Since ancient times, men and women have searched for ways to look young. Eye and face cosmetics were used by the ancient Egyptians, the most famous of whom is Cleopatra. She used lactic acid to peel her skin to look beautiful. Archaeologists have found formulas, written on papyrus, of facials made from plants and honey that early women used. Many of these products, including anti-wrinkle creams, also contained aloe that was commonly used in ancient Egypt.

The Egyptian fascination with wrinkle creams and other beauty products was prevalent regardless of one's class or status. Records indicate, for example, that even unskilled lower class workers were given, as part of their wages, anti-wrinkle and moisturizing products like body oil for daily use. Skin care and cosmetics were important to Egyptians the same way we value our appearance today.

Egyptian anti-wrinkle and body care concerns were important to both men and women. Under the hot and arid climate, men as well as women needed protection for their skin. Men and women both used body oils as well as cosmetic products.

The standard anti-wrinkle cream recipe in ancient Egypt included a teaspoon of sweet almond oil and two drops of frankincense oil. This was gently massaged into freshly cleansed skin each night...

This is really just an advert for a particular anti-wrinkle cream, disguised as a press release, by wrapping it in a story about Ancient Egypt and Cleopatra which always gets people's attention. Well I've posted it anyway.

Egyptian Anti-wrinkle Secrets, PR-GB.com, UK, September 13, 2007.

About 270 artefacts selected from the British Museum will be put on display at the Hong Kong Museum of Art from Sept. 14 [2007].

The exhibition, entitled Treasures of the World's Cultures from the British Museum, will feature about 270 artefacts covering a vast span of time from two million years ago to the present day...

The exhibits include sculptures, ceramics, wood carvings, jewellery, drawings and prints selected to give visitors a glimpse of the diversified arts and cultures of ancient Egypt, Rome, Greece, the Middle East, Africa, India, Japan, America and Oceania.

Highlight items include an Egyptian wooden mummy-board "The Unlucky Mummy" of early 22nd Dynasty dated about 945 BC; a 13th century Egyptian brass "Astrolabe" with silver inlay, a marble Roman statue of Dionysos of 2nd century; a "Queen's lyre" of about 2600-2400 BC found in the Royal Cemetery at Ur; a walrus ivory chess-piece made in about 1150-1200 and found in Scotland, a portrait-head of Euripides, the leading playwright of Classical Athens, and a nude man drawing by Leonardo da Vinci...

About 270 treasures from British Museum to display in HK, People's Daily, China, September 13, 2007.

When I was growing up, a Nile cruise visiting the temples and tombs of the Pharaohs was something out of the financial reach of many, but nonetheless something to aspire to.

Actually, I thought it still was, until last week when I discovered it is just another cheap holiday option for sun-seeking tourists with no more interest in seeing ancient Egypt than I have for flying to the moon.

Each to their own, but I have not booked to fly to the moon, and have no intention of doing so, whereas these people are going to Egypt, but simply because it's hot and cheap.

The alarm bells started to ring when Amro, my guide on a cruise last week, told me he had found seven-night holidays on the internet for £139 per person. For that you got a cabin and food but excursions — surely the main reason for cruising down the Nile — all cost extra.

A fellow passenger asked what people expect for that price. Amro’s answer? The world.

“And then they complain because they don’t get it,” he added...

Nile cruising for sun-seekers, Jane Archer, The Telegraph, UK, September 12, 2007.

There's a chance to explore the art of ancient Egypt on Warwick University's Open Studies programme.

Those taking part in a weekly evening class spread over 10 weeks will be able to fund out about Egyptian painting, sculptures and relief art.

Tutor Chris Kirby said: "This class is ideal for those planning to visit Egypt or Egyptian collections in museums or who simply have a love of dynamic, surprising and technically accomplished art..."

There's actually three Egyptology courses, two by Chris Kirby and one by Angela Torpey, my lecturer. The link above will take you to the course list and registration forms.

Course will help you to go Egyptian, Coventry Evening Telegraph, England, UK, September 13, 2007.

A conservation day will lift the lid on how experts care for the Bolton Museum collection.

The free event takes place from 9.30am to 3pm on Saturday [September 15, 2007] at the museum in Le Mans Crescent.

From 9.30am to noon and between 1pm and 3pm demonstrations of conservation techniques will take place with conservator Pierrette Squires.

Visitors are welcome to bring in objects from home and advice will be given on how best to care for them.

Tom Hardwick, curator of Egyptology and archaeology will give talks including a slide show on Cartonnage, the Egyptian papier mâché used for mummy cases.

The museum is also looking for ideas on how the Egyptology display can be improved and what people would like to see in it.

And from 10.30am to 12.30pm and between 1.30pm and 3.30pm there will be a hands-on 'colour matching' activity for all the family.

Hands on event - conservation. At Bolton Museum, Bolton Museum, UK.

Conservation event puts spotlight on museum collection, Rob Devey, The Bolton News, England, UK, September 13, 2007.

Examination of Egyptian mummies has shown that animals such as cats and crocodiles were given a far more careful and expensive trip to the afterlife than previously thought.

The mummification process, which was crucial to the ancient Egyptians so their bodies survived and they could become immortal, is being investigated by Dr Stephen Buckley at the University of York. He was speaking on September 11, 2007 at the BA Festival of Science.

His work uses modern chemistry techniques to look at exactly what was used to mummify humans and animals.

The technique involves taking a very small sample of the mummy and examining it for traces of chemicals using equipment commonly used in forensic studies.

The compounds that Dr Buckley finds act as the chemical fingerprints for the materials used by the Egyptian embalmers. These included animal fats, beeswax, plant oils and resins, and more exotic materials such as marjoram and cinnamon.

Following examination of over 100 samples it is clear that different animals were treated with different mummification materials...

Ancient Egyptians Mummified Their Cats With Utmost Care, Science Daily, USA, September 13, 2007.

cf. Mummified moggies: How ancient Egyptians preserved their animals, The University of York, England, UK, September 16, 2004.

Egypt's strategic location as well as its political ties with Great Britain resulted in the country being a great Commonwealth base in both world wars. During WWI, Egypt played a crucial role in withstanding Turkish offences from the east. Subsequently it was the springboard from which military campaigns aiming at the conquest of Sinai, Palestine, Lebanon and Syria were launched. Egypt was also the base for the Commonwealth Expeditionary Forces dispatched to Gallipoli, Turkey. Continuing to play a decisive strategic role during WWII, Egypt hosted the General Headquarters for the Middle East Command in 1941 in Heliopolis. During October of the same year a war cemetery was opened.

In addition to the 1,830 graves Heliopolis War Cemetery contains, now it is also home to the memorials of Port Tawfiq and Aden. The original Port Tawfiq Memorial was built in 1925 honouring the casualties the Indian Army suffered during WWI in Egypt and Palestine. It was irreparably damaged during the Egyptian-Israeli hostilities of 1967 and 1973. The Aden Memorial commemorates 618 casualties of WWI who lost their lives defending Yemen's Aden. Likewise, the original place of commemoration was destroyed in 1967 during the Yemeni civil war.

The Heliopolis War Cemetery and the memorials are among 2,500 worldwide war cemeteries constructed and maintained by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission. In 1917, based on a memorandum submitted by a former commander of a mobile unit of the British Red Cross, Sir Fabian Ware, the Imperial War Graves Commission, as it was called at the time, was established by Royal Charter. Thanks to the original idea of Sir Ware and the continuous efforts of his establishment, the commission now pays tribute to the 1,700,000 men and women of the Commonwealth forces who died in the two world wars.

For more on Egypt's hidden treasures, see Egypt Rediscovered available in Cairo's major bookstores. [I cannot find the book anywhere online but the book appears to be published by Kotob Khan Book Shop.]

Snap Shots, Mohamed El-Hebeishy, Al-Ahram, Egypt, Issue No. 861, September 06 - 12, 2007.