Two Sphinxes existed on the Pyramids Plateau, according to a new study by Egyptologist Bassam El Shammaa.

El Shammaa said the famed half-lion, half man statute was an Egyptian deity erected next to another Sphinx, which has since vanished without a trace.

This theory, however, is in contradiction to the general belief that a single colossal statue functioned as a guard to the pyramids.

El Shammaa said the idea of two Sphinxes is more in line with ancient Egyptian beliefs, which were mainly based on duality.

"The pyramid texts recovered at Saqqara, especially from the Wenis [Unas] Pyramid, contain descriptions of the ancient Egyptian conception of how the universe was created. Basically, this concept underlined the belief in duality," El Shammaa said.

"Whenever we have to deal with the solar cult, we should speak of one lion and one lioness facing each other, posing parallel to each other or sitting in a back-to-back position...

There may have been a second Sphinx, claims Egyptologist, ANI via Yahoo! News, India, August 31, 2007.

cf. There could have been two sphinxes, argues one researcher, Ahmed Maged, Daily Star Egypt, Egypt, August 31, 2007.

Not a new theory. See this post on a discussion thread relating to the above article on the HallOfMaat from 'rich'.

A plea goes out to rescue Qasr Ibrim, the sole in situ archaeological site remaining among Nubian monuments.

Isolated on a high hillock in the middle of Lake Nasser, the monumental complex of Qasr Ibrim displays a collection of archaeological remnants of Egypt's various historical epochs that once witnessed a unique civilisation.

Qasr Ibrim was once an eagle's nest over Lower Nubia but is now an island, or at times a peninsula, on the east bank of the artificial Lake Nasser which came into being after the building of the Aswan High Dam in the early 1960's. The site was intermittently inhabited from as early as the Middle Kingdom until the 1840's. It also functioned as a military stronghold and a destination of religious pilgrimage for various armies and religious denominations.

In the 1960s when Egypt decided to build the High Dam and called for the salvage operation of Nubian monuments, all temples were relocated to another, safer location except the monuments of Qasr Ibrim which was built on top of an 80-metre tall rock formation above the Nile's level, thus preventing its inundation by the flow of Lake Nasser after the completion of the dam...

Such remarkable preservation on site has recently been threatened by the high water levels of Lake Nasser associated with construction in Toshka.

Almost 60 per cent of the island has been inundated and water leaks into the temple most of the time. Water has also reached the foundation of the cathedral which has led to several cracks on its walls. Blocks of the podium located on the edge of the Nile have been dismantled which may lead to an eventual total collapse. The fortification walls have indeed collapsed, and mud-brick buildings near the new water line have fallen as well, either from the effect of direct water or from percolation. The most important of these are a 25th Dynasty temple, from which a wall painting has already collapsed and another is now in danger of disappearing...

Sending out an SOS, Nevine El-Aref, Al-Ahram, Egypt, Issue No. 860, August 30 - September 05, 2007.

Any two lists of the top 10 archaeological discoveries in Egypt would be different in only one or two items. Atlantic Productions is making a film for the Discovery Channel based on just such a list, and asked me to be its host and introduce these finds to the public. I felt honoured that two of the discoveries included on the list were my own. It was my first time working with this fantastic team, and I really enjoyed it. They did their homework, and Ben, the director, was very quick and smart.

We spent the entire first day of filming at Giza, beginning with an interview in front of the Great Pyramid. We looked at two discoveries on the plateau. The first was the boat of King Khufu which was found by Kamel El-Mallakh in May of 1954. The discovery was made by accident after King Faisal of Saudi Arabia visited the site, and asked for the south side of the Great Pyramid to be cleaned. The Antiquities Department began their work under the direction of El-Mallakh, an architect who worked at Giza on the conservation and restoration of the site. He appointed "Reis" Garas Yani as overseer of the workmen. One day, El-Mallakh was having lunch with our famous writer Anis Mansour at the Excelsior restaurant in downtown Cairo. The phone rang, and the waiter came to tell El-Mallakh. On the other end was Reis Garas, who told him that a boat had been found buried next to the pyramid... Every excavator makes mistakes, and El-Mallakh opened a hole not only in the first pit but also in the second. A few years ago, we decided to see what we could do about the second pit, which is still sealed, and found that insects were running all over the boat because of the hole El-Mallakh made...

Dig days: Egypt's top 10 archaeological discoveries: Khufu's boat, Zahi Hawass, Al-Ahram, Egypt, Issue No. 860, August 30 - September 05, 2007.

Last year I managed to pick up a copy of Nancy Jenkins' published by Thames & Hudson second hand at an Oxfam bookshop. It's one of the many on my pile 'to be read'.

University of Advancing Technology (UAT) instructor and senior web developer Joe McCormack has completed work on a web-based application that translates English words into cuneiform script from the Assyrian, Babylonian, Sumerian and the hieroglyphic script of Egyptian. The tool may be seen at his website, virtualsecrets.com.

The translator works by converting cuneiform and hieroglyphs, both used in the earliest forms of writing, into English words. For example, typing "I am a father" into the Ancient Egyptian translator yields hieroglyphs that roughly translate to "I am" and "father." The translator has been featured on several museum websites around the world and websites specializing in resources for the ancient world.

McCormack, a UAT web developer by trade, worked more than 1,000 hours on researching the cuneiform and hieroglyphic and building the tool and its accompanying website. Inspiration for the project stemmed from his fascination with the science fiction television series "Stargate SG-1," which featured ancient Egyptian mythology and symbols as plot points. These caught McCormack's eye and lead to his research...

I note that you don't get any transliteration in either , , , or Manuel de Codage (MdC) form. Nor do you get the Gardiner codes for each hieroglyph returned. I've always been a fan of Chris Busch's Hieropreter for Hieroglyphic translation.

And whilst we're at it Serge Rosmorduc has released a new version of JSesh a free Hieroglyphic Editor.

UAT Instructor Creates Cuneiform and Hieroglyphic Translator, UAT via MarketWire, USA, August 23, 2007.

Lanny Bell, an archaeologist from Brown University, will examine Egyptian beliefs in a free lecture titled “Mummies, Magic and Medicine: An Introduction to Ancient Egyptian Funerary Beliefs and Practices” at 7 p.m., Sept. 18 [2007], in Life Sciences Centre room A-191 on ASU’s Tempe campus.

“An examination of the way the ancient Egyptians faced the all-too-familiar problem of death reveals that rather than being obsessed with death, they were obsessed with life,” Bell says. “They enjoyed their earthly existence and at the same time looked forward to an eternal existence based on the idea that death was the portal to rebirth into a new kind of life.”

Bell’s lecture will range from the Old Kingdom (2675-2175 BCE) through the New Kingdom (1570-1070 BCE)...

Lecture looks at Egyptian views on death, Judith Smith, Arizona State University, Arizona, USA, August 29, 2007.

Tickets to one of the most anticipated exhibitions of the year, "Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs," are available for public purchase on Wednesday, 12 September. More than 180,000 tickets already have been reserved for the exhibition, which will be on display at London's newest state-of-the-art venue, The O2, 15 November to 30 August 2008.

Organised by National Geographic, Arts and Exhibitions International and AEG Exhibitions, with cooperation from the Egyptian Supreme Council of Antiquities, and sponsored by Credit Suisse, "Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs" will be the first exhibition to take place in The O2's 6500m squared exhibition centre, The O2 Bubble...

The exhibition includes more than 130 treasures, all of which are 3,000 to 3,500 years old. These include artefacts found in the tomb of the celebrated pharaoh as well as several of his relatives and 18th Dynasty (1555 B.C. to 1305 B.C.) contemporaries. Major objects on display from Tutankhamun's tomb will include his royal diadem - the gold crown discovered encircling the head of his mummified body that he likely wore as king - and one of the gold and precious stone inlaid canopic coffinettes that contained his mummified internal organs.

Beginning next week, eager visitors who are O2 phone customers will have the chance to purchase exhibition tickets in advance...

Tickets for 'Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs' on Sale 12 September, PRNewswire via EARTHtimes.org, August 27, 2007.

More than 190,000 tickets have been reserved for a blockbuster exhibition on the treasures of Tutankhamun.

Twelve weeks before the show opens at the O2, the advance interest has proved even bigger than during its four city tour of the United States.

Most reservations have been made by tour companies but individual members of the public have registered for around 38,000 tickets.

The box office will go live on 12 September — the day before the other autumn blockbuster, the Terracotta Army of the First Emperor of China, opens at the British Museum. That show has sold 77,000 tickets to members of the public so far.

Bryan Harris, the Tutankhamun show's head of marketing, said the London audience was expected to top the 1.2 million people who will have seen it in Philadelphia when it closes there next month...

Treasures of the boy king return, Louise Jury, This is London, UK, August 29, 2007.

How they died is still a mystery.

But medical scans performed last week clearly show how the two ancient Egyptian mummies on display at Davenport’s Putnam Museum were preserved.

Puncture holes, incisions and rolled-up linens seen inside the two bodies — now verified as that of a man and a woman — offer important clues about the mummification process used thousands of years ago, museum curator Eunice Schlichting said Tuesday.

Now, the investigation continues.

The museum is seeking an Egyptologist or cultural anthropologist to further study the CT ... scans of the mummies that were donated last week by Genesis Medical Centre...

CT scans show how mummies were preserved, Kay Luna, Quad-City Times, Iowa, USA, August 29, 2007.

Previously:

Putnam Mummies' exodus to Genesis goes well, August 24, 2007.

Iowa museum mummies to undergo CT scans, August 20, 2007.

Buddies can find out more about their ‘mummies’ at a special event with more than a touch of Eastern promise.

Artefacts from ancient Egypt will go on show at a special hands-on exhibition in Paisley Museum.

And those who go along will get their just ‘desserts’ at the display which features the contents of an archaeologist’s trunk.

Items on show will include ornaments, sacred objects and household utensils from the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh as well as Paisley Museum’s own collection.

The exhibition opens at the Museum in the High Street on Thursday, September 6 [2007], before touring Renfrewshire communities in the New Year.

Touch of Egypt at museum, The Paisley Daily Express, Scotland, UK, August 29, 2007.

"Tourism in Egypt is witnessing remarkable boom with an increase of number of tourists by 13 percent in the year 2006/2007 compared to the past year," said Minister of Tourism Zohair Garana on Monday in his speech to the first session of the second day of a forum of Egyptian expatriates.

Garana noted that around 9.7 million tourists visited Egypt during the said period compared to 8.6 million in 2005/2006.

"Also, tourist nights increased to reach 92.3 million at total revenues of $8.2 billion in the said period compared to 85.1 million nights at revenue of $7.2 billion in the past year," he added.

Garana: Remarkable Boom in tourists visiting = Egypt, Egypt State Information Service, Egypt, August 28, 2007.

Minister of Culture Farouk Hosni agreed to establish an exhibition for the Egyptian monuments in the French Valentine city under the name "Pharaonics". The exhibition will move from Bahrain to France after being in el-Manama for 6 months.

Dr. Zahi Hawass, Secretary-General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA), said that the exhibition will be opened in the French City mid October and will roam 6 European Countries. He added that the exhibition will remain for about two years and will include 112 monuments.

He also said that they agreed with the French side to allocate $200 million for the exhibition insurance against any terror actions or natural disasters, adding that the French side will pay the fees of moving the exhibition from Bahrain to Valentine.

Egyptian exhibition in 7 EU Countries, Egypt State Information Service, Egypt, August 17, 2007.

Previously:

Treasures of ancient Egypt draw 15,000, July 18, 2007.

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.

Explore the more mysterious sides of science this Halloween when Discovery Science Centre presents Spooky Science — Mummies!

From Oct. 12 to Nov. 4, 2007, decode hieroglyphs, build your knowledge of pyramids and get the gruesome, gory facts behind the mummification process.

Did you know that mummies are buried all around the world? In addition to Egypt, mummification was a popular burial method in South America. Explore the cultural differences between the processes of making a mummy in this special exhibition.

Discovery Science Centre's annual Spooky Science exhibition is a SPOOKtacular good time! Participate in fun science experiments, enjoy trick-or-treat goodie bags and explore a spooky maze. Get wrapped up in science this Halloween!

Located at 2500 N. Main St. in Santa Ana, California, Taco Bell Discovery Science Centre is Orange County's leading destination for hands-on science fun. Guests can explore more than 100 hands-on science exhibits in themed areas: Discovery Stadium, Techno Arts, Air & Space, Perception, Dynamic Earth, Quake Zone, KidStation, the Digital Lab and Dino Quest...

Unwrap mummy mysteries this Halloween at Discovery Science Centre, Julie Smith, Discovery Science Centre, California, USA, August 20, 2007.

Yet another public controversy has caught the Ministry of Culture, though this time it does not involve the person of Minister Farouk Hosni — one of the most controversial figures in the cabinet over his 20-year tenure. Frequently, during this time, Hosni was locked in conflict with National Democratic Party and other politicians over what were seen as excessively liberal positions he held.

This time the furore involves, rather, two of his aides: the head of the Nubian Antiquities Salvage Fund Hussein Ahmed Hussein; and Ayman Abdel-Moneim, who is both director-general of the Cultural Development Fund and general supervisor of the Historic Cairo Development Project. Both were arrested on charges of bribery: Hussein was caught red-handed with an LE10,000 bribe from a contractor vying for the Nubian Museum restoration project; Abdel-Moneim was accused of amassing possessions from contractors working in Ministry of Culture restoration projects. Early investigations have revealed that both defendants unlawfully received a range of gifts from luxuriously furnished apartments in Cairo's fashionable districts and plots of land to rugs and meals of fish. Together with three contractors involved in the case, they will be in detention for 15 days pending the results of further investigation. The allegation that expenses of contractors working on archaeological sites were being disbursed in return for bribes taken by some of the ministry's top officials were first made in 2006, when the Administrative Control Authority (ACA) started on the case. As a result of investigations made since, all five defendants may face trial at the formidable Supreme State Security Court...

Mixed signals, Nevine El-Aref, Al-Ahram, Egypt, Issue No. 858, August 16 - 22, 2007.

From July 29th until August 4th, 2007, I was in Japan. The reason for my visit was the opening of an exhibit at Waseda University, which is celebrating both its 125th anniversary and 40 years of archaeological exploration in Egypt. The exhibit showcases objects from Waseda's excavations at Dashur, Saqqara, and Abusir. Organized by Dr. Sakuji Yoshimura, it will tour 10 cities in Japan.

I attended the opening ceremony with our active ambassador, Hesham Badr, as well Dr. Yoshimura and the president of Waseda University. Each one of us gave a speech before we joined together in cutting the ribbon. After the ceremony, there was a reception...

A Visit to Japan, Zahi Hawass, The Plateau, Guardian's Egypt, August 17, 2007.

O2 customers will get the chance to act like kings for the day with priority access to the Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs exhibition at The O2.

After a 35 year break, Tutankhamun is finally returning to London on 15th November for 9 months, with the initial week of the exhibition (15th November — 21st November [2007]) only open to O2 customers and their guests who will be the first to marvel at the ancient treasures housed in the cultural hub of The O2, The O2 bubble.

In a further move to treat its customers like royalty, O2 has also arranged for its customers to be able to exclusively purchase tickets for The O2's Tutankhamun exhibition in a pre-sale period from 29th August-11th September, before the public sale commences on 12th September. Customers have to text TUT to 2020 to receive.

their unique password for that exclusive week.

O2 customers interested in Tutankhamun will also be able visit the blueroom online and O2 Active to interact with treasure hunt games, a discussion area and a hieroglyphics generator.

The last time Tutankhamun's treasures visited London was at The British Museum in 1972 with an attendance of over 1.7 million visitors, setting a world record...

O2 customers to get first look at King Tut exhibition, Amy-Mae Elliott, Yahoo! News, UK, August 24, 2007.

Museums in Las Cruces have had a record number of visitors this summer. Despite the thermometer topping out at more than 100 degrees on some days, many people ventured out of their homes to see exhibits such as "Ansel Adams, the Man Who Captured the Earth's Beauty" at the Museum of Art, at 491 N. Main St...

[Will Ticknor] said both the King Tut and Ansel Adams exhibits helped lure people into the museums...

Museums experience record attendance, Jenn Kistler, Las Cruces Sun-News, New Mexico, USA, August 24, 2007.

UNESCO has chosen Egyptian professor of genetics Nagwa Abdel Hamid as a member in the international arbitration panel of UNESCO L'oreal Prize.

The annual award is given to Women in Science who have distinguished themselves globally in the scientific research field.

Egyptian prof. chosen as first Arab member in UNESCO panel, Egypt State Information Service, Egypt, August 20, 2007..

Minister of Culture Farouk Hosni said all restoration operations to save Historical Cairo districts are made according to the international technical and scientific standards laid down by UNESCO.

"This huge project was launched in 1992 following the October earthquake that hit Egypt and caused big damage to the capital's antiquities and old sites," the Minister said.

Hosni pointed out that the project has aimed at restoring rare and unique 517 archaeological sites on four phases.

Historical Cairo restoration made according to int'l standards, Egypt State Information Service, Egypt, August 20, 2007.

"A stolen 4,500-year-old Egyptian artefact that was to be included in a New York auction in back home on Saturday", Culture Minister Farouk Hosni said Sunday 19/08/2007.

The duck-shaped alabaster vessel belonging to Amenemhat III, one of the most important kings of the 12th dynasty, was last year spotted on Christie's auction list by Interpol, which notified Immigration and Customs Enforcement in the US. The piece had been smuggled into the US in 1982.

The vessel was excavated in 1979 by a German team of archaeologists at the pyramid of Amenemhat III, the sixth ruler of Egypt's 12th dynasty.

Secretary-General of Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities Dr. Zahi Hawass said all legal steps were taken in coordination with the Egyptian Consulate in New York to secure the return of the exquisite antique...

Stolen Amenemhat III alabaster duck flown back to Egypt, Egypt State Information Service, Egypt, August 20, 2007.

cf. Egypt recovers two artefacts from US, Egypt State Information Service, Egypt, August 18, 2007.

Millions of Egyptians could be forced permanently from their homes, the country's ability to feed itself devastated.

That's what likely awaits this already impoverished and overpopulated nation by the end of the century, if predictions about climate change hold true. The World Bank describes Egypt as particularly vulnerable to the effects of global warming, saying it faces potentially "catastrophic" consequences.

"The situation is serious and requires immediate attention. Any delay would mean extra losses," said Mohamed el-Raey, an environmental scientist at Alexandria University.

A big reason is the vulnerability of Egypt's breadbasket — the Nile Delta...

Global warming threatens Egypt's Nile Delta, Anna Johnson, AP via USA Today, New York, USA, August 24, 2007.

cf. Global warming causing Mediterranean Sea to rise, threatening Egypt's lush Nile Delta, Anna Johnson, AP via PR-inside, USA, August 24, 2007.

The Oriental Institute Museum showcases 8,000 artifacts from some of the ancient empires — including those of Mesopotamia, Persia and Egypt — that gave birth to modern civilization. Some of the oldest cultural relics go back more than 5,000 years.

Impressive stuff. Yet, the free Hyde Park attraction has only a relatively modest attendance of about 60,000 visitors each year. In fact, some refer to the 16,000-square-foot museum as the proverbial hidden jewel.

"It drives us crazy when people call us that," says Gil Stein, director of the Oriental Institute that oversees the site.

Stein said the museum doesn't have much of a marketing budget to compete with Chicago's major tourism draws. He added that the institute's mission is largely academic and driven by the continuing research of staff archaeologists...

Wander off beaten path to find mummies, Peoria Journal Star, Illinois, USA, August 19, 2007.

Even though the scanning and handling of the Putnam Museum’s two mummies — believed to be thousands of years old — was serious business Tuesday afternoon at Genesis Medical Center’s West Central Park campus in Davenport, hospital staff still had fun with their unusual guests.

“I don’t think he’ll survive,” radiologist Andrew Berkow quipped about the wrapped mummy, spurring laughter as the Bangles’ “Walk Like an Egyptian” and Steve Martin’s “King Tut” songs played in the background.

For the first time in museum history, the mummies were temporarily removed Tuesday from the Putnam and brought by ambulance to Genesis for modern CT, or computed tomography, scans of the mummy skeletons...

The male mummy’s body is “kind of in bad shape,” Berkow said, explaining how several of its ribs are broken and its back is broken in at least one place.

He thinks those fractures happened after the male was dead, probably by rough handling before it arrived at the museum...

The scans of the unwrapped mummy, known as Isis Neferit or “beautiful Isis,” didn’t show any noticeable bone fractures at first glance. However, it does appear it was a female, probably a young one at death, Berkow said.

“There’s not a lot of arthritis in her spine,” he said...

Mummies' exodus to Genesis goes well, Kay Luna, Quad-City Times, Iowa, USA, August 22, 2007.

cf. Putnam's mummies to get a CT scan, Amy Rausch, Quad-City Times, Iowa, USA, August 20, 2007.

Previously:

Iowa museum mummies to undergo CT scans, August 20, 2007.

Time magazine called him "The Man." As the head of Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities, star archaeologist Dr. Zahi Hawass controls who excavates what in Egypt. If there's a documentary on King Tut or the controversies of Hatshepsut on Discovery Channel or National Geographic, expect to see Hawass commenting.

The real-life Indiana Jones is in town to give two talks on the secrets of ancient Egypt. Tickets must be purchased in advance — they are mailed from Maui, so call or e-mail for them as soon as possible.

6 p.m. Aug. 27 [2007], Longhi's Restaurant, Ala Moana Centre...

7 p.m. Aug. 28, UH Campus Centre Ballroom...

Egypt's premier archaeologist to speak next week, The Honolulu Advertiser, Hawaii, USA, August 21, 2007.

A dusty crate of broken bits of pottery discovered at a stately home in Dorset has given a fresh insight into the life of the ancient Egyptians — and it turns out that concerns over mortgages, taxes and simply making ends meet were as important then as they are now.

More than 200 "ostraca" — potsherds inscribed with notes — were found in the cellar of the National Trust property Kingston Lacy, near Wimborne Minster...

Among the messages translated are receipts for a poll tax bill paid by a farmer, tax paid on handicrafts, income tax from a crop of dates and tax for the maintenance of public utilities.

At least 16 of the tax receipts were issued to the same taxpayer, Patsibtis, son of Petorzmethis. He is also a taxpayer on more than 20 ostraca in the British Museum and other collections.

Brian Muhs, who oversaw the translations, said: "Because there are a lot of ostraca, and many relate to the same people, we are able to build up a picture of what life was like. It is possible to build up a picture of income, jobs, family makeup...

Egyptians' ancient tax burden revealed, Steven Morris, The Guardian, UK, August 22, 2007.

Previously:

Relics found at Kingston Lacy offer insight into ancient Egypt, August 22, 2007.

A German has handed in a package containing part of a Pharaonic carving to Egypt's embassy in Berlin, with a note saying his stepfather had suffered a Curse of the Pharaohs for stealing it, Egypt said on Wednesday.

The note said the man felt obliged to return the carving to make amends for his late stepfather and enable his soul to rest in peace, Egypt's Supreme Council for Antiquities said.

The stepfather had stolen the piece while on a visit to Egypt in 2004 and on his return to Germany suffered paralysis, nausea, unexplained fevers and cancer before dying recently, the anonymous man said in the note.

The Egyptian embassy in Berlin had sent the fragment back to Egypt by diplomatic pouch and it had been handed over to the Supreme Council for Antiquities, where a committee of experts was trying to ascertain its authenticity, the statement said...

Man returns 'cursed' Pharaoh piece, Reuters via CNN, USA, August 22, 2007.

Previously:

'Cursed' Tut ring found on beach could be part of treasure lost in early 20th century shipwreck, April 26, 2007.

A crate of ancient Egyptian relics discovered at a National Trust property has turned out to be a large collection of inscribed pottery sherds known as ‘ostraca’, used by scribes to write a variety of notes and messages.

Among the pieces, found during work in the cellars of Kingston Lacy in Dorset are over one hundred tax receipts given by officials for poll tax, mortgages and income tax, providing a fascinating glimpse into everyday life in ancient Egypt.

The ancient sherds form part of a considerable collection of Egyptian artefacts brought to Kingston Lacy in the 19th century by its owner, pioneer Egyptologist William John Bankes...

Numbering over two hundred pieces, Bankes’ collection of ostraca are believed to have originated from the island of Elephantine in Lower Egypt. They vary in date, and a number of different languages and ancient scripts appear on them. The majority are tax receipts dating from 200 AD, in Greek, an official language of Egypt at that time...

Relics found at Kingston Lacy offer insight into ancient Egypt, 24 Hour Museum, UK, August 22, 2007.

Egyptian archaeologists had found what could be the oldest human footprint in history in the country's western desert, the Arab country's antiquities' chief said.

"This could go back about two million years," said Zahi Hawass, the Secretary-General of the Egyptian Supreme Council of Antiquities. "It could be the most important discovery in Egypt," he said on Monday.

Archaeologists found the footprint, imprinted on mud and then hardened into rock, while exploring a prehistoric site in Siwa, an oasis.

Scientists were using carbon tests on plants found in the rock to determine its exact age, Dr Hawass said...

Oldest footprint discovered, Reuters via Sydney Morning Herald, Australia, August 22, 2007.

Previously:

Egypt Finds What Could Be A Two Million-Year-Old Human Footprint, August 20, 2007.

The Putnam Museum is sending two of its mummies on a field trip in hopes of learning more about their history.

The mummies, described as among the Davenport museum's most prized and popular possessions, will be carefully removed from their cases on Tuesday and taken by ambulance to Genesis Medical Centre's West Central Park Avenue Campus, where they will undergo CT scans.

The scans, being donated by the hospital, are expected to reveal new information about the mummies, such as their ages, genders and maybe even how they died...

One of the mummies, believed to be 3,000 years old, is named Isis and rests in the museum's lower gallery. Another unnamed mummy rests beside Isis and also will be tested.

The museum hopes to post new information about their history by November, when the mummies will be placed in new humidity controlled cases and their displays updated with new interactive features...

Iowa museum mummies to undergo CT scans, Quad-City Times via Yahoo! News, USA, August 20, 2007.

A delegation from the Egyptian Supreme Council of Antiquities has found what could be the oldest human footprint in history, Zahi Hawass, the Secretary-General for the organization said in a press conference Thursday. The footprint was found in Siwa, an oasis in the western Egyptian desert.

"The print could be two million years old and we are running tests on it, if our expectations are correct, it will be the oldest antiquity on earth," Hawass told reporters.

"The footprint was imprinted on a clay-sand dried surface," he added.

The Council has established a new department for pre-historical antiquities recently to study and search for new discoveries from these eras.

Egypt Finds What Could Be A Two Million-Year-Old Human Footprint, All Headline News, USA, August 17, 2007.

Egyptian Culture Minister Farouk Hosni said a stolen 4,500-year-old Egyptian relic that was to be included in a New York Christie's auction last year had come back home on Saturday, the official MENA news agency reported Sunday.

In 1979, a German team of archaeologists excavated the duck-shaped vessel from a royal burial chamber at the pyramid of Amenemhat III, the sixth ruler of Egypt's 12th dynasty, which locates in the Egyptian city of Dashur, some 30 km south of the capital of Cairo, said the report.

When the Interpol found the ancient Egyptian artefact in the Christie's auction list in 2006, it informed the Immigration and Customs Enforcement of the United States...

Stolen ancient Egyptian artefact back home, People's Daily, China, August 20, 2007.

“Take me over Cleopatra’s palace,” I asked the tour-boat operator on a recent visit to Alexandria, Egypt’s Mediterranean metropolis.

“No problem,” the young Egyptian guide said. “You’ll see it all, even the great lighthouse.”

It was a trip through Alexandria’s old harbour. Supposedly, we would be able to gaze into the deep and view sunken remains — Cleopatra’s royal residence as well as a palace she built for liaisons with her lover, Marc Antony, along with remnants of the Pharos lighthouse (one of the Seven Wonders of the ancient world), and assorted sphinxes, columns and an obelisk. The half-hour cruise, however, revealed nothing but murky water.

“Well, here’s the new lighthouse,” the tour guide said chirpily, pointing to a lantern set atop a slender rod on a jetty. It’s not one of the Seven Wonders.

After 15 years of hauling priceless relics from in and around its harbour, Alexandria municipal officials and Egyptian antiquity authorities are trying to figure out how to make thousands of artefacts still at the bottom accessible for viewing by the public...

Cleopatra's Sunken Love Nest May Lure More Tourists to Egypt, Daniel Williams, Bloomberg, UK, August 20, 2007.

Ground has been broken on the Government of Egypt’s US$550m (£271m, 400m Euro) Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM) development near the renowned Pyramids of Giza.

The 480,000sq m (5,200,000sq ft) site will focus on a 84,000sq m (904,000sq ft) museum building entered via an atrium containing a monumental statue of Ramses II and a grand staircase displaying huge statues of Egyptian Pharaohs.

The third floor of the museum will feature the Permanent Galleries with views to the Pyramids, located 2.5km away.

The centrepiece Gallery of Tutankhamen — approached via a suspended bridge entering the darkened tomb — will display 3,500 pieces belonging to the Young King Tut — the most comprehensive collection worldwide salvaged from the desecrated tomb.

The remaining galleries will show around 100,000 artefacts on the five themes of The Land of Egypt; Kinship and State; Man, Society and Work; Religion and Culture; and Scribes and Knowledge, in a chronological sequence.

A 1,000-seat auditorium will offer theatrical performances, while a wide-screen 3D cinema will show films.

The site will include a 53,000sq m (570,500sq ft) Recreational Park to accommodate leisure and recreational facilities as well as hotels and restaurants...

Grand Egyptian Museum underway, Leisure Opportunities, UK, August 20, 2007.

Officials ink deal to set up a a temporary restoration lab at Salaheddin Citadel and a visitor center at the Urban Plaza at the northern end of the Al-Azhar Park close to the end of the 12th century Ayyubid Wall.

Under the auspices of Egypt’s Culture Minister Farouk Hosni, the secretary-general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA), Dr. Zahi Hawass, and the Aga Khan Trust for Culture’s (AKTC) general manager Mr. Luis Mo nreal signed today a memorandum of understanding finalizing the establishment of a temporary restoration lab at Salaheddin Citadel and a visitor center at the Urban Plaza at the northern end of the Al-Azhar Park close to the end of the 12th century Ayyubid Wall.

The Urban Plaza project will be a mixed-use center with underground car parking, shops and cultural facilities, including a small museum essaying the history of Cairo since the ancient Egyptian era until the modern time through displays of great treasures and collection of artefacts that have never been on exhibit before.

Hawass explained that these antiquities will be carefully selected from the Islamic and Coptic Museums in Cairo as well as the Salaheddin Citadel storehouses and Matariya archaeological sites. The museum will also give visitors insight into the urban, cultural and architectural history of the heart of Cairo...

Tourists in Cairo get more from the Aga Khan, Hazel Heyer, eTurboNews, August 17, 2007.

Egypt has reacted to the whole New Seven Wonders hype by saying the pyramids of Giza remain the only wonder of the world.

“This contest will not detract from the value of the pyramids, which is the only real wonder of the world,” Egypt's antiquities supremo Zahi Hawass told AFP.

He said the competition has no value because the masses do not write history.

Egypt was enraged when it was initially included in the competition, describing as ridiculous the fact that the only surviving wonder of the ancient world be put to a vote.

Hawass said the new wonders would simply fade in people’s memories once the media hype was over. “After several months, ask anyone to name the (new) choices, they won’t be able to remember them,” he said. “But if you ask any primary school pupil, they could still list the ancient wonders of the world.”

Pyramids still the only wonder, says Egypt, Travel & Tourism News Middle East, Volume, 25, No. 8, August 2007.

The Cleveland Museum of Art (CMA) presents the annual John and Helen Collis Lecture featuring Dr. Robert S. Nelson, Robert Lehman Professor of the History of Art, Yale University. The lecture entitled, The Light of Icons at St. Catherine’s Monastery, Mt. Sinai, Egypt will be held at 2 p.m. on Sunday, September 30 [2007] in Gallery 101 of the Museum.

The Light of Icons at St. Catherine’s Monastery, Mt. Sinai, Egypt will introduce the audience to the physical environment in which the monastery is located, the Sinai desert, the monastery itself and to the life of the monks there in its sixth-century church. The lecture will be illustrated with Dr. Nelson’s photos of the monastery and the monks and accompanied by his commentary.

“My goal is to put the audience in the Sinai and to try to help them see and feel what the church and the monks are like,” said Dr. Robert S. Nelson. “The church and the liturgy are the center of the lives of the monks and icons are at the center of the center...”

Renowned Yale Professor Illuminates the Importance of Icons, Art Daily, Mexico, August 16, 2007.

An ancient Egyptian noblewoman's large stone coffin has been found in a tomb near the pyramid of Unas, experts announced yesterday.

Archaeologists were digging near the crumbling pyramid in Saqqara, 15 miles (25 kilometres) south of Cairo, when they discovered the tomb, which had been built more than 600 years before the noblewoman's death.

El-Aguizy said the coffin of the noblewoman, named Sekhmet Nefret, was the first from Egypt's 27th dynasty (525 to 402 B.C.) to be found in this part of Saqqara, an ancient royal burial ground.

The walls of the burial shaft were made in part with carved stone slabs, known as stelae. The stone dates from the even earlier reign of the pharaoh Djoser, who was buried in Saqqara's distinctive step pyramid.

El-Aguizy and his team were digging in a part of Saqqara built during the reign of Ramses II ... when they found Nefret's sarcophagus...

Egyptian Tomb of Noblewoman Found, Dan Morrison, National geographic News, District of Columbia, USA, August 16, 2007.

Previously:

New pharaonic discoveries at Saqqara dating back to Rameses II, August 15, 2007.

Using computed tomography, more commonly known as CT-scans, a research team at The University of Western Ontario hopes to unravel the mysteries of three Egyptian mummies on loan from the Royal Ontario Museum's [Egyptian collection].

The CT-scans, which generate three-dimensional images of internal matter, are expected to deliver basic details to the researchers, such as gender and date of death.

It is also possible that artefacts, such as jewellery and amulets may be discovered beneath the bandages.

“This exercise provides us with a very exciting opportunity to use the latest in what medical science has to offer to breathe new life into these messengers from the past,” says Andrew Nelson of The University of Western Ontario’s Department of Anthropology and a research associate of the ROM...

One mummy was excavated by legendary Egyptologist Henri Edouard Naville from Deir el-Bahri ... in 1906-07. Found in the coffin of a low-ranking “wab-priest,” the adult mummy dates from the 21st Dynasty of Egypt, or about 1000 BC...

Research breathing new life into mummies, The Western News, University of Western Ontario, Ontario, Canada, August 14, 2007.

Sedona will soon welcome an international diplomat of sorts when Zahi Hawass, Ph.D., Egypt’s secretary general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities speaks on Saturday, Aug. 25 [2007].

Hawass, who is also the director of Excavations at Giza, Saqqara and the Bahariya Oasis, is known for his world-renowned informative lectures on Egyptology and archaeology. So, following television programs such as “Mysteries of the Pyramids,” live from Cairo with Omar Sharif; “Good Morning America,” live from the Great Sphinx with Joan Lunden; and “The Today Show” with Matt Lauer, it only seems natural he would come to Sedona...

Currently, Hawass says he’s in search for the answer to the question of what lies behind the three doors in the “air shafts” in the Great Pyramid. A scientific team is being selected to build the robot which will explore behind these doors well before man steps foot beyond the dark, he adds.

In addition, he is searching a site west of Alexandria known as Taposiris Magna. There he believes he can find the tombs of Cleopatra and Mark Antony.

Lastly, he’s researching the lineage of Tutankhamun. He hopes his studies will answer many questions surrounding the young king and ancient family, he says...

Egyptian flare, Sedona connection, Nate Hansen, The Sedona Red Rock News, Arizona, USA, August 15, 2007.

An Egyptian archaeological mission discovered stones and sarcophaguses at a cemetery dating back to Rameses II in the Saqqara district.

Secretary-General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities Dr Zahi Hawass said among the discoveries was a sarcophagus of a woman hailing from the royal doctor at the time.

The mission also recovered a big stone, which served as a foundation for the cemetery, along with 50 stones inscribed with the name of King Djoser, his wife and daughter.

New pharaonic discoveries back to Rameses II in the Saqqara district, Egypt State Information Service, Egypt, August 15, 2007.

Egyptian mummies may be more international than previously thought, as analysis of one such mummy in the Brooklyn Museum's [Egyptian] collection has revealed a surprising connection to Spain.

The mummy, named "Demetrios," turns out to have been wrapped in linen that was decorated with red pigment containing lead that originated in Spain, according to the museum.

"We now think the ancient Egyptians made very specific material choices for mummy preparation," Lisa Bruno, the museum's lead object conservator, told Discovery News...

Mummy Was Painted Red With Spanish Lead, Jennifer Viegas, Discovery News, USA, August 14, 2007.

Previously:

Mummies in Brooklyn Museum To Undergo Scientific Study, August 10, 2007.

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

Spectral analysis of stable isotope ratios in readily available tissues such as hair and tooth enamel could help researchers monitor the effects of neuroprotective drugs or even track neurodegenerative disease, according to research published in PLoS One. The same approach might also be used to analyse archaeological specimens and provide new insights into the physiology of ancient people and animals.

Otto Appenzeller of the New Mexico Health Enhancement and Marathon Clinics Research Foundation, in Albuquerque, USA, and colleagues there and at the Universita degli Studi di Milano, in Italy, explain how biological rhythms can provide insights into normal physiology and disease, but tracking them over time normally requires constant, potentially invasive, monitoring. Such monitoring is obviously impossible for a preserved, or mummified, body long dead...

Previously, Appenzeller and his colleagues have looked for the telltale signs of neurological problems in paintings of the ancient Egyptians and identified cases of progressive facial hemiatrophy, a disfiguring disease, based on distortions of facial features reproduced in the paintings. Such studies coupled with hair and teeth analysis from ancient samples could provide important clues about our past that would otherwise remain hidden...

Hair and teeth betray master timekeeper, David Bradley, Chemometrics & Informatics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd, UK, August 15, 2007.

Culture Minister Farouk Hosni Sunday 12/08/2007 called on Arab countries to concur on a single candidate for the post of the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) director-general.

"If there is more than one Arab candidate, the chances that an Arab will land the prestigious job will be slim," he said in statements after a meeting with the working group tasked with campaigning for his nomination.

"Meantime, President Hosni Mubarak contacted French President Nicolas Sarkozy to garner France's support and he got an initial approval," the Culture Minister said...

Culture Minister calls for choosing single Arab candidate for UNESCO top post, Egypt State Information Service, Egypt, August 13, 2007.

A national committee has been formed comprising the Ministries of Foreign Affairs, Culture and Higher Education to implement a plan supporting Minister of Culture Farouk Hosni's nomination for the UNESCO director general post.

The Foreign Ministry has started sending messages to foreign ministries of other countries and the UNESCO's 58-member Executive Council, with the minister's CV attached.

The plan covers actions to be taken and timetable to be set till the elections in 2009 as well as actions on the political, cultural, social and humanitarian levels.

There are considerations governing the nomination of any figure for an international position, including the status of the country of the nominee and his international contributions, diplomatic sources said, adding that the Egyptian nominee has fulfilled both considerations.

National committee formed to support Farouk Hosni nomination for UNESCO post, Egypt State Information Service, Egypt, August 12, 2007.

One of my wife's friends, a straight-laced, Washington-based reporter, recently passed through Cairo and told her — at length — what a ghastly experience it had been.

I listened to his comments, and I could not help it: I wanted to wring the man's neck. He had maligned one of my favourite places on the planet.

Of course, Cairo is over the top. It is overwhelming, suffocating, intoxicating. Cairo invites extreme reactions...

Feel the past in Cairo, Justin Marozzi, Gulf News, UAE, August 10, 2007.

Culture Minister Farouk Hosni decided to form a higher committee under the leadership of first under Secretary of State for financial and administrative affairs with the aim of supervising and proceeding work in Cairo's historical project, and the projects achieved within Cultural Development and Al-Nouba's Monumental Funds.

Farouk Hosni said on 10/8/2007 that the committee includes nine specialists from the University Professors, engineers, archaeologists and administrators for following up the work in these national projects that shouldn't be delayed.

The work in Cairo's historical project started since 1992 by value of LE 850 million. In addition, there is a supervision of Al-Nouba Monumental Fund and the Cultural Development Fund which support many artistic, cinematic and cultural activities in several domains.

Forming a committee for proceeding Cairo's historical projects, Developing Al-Nouba, Egypt State Information Service, Egypt, August 11, 2007.

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.

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.

The latest issue of German language magazine Damals is an Egyptian special.

• Im Land der Pharaonen.
• Vollendung und Vollkommenheit
  von Heike Wilde.
• Jeder Ort ist voll von Ärzten
  von Prof. Dr. Heike Sternberg-el-Hotabi.
• Aufbewahrt für alle Zeiten
  von Daniel von Recklinghausen.
• Konserviert in Wüste, Moor und Eis
  von Dr. Wilfried Rosendahl.
• Die Welt der Toten
  von Marcus Müller.
• Der Jäger des versunkenen Schatzes
  von Uwe A. Oster.
• Die Entdeckungen des Unterwasserarchäologen Franck Goddio.

Which approximately says in English...

• In the land of the Pharaohs.
• Completion and perfection
  by Heike Wilde.
• Each place is full from physicians
  by Prof. Dr. Heike Sternberg-el-Hotabi.
• Saved for all time
  by Daniel von Recklinghausen.
• Conserved in desert, moorland and ice
  by Dr. Wilfried Rosendahl.
• The world of the dead
  by Marcus Müller.
• The hunter of the sunken treasures
  by Uwe A. Oster.
• The discoveries of the underwater archaeologist Franck Goddio.

Damals magazine , Konradin Medien GmbH, Germany, August 2007.

Such is [the Philadelphian's] brotherly love for the renowned boy-king who took the throne of Egypt in 1332 BC that more then 400,000 tickets were sold for the latest blockbuster exhibition, Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs, before it even opened in February at the Franklin Institute.

Philadelphia is treating this event as a golden opportunity to give itself over to a seven-month celebration of all things Egyptian. There's an important supplementary exhibition at the University of Pennsylvania's Penn Museum, and a "Tut Trolley" bus to get you there. There are Egyptian menu options in many restaurants, Egyptian-style shop window displays, "mummy wrap" treatments at local spas, hotel-ticket packages and at least three different Tut-inspired cocktails invented by the city's glitzier bars.

But not even all this colourful self-promotion can outshine the glory of the objects on display...

Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs runs until Sept. 30 [2007] at the Franklin Institute Science Museum, Philadelphia...

Tut's treasure comes to Philadelphia, Peter Neville-Hadley, The Montreal Gazette, Canada, August 04, 2007.

Floating down the Nile's muddy waters on any given day are soda cans, plastic bags, swimming boys, tourists on felucca boats, and patches of marsh grasses with small birds hitching a ride.

This summer, a crocodile joined the flotsam and jetsam. Or so it seems.

In the two weeks since the crocodile surfaced, its lore has grown to Loch Ness Monster proportions. There are no photos — yet — but the Egyptian media is abuzz. All that's clear is that an animal from the crocodilian family — perhaps a native Nile croc or a foreign alligator — has made its way to the urban waters of the northern Nile, something Cairenes say hasn't happened in living memory...

"There's quite a number [of Nile crocodiles] in Lake Nasser [in southern Egypt]. There's no reason why they can't drift further northward from there. But they've not been found near Cairo just because of people pressure..."

Crocodile Hunting On The Nile, Jill Carroll, Christian Science Monitor via CBS News, USA, August 07, 2007.

Visiting Italian Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Ugo Intini has expressed satisfaction over Egypt's nomination of Culture Minister Farouk Hosni for the post UNESCO President.

Intini says that his country supports Hosni as President of UNESCO.

Meanwhile, Hosni has approved a $2-million deposit into UNESCO's account to prepare a blueprint for the old-Cairo development project. The sum would be used to hire an international firm to survey the area.

Italy welcomes Hosni's nomination for President of UNESCO, Egypt State Information Service, Egypt, August 08, 2007.

Previously:

Foreign ministry starts campaign for Hosni's UNESCO post nomination, August 07, 2007.

Egypt nominates Farouk Hosni for UNESCO top post, August 02, 2007.

Opening at The Metropolitan Museum of Art on October 16, 2007, Gifts for the Gods: Images from Egyptian Temples is the first exhibition ever devoted to these fascinating yet enigmatic works. On view will be some 70 superb statues and statuettes created in precious metals and copper alloys including bronze (an alloy of copper and tin) over more than two millennia.

Through their long history, the ancient Egyptians used copper, bronze, gold, and silver to create lustrous, graceful statuary for their interactions with their gods — from ritual dramas in the temples and chapels that dotted the landscape to festival processions through the towns and countryside that were thronged by believers.

The exhibition will bring to New York masterpieces from around the world, including seven extremely rare inlaid and decorated large bronzes from the first half of the first millennium, the so-called Third Intermediate Period (1070 – 664 B.C.), the apogee of Egyptian metalwork. Among these will be the astonishing bronze statue of the priestess and noblewoman Takushit, the treasure of the Egyptian Collection of the National Archaeological Museum in Athens. Measuring some 27 inches (70 cm) in height and covered with a luminous latticework of divine figures and imagery in precious metal, this work has never before left Greece. The exhibition is supported by an indemnity from the Federal Council on the Arts and the Humanities...

Metropolitan Museum Presents Egyptian Metal Statuary, Huliq, USA, August 06, 2007.

Previously:

150 rare artefacts exhibited in New York and Switzerland, June 13, 2007.

A Norfolk museum has received a gift of paintings linked to the archaeologist who discovered the tomb of Tutankhamun.

They are the work of relations of the Egyptologist Howard Carter who grew up in Swaffham.

The four pictures have been loaned to Swaffham Museum by Susan Allen, from Swaffham, and they include two landscape scenes by William Carter.

A third painting, that is signed by Henry Carter and dated 1916, is of Sporle Road House, in Swaffham. There is also a picture of a foal in a forest by HW Carter that was painted in 1885...

Tutankhaman tomb family's museum gift, Watton and Swaffham Times, UK, August 09, 2007.

Margaret Maitland has put together a Google Maps guide to the Egyptological sights of London. Follow the link below to her website to access the Google Maps link. You can save it as a .kml file and launch it in Google Earth also.

London has always had a fascination with ancient Egypt dating back to the ‘Egyptomania’ of Victorian times and today the city is recognized as one of the foremost centres of Egyptological research. The collection of the British Museum is world renowned, as is its most famous exhibit, the Rosetta Stone. But there are many other less well-known but equally fascinating Egyptian treasures hidden throughout the city, from the great sarcophagus of King Seti I amongst the overflowing collection of curiosities at the Soane Museum, to Howard Carter’s grave, and Victorian houses adorned with sphinxes and obelisks.

Google recently added a new feature that allows you to make your own customized maps, so I decided to compile a list of all the Egyptological places in London, many that I love and others that I hope to visit soon myself...

A Guide to Ancient Egyptian London, Margaret Maitland, The Eloquent Peasant, UK, July 11, 2007.

When visiting Egypt, there are ten things you absolutely must do.

1. See the pyramids...

2. Learn to haggle...

3. Have an ahwa...

4. Check out the mummies...

5. Visit a mosque...

6. Dodge the traffic...

7. Cruise the Nile...

8. Go to the Valley of the Kings...

9. Eat sweets...

10. Visit the desert...

Egypt: How bazaar, Anya Kussler, The New Zealand Herald, New Zealand, August 06, 2007.

Last week, National Geographic aired a documentary that explored a controversy that has been brewing for many years: Has Nefertiti's mummy been found? For Dr. Susan James, author and La Cañada resident, this mystery has been part of her life since she wrote her first article about the issue in 2001.

"The program was an investigation of two female mummies that were transferred from a tomb," James said.

The show, "Nefertiti and The Lost Dynasty," examined two mummies archaeologists call the Elder Lady and the Younger Lady. They were discovered in a tomb named KV 35 in the Valley of the Kings in the late 1800s...

Even before her article was published in the KMT [Who is the Mummy ELDER LADY?, Vol. 12, No. 2, Summer 2001], a magazine on ancient Egypt, James had been fascinated by early Egyptian civilization. And Nefertiti has been of special interest, not only because of her mesmerizing bust that is probably one of the most recognized Egyptian artefacts, but also because of her strength. In a time when women were not leaders, Nefertiti was a ruler...

At the end of the National Geographic program, after CT scan results were released, Hawass concluded that neither mummy was Nefertiti.

"He concluded that the Elder Lady may be Queen Tiye," James said. Queen Tiye is Nefertiti's mother-in-law.

Both are quick to clarify that the term, Elder Lady, may be misleading. Though the exact age is still unknown, James thinks the age is closer to 30 and Hawass has determined the mummy to be slightly older.

James is not giving up her investigation into the Elder Lady, however, as she is still hoping to do more studies with the mummy and plans to do more articles. At present her goal is to get the mummies into a humidity controlled case and displayed at the Luxor Museum in Egypt...

Susan James Travels to Egypt to Find Nefertiti, Mary O'Keefe, La Ca&ntiled;ada Valley Sun, California, USA, August 02, 2007.

A Manchester scientist is the star of a documentary that unwraps the secrets of Egyptian mummies.

Dr Angelique Corthals, a lecturer at Manchester University, has just returned from the New York premiere of Mummies: Secrets of the Pharaohs.

The film, narrated by The Lord Of The Rings star Christopher Lee, was shown on the giant 88ft-diameter IMAX screen at the Liberty Science Centre. It will be released here in September.

Using special effects, the documentary takes viewers back thousands of years to the age of the great pharaohs, before recounting the 19th century discovery of 40 mummies, including 12 kings, in a single tomb...

Scientist stars in mummies film, Paul T Taylor, Manchester Evening News, UK, August 02, 2007.

Beyond suits of Japanese armour and a stuffed shark, it lies silently, wrapped in coffee-brown linen strips, clutching what appears to be an infant. A leg bone protrudes, and the Mummy of Fabyan Villa bares its teeth.

However, unlike mummies from the movies, the Fabyan Villa mummy isn’t cursed and has never walked.

In fact, the Fabyan Villa mummy is a fake that contains one bone — from a dog.

“For the time period, it was certainly a good fakery,” said Lynn Dransoff, director of the Fabyan Villa Museum, in the Fabyan Forest Preserve. “It was thought for many years to be real.”

In 1982, an expert examined the mummy, and an X-ray revealed the truth...

The tale of the mummy, Amelia Flood, Kane County Chronicle, Illinois, USA, August 06, 2007.

The Getty Museum has reached a compromise with Italy after a bitter dispute over antiquities in its collection that Rome says were looted, the Italian Culture Ministry said in a statement on Wednesday.

The museum will return 40 artefacts to Italy, fewer than the 46 Italy initially demanded but more than the 26 it offered last year when the government threatened to cut ties with the museum.

"Both sides say they are satisfied that, after long and complex negotiations, an agreement has been reached and now we will proceed towards a relationship of renewed cooperation," the ministry said.

The deal will allow Getty ... to keep one of the key items on the list, a limestone and marble statue of Aphrodite, until 2010.

The two sides continue to disagree on one of the other most important items, the bronze Statue of a Victorious Youth, sometimes known as "the Getty Bronze"...

Getty to return art works to Italy, Reuters via CNN, USA, August 01, 2007.

Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul-Gheit chaired a meeting of the ministry's working group that runs the support campaign for the nomination of Farouk Hosni, the Culture Minister, as UNESCO Director General.

"The Minister termed the nomination as very important and one of main priorities of Egypt's embassies abroad. The Minister gave directives on coordination with all the parties concerned in the country to mobilize international support for Hosni's nomination for the post", according to Alaa Al-Hadidi, the Foreign Ministry's Spokesman.

The two-year campaign requires intensive efforts to guarantee the support of all the countries for Egypt's nominee.

Foreign ministry starts campaign for Hosni's UNESCO post nomination, Egypt State Information Service, Egypt, August 06, 2007.

Previously:

Egypt nominates Farouk Hosni for UNESCO top post, August 02, 2007.

There were no obvious signs of foul play.

The corpse had no broken bones, its skull was intact, and it had a full set of teeth. There was no evidence of a vitamin deficiency or previous trauma. And the bony tips of the fingers allowed examiners to rule out degenerative diseases.

“The normality of it all is what is so surprising,” said Dr. Lawrence Boxt, the director of cardiac MRIs and CT scans at North Shore University Hospital here, as he surveyed images on a series of computer screens. “He may have died a quiet, natural death.” As Demetrios, a 2,000-year-old Egyptian mummy belonging to the Brooklyn Museum, lay on the table of the “64-slice” CT scanner, a cluster of art curators, conservators and medical specialists looked on, riveted by the macabre spectacle.

While mummies have been subjected to CT scans for more than two decades, it was a first for the museum and for North Shore. The goal was to gain insights into who Demetrios was, how he died and what his mummified remains might tell them about Egyptian funerary practices.

Dr. Boxt immediately dismissed one hypothesis. These were not the bones of an 89-year-old man...

Dead on Arrival: Demetrios mummy slideshow, New York Times, August 06, 2007.

Mummy’s Log: Visited Scan God in Land of the Dead, Carol Vogel, New York Times, New York, USA, August 06, 2007.

A recycled burial chamber with unusual decorations has been discovered just south of Cairo, archaeologists announced today.

The chamber may offer further proof of how the nobles of Egypt's 26th dynasty (664 to 525 B.C.) "gentrified" the 2,000-year-old necropolis, or vast burial grounds, of their 5th-dynasty predecessors. The necropolis had fallen into disrepair in the intervening millennia.

The find occurred near the three weathered pyramids of Abu Sir [Abusir] — remnants of an original seven — located 22 miles (35 kilometres) south of Cairo...

"We believe it is the proximity to the complex of sacred installations in north Saqqara" — just half a mile (one kilometre) away — that led to the building of new tombs at Abu Sir, said , who has been researching the region for decades.

Egypt's Supreme Council for Antiquities announced that a team led by Ladislav Bareš, also of the Czech Institute [of Egyptology], had located the burial chamber of a royal scribe named Menekhibnekau...

Czech archaeologists have been excavating Menekhibnekau's tomb since 2006, but only in April did they find the burial chamber.

Inside the chamber, the team uncovered a vaulted ceiling decorated with stars.

Also in the tomb were two large sarcophagi: A massive exterior coffin made of limestone, and a human-shaped interior made of greywacke, a type of dark green sandstone. Both were densely covered with religious texts...

So is it Abu Sir, Abu-Sir, or Abusir. A search on Google favours the latter. Also note the other sites Abu Ghurob, Abu Rowash and Abu Mina don't tend to get their names contracted...

cf. "Gentrified" Egyptian Burial Chamber Discovered, Dan Morrison, National Geographic News, USA, August 02, 2007.

cf. Egypt discovers 2,500-year-old grave of royal guard, Xinhau, China, August 03, 2007.

Previously:

Pharaonic tomb discovered, August 03, 2007.

WE PASS by without noticing them, sometimes scattered in the countryside, or perhaps right near us on our way to work...

As a word, mausolea is the plural of mausoleum, which in turn refers to a free-standing building that encloses a burial chamber or a grave. The first ever was the Mausoleum of Maussollos [at Halicarnassus]. Considered one of the ancient Seven Wonders of the World, it was built around 350 BC as a grave honouring the Persian ruler of Caria (part of present-day Anatolia in Turkey). From his name, Maussollos, the word "mausoleum" was derived.

Ever since, mausolea have found their way into the life of every civilisation and culture. Varying dramatically in shape, size and architectural style, they all served the same purpose — honouring the dead...

Snap Shot, Mohamed El-Hebeishy, Al-Ahram, Egypt, Issue No. 856, August 02 - 08, 2007.

[Odsey] house comes with an exceptional pedigree. It was built for the 2nd Duke of Devonshire, owner of Chatsworth, who kept a string of racehorses. The latter ran at Odsey races, which flourished here until the 19th century, when they were overtaken by Newmarket. Michael Rice, the present owner, is an author and expert on statecraft in Ancient Egypt. He explains: “The Duke wanted a house where he knew where everything was. So he commissioned a copy of his house in Manchester Square in London. That’s why it looks like an end-of-terrace house...”

When Rice bought Odsey House 30 years ago, the garden was just a field worn bare by goats. The magical setting he has created compensates for the house’s one drawback: its closeness to the main road. The entrance court, complete with bubbling fountain, looks over the duke’s stable range (now a separate house) with a single-storey range containing a staff flat. Rice walked me through a garden room, with banquet seats for evening drinks, to a grand rectangle of perfect lawn. One vista, framed by clipped balls of yew, leads to a statue of Bacchus. Another, a long paved walk, ends in a white painted Arts & Crafts porch. The lawn is edged by a long yew hedge rising in a gentle Baroque curve to provide a noble backdrop for a large garden seat. Beyond is a stretch of parkland that enjoys perfect seclusion amid mature trees...

Tenuous Egyptology link I know!

A country pile for £1.75 million, The Times, UK, August 03, 2007.

Culture Minister Farouk Hosni has announced the discovery of the cemetery of the royal bodyguard of the Pharaohs' 26th dynasty at the historical area of Abusir [Abu Sir], near the governorate of Sharqiya.

Archaeologists unearthed a huge sarcophagus made up of white limestone.

The sarcophagus contained another small one inscribed with prayers.

The Czech excavation team has also discovered pots, seals and mummification tools.

Secretary General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities Zahi Hawass said the new discovery proves that Abu Sir is replete with many artefacts.

Pharaonic tomb discovered, Egypt State Information Service, Egypt, August 03, 2007.

The 2,300 year-old mummy affectionately known as the Princess of Thebes since arrival at the Louisiana Art & Science Museum in 1964 is a man.

Information from a CT scan performed at St. Elizabeth Hospital by technologist Ron Letourneau in July under the supervision of Dr. Jonathan Elias, Akhmim Mummy Studies Consortium, helped determine that the mummy is a male between 25-30 years of age who died under mysterious circumstances.

Mary Manhein, director of the FACES Laboratory at Louisiana State university interpreted the information from the CT scan and FACES X-rays, aided by an international team of researchers.

The best determination is that she is a he," Manhein said.

The team concluded the young man stood about 5'8" tall and weighed between 124.8 and 131.4 pounds at a minimum.

Manhein said five forensic experts at the FACES lab concurred with her findings, as did 15 other laboratory anthropologists across the country who were asked to interpret the X-rays and CT scan...

Manhein said she primarily used the pelvis and unique size and shaping differences between male and female to determine the mummy's sex. The determination was backed when a small male sciatic knot was discovered, and a blunt male chin was uncovered.

"From the collarbone we were able to tell something about the age," she said. "The clavicle is the last bone in the body to fuse, usually around age 24 to 25, so we could tell the subject was at least that age."

In the most surprising revelation, the young man suffered physical trauma at or about the time of death.

"Something put tremendous pressure on his chest," Manhein said. "He had seven or eight broken ribs..."

LASM mummy's sex, age uncovered by team of forensic scientists, but mysteries remain, Wade McIntyre, The Gonzales Weekly Citizen, Louisiana, USA, July 31, 2007.

The first physical clues to a long-rumoured town that existed on the site of present-day Alexandria have been uncovered — by accident.

While searching under the waves of Alexandria's East Bay for Greek and Roman ruins, archaeologists discovered signs of building construction 700 years older than Alexander the Great's invasion of Egypt.

The conqueror founded Alexandria in 332 B.C.

The new find is "the first hard evidence" of Rhakotis, a town mentioned in several histories of the region but whose existence had never been substantiated, said geoarchaeologist Jean-Daniel Stanley of the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural History.

And the results, which are published in the August issue of the journal GSA Today, were "a bit of serendipity," Stanley said...

Ancient "Lost" City's Remains Found Under Alexandria's Waters, Dan Morrison, National Geographic News, District of Columbia, USA, July 31, 2007.

cf. Hidden Underwater City Wows Experts, Katarina Kratovac, AP via Discovery Channel News, USA, July 26, 2007.

Previously:

U.S. geological team uncovers first evidence of city hidden beneath Alexandria, July 27, 2007.

"Investments in tourism domain reached now LE 100 billion," Minister of Tourism Zuhair Garana said during the inauguration of a resort in Ain Al-Sokhna area.

The investments included 187,000 hotel rooms, the minister said adding that another 143,000 rooms are under construction...

A plan is being carried out to promote the Egyptian resorts abroad, the minister added.

Egypt's tourism revenues now reached $10.5 billion, Garana noted.

Volume of tourist investments hit LE 100 billion, Egypt State Information Service, Egypt, August 01, 2007.

President Hosni Mubarak agreed to nominate Culture Minister Farouk Hosni for the post of the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) director-general.

Various countries have started nominating candidates for the post which will be vacant in 2009.

Farouk Hosni said that should he head this prestigious organization in 2009, it will be the first time in history an Arab national holds such a position...

Egypt nominates Farouk Hosni for UNESCO top post, Egypt State Information Service, Egypt, July 31, 2007.

He, not she, was tall, probably dark and a redhead.

The popular Egyptian mummy has returned to the Louisiana Art and Science Museum after a brief stay away from the home he’s known since 1964.

A recent slew of X-rays performed at LSU’s FACES laboratory and a computerized topography scan taken at a St. Elizabeth’s Hospital in Gonzales allowed researchers, curators and forensic specialists to uncover mysteries of the 2,300-year-old mummy.

Their findings, released during a Friday news conference, coincide with a major renovation of the LASM’s Ancient Egypt gallery.

Among the findings are...

Mummy returns to Louisiana Art and Science Museum, Chante Dionne Warren, The Advocate, Louisiana, USA, July 28, 2007.

cf. MS-Word document version of the press release: LASM Announces Research on History of Mummy, Louisiana Art and Science Museum, Louisiana, USA, July 27, 2007.

cf. Video of the press conference: Museum announces findings on mummy, The Advocate, Louisiana, USA, July 28, 2007.

cf. Earlier article: History of 2,300-year-old Egyptian remains studied, Steven Ward, The Advocate, Louisiana, USA, July 14, 2007.

cf. Earlier video: Mummy visits Gonzales hospital , The Advocate, Louisiana, USA, July 14, 2007.

Previously:

Experts conduct CT scan in Gonzales on 2,300-year old mummy, July 19, 2007.