Long before the world had ever heard of Rome or Greece, Egypt was building a civilisation that astounds us to this day. Using only a few simple tools, the Egyptians engineered giant pyramids, fortresses, dams, irrigation canals and temples in the desert sands, laying much groundwork for future architectural work. But the road was not easy, with each of the nation's rulers making his peculiar contributions for better or for worse.

Viewers can now watch the splendour of the ancient empire on The History Channel (Astro Channel 54). This Sunday, catch the premiere of Engineering an Empire: Egypt at 9pm for a closer look at one of the world's most advanced civilisations with its engineering accomplishments.

Using cutting-edge computer-generated images (CGI), the show examines the personalities of the various pharaohs and how they supervised the empire's construction feats for over 3,000 years. From their greatest achievements to their most spectacular disasters, the show looks at both the ingenuity and recklessness of the leaders and builders who engineered the oldest empire in history...

Egyptian wonders, Sharifah Arfah, The New Straits Times, Malaysia, September 20, 2007.

It's saying something when, after decades of National Geographic, PBS, History Channel and giant screen movies on ancient Egypt, the pharaohs and mummies that any new film has any new information.

But Mummies: Secrets of the Pharaohs, the new large format film opening Sept. 21 [2007] at the Orlando Science Centre's Cinedome, breaks new ground in a couple of areas.

The film, the usual mix of splendid ruins, sand dunes and recreations of life in ancient Egypt, gives us tips on how tomb robbers were able to find burial places packed with riches in those centuries before the first mummies came to light.

If you've seen the PBS Secrets of the Dead instalments on pharaohs, or any of the recent TV documentaries on ancient Egypt, Secrets of the Pharaohs doesn't break enough new ground to warrant the price of admission. But if you can't get enough mummies, and can get too close to one, these Pharaohs come across larger than life, even after death.

Mummies: Secrets of the Pharaohs, Roger Moore, The Orlando Sentinel, Florida, USA, September 21, 2007.

UNESCO may not be happy with the planned Cairo Financial and Tourist Centre, overlooking the Salaheddin Citadel, but it has approved continued construction as long as its recommendations are met.

After four months of wrangling, plans for the 26,000 square metre Cairo Financial and Tourist Centre (CFTC), located next to the citadel, will now be redrawn. Since plans for the CFTC were first unveiled in February 2006 the development has been the focus of controversy, with the Ministry of Culture, the Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA) and archaeologists ranged against the developers, ALKAN Holding Company (AHC), and its Chairman Mohamed Nosseir.

Work on CFTC began in 2006 without the permission of the SCA's Permanent Committee for Islamic and Coptic Antiquities, which had twice refused to license development of the site, first in 2001 and again in 2005. The proposed scheme, said the SCA, constituted an encroachment on the citadel complex and violated Antiquities Law 117/1983.

Cairo Governor Abdel-Azim Wazir froze construction at the site in July 2006 following SCA complaints. Two weeks later the SCA's Secretary-General Zahi Hawass called for a UNESCO inspection mission to arbitrate. After touring the site UNESCO officials said construction was so advanced that the point of no return had been passed. Work could therefore continue, it said, but only if AHC abided by a strict building code that aimed to contain the damage already done...

Cut down to size, Nevine El-Aref, Al-Ahram, Egypt, Issue No. 863, September 20 - 26, 2007.