Ancient Egypt News for Tuesday 09-02-10

Statue of Cleopatra VII
  • Artefact of the Day: Mummy of Hornedjitef in the British Museum . Listen to the 15 minute podcast: http://bit.ly/d0hh5R #
  • Love triangle set in ancient Egypt: Elton John & Tim Rice’s AIDA, Pasadena, Texas, Feb 19th – March 14th: http://bit.ly/af7Hay #
  • Arts of Ancient Egypt, an introduction to the art and culture of ancient Egypt, at the Met, January 31, 2010
    11:30 a.m: http://bit.ly/c7NKj9 #
  • SSEA Lecture: The Royal Titulary of the 18th Dynasty: Change and Continuity, Feb 12, University of Toronto: http://bit.ly/8IVAnn #
  • Journal: Egyptology and Forgery in the 17th Century: The Case of the Bodleian Shabti: http://bit.ly/a43w2Z #
  • A tale of the adventures of an exact replica of Zahi Hawass' famous excavation hat: http://bit.ly/dp88Ir #
  • Egypt Tourism Fell in 2009, Set to Recover This Year: http://bit.ly/9lik3m #
  • Cleopatra – the Search for the Last Queen of Egypt opens June 5, 2010 at the Franklin Institute. Tickets on sale now: http://bit.ly/dmhlIt #
  • 2,500 years of Egyptomania & the Tutankhamen exhibition at the Art Gallery of Ontario: http://bit.ly/bgV9vo #
  • Expedition: In search of Saharan engravings and rock art in the Gilf Kebir area of Egypt, late 2010 or early 2011: http://bit.ly/d3F3w4 #
  • Egypt restores rare antiquity stolen from Saqqara – a stone inscribed with text that represents tomb's owner's name: http://bit.ly/aaUEky #
  • Sandro Vannini's Photography – Archaeologists in the Theban Tomb of Montuemhat (TT34): http://bit.ly/dej8Pe #

Photo Statue of Cleopatra VII by Tiffany Silva. Some rights reserved.

Ancient Egypt News for Monday 08-02-10

Photo by Left Hand Rotation
  • Artefact of the Day: Cleopatra's Needle – photos and documents relating to the obelisk’s removal & transportation: http://bit.ly/aXDUmY #
  • CC Talks With Shelly Bernstein about the Brooklyn Museum's openness and use of the Creative Commons licenses: http://bit.ly/cPwuIC #
  • Turin Egyptology collection online: http://bit.ly/d38ZPX #
  • Employment: Lecturer in Egyptian Archaeology/Egyptology, UCL. Closing Date: 1st March 2010 at 5pm: http://bit.ly/cVTgXr #
  • Mummy buff unwraps secrets at Hay – S.J. Wolfe has already archived over 1,200 mummy parts remaining in the U.S: http://bit.ly/9TzNAU #
  • BSS in Egypt 2010: Bookings now being taken for John Romer's innovative course in Luxor: http://bit.ly/bzHd8O #
  • BOOK REVIEW: PalArch’s Journal of Archaeology of Egypt/Egyptology, 7(1) (2010): http://bit.ly/bZ4fgS #
  • Ancient Egyptian history live at Burbank Elementary School: http://bit.ly/9mqEc1 #
  • PHOTOS: Pyramids & Temples of Egypt (I love the one of the sleeping dogs in front of Djoser's pyramid): http://bit.ly/ajPO1O #
  • PHOTO: A Dusty Sunset at the Pyramids: http://bit.ly/bH15VB #
  • “Keep It Clean” Concert in Cairo today to help Clean Up Giza, Monday at the Sakkiet El Sawy Wisdom Hall at 8 pm: http://bit.ly/bIvVXc #
  • Two Free events: 'Building Pharaoh's Ship' & 'Cedar, Frankincense and Spoils of War: Seafaring in Ancient Egypt': http://bit.ly/aLRCkN #
  • PHOTO: Dr. Hawass with his Excavation Team in the Valley of the Kings: http://bit.ly/b3TQf9 #
  • Informatique & Égyptologie 2010 – University of Liège – "Texts, Languages & Information Technology in Egyptology": http://bit.ly/9pHaxG #
  • More Brick – the Mut Expedition's work on the temple's north enclosure wall continues: http://bit.ly/aCLk87 #
  • II Conference on Egyptology – Old Empire: the Egyptian State Building, Saturday, April 24th & 25th: http://bit.ly/aDQFR1 #
  • Hill International-Led Joint Venture Selected as Project Manager for the Grand Egyptian Museum: http://bit.ly/av5zM9 #
  • Certificate in Egyptology at the University of Manchester, with Dr Joyce Tyldesley. Begins 01 October 2010: http://bit.ly/9DBcNt #
  • Dr Zahi Hawass signs a contract with the Grand Egyptian Museum managers, will be open to the public by 2012: http://bit.ly/cySpnz #

View more old photos of today’s artefact, Cleopatra’s Needle.

Photo Sleeping Dogs by Left Hand Rotation. Some rights reserved.

Friday Photo: Pigeons & Pyramids Panorama

A distant perspective of the pyramids of Menkaure, Khafre and Khufu shot from the south-east corner of the Giza plateau.

The persistent presence of the pigeons on the plateau has been a concern for a number of years now. They have made a habit of nesting in crevices on the Sphinx, such as the eye sockets and have had a disaterous impact on the ancient monument. Rising humidity levels in the stone that the Sphinx is carved from causes calcium deposits that attract the pigeons who then peck at the Sphinx as they eat the deposits. Their own deposits are also a problem as their droppings are acidic. Their presence is endangering the fragile feline statue that is carved from bedrock of the Giza plateau.

They look as though they are on their way over to the sphinx in this photo, the head of the great collosis can just be made out on the right side of the photo.

Click on the image to see a larger view.

Pigeons over Giza by Eric Elofson

This photograph was taken by Eric Elofson and was used with permission.

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Ancient Egypt News for Friday 05-02-10

Nubian Pyramids
This morning saw a continuation of the rewrapping of the mummy known as the “Anonymous Man”. There will be one final day on Tuesday when they’ll wrap things up…literally. Sorry, couldn’t resist that one.

There was a very brief but interesting video on the website of Dr Hawass today about producing a very accurate 3D model of the Sphinx with the help of a new high tech laser. Mark Lehner watched on with excitement as this was his own pet project once upon a time.

Here is the rest of today’s news:

  • Artifact of the Day: Stela of Sobekhotep, British Museum, EA 831, Limestone, 12th dynasty: http://bit.ly/bo0BzL #
  • PHOTO: Cleopatra by the Sea: http://bit.ly/9oVgLG #
  • When Rome came to Nubia to help in rescuing Nubian monuments during the Salvage Campaign of the 1960s and 70s: http://bit.ly/bgo2fv #
  • French explorer Franck Goddio searches for more Cleopatra-era artifacts: http://bit.ly/92eBe2 #
  • Images of a Pharaoh – Richard Bertelle recreates artifacts found in Tutankhamen’s tomb: http://bit.ly/bYe2vU #
  • Exhibition: 'Texts & Textiles', October 16, 2009 – April 18, 2010 at the University of Melbourne: http://bit.ly/9gHYgW #
  • Manchester Museum's Curator Diary entry: Work on galleries includes lamps from Late Period Egypt & Predynastic lithics: http://bit.ly/aj7e5M #
  • 'The Eternal Light of Egypt', Infra-red photography exhibit shows electromagnetic fields invisible to the naked eye: http://bit.ly/bWjm4d #
  • Zahi Hawass unveiled on Thursday an extensive renovation of the oldest monastery in the world: http://bit.ly/c6k6Ld #
  • Sports in the Ancient Egyptian Era, by Dr Zahi Hawass: http://bit.ly/a9IIlm #
  • VIDEO: Using laser technology to scan the entire Sphinx to create the most accurate 3D model of the Sphinx ever: http://bit.ly/9CKdfG #
  • Back in the Lab with the Anonymous Man – Live coverage right now! Join the conversation or just watch: http://bit.ly/c9jvv2 #

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Back in the Lab with Anonymous Man

The Brooklyn Museum is back in the lab today to follow on from where they left off on Tuesday.

Shelly is once again live blogging the event on Twitter, and posting photos, which can be viewed here on this post.

Just like on Tuesday, you can send your questions and comments to Shelly live using your Twitter account, just send a message to @brooklynmuseum and be sure to include with your message the hashtag #mummywrap and it will end up in the conversation. The live reporting, questions and answers will all be accessible below.

*UPDATE: The live re-wrapping has come to an end for the day. The process will be ‘wrapped up’ next week on Tuesday at 9:30 EST.


All images, video and tweets are reproduced here with permission from the Brooklyn Museum.

More:
Brooklyn Museum blog: Live Tweeting Mummy Wrapping and Conservator Q&A Tuesday!
Brooklyn Museum’s exhibition, the Mummy Chamber.
Brooklyn Museum on Flickr, Twitter, TwitPic, TwitVid

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Ancient Egypt News for Thursday 04-02-10

Hieroglyphic Sex Graffiti by Quinn CC BY SA
On the 4th floor of the University of Chicago, home of the Oriental Institute, was found this peice of graffiti – in ancient Egyptian hieroglpyhs.

Quinn Dombrowski, who discovered the graffiti asked an Egyptologist at the university to translate it. It reads:


ỉw ỉr.n.n st m dw3t sp sn
“We did it twice in the morning”.

Today’s artefact is the King Den’s sandal label from the British Museum, which is currently running the History of the World in 100 Objects podcast. You can subscribe to it for free on iTunes or visit the website A History of the World in 100 Objects, where you can also read about the object and listen to the podcast. Each podcast is about 14 minutes in duration.


In Den’s time the role of ‘keeper of the sandals’ was a high rank with privileges


Meanwhile, Hawass teases us with some exciting news to come in the weeks ahead, once again mentioning the long awaited and much postponed exploration of the narrow ‘air shafts’ inside the pyramid of Khufu:

Hawass said that “the next three months will see a series of discoveries and important events at the level of Egyptian antiquities, including, along with what the golden pharaoh Tutankhamun, other important archaeological discoveries in the area of Saqqara and the Pyramids,” south of Cairo.

He added that during the next few days, Egypt will announce important discoveries in Saqqara at a conference on the same area of archaeological discovery, while the month of March will witness the “introduction of robots to the corridors of the Great Pyramid of King Khufu to reveal the secrets of these corridors.”

  • Artifact of the Day: King Den's sandal label. View the photo, read the summary, & listen to the podcast at the BBC: http://bit.ly/atBd2H #
  • Leena posts a close up of the latest addition to the Cleopatra & Caesarion painting: http://bit.ly/cTPJaq #
  • PHOTO: Stairway to Light – inside the Red pyramid of Sneferu at Dahshur: http://bit.ly/b3QufM #
  • PHOTO: the Giza Pyramids: http://bit.ly/dxxD8A #
  • PHOTO: Beneath the Lourve Pyramid – the Pyramide Inversée: http://bit.ly/aMO3cq #
  • More on the Antiquities bill: “Zakariya Azmy accuses Zahi Hawass of leaking false information on the antiquities law": http://bit.ly/cx3eJS #
  • LECTURE: "Art in Ancient Egypt: Images of Life in the Afterlife", 7 pm Tues, Feb. 9, University of Wyoming Art Museum: http://bit.ly/9Fc9BF #
  • Latest batch of 2nd-hand books from the EES added to eBay include Beni Hasan, Meir, Abydos, Naukratis and Bubastis: http://bit.ly/cVCgRr #
  • Sphinx-lined alley hints at wealth of Egypt's lost empires: http://bit.ly/annYrB #
  • PHOTO: Pyramids Over Cairo – the Giza Pyramids overlook Cairo in the evening light: http://bit.ly/ckxR3Z #
  • Artist's paintings are inspired by Ancient Egypt: http://bit.ly/aeTDoj #
  • Hawass: Egypt to make major archaeology announcements on February 17, including secrets of the lineage of Tutankhamun: http://bit.ly/ckn0Sz #
  • Hosni, Hawass and Luxor's governor Samir Farag will today inspect the progress of the work on the Avenue of Sphinxes: http://bit.ly/9hqo3K #
  • The University of Manchester to discuss the scientific study of mummies – was Ramesses II a true redhead? http://bit.ly/avCd2M #
  • Ancient Egyptian Artefact, Returned by Met Museum, to be Reunited with Statue at Karnak: http://bit.ly/daKTgc #
  • Hieroglyphic Sex Graffiti at the Oriental Museum…and Hieratic sucks: http://bit.ly/9fEXQ2 #

Photo Hieroglyphic sex graffiti by Quinn Dombrowski. Some rights reserved.

Ancient Egypt News for Wednesday 03-02-10

Limestone Boundary Stela of Sety I
Quite a few readers ‘tuned in’ this morning (or yesterday, depending on your location) to watch the live re-wrapping of the Mummy with the Brooklyn Museum. As with last year’s unwrapping of the same anonymous man those of us who were able to follow the live stream of photos, videos and commentary felt like we were actually there, like a fly on the wall.

Stay tuned for part II, as the re-wrapping continues live on Thursday at 9:30am EST.

  • Artifact of the Day: Limestone Boundary Stela of Sety I, 19th Dynasty at the Brooklyn Museum: http://bit.ly/aItkvv #
  • PHOTO: Avenue of Sphinxes: http://bit.ly/a2XgwG #
  • LECTURE: Egyptology Graduate Student Mini-Symposium, Saturday, April 10, 5:00 p.m., Oriental Institute, Chicago: http://bit.ly/agCX7h #
  • Excavators uncover 65 sphinxes while restoring part of Luxor’s “Sphinx Avenue”. Originally there were 1350 in all: http://bit.ly/cwQyE4 #
  • PHOTO: A boundary stela at Amarna, depicting the pharaoh Akhenaten and his wife Nefertiti worshiping the Aten sun disk: http://bit.ly/djNQhy #
  • Egypt to soon announce king Tutankhamun DNA test results to answer lingering mysteries over his lineage: http://bit.ly/9p9ElH #
  • PHOTOS: Sandro Vannini's Photography – King Tutankhamun's Senet Game Board: http://bit.ly/dcmSIg #
  • Egypt tightens penalties for relics robbers, smugglers: http://bit.ly/cNU8zm #
  • Re-wrapping a Mummy Live in the Lab – Join us now to watch the event on Talking Pyramids: http://bit.ly/cwCcL4 #mummywrap #
  • Re-wrapping a Mummy Live in the Lab! Follow it at Talking Pyramids at 14:30 GMT (In about 3 hours): http://bit.ly/cwCcL4 #mummywrap #

Photo Limestone Boundary Stela of Sety I by Brooklyn Museum. Some rights reserved.