or hairy appearance with their umbrellas...

Papyrus plants cause stir at garden shows, Norman Winter, The Press-Enterprise, ???, USA, August 03, 2007.