National Museum of Egyptian Civilisation to open in 2012

Ahram Online (Nevine El Aref)

Overlooking the Ain El-Sira Lake in Al-Fustat area in Old Cairo, the plot devoted to the National Museum of Egyptian Civilisation (NMEC) is a hive of activity. Workers are in full swing to complete the constructional phase of the NMEC.

The NMEC is Egypt’s first and only museum to be devoted to its diverse civilisation in its entirety. It will present the full range of the richness of Egypt's history, from the prehistoric era through to modern times. Moreover, it will be the first such collection, in its focus, in the Arab world. Its exceptional resources are drawn from numerous archaeological sites, museum exhibitions and storehouses.

Photo for Today - Medinet Habu

First court, view of the east side.
There's a useful plan of the temple on the Sacred Destinations site, using Google Earth.

Ancient DNA: Curse of the Pharaoh's DNA

Nature

Cameras roll as ancient-DNA experts Carsten Pusch and Albert Zink scrutinize a row of coloured peaks on their computer screen. There is a dramatic pause. "My god!" whispers Pusch, the words muffled by his surgical mask. Then the two hug and shake hands, accompanied by the laughter and applause of their Egyptian colleagues. They have every right to be pleased with themselves. After months of painstaking work, they have finally completed their analysis of 3,300-year-old DNA from the mummy of King Tutankhamun.

Featured in the Discovery Channel documentary King Tut Unwrapped last year and published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA)1, their analysis — of Tutankhamun and ten of his relatives — was the latest in a string of studies reporting the analysis of DNA from ancient Egyptian mummies. Apparently revealing the mummies' family relationships as well as their afflictions, such as tuberculosis and malaria, the work seems to be providing unprecedented insight into the lives and health of ancient Egyptians and is ushering in a new era of 'molecular Egyptology'. Except that half of the researchers in the field challenge every word of it.

Looted Egyptian artefact due to return this week from Mexico

hawass.com

Press Release.

An ancient Egyptian object, a limestone relief panel, will return to Egypt from Mexico. The relief, which depicts the head of an unidentified person, has been in the custody of Mexican customs for three years. It is currently at the Egyptian Embassy in Mexico City and will return to Egypt shortly.

Upon the object’s arrival in Cairo, it will undergo restoration, in order to be exhibited at the Egyptian Museum, stated Ahmed Mostafa, the Head of the Recovered Antiquities Department.

Ahram Online (Nevine El Aref)

After three years in custody at the customs office in Mexico pending bureaucratic paperwork and permissions, Egypt is soon to recuperate one of its genuine artefacts.

The object is a New Kingdom limestone relief depicting an unidentified face of a private individual. The relief, which was illegally smuggled out of the country, is now at the Egyptian embassy in Mexico waiting to be brought back to Cairo as a diplomatic package.

Egypt State Information Service

Egypt restored Wednesday 27/4/2011 a New Kingdom archaeological piece that was on display at the National Museum of Anthropology in Mexico.

The limestone slab, which depicts a human head, was seized with a Mexican citizen three years ago.

Minister of State for Antiquities Affairs Zahi Hawwas said the Egyptian Foreign Ministry and the embassy in Mexico coordinated with the Mexican authorities in charge to restore the piece after sending a delegation to Mexico to make sure the monument was genuine.

Mexico agreed to hand over the antique to Egyptian ambassador in Mexico Ibrahim Khairi.

Egyptian musuem extends opening hours

Al Ahram Weekly (Nevine El-Aref)

Due to the influx of visitors to the Egyptian museum on Friday, the ministry of state for antiquities affairs has extended Friday’s visiting hours by two hours. The museum will now be open from 9:00am to 4:00pm, instead of 2:00pm. The closing time for the rest of the week will be remain at 7:00pm.

Brooklyn Museum mummy under the scanner

NBC New York

A hospital CT scan device helped look back in time Thursday, examining a mummy more than 2,600 years old from ancient Egypt.

At North Shore University hospital in Manhasset, hospital doctors and researchers from the Brooklyn Museum used computerized topography, known as a CT scan, much in the same way it is used for a live patient.

"Normally we use this imaging to look at people's hearts, and what we did in this case, we scanned the whole mummy," said cardiologist Dr. Amgad Makaryus.

The device took more than 10,000 images of the mummy, allowing researchers to learn more about it without disturbing the delicate remains.

The mummy's name was Lady Gautseshenu, according to officials from the museum, which has had the mummy since 1934.

Oxford's Ashmolean museum improving its Egyptian galleries

Gadling (Sean McLachlan)

The famous Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology in Oxford, England, reopened in 2009 after a £61 million ($101 million) makeover. The redesigned space is more open and airy, with more natural light and windows between exhibitions. Floorspace was doubled in size and the exhibits were made more informative and user friendly. A museum worker explained to me that part of the plan was to make it so you can always see your way out. This is to combat museum fatigue. Personally I'm a museum junkie and I don't get museum fatigue, but it sounds like a good idea.

Despite three years of work and the high price tag, the Ashmolean's famous Egyptian galleries got left behind. There was no money to redo them at the time but after collecting another £5 million ($8.3), the galleries are now shut and going through a major overhaul. The four old Egyptian galleries were crowded and poorly lit, and will now be redesigned along the lines of the rest of the museum. They'll also expand into a fifth gallery to give the collection more room.

Egypt offers to help restore Iraqi antiquities

Al Masry Al Youm

Antiquities Minister Zahi Hawass said on Friday that Egypt is ready to help Iraq recover stolen antiquities from other foreign countries and museums.

According to news reports, Egypt over the past six months has restored about 5000 artifacts that were smuggled out of the country.

Palestine handed over to Egypt two objects thougt to be antiquties

Ahram Online (Nevine El Aref)

Today, at the premises of the Minister of State for Antiquities Affairs (MASS) in Zamalek, a Palestinian delegation from Gaza strip, led by former Palestinian minister of foreign affairs Mahmoud El-Zahar, hands over to Egypt two objects believed to be authentic ancient Egyptian artefacts.

However, an archaeological committee from the MSAA, led by Mohamed Abdel Maqsoud, general supervisor of the minister office, discovered that these objects are replica statues and not genuine pieces.

Photo for Today - the last from Coptic Jeme

Labib Habachi discovery of statue of Amenhotep III rediscovered in Luxor

drhawass.com (Zahi Hawass)

Press Release. I'm glad that there was a good mention of Labib Habachi in this report. Labib Habachi was a remarkable man, and Egyptian archaeologist from the wrong side, at the time of his graduation, of Egyptian elitist society. He struggled for acceptance for most of his career. There's an excellent book about Habachi and his career by Jill Kamil called "Labib Habachi: The Life and Legacy of an Egyptologist."

A colossal statue of Amenhotep III was uncovered during the Ministry of State for Antiquities’ (MSA) excavation in the area of the funerary temple of King Amenhotep III on the West Bank of Luxor. The mission, led by Dr. Zahi Hawass, Minister of State for Antiquities, unearthed a statue 13 meters tall that consists of seven large quartzite blocks.

The statue is one of a pair that once flanked the northern entrance to the temple, Dr. Hawass said, which was damaged by a severe earthquake in 27 BC. The blocks are currently undergoing restoration in an attempt to re-erect the statue in its original position.

The head of this statue has not been found yet, but the mission is continuing to excavate and hopes to discover it. Dr. Hawass stated that the pair were previously discovered by Egyptian Egyptologist, Labib Habachi, and German Egyptologist, Gerhard Haeny, in the 1970’s. These Egyptologists documented both statues and left them on site, hidden in the sand.

Archaeologist, Abdel Ghaffar Wagdi, the supervisor of the excavation, stated that the new mission has also discovered two other statues, one depicting the god Thoth as a baboon and one of the lion-headed goddess, Sekhmet. The Sekhmet statue is formed of black granite, 185 cm tall and 74 cm wide. Sekhmet statues have been found in large numbers at this temple, and one theory for this is that Amenhotep III suffered from an illness near the end of his reign and made offerings to this goddess for protection against it.

Tell Basta Spring 2011: end of season report

Egypt Exploration Society

With photos.

The spring 2011 field campaign at the site of Tell Basta, the ancient city of Bubastis, commenced on 3 March. On 1 March, Daniela Rosenow and I arrived in Egypt; the other members of the team followed a few days later. The next day I went to the SCA-office, in order to sign the contract and to collect the necessary papers. Despite the unusual situation in Egypt, things went very smoothly and our Egyptian colleagues were very supportive. In the afternoon of the same day we headed to Zagazig, as one of the first missions to return to the Delta. We spent the following day, 3 March, the opening day of our campaign, on the site, checking the containers and the site itself. Fortunately, no harm had been done. We were welcomed by our Egyptian colleagues and friends at Tell Basta whom we have known for many years now. Needless to say, after the recent events, a happy reunion took place.

As planned, we undertook several tasks during this campaign. Firstly, in the entrance area in front of the temple (Area A), which is currently the focus of our archaeological investigations, a trench was excavated, to help us to answer some chronological questions.

CT scans of Egyptian mummy help solve crimes

Google/Associated Press

A childhood fascination with archaeology and a chance encounter with a 2,700-year-old Egyptian mummy are helping Vermont doctors and law enforcement officials find truth in some of the most challenging of modern-day crimes: the unexplained deaths of young children.

After spotting the mummy at the University of Vermont's Robert Hull Fleming Museum in Burlington, Dr. Jason Johnson, a radiology resident, arranged to have it put through his hospital's state-of-the-art CT scanner. He wanted to know about the life of what is believed to be the remains of an Egyptian servant girl of about 14 — and what led to her death.

What Johnson didn't expect was that some of the scientific techniques used to reveal the mummy's secrets would have other applications, including helping Vermont's medical examiner and prosecutors determine if children who die in infancy are the victims of crimes.

Harvard Egyptologist's Newsweek Essay on Protecting Egypt's Heritage Post-Revolution: What It Gets Wrong and Why the Facts Matter

The Punching Bag (Larry Rothfield)

Peter Der Manuelian, Philip J. King Professor of Egyptology at Harvard, is a brilliant archaeologist as well as a very nice fellow (I met him recently at a lecture I was giving for University of Chicago alumni at his stomping grounds). But the scholarly rigor that characterizes his academic research is sadly lacking in the opinion piece he published recently in Newsweek, Protecting Egypt's Heritage Post-Revolution - Newsweek.

Traveling revolution exhibition

Al Masry Al Youm

News about Zahi Hawass -- a clothing line, an arrest, cash rewards for the safe return of antiquities -- changes daily. But before he was pinned for a shady real estate deal, Egypt’s minister of antiquities had been focusing on celebrating the revolution that has stirred up so much trouble for him by curating a 25 January exhibition.

The exhibition will feature the work of several Egyptian contemporary artists in various media in order to reflect their views on the recent revolution. The art will be accompanied by a collection of photographs showing Tahrir Square and various revolution demonstrations, and will travel the globe as Hawass’ Tutankhamen and the Pharaohs exhibition did.

Cairo Museum of Islamic Art opens after a decade

All About Egypt

With video.

The largest collection of Islamic art in the world is back on display. After nearly a decade of renovation, Cairo’s Museum of Islamic Art officially opened.

The museum is the main abode for the national collection of Islamic art, with 100,000 objects.

In 2003, the Ministry of Culture launched its comprehensive restoration project for the museum.

What the Israelites left in Egypt

The Jerusalem Post (Mooli Brog)

With the passing of Pessah, now is the ideal time to look back on ancient Egypt, a nation whose history is inextricably linked to ours.

Two of the most significant events in the formation of the Hebrew nation took place in Egypt. The first was the exodus from Egypt: Wandering in the desert that served as a national rite of passage, the group disassociated itself from one territory and transferred itself to another through a tribal journey. The second was the Mount Sinai address, during which the tribe (nation) accepted a moral and theological code that defined its uniqueness as a people and its religious distinction from other peoples.

Therefore, it comes as no surprise that in ancient times Egypt served as a cultural, religious and economic point of reference for the Israelites. Indeed, the biblical scribe deems it fit to invoke the name “Egypt” almost as often as he did “Jerusalem,” about 600 times.

Both the Bible and Egyptian writings describe the arrival of Semitic people in Egypt; the sources provide varied reasons for this immigration.

Photo for Today - more from Coptic Jeme

Fallen columns from Coptic buildings,
gathered together at Medinet Habu.
Remains of the town of Jeme are visible in the distance

Parcels containing artefacts seized at Cairo airport

Ahram Online

Three tons of valuables belonging to escaped Egyptian tycoon Hussein Salem, charged with corruption in connection with the export of natural gas to Israel, were confiscated at Cairo Airport yesterday evening

Airport Customs stopped yesterday evening 100 parcels allegedly belonging to Egyptian tycoon Hussein Salem, which were headed to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

The parcels weighed three tons together and included paintings, antiques, carpets, gold plated trays, gold statues, expensive watches, clocks, clothes and items that may be subject to the Egyptian Law for the Protection of Antiquities.

Sayed Ibrahim, the head of customs, said that airport officials became suspicious when they realised how heavy the packages were and decided to check their contents. He added that the parcels belong to an export company and included papers associated with a Saudi Prince and were heading to Jeddah. The bags were being smuggled by a person holding a Palestinian passport.

Al Masry Al Youm

Late on Saturday Cairo airport customs authorities seized dozens of packages en route to Saudi Arabia that were suspected of belonging to an Egyptian businessman who has fled the country. Artifacts were found inside.

I'm afraid that that's all the article says. There is a photograph, different from the Ahram Online one, but it is impossible to make out details.

Recreating the sound of Tutankhamun's trumpets

BBC News (Christine Finn)

Tutankhamun's trumpet was one of the rare artefacts stolen from the Cairo Museum during the recent uprising. The 3,000-year-old instrument is rarely played, but a 1939 BBC radio recording captured its haunting sound.

Among the "wonderful things" Howard Carter described as he peered by candlelight into the newly discovered tomb of Tutankhamun in 1922 were two trumpets, one silver and one bronze.

For more than 3,000 years they had lain, muted, in the Valley of the Kings, close to the mummy of the boy king. Found in different parts of Tutankhamun's tomb, both were decorated with depictions of Egyptian gods identified with military campaigns.

Both became exhibits at the Cairo museum, but when it was broken into during the recent uprising, the bronze instrument vanished. Luckily, the silver one was away on exhibition tour. . . .

The trumpet was recently found - reportedly with other Tutankhamun artefacts in a bag on the Cairo Metro.

Due to the fragile nature of the trumpets, their sound has only been recreated on a few occasions.

Early radio broadcasters saw the potential for an extraordinary recording, and in 1939 the Egyptian Antiquities Service was persuaded to take part in a BBC broadcast to the world from the Cairo Museum.

boston.com (Joshua Rothman).

If it is true that the trumpet was played in January of this year, it begs the question why such an ancient, unique and fragile item was allowed to be handled in such a way.

When British Egyptologist Howard Carter first opened the tomb of Tutankhamun in 1922, he found two trumpets—the world’s two oldest intact musical instruments, silent for nearly 3,000 years. No one knows how well-used they were during King Tut’s reign, but they’ve had a very unquiet last century, and the BBC’s superb “Ghost Music” radio show tells their incredible story.

In modern times, the story starts on April 16, 1939, when, after three mute millennia, the trumpets were finally sounded by James Tappern, a British bandsman, during a BBC radio broadcast from the Cairo Museum (Tappern improvised a majestic-sounding tune). The broadcast was heard by millions around the world. The trumpets, which are decorated with martial symbols, are said to be able to loose the dogs of war: England entered the Second World War on Sept. 3, 1939, only a few months after the BBC broadcast. And according to the Cairo Museum’s Tutankhamun curator, one of the trumpets was blown by a member of the staff a week before the Egyptian revolution began.