KV63 update

Infant coffin photos
http://www.kv-63.com/index.html
The KV63 website has been updated with a "Breaking News" piece showing photos of a 42cm long infant coffin made of pink gold-leaf and found in the youth coffin. This is the best source of photos for the find, but there are a couple more details covering it in the following press release:
http://tinyurl.com/lkl4c (prnewswire.com)
The Archeology magazine website has also been updated (30th May) with some of the new photos of the infant sized coffin:
http://www.archaeology.org/online/interviews/wilson/index.html

What about those pillows?

http://tinyurl.com/qap6b (New York Times)

An article summarizing the current state of affairs at KV63, highlighting some of the questions yet to be answered: "After three months of painstaking work since the February discovery, with five of the coffins opened, no mummies have been found. So there is a chance that this is not a tomb at all, but rather a cache for used embalming materials.
But there is one big coffin left to open — the most tantalizing one, sealed, wedged into the back of the space and supported by pillows at its head and feet, with the kind of care that could suggest that someone important is inside.
The American Egyptologists who are working here plan to open it, hoping not only to see a mummy but to solve the many mysteries of the new find. They may also shatter a long-held belief that there is nothing important left to find in the Valley of the Kings."

See the above page for the full story, with photos, maps and a high quality slideshow. If you need a username and password use egyptnews in both fields.

Discovery Channel interactive map updated

http://tinyurl.com/qale7 (Discovery Channel)
The interactive map at the above address has been updated with information about one of the jar seals, and about the golden coffin.

Thanks very much to Carolin Johanson for pointing me to some of these pages (keep up the good work Carolin!)

Time Magazine and Discovery Channel

http://www.time.com/time/2006/egypt/index.html

Thanks to David Meadows for his Explorator newsletter, which this week provided the above link to a collection of Time Magazine's most recently covered features. Entitled "World of the Pharaohs" it also features some of their archived Egyptology articles.

The Time Magazine page, above, also contains a link to the Discovery Channel's dedicated KV63 section at:

http://tinyurl.com/eu55w

The Discovery site also includes a rather nice interactive map of KV63, which will be updated again after June 4th:

http://tinyurl.com/ffcwc

PalArch Foundation changes

http://www.palarch.nl/
PalArch's Journal on the archaeology of Egypt/Egyptology (ISSN 1567-214X) will see some important changes. The October issue of the Newsletter will present the new procedures, and more information on the changes will be published in the July and October 2006 Newsletters. Some of the changes are summarized below.

1) From now on, the Journal as well as the Newsletter will be entirely free to download: back issues will be sent by mail as pdf attachment upon request in the same way as with our book reviews.

2) One of the big problems with electronic publishing is digital preservation (long-term archiving of digital content) and practical permanent access. Many may not know that much research is done by institutes such as the Dutch National Library, often in cooperation with large publishers (Elsevier) and computer companies such as IBM. The PalArch Foundation is addressing these issues by cooperating with the Dutch National Library in order to assure our authors and readers permanent access to data. Read more on this and related topics at www.kb.nl.

3) The PalArch Foundation decided to change the policy and will accept also papers on the history of Egypt beyond the Arab Conquest.

Finally, the upcoming issue (1 July 2006) contains the two final contributions on the (peer reviewed) discussion of the (re)dating of the Sphinx by Vandecruys and Reader.

Nesperennub at the Exploreum

http://tinyurl.com/o5jkz (pensacolanewsjournal.com)

I am sure that most readers have seen all the articles about the mummy Nesperennub, but for anyone new visitors, there's a summary of the Mummy: The Inside Story exhibition currently hosted at the Exploreum in Mobile (U.S.): "See the dates on the displays and you might wonder how many hundreds of generations of people have lived and died between now and the years 1069-747 B.C.It was sometime during this era that Nesperennub lived in Egypt, working at a complex of temples that covered 50 football fields. Here we are in the year 2006, so sure of our expertise and proud of our modern ways, but even 1,000 years before Christ, the Egyptians had developed valuable skills. Their knack for embalming made Nesperennub one of the best preserved bodies in history."

More on white wine in tomb of Tutankhamun

http://tinyurl.com/nq3p9 (usatoday.com)

The USA Today website is featuring an article fromthe latest edition of the Journal of Archaeological Science (volume 33, issue 8): "King Tut's most elaborate grave goods are on a nationwide tour, currently at Chicago's Field Museum until next year. Not on the tour are 26 two-handle wine amphorae found inside the tomb by archaeologist Howard Carter in 1922. Carter found 12 of them intact but with their seals broken. Like any good wine cellar's contents, each one bore information about the wine it contained, including name, year, vineyard and vintner. But not the wine's color. Today the containers are kept at the Egyptian Museum in Cairo.
The Spanish study authors examined the amphora and report that six more contain dried remnants of wine. With museum permission, they subjected residue samples to an intensive chemical analysis, ("liquid chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry in tandem mode" for any lab aficionados) looking for two markers of red wine, tartaric acid and syringic acid.
Of the six jars, five contained white wine, the researchers conclude."

See the above article for more details.

The abstract for the paper in the Journal of Archaeological Science itself can be found at:

http://tinyurl.com/ommqo (sciencedirect.com)

Full contents listing for all issues can be found at:

http://tinyurl.com/933hs

Toutankhamon Magazine

www.toutankhamon-magazine.com
Thanks to Francois Tonic for the information that the most recent issue of Toutankhamon Magazine is now avaible (French only). The contents are as follows:

Biographie:

Les grandes reines de l'Égypte ancienne
Sésostris III, le pharaon par excellence
Égyptologie:

Introduction à l'écriture méroïtique par Claude Rilly (chargé de recherches au CNRS)
L'hémi-spéos de Derr par Benoît Lurson
La recherche du tombe d'Alexandre le Grand
Dossier:

Les armes dans l'Égypte ancienne

Découverte L'ïle de Séhel
Figures de la fertilité : les concubines du mort
L'esclavage en Égypte ancienne
Les matériaux de construction
AventurierHoward Carter, l'ombre de Toutankhamon
Voyager:

Destination Hurgada

The next issue (#28) will be published in July 2006

KV63 website updated

http://www.kv-63.com/index.html

I don't know how I came to miss this, because I check the site every morning, but there is a posting dated 23rd May on the KV63 website which I haven't previously picked up on. Details include more information about the contents of some of the coffins: " Coffin G, the youth coffin, contains several high quality pillows layered on top, just beneath the lid. These ‘pillows’ are finely stitched and stuffed with a ‘down’ material. Textile specialist, Elise Van Rooij from Holland, arrived on Friday to examine the pillows along with textiles found from Coffin B. She will photograph, study, and analyze the pillows before they are removed, hopefully in the next week or so." See the above page for more details.

There are also promises of reports and photographs which will added to the site soon.

Thanks very much to Carolin Johansson who pointed out that new photographs have been added to the site, which are now spread over two different web pages, the second page containing photographs exclusively from April and May 2006:

http://www.kv-63.com/photospage1.html

http://www.kv-63.com/photospage2.html

Kom El-Shuqafa catacombs

http://touregypt.net/teblog/alexandrianews/

Travel guide Zahraa Adel Awed has updated his Alexandria News blog with a short introduction to the catacombs, and has provided links to a three part article about them which have some excellent plans, diagrams and photographs: "The catacombs of Kom El-Shuqafa which date from the second century A.D. are unique both for their plan and for their decoration which is a mixture of Egyptian and Greco-Roman elements. Excavation in the site started in 1892 but catacombs were not found until 1900 when by mere chance the falling of donkey drawing a cart in a pit led to their discovery of Kom El-Shuqafa which date from the second century A.D."

Farewell to Ramesses

http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2006/796/fr2.htm

"On Friday 25 August, at 6am, when Cairo traffic is at its quietest, the colossus of the 19th Dynasty Pharaoh Ramses II will begin its journey from outside Bab Al-Hadid train station to its new home at the site of the Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM) overlooking the Giza Plateau. The decision was announced two days ago by Culture Minister Farouk Hosni. Delaying the move until the completion of the museum's first phase would, he said, leave the statue exposed to unacceptable levels of threat given that the square is scheduled for massive redevelopment by the Cairo Governorate. Hosni added that archaeological, geological, architectural and geophysical studies have now been completed and a special storehouse is under construction to house the statue until the GEM's first phase is complete."

See the above page for the full story, and two photos - one of the statue in its current location and a lovely sepia photograph of the statue presumably when it was first moved.

Valley of the Kings visitor centre

http://touregypt.net/teblog/luxornews/?p=223

Jane Akshar has been talking to Nigel Hetherington about plans for the Valley of the Kings, including the new visitor centre, which is nearing completion, and improved road and transportation facilities. See the posting on Janes Luxor News Blog, above, for more, and don't forget to page down to see the comments posted by visitors to the blog.

More on Tutankhamun exhibition

The dark side of King Tut

http://www.suntimes.com/output/galleries/cst-ftr-tut26.html

An article looking at some of the darker aspects of the Eighteenth Dynasty, which the author detects beneath the glitter and beauty of the artefacts: "the fabled wealth and advanced culture of ancient Egypt were largely fueled by centuries of imperialist military policy, cutthroat domestic politics, cruel subjugation of enemies and mass enslavement of prisoners of war. Moreover, the existence of the Tut artifacts today is the result of a state religion that combined a major death fixation with an intense materialism that led the elite to pack up their worldliest goods for the trip to the afterlife, complete with forced labor by servants. . . . .To stroll through the exhibit -- which has been beefed up with dozens of additional objects from the tombs of Tut's royal ancestors -- is to be regularly treated, if you look closely enough, to the unselfconscious trumpeting of official brutality."

Protest outside Tutankhamun exhibit

http://tinyurl.com/flug4 (Chicago Tribune)

"Under the shadow of immense gold banners heralding the opening of the King Tut exhibit, dozens of Coptic Orthodox Church members from across the Chicago area gathered Thursday outside the Field Museum to protest religious discrimination against fellow Christians in Egypt."

See the above article for the full story.

Experiencing the Great Pyramid

http://news.ft.com/cms/s/95cbb922-ebb4-11da-b3e2-0000779e2340.html
A feature on the Financial Times website about the Great Pyramid of Giza: "Life and death were addressed explicitly in the art of the pharaohs. The granite slab was the final resting place of Pharaoh Khufu, or Cheops, who reigned for about 23 years in the 26th century BC. He, like many non-Greeks, got a bad press from Herodotus, who charged him with prostituting his daughter to finance the building of his pyramid.
The truth, we think, is less dramatic. The Great Pyramid was built by free citizens, performing a kind of community service for the Pharaoh during the summer, when the Nile flooded. We don’t quite know how they managed to build it, but we marvel today at the drive and ingenuity required to complete the project, and at its sheer ambition. Scholars who accompanied Napoleon calculated, in typically French fashion, that the material used in the three pyramids of Giza would have served to surround the whole of France with a 3m-high wall: a heady mix of wonderment and paranoia."

Zahi Hawass on KV63

http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2006/796/hr3.htm

Zahi Hawass's Dig Days column pulls no punches again this week: "Before the discovery of KV 63, the Valley of the Kings had been silent for 83 years, three months and six days since the magical day when Howard Carter discovered the tomb of the golden boy-king Tutankhamun. The discovery of the tomb of Tutankhamun gave birth to the so-called curse of the Pharaoh. One of the curses attributed to the discovery of Tutankhamun was the dismissal of Howard Carter. He was expelled from Egypt by Marcos Pasha Hana, the minister of education who was in charge of antiquities; because he did not open the tomb for Egyptian dignitaries and prevented the press from visiting the tomb. The tomb of King Tutankhamun was huge, and many curses followed its discovery.
However the KV 63 find is a relatively small discovery and therefore only small curses have occurred, such as the fight between the two fine Egyptologists Otto Schaden and Lorilei Cocoran. They both want to be director of the excavation. They even argue over who can give interviews."

See the above page for more.

Coptic Studies

Desert Fathers

http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2006/796/pe2.htm

An article looking at the Coptic monasteries and, in particular, the fate of the manuscripts of Deir Al-Surian: "Syrian monks had always frequented Wadi Al-Natrun ever since the fourth century. By the 17th century, only Coptic monks inhabited the monastery, caring for the library, the paintings, and the invaluable manuscripts. Forty of these ancient texts were acquired by Pope Clement IX between 1715-1735. These documents are safely kept today in the Vatican Library. A century later, (1839-1851), the British Museum of London procured 500 Syrian manuscripts of religious, philosophical and literary context. Lord Curzon and other Britons purchased a considerable quantity of these documents which inspired intense research in the Syriac language and culture. Despite the numerous losses, the monastery of the Syrians still retains rare works in art and history, and religious manuscripts of "inestimable scholarly value". Now they are threatened by decay. After 1,500 years, time has ravaged the priceless treasures. They need a serious rejuvenating process to bring them back to their original status. To study, survey, restore and preserve this unique heritage for future generations, time, effort dedication, and above all, funds are needed."

Encounter: Gawdat Gabra

http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2006/796/profile.htm

This week's Encounter column on Al Ahram Weekly is focused on Gawdat Gabra: "The chief editor of the St Mark Foundation for Coptic History Studies, active participant at International Congresses on Coptology, and author of several books on Coptic history and monasticism". He was also, at the request of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, a key participant in the development of the Coptic Museum in Cairo.

Book Review: The Coptic Tapestry Albums

http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2006/796/hr1.htm

" The Coptic Tapestry Albums and the Archaeologist of Antino‘, Albert Gayet, is the lengthy title of a new book by Nancy Arthur Hoskins, who has researched Coptic collections in more than 50 museums around the world and who has produced a book that is a delight to handle and read. Here, at last, is a publication on Coptic textiles that is well-researched and illustrated with photographs in vibrant colour, along with detailed line drawings of weaving techniques and ancient weavers at the loom . . . . This beautifully bound and produced publication will delight historians, weavers, archaeologists and the lay public alike. It has been selected as one of the best textile books of 2004 by the Textile Society of America. Hoskins, Nancy Arthur (2004) The Coptic Tapestry Albums: and the Archaeologist of Antino‘, the University of Washington Press, Seattle."

See the above page for the full review.

KV63

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/12990529/

A three page article on the MSNBC website about KV63 and the knowledge that has been accumulated so far, including extracts from a recent interview with Otto Schaden: "Five of KV-63's coffins are known to contain mummification materials rather than royalty, and Dodson said the two coffins yet to be opened are likely to hold more of the same. Expedition leader Otto Schaden, left, and Egyptian chief of antiquities Zahi Hawass stand in front of the hole that opens into a newly discovered chamber in Egypt's Valley of the Kings. But even if no actual mummies are found, the items within KV-63 will shed new light on the materials and rituals involved in making the mummies, he said. And, he added,'the fact that a previously unknown tomb has turned up [in the Valley of the Kings] suggests that there's still some mileage in that area.' Schaden, meanwhile, says there's lots of mileage left even in KV-63. He's particularly interested in those two as-yet-unopened coffins — as well as seals and inscriptions that could tell who the chamber and the mummification materials were meant for. According to the Discovery Channel, one seal appears to bear a reference to 'pa-aten' — which is part of a name used by the mysterious Ankhesenamun.

See the above website for full details.

Update: The Exelon sarcophagus

http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/cst-nws-tut26.html

Further to yesterday's posting about the Excelon boss who upset Zahi Hawass by keeping an ancient Egyptian sarcophagus in his office: "A Chicago executive who found himself in unexpectedly hot water over antiquities this week defused a potentially sensitive international incident Thursday by offering to relinquish possession of an ancient Egyptian coffin. Exelon CEO John Rowe, an amateur historian, has long kept a 2,600-year-old Egyptian sarcophagus in his office, bought in 1998 from a Chicago antiquities dealer. But he came under sudden attack for this Wednesday at a preview event for "Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs," the blockbuster King Tut exhibit opening today at the Field Museum, of which Exelon is a major sponsor."

See the above page for the full story.

Theorising about the Great Pyramid

http://tinyurl.com/hehnf (New York Times)

A two-page article looking at one man's latest theories about the Great Pyramid and how it was built: "People in search of themselves often look to great challenges: running a marathon, climbing a mountain or learning a new language. Mr. Houdin selected the pyramids as his vehicle for personal reflection, as the salve for his midlife crisis. His was an analytical venture, a quest to explain what appears impossible to prove, at least given the current public record: exactly how the ancient Egyptians built the pyramids using about 2.5 million stones, each weighing at least several tons. Now, eight years later, he is ready to present his findings, one step at a time, and in doing so will be remembered either as the man who unlocked the secrets of ancient brilliance or as a bit of an eccentric who merely indulged his imagination." He envisages an internal ramp and a counterweight system, but accepts that he may be proved wrong on both counts. Zahi Hawass has apparently both repudiated the theories and said that there is merit in considering them. See the above pages for the full story.

If you are asked for a username and password use egyptnews in both fields.

Travel: The Western Desert

http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=428000

It is always good to see the Western Desert being featured in travel stories, for a change. This article describes the highlights of a family's trip to the Egyptian Western Desert, picking out some of their more memorable moments: "We merely dipped our toes into that vast sea of sand, so to speak, but it was such an exhilarating experience that I have difficulty picking out the highlights of our five-day desert trek. Most times I chose our night of desert camping, awed by chalk-white rock formations that seem more appropriate to the moon's terrain than to Earth. Some days it's our family's early morning ride with 34 camels, accompanied only by two Egyptian boys taking the herd to the day's pasture. Other times it's our three-hour hike through the Old City of Mut, a labyrinth of dusty lanes and mud-brick homes that dates to the Roman era - and a village that, except for the occasional satellite dish bringing the modern convenience of television, seems to have changed little over the centuries."

See the above page for the entire account.

Exhibition: Tutankhamun opens in Chicago

http://tinyurl.com/fou7a(nwtimes.com)

It cannot possibly have missed anyone's attention that Tutankhamun exhibition opened yesterday at the Chicago Field Museum of Natural History on the latest leg of its travels. Over 200,000 tickets have already been sold. The exhibition is due to run there until the 1st January 2007. For anyone contemplating a visit, the above website has some tips for making the visit as painless/enjoyable as possible. The museum website has a dedicated section to the exhibition at:

http://www.fieldmuseum.org/tut/