King Tut Tomb Fetuses May Reveal Pharaoh's Mother

Two mummified fetuses found in the tomb of King Tutankhamun will undergo DNA testing to determine their relation to the famous pharaoh, Egyptian officials announced today.

Rest in peace, Seti

A programme is in place to protect the sacred site of Abydos, as Nevine El-Aref finds out.

Sailing into eternity...

Visitors to the Giza Plateau will be able to view Khufu's second solar boat through a tiny camera 4,500 years after it was buried to ferry the king to eternity. Nevine El-Aref takes a look.

Let's all have tickets to the universal museum

"It's pointless trying to work out who owns ancient art objects. We need to share them around the world."

An article by Ben Macintyre on TimesOnline.

Multinational Team Creates the First 3-D Model of Egypt's Oldest Pyramid

The first "Virtual Step Pyramid" is to be used by architects, restorers, and archaeologists as part of efforts to save and restore the Step Pyramid in the face of threats from centuries of erosion and the fragility of the stone and clay body of the pyramid, exposed after the protective outer casing was removed by stone robbers in ancient times.

Archaeologists Find Silos And Administration Center From Early Egyptian City

ScienceDaily (2008-07-02) -- An expedition at Tell Edfu in southern Egypt has unearthed a large administration building and silos that provide fresh clues about the emergence of urban life. The discovery provides new information about a little understood aspect of ancient Egypt -- the development of cities in a culture that is largely famous for its monumental architecture.

The staff of Chicago House had the opportunity to visit Tell Edfu last season. Nadine Moeller provided an interesting and hospitable tour of the site. Unfortunately, all my photos were on the laptop that crashed at the end of the season. I'm still trying to recover them!

Those Crazy Ancient Near East Guys!

However you say it–Poisson d'Avril or April Fools Day–the folks at Eisenbrauns did themselves proud this year! Check it out at:

New and Notworthy from Eisenbrauns

A Tale of Two Stations

In preparation for the story of my weekend visit to Abydos earlier this month, I thought it might be fun to show readers the two train stations I experienced: Luxor and El-Balyana.

Here's Luxor:
































And here's El-Balyana:

Scenes from a Winter Garden...

It's hard to believe it's still technically winter here in Luxor. We've already reached highs in the 90s, although it's cooled back down to the 80s with comfortably cool nights (good sleeping weather). Here are some views of our thriving "winter" garden at Chicago House.

(left: A charming mix of cosmos and nasturtiums)












(right: Bombax ceiba - Silk Cotton Tree)











(left: Hollyhock)













(right: Lantana camara)













(below: Thunbergia grandiflora - Sky Vine)

Sunset on the Nile...

What a lovely ending to a midwinter day in Luxor: drinks and birthday cake on a dahabeyah anchored on the Nile's east bank. The chocolate cake and chocolate ice cream came from the Oasis Café just up the street. The wine was from Bordeaux and Egypt. The company was congenial. And the sunset was gorgeous!

Grim secrets of Pharaoh's city

"Evidence of the brutal lives endured by some ancient Egyptians to build the monuments of the Pharaohs has been uncovered by archaeologists."

So starts an article on BBC News (click the title to go to the article) which was promoting a program on BBC Two on Saturday evening: "The Pharaoh's Lost City". I've not yet been to Amarna--it's not that easy to get to these days--but it's high on my list.

Look Closely...

Check out this really cool birthday card I received from a fellow member of La Vie en France (a Yahoo Group):

For those who don't recognize the site: it's in the Temple of Horus at Edfu, and the wonderful statue is Horus himself.

Here are two of the pictures I took on my most recent visit to Edfu in October 2007:

Here's to a Fabulous 2008!

Looking backward...

...Looking forward!

May your 2008 be full of health, happiness, peace and every good thing you could wish for!

Season's Greetings from Luxor!

Merry Christmas! Joyeux Noël! Buon Natale! Feliz Navidad! Kullu sana wintu taibeen!

Whatever your language have a joyous, peaceful and wonderful holiday!

Love, Marie

Beautiful Darkness! Blessed Light!

May your celebration of this season of holidays draw deep from the abundant joy, fierce hopes, and enduring traditions of all of our ancestors...

New Discoveries at Karnak Temple

I wondered why Steven Stanek from National Geographic was seen last week in the CH library in the company of my boss, Dr. Raymond Johnson. This article (click on the title) explains everything.

Here's a portion of the interview with Dr. Johnson:

W. Raymond Johnson, an Egyptologist at the Oriental Institute at the University of Chicago who has visited the site, said the discovery shows the expertise of ancient Egyptian builders.

"Being good engineers and practical, [ancient Egyptians knew] that to build something so big so close to the Nile, you have to have reinforcement in front of it. … It stopped any erosion of the Nile River bank."

The find sheds new light on the ancient city of Thebes, of which Karnak was the religious center, he added.

"We've assumed the ancient landscape in Thebes is relatively unchanged, and we have to completely reevaluate that now," Johnson said.

"It really gives us pause when we make certain assumptions and then find out they are completely wrong."

That's my boss!

Zombies in Upper Egypt!!

Our friend Renée Friedman at Hierakonpolis has struck again! She has a wickedly developed sense of the absurd, and this article is a case in point (click on the title of this post).


Here is Renée talking to the group from Chicago House about the restoration of the mudbricks of the Fort at Hierakonpolis.


A view of the Fort...

In Memoriam - Washoe (1965-2007)

I was saddened to read of the death of Washoe, the chimpanzee who learned to use American Sign Language under the tutelage of cognitive researchers R. Allen and Beatrix T. Gardner. This occured while I was in college and I was fascinated by the whole experiment due to its linguistic and philosophical implications. I even wrote a paper for my "Philosophy of Man" course. I felt a real psychic link with her and with Koko the kitten-loving gorilla who learned more than 1,000 sign language words during research at Stanford University. Rest in peace, sweet Washoe...and may you find Heaven to be a place where you can tickle and be tickled to your heart's content...

ICanHasCheezburger Factory Strikes Again!

For those among us who are guardians of the people's right to look at anything they damn well please on the Internet! (Click on the title to see what I'm talking about...)


In LOL-Kitteh Speak...Miz Otizz her sez "K, weyz 2 go!!"

Face to Face with the Boy King

Click on the title to read about a first-time likeness of the face of Tutankhamun created by archaeologists. The likeness will go on display with his mummy later this year.