National Geographic News reported last month that an international team of archaeologists had discovered the oldest known art in Egypt. The country is, of course, known for its pyramids and mummies, but the art in question is 10,000 years older than the dawn of Egyptian civilization.

The art consists of petroglyphs, or engravings on stone, estimated to be 15,000 years old. Its style is closer to the art of Palaeolithic France than to that of Pharaonic Egypt.

The National Geographic report quoted Dirk Huyge, a curator at the Royal Museums of Art and History in Brussels, Belgium, as saying, "It is not at all an exaggeration to call it 'Lascaux on the Nile,'" referring to the most famous French cave art site.

Huyge is not suggesting any direct connection between Palaeolithic France and Egypt. Instead, he said the similarities in the art likely occurred because the artists shared a common way of life...

Ancient lifestyle may link art found in Egypt, Europe, Bradley T. Lepper, The Columbus Dispatch, Ohio, USA, August 28, 2007.

Previously:

Egypt's Oldest Known Art Identified, Is 15,000 Years Old, July 13, 2007.

Lascaux on the Nile, June 15, 2007.

A 3000-year-old Egyptian mummy is now on show as part of Perth Museum and Art Gallery’s new ‘Painted Ladies’ exhibition. The exhibition opened earlier than scheduled, and the delicate process of installing the mummy in the gallery was completed last week.

Believed to be either an Egyptian princess or priestess, the mummy has been a feature of the museum’s collections since her arrival in 1935 from Alloa Museum. Perthshire residents will no doubt have their own memories of visiting the mummy when she was on permanent display in the museum. In an attempt to preserve her condition as much as possible, full exhibition of the mummy in the galleries has been limited in recent years. This latest exhibition means that a whole new generation of visitors can get to know one of Perth’s oldest residents...

The Painted Ladies exhibition runs until October 25 [2007]...

Mummy at the museum, The Perthshire Advertiser, Scotland, UK, August 21, 2007.

A French team has discovered in western Egypt a graveyard dating back to the Ptolemaic era, antiquity officials said yesterday. Most of the 25 tombs, found in the el-Kharga Oasis, New Valley Governorate, consist of a chamber 2 metres square and 1.45 metres high, they added. Six gold-painted mummies were also unearthed in good condition.

Papyri, gold masks, funerary beds and bronze shaving implements were also found as well as statues of the four children of the god Horus.

Golden mummies found in el-Kharga, The Egyptian Gazette, Egypt, August 28, 2007.

People everywhere are eagerly anticipating the arrival of this new cultural destination. The museum is located over 480,000 square metres, 2.5 kilometres away from the legendary Pyramids of Giza, of which the plateau is included in the UNESCO list of cultural heritage sites. The GEM is completely integrated with the nearby archaeological area, and is a synergy that facilitates the conservation not only of the pieces exposed in the museum, but also the monuments of the Giza plateau is offered. The budget for constructing and operating the GEM is estimated at US$550 million. The funding for this project is provided mainly by the Egyptian Government, plus grants from other countries within the framework of developmental cooperation agreements and protocols. The fund is also made up of contributions and technical assistance provided from international organisations and financial agencies, as well as individual and group donations and subscriptions. Khalifa Hamed, the head of the antiquities unit at the Egyptian Museum in el-Tahrir Square, downtown Cairo, told The Gazette the GEM would be constructed as a complex consisting of a display of 100,000 artefacts in an 'archaeological park' of ancient Egyptian history. The visitors will be drawn into the story of ancient Egypt from the moment they enter. In the atrium, the visitor will marvel at the monumental statue of Ramses II and the grand staircase with statues of the pharaohs, including Khufu's (2589-2566 BC) who built the Great Pyramid. On the third floor will be the gallery of Tutankhamen, which will be a museum within a museum. Dramatic lighting will accent the golden treasures of the tomb, which will be augmented by layers of information using a variety of media. The gallery will display 3,500 pieces of the young King Tut. Spaces for visitors' relaxation will focus on objects or groups of objects for contemplation. The museum will compromise five thematic areas chronologically displayed: the Land of Egypt, Kingship and State, Man Society and Work, Religion and Culture, and Scribes and Knowledge.

Museum as archaeological park, The Egyptian Gazette, Egypt, August 28, 2007.

Egypt has accused Belgian diplomats of driving four-wheel-drive cars over a fossilized whale in a protected desert area, but the Belgian Embassy on Monday denied the charge.

An Egyptian security source said that two diplomatic vehicles "destroyed a whale fossil" by driving over it. He said the drivers had failed to stop when asked.

The license plates were traced to the Belgian Embassy, where spokesman Ivan Feyz denied any done damage...

The security source said the cars drove into the protected area of Wadi Hitan (Whale Valley) as recently as last week, causing potentially millions of dollars in damage, but the Belgian Embassy insisted the incident happened in July...

Egypt accuses Belgians of damaging fossil, The Lebanon Daily Star, Lebanon, August 28, 2007.

The city has spent millions over the past decade restoring its infrastructure. Although it has always attracted Egyptians on summer holidays, it still accounts for only a small fraction of Egypt's expanding foreign tourist market.

Just seven or eight years ago, a walk down the Corniche, or sea front, was marred by falling buildings, said Fathi Nour, chairman of the Egyptian Hotel Association.

The new international airport will be able to handle 1.5 million passengers a year and 30 flights a day when finished in 2009, said Said Khallaf, the airport's general manager.

Now the city attracts about half a million passengers a year and uses an old military base for international flights...

Egypt's Alexandria seeks second revival, Will Rasmussen, Reuters via The Boston Herald, Massachusetts, USA, August 27, 2007.

There are many different ways of exploring this extraordinary river. For example, for a three-point Nile trip, one could fly to Khartoum, have a week's stopover in Ethiopia, then travel north (downstream) overland through Sudan and Egypt, and fly home from Cairo...

Egypt certainly provides the Nile images that most people expect: a wide and languid river dotted with the sails of feluccas and lined with ancient monuments, with sand-dunes beyond. And that is indeed the scene from the terrace of Aswan's Old Cataract Hotel ..., a monument to the grand old days of travel, where Agatha Christie wrote Death on the Nile. Some grandeur survives...

In Luxor, the ancient city of Thebes, you're spoilt for choice in terms of ancient monuments. On the east bank of the Nile stand two of Egypt's finest temples — Luxor and Karnak — while across the river, under the rocky, orange Nile Escarpment is the stunning temple of Queen Hatshepsut, one of the few female pharaohs.

A stiff walk over the escarpment, or a bus-ride round, takes you to the Valley of the Kings...

The Complete Guide To: Nile journeys, David Else, The Independent, UK, August 25, 2007.