Weekly Websites

Worthy Science Sources
Worthy Science Sources
This work-in-progress by David Petersen promises to become a very useful resource. It lists freely available papers and articles that can be accessed online, providing a portal for those researching many areas within science and the scientifically-inclined humanities.

From Daughter to Father: The Recarved Egyptian Sarcophagus of Queen Hatshepsut and King Thutmose I
The Giza Archives Project
Journal of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Volume 5 (1993), pp. 24-61
SOME OBJECTS are exquisite works of art, masterpieces that earn their own place in the realm of art history. Others are of critical historical import, but may be nothing much to look at. Still more objects may enlighten us on the religious and philosophical development of a particular culture. Rarely, however, are all of these features found in a single piece. When this is the case, the object in question is a treasure indeed. It is no exaggeration to assign the Museum’s royal sarcophagus from the Egyptian Dynasty 18 (1570-1293 B.C.) to this elite category

Analysis of Red Paint and Filling Material from the Sarcophagus of Queen Hatshepsut and King Thutmose I
The Giza Archives Project
By Richard Newman
Journal of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Volume 5, 1993
The reddish color of the sarcophagus exterior is due to red-colored paint; thick deposits can be seen in hieroglyphs and other recessed areas, while only thin washes occur on polished stone surfaces. Six samples from the left (east) side were analyzed by electron microprobe, Fourier transform infrared microscopy (FTIR), and gas chromatography/mass spectrometry ( GC/MS), to identify the pigments and binder(s)

The Origin and Significance of the Great Pyramid by C. Staniland Wake [1882]
www.sacred-texts.com/earth/osgp/
The subject treated of in the following pages has during the last few years attracted much attention, thanks to the influence of Prof. C. Piazzi Smyth's important work, "Life and Work at the Great Pyramid." It was to test, by the light of history, the conclusion accepted by that writer as to the inspired origin of the Great Pyramid that I entered upon a consideration of the subject. That such an origin was required by the facts, I did not suppose, but the conviction was forced on me that the structure had much more importance, viewed as a scientific and religious monument, than was generally conceded. I found nothing, however, to show that either its design or its construction necessitated Divine intervention. I was led to the conclusion, nevertheless, that the builders of the Great Pyramid intended to perpetuate certain scientific ideas, and, moreover, that they had a religious motive in its erection. There is little doubt, indeed, that it is a monument of Sabaism—the worship of the heavenly host, which had a wide extension in the ancient world, and with which "Serpent worship" was intimately connected.

Forgeries in museums
http://www.ipl.org/div/kelsey/
Most museum collections contain a certain number of forgeries, and the collections of the Kelsey Museum of Archeology are no exception. Over the almost one hundred years of museum collecting history, various objects of dubious authenticity have found their way into the collections.
Forgeries are collected both inadvertently and on purpose by museums. Often, a donated object will be accepted by a museum which has no curator whose expertise lies in that type of material. The piece may appear to be genuine to a non-specialist, and the object enters the collections. Later examination by an expert will prove that the piece can not be original. In other cases, the piece may be accepted as genuine by the experts until subsequent scholarship or scientific testing disproves authenticity. Finally, there are cases where forgeries are of such a convincing construction that they simply fool the experts. Often, forgers are well-educated enough to be familiar with those aspects which popular scholarship attributes to the works of a particular period, and incorporate those aspects into a forgery.

Museum Books
http://www.museumbooks.demon.co.uk/
Museum Books, which used to be based in premises opposite the British Museum in London, is now an online service which produces a catalogue of books, new and second hand, which can be ordered to be delivered anywhere in the world. If you are looking for a specific book, you can request them to search for it on your behalf. They are lovely people, offering a great service.

The Pyramid Complex of Userkaf at Saqqara
The Nile Pharaoh
A short but efficient summary of the pyramid complex, with excellent photographs, a diagram of the complex and a set of videos.