Back to its roots?

This article appeared in this week's English-language Al-Ahram Weekly. If you look closely at the proposed design  below you will see that the new dock is NOT in front of Luxor Temple, but in front of the convention center (the building with circular drive on the left) and Chicago House (to the right of the convention center)!

Iraq's national museum to showcase its treasures online with aid of Google

"For six years the plundered treasures of Iraq's national museum have been slowly returning, giving the once grand institution a chance to showcase its ancient wares once again.

"Now, perhaps as a safeguard against another invasion, but also in recognition of its priceless heritage, Google is to make available online 14,000 images of the museum and its artefacts." (The Guardian - 24 November 2009)

Read the full article here.

Anticipation...

I will not write about Dendera...I will not write about Abydos...I will not...I will not...I will not...at least until I have written about my two walks around Luxor, the house trip to Edfu and my visit to Luxor Temple. But to whet your appetites, I will post two photos--one from Dendera and one from Abydos. They both resulted from a wonderful day-trip three of us took on Sunday to those two fascinating sites.

The first is of two Ba birds on the roof at Dendera:

And the second is of the cartouches of Seti I at Abydos:

The "prenomen" (on the right) reads "Men-Maat-Ra" or "Enduring is the Divine Order of Ra". The "nomen" (on the left) reads "Seti meryenptah" or "Seti beloved of Ptah".

The Internet in Arabic...

Check out this post (N.B.it's in French) on Egyptoblogue, the "carnet de bord" of Claude Guibal, Cairo correspondent for "Libération". Now, in addition to the Internet extensions we're used to, such as .com and .edu and .org, Egypt has established the extension .masr (Masr-or Misr-means Egypt in Arabic). And for the first time this Internet domain is not in a Latin alphabet but in Arabic characters. Egypt seems to realize the enormous potential in an Arabic market of at least 300 millions people worldwide...

The Cost of Fame

Al-Ahram Weekly has just published an article about the collaboration between the Supreme Council of Antiquities and the Getty Conservation Institute for the conservation and management of the tomb of Tutankhamun.

Vanished Persian Army Said Found in Desert? UPDATE 11/30/09

Bones, jewelry and weapons found in Egyptian desert may be the remains of Cambyses' army that vanished 2,500 years ago. Read the article.

And now read a great background piece which casts significant doubt on the "discovery".  (Btw, rogueclassicism looks like a great site. I'll be following it...)

And here's the official statement found on Dr. Zahi's website.

And here is a press release about the Iranians' stake in the whole deal!

The quest to regain Egypt's antiquities

An article from BBC News on November 11, 2009:

"Later this month Egyptian archaeologists will travel to the Louvre Museum in Paris to collect five ancient fresco fragments stolen from a tomb in the Valley of the Kings in the 1980s, but there are many other "stolen" antiquities which they also want back, reports the BBC's Yolande Knell in Cairo."

Getty and Egypt to Work on Tut’s Tomb

The Getty Conservation Institute in Los Angeles said on Tuesday that it had entered into a five-year partnership with Egypt to help conserve and manage the tomb of Tutankhamen... From NY Times - See Arts, Briefly for the full blurb.

Luxor Details

I rambled around Luxor (east bank) today in the always-diverting company of CH photographer par excellence Yarko Kobylecky. Our mission was to do "salvage photography" in the area north of the train station, but we made a big loop which took three hours and left me quite exhausted! I will report in more detail when I am recovered, but wanted to share a few "telling" details of the afternoon.

Nefertiti in the News Again

Well...the discussion continues! Will she? Won't she? Who knows? Certainly not moi!!

"Egyptian and German Officials to Meet About Nefertiti Bust"

Bon Appetit!

This the latest product in my Zazzle store. I hope you like it as much as I liked creating it ;] While you're there you might want to check out some of my other products. There are quite a few from my time in Egypt.

Cat Rescue Update

Further details have emerged concerning the daring rescue of the besieged kitten. Unnamed sources have informed this blog editor that both low- and high-tech weapons were employed to discourage the pack of temple dogs which had cornered the little fellow--ordinary rocks and a tube used for transporting drawings between CH and the work site. The tube and the kitten can be seen below.


He's settling into life at CH quite nicely, with a comfy bed for catnaps...


...pond-front property...


...room to roam (such a loooong tail and loooong ears and what a tiny kitten in between!)...


...and many available laps upon which to "take five".


It's a cat's life!

On a Clear Day...

...you almost can see forever!

Heroic Egyptologists Stage Daring Rescue!

Dateline Saturday, October 31--Three intrepid CH Egyptologists (who wish to remain anonymous out of extreme modesty) rescued a tiny kitten from a pack of temple dogs in a bold daylight operation. The small survivor was then brought to CH where he is recovering nicely (see photos below) from his injuries. Several individuals have expressed an interest in adopting the curious and amiable young fellow. A happy ending to a terrifying episode!