Finding Ancient Egypt's private moments

“Haremhab, the General Who Became King” put together by Dorothea Arnold, chairwoman of the department of Egyptian art at the Metropolitan Museum in New York, and running through to July 4.

The New York Times says: “Ms. Arnold’s exhibition brings out an aspect of Egyptian art that has virtually gone unnoticed. The long-held myth of a culture solely concerned with timeless icons of gods and kings in postures dictated by canon is finally dispelled, even if that is not the purpose of the show. Viewers discover that images of humans lost in their private thoughts and beset by anxiety already appeared in Egypt by the mid-third millennium BC.”

Parasites more than diet gave ancient Egyptians calcification of the arteries

What gave ancient Egyptian royalty heart disease? Did inflammation from parasites cause calcification of the arteries around the heart?

Most people went barefoot or wore sandals that allowed their feet to touch the ground in places where the ground was used as an open toilet. If you go back to very early Neolithic times in Austria and Northern Italy, the Ice man mummy found had hardening of the arteries on whatever diet he ate. And what was found on him were blueberries. Which was worse, eating more butter, meat, and cheese, or eating more grains, fruits and vegetables? That depends upon how your body responds to either of these foods in excess.

See All Voices for an interesting read.

Quest for Immortality: Egyptian artifacts tour Far East

More than 100 items from the Egyptology collection of Bolton Museum, Lancashire, UK, part of an exhibition which tour China and Taiwan for up to two years.

The exhibition - called Quest for Immortality — The Bolton Museum Collection, which will tour China and Taiwan for up to two years.

Bolton's mayor Noel Spencer will accompany museum curator Dr Carolyn Routledge and the council’s director of development and regeneration, Keith Davies, on a five-day trip to Taiwan, which has been funded by Denmark-based, United Exhibits Group (UEG) and will also be used as a chance to build trade links with the Far East.

Bolton’s Egyptology collection dates back to the 1880s when Egyptologist Annie Barlow, daughter of a mill owner from the town, donated a mummy and other items.

You may remember that it was Bolton Council that bought the 20-inch Princess Amarna in 2003 after it was authenticated as 3,300 years old by the Egyptology department at Christie's and the British Museum. In fact, the figurine of the granddaughter of King Tutankhamun was crafted by master forger Shaun Greenhalgh in his garden shed in just three weeks. 

£440,000 Ancient Egyptian fake statue that fooled the art world to go on display

Fake Egyptian statue returned to 'tricked' museum 

Video: See infamous fake Amarna Princess statue

Visit Bolton Museum's website HERE 

See: Bolton News

Hawass interview: past, present ... and future

Today's Guardian in the UK carries an interview with Zahi Hawass where he discusses politics, scandal, enemies, museums and returning antiquities. Unfortunately, there is not much about his new line of fashion wear.

Hawass says: "I love Egypt, I love archaeology and I will never be a politician. I'm a damned archaeologist through and through."

US lecturer accused trafficking of antiquities named

The Israel Antiquities Authority has named the retired US lecturer arrested on suspicion of trafficking antiquities as John Lund, a 70-year-old tour guide from Utah, according to Fox News.

Mr Lund was allowed to leave Israel after posting a $7,500 bond meant to guarantee he will return to stand trial, said Shai Bar Tura, deputy director of the authority's theft prevention unit.

The Chronicle of Higher Education reports: "Mr Lund is an expert on Egyptian history, is the author of How to Hug a Porcupine: Dealing With Toxic and Difficult to Love Personalities, and, according to his web site, has lectured in history as an adjunct faculty member at universities in California, Idaho, Utah, and Washington."

Mr Lund has categorically denied that he had trafficked in any stolen antiquities or attempted to smuggle any items out of the country. "I’m not trying to smuggle anything," he told the Chronicle of Higher Education.

See:  Egyptologist suspected of smuggling artifacts

Posh spice: How Cleopatra got a golden glow

I am not an expert on make-up tips - ancient or modern - but I have just found this intriguing beauty tip which was, apparently a favourite of Cleopatra. Her secret for a golden glow and the scent of romance was saffron.

That little tip comes courtesy of Kashmir Life. Kashmir is, of course, one of places where saffron is grown. Spain and Iran also produce saffron. Its use dates back to more than 3000 years and is mentioned in various historical documents found in the Mediterranean, Asian and European countries. The spice has been widely used for many centuries in industrial use, like in cosmetics, perfumes and facial creams, diary industry, alcohol industry and tobacco industry. 

Ashmolean Museum’s new Egyptian galleries to open in November

Hippopotamus. Course red pottery, found in grave R134 at Hu, L 27.3 cm,  of Predynastic date (c.3500-3000 BC). AN1899-1908E3267 © Ashmolean Museum,  University of Oxford

On June 2nd a new series begins in Oxfordshire Limted Edition, the award-winning monthly magazine published with The Oxford Times, previewing the Ashmolean Museum’s new Egyptian galleries, scheduled to open in November. 

Horus, Bes, Min, Sobek, Amun-Ra, Akhenaten, Nefertiti, Ramesses, Thoth — names such as these won’t have been on your lips on recent visits to the Ashmolean Museum. But, they will again later this year, in the last week of November, when the museum’s much loved Egyptian Galleries reopen following a complete transformation.

There will be five galleries in future. The four existing galleries, redesigned and redisplayed, plus a fifth created in the tall stuccoed gallery that until the turn of the year was occupied by the museum shop.

The £5m project to create a new sequence of Egypt galleries is the second phase of the Ashmolean’s redevelopment. It builds on the stunning success of the 2006-9 transformation of the main museum that saw visitor numbers leap to 1.2 million in the first year. That is more than four times the previous annual average. The project is again led by award-winning Rick Mather Architects, supported by Lord Sainsbury’s Linbury Trust.

The Egypt galleries are one of the Ashmolean’s major attractions — the ancient Egyptian and Nubian collections are second only to those in the British Museum — holding around 40,000 objects, and spanning all periods from prehistory to the 7th century AD. The Predynastic and Early Dynastic holdings are particularly strong.

From now until December, with the help of the Ashmolean’s assistant keeper for Ancient Egypt and Sudan, Liam McNamara who is planning the new displays,  Oxfordshire Limited Edition readers will be able to ‘visit’ each of the new galleries in turn, focussing on an object or two in each and a key archaeologist whose story will be told there.

The Egypt galleries are due to open the week beginning November 28. Visit the website by clicking HERE.

To register for the e-edition of Oxfordshire Limited Edition click HERE.

Hippopotami abounded in prehistoric Egypt, to judge by the many models that have survived. Associated by the ancient Egyptians with the deity Taweret, protectress of babies and mothers in childbirth, today they inhabit the river no further north than Khartoum. Given by the Egypt Exploration Fund, 1899.

Egyptologist suspected of smuggling artifacts

A former history lecturer from the US, specialising in Ancient Egypt, was held for questioning by Israeli authorities after allegedly selling and trying to smuggle abroad hundreds of valuable archeological artifacts. These included ancient bronze and silver coins dating to the Second Temple period, approximately 2,000 years ago, as well as clay oil lamps and glass and pottery vessels.

According to news reports, the retired lecturer allegedly sold antiquities to American tourists he had been leading on a guided tour for $20,000 and tried to leave tried to leave country with ancient coins.

Customs authorities in conjunction with Antiquities Authority officials detained the suspect at Ben-Gurion Airport on Monday night as he prepared to board a flight to the US.

After admitting to the alleged offences and filing a hefty deposit to ensure his return for trial, he was allowed to leave the country, according to The Jerusalem Post. The man has not been named.

The arrest came after a week-long surveillance operation by undercover Antiquities Authority agents.

YnetNews: US professor suspected of selling stolen artifacts

CBS News: Israel accuses US man of antiquities trafficking

Art Daily: An Attempt to Smuggle Hundreds of Stolen Antiquities from Israel was Thwarted

CNN International: American arrested over alleged antiquities smuggling in Israel 

Nightingale on the Nile: Go with the Flo!

Just been told - via Twitter - that a statute of the English nurse, writer and statistician Florence Nightingale - know as 'The Lady with the Lamp' - has been found in a hospital in Tahta, near Sohag, Egypt. In 1849, she took a trip up the Nile and visited Luxor and Cairo. That's all I really know about her. Does anybody know anything else about her travels? Please comment below.

Has anybody read A Winter on the Nile: Florence Nightingale, Gustave Flaubert and the Temptations of Egypt, by Anthony Sattin?

Cleopatra: where is her tomb?

I had an interesting question from an Egyptology News Network follower in Abu Dhabi (via Twitter) about the search for the mummies of Cleopatra and Mark Antony. The question is quite simple: What progress has there been in finding their tombs?

As I understand it, the Roman historian Plutarch, said Cleopatra and Mark Antony were buried together in Alexandria probably near her royal palace and that this area is now covered by the sea. This is the generally accepted theory.

In 1992, French underwater archaeologist Franck Goddio carried out careful excavations in Alexandria’s Eastern Harbour and made many important discoveries, but not the royal tomb.

An alternative theory has been put forward by archaeologist and historian Kathleen Martinez, that the lovers were buried inside the temple dedicated to Isis and Osiris at Taposiris Magna, a location about 45kms west of Alexandria, near an area know as Borg el Arab. She started excavating in this area back in 2006. Again, as far as, I know the royal tomb remains elusive.

If anybody has any more information about this fascinating subject, please leave your comments below.

Meanwhile, enjoy these YouTube videos about the search for Cleopatra.

Egyptian princess is oldest heart disease case

An Egyptian princess – Ahmose-Meryet-Amon – who lived more than 3,500 years ago is the oldest known person to have had clogged arteries, according to research was presented today at a conference on heart imaging in Amsterdam.

"Atherosclerosis clearly existed more than 3,000 years ago," said Adel Allam, a cardiology professor at Al Azhar University in Cairo, who led the study with Gregory Thomas, director of nuclear cardiology education at the University of California in Irvine. "We cannot blame this disease on modern civilization."
To determine how common heart disease was in ancient Egypt, scientists performed computer scans on 52 mummies in Cairo and the United States.

For more see: The Candadian Press, EurekAlert, Fox News

Also see:  Sheer heart attack: mummies with a modern malady

Cleopatra in Cincinnati

More than 150 artifacts - that when combined together weigh over 30 tons - are showcased in Cleopatra: The Search for the Last Queen of Egypt

until September 5 at the Cincinnati Museum Center. Cincinnati is one of only five stops that will feature the exhibit in the United States.

Of Greek descent, Cleopatra was handed the throne at the young age of 17. Ancient texts indicate that she was fluent in seven languages, including Egpytian, which established her as the first pharaoh of the Macedonian line to do so.

Thanks to the archaeological findings of Dr Zahi Hawass and Frank Goddio, both on land and underwater, two ancient cities have been recovered, and buried amidst the statues, jewellery and coins found are clues to the mysterious life of one of the most powerful women in history.

For more KYPost.com

US experts to help Egypt counter antiquities theft

Experts from the US are planning to visit Egypt to help the country's authorities plan counter measures to combat the problem of theft of antiquities.

Members of the delegation have not bee n names but news reports say they represent "major American institutions interested in protecting relics."

Included are several prominent experts who had submitted a petition urging the US administration to help prevent the potential trading of Egyptian antiquities in the US market.

A total of 1250 artifacts, stolen from museums and ministry stores during the "security vaccuum" that started during the 25 January revolution, have not yet been retrieved, according to Egyptian Minister of Antiquities Zahi Hawass.

For more, see Al-Masry Al-Youm

Ahram Online: Minister of State for Antiquities Zahi Hawass met yesterday (Tuesday)  a group of American Egyptologists led by Deborah Lehr, director of the Capitol Archaeological Institute at George Washington University, to discuss ways of collaborating to protect Egypt’s heritage.

Suez National Museum opens Thursday

Egyptian Prime Minister Essam Sharaf and Minister of State for Antiquities Zahi Hawass will officially inaugurate the Suez National Museum this Thursday.

The LE42 million, the museum is 5,950 square metres in size and displays 1,500 artefacts that tell the story of the city of Suez from prehistoric to modern times.

The Suez museum displays archaeological artefacts, illustrations and maps that reveal the history of the Suez Canal beginning with the time of the canal’s ancient forerunner, the Sesostris Canal. This ancient canal was built during the reign of King Senusret III (1878-1840 BC) to link the Red Sea and the Mediterranean Sea via the River Nile. A colossus statue of the king is on show.

To see pictures of the new musem, click. HERE. 

Delegation heads to Switzerland to retrieve 4200-year-old tablet

An Egyptian archaeological delegation will head to Switzerland this week to retrieve an ancient Egyptian tablet from the Basel Museum of Antiquities, according to reports by Al-Masry Al-Youm.

The 4200-year-old tablet is made of limestone and dates back to the Fifth Dynasty (2465- 2323 BC) with hunting scenes and other daily life activities from the Old Kingdom (2649-2134 BC) painted on it. The tablet is 51 cm high and was being showcased at the Basel Museum of Antiquities. 

Summer reading: ambition, fate and Huy

Pauline Gedge has established herself as one of the pre-eminent novelist writing about ancient Egypt. Her first book, in 1977, was Child of the Morning, a biographical saga about the controversial female pharaoh Hatshepsut. Gedge’s newest trilogy is likewise set during Egypt’s 18th Dynasty, but four generations later, at the pinnacle of its wealth and influence. A mesmerizing tale of ambition, fate and wisdom, The King’s Man is the long-awaited final volume in the series of the same name.

Her protagonist, the historical figure called Huy, was born a peasant in the northern village of Hut-herib, but thanks to his divine gifts and administrative skills, he has ascended as high as a commoner can

For see more  The Globe and Mail, Toronto

Madinet Madi opens to public

The Madinet Madi archaeological site in the Fayoum has officially opened to the public. Read about the site and how it is being developed as a tourist attraction. As anybody visited it already?

Also see: Egypt's newest public wonder: the temple of the crocodile god

Back in business

Hello, everyone. Sorry about the lack of posts. As you may know, Blogger - the hosts of this site - seemed to have had a problem for most of last Thursday making posts impossible. Some of the more recent posts even vanished.

Thankfully everything is now back to normal - so onwards!