King Tut neither black nor white
The debate between acclaimed egyptologist Zahi Hawass and protestors claiming that King Tutankhamen was black appears to have been cleverly settled by none other than Stephen Colbert, who insisted that a look at the boy pharaoh’s image reveals the obvious answer.
Egypt and Mexico in a delightful combination
Ancient Mexican and ancient Egyptian civilizations show uncanny parallels, as demonstrated by the current exhibition “Isis and the Plumed Serpent. Ancient Egypt / Pre-Hispanic Mexico”, showing at the Exhibition Center of Parque Fundidora (originally called Nave Lewis), part of a program of events in the Universal Forum of Monterrey Culture 2007 initiative.
No evidence exists of the two cultures, who lived centuries and thousands of miles apart, ever meeting, but both worshiped feathered-serpent deities, built pyramids and developed a 365-day calendar.
“There are huge cultural parallels between ancient Egypt and Mexico in religion, astronomy, architecture and the arts. They deserve to be appreciated together,” said exhibition organizer Gina Ulloa, who spent almost three years preparing the 35,520 square-feet (3,300 meter-square) display.
http://africa.reuters.com/country/EG/news/usnN24278139.html
To commemorate this unique encounter, I offer these blend of Egyptian and Mexican cuisine which is simply as delicious as it is easy to prepare.
Ingredients:
Hummus
Red hot Mexican salsa
Olive oil
Olive
Cayenne
Mexican corn tortilla chips
Spread hummus in a thick circle in the middle of a serving dish, creating a reservoir in the center. Fill this center with olive oil, half a teaspoon or red hot Mexican salsa and an olive. Sprinkle a little cayenne over the hummus. Finally, surround the finished dip with triangle (pyramidal) shaped corn tortilla chips and you’re ready to celebrate the best of both worlds.
Save the Citadel, cries Egypt’s chief archaeologist
A proposed new financial complex in Cairo threatens to block the view of the Citadel, part of Medieval Cairo and one of the most popular tourist attractions. The 12th century warrior sultan Salaheddin started fortification works on this 75 meter (250 feet) high plateau in the 1170s, to protect the city from the Crusaders. It stopped being the seat of government when Egypt’s ruler, Khedive Ismail, moved to his newly built Abdin Palace in the Ismailiya neighborhood in the 1860s. Its most striking feature today is the Alabaster Mosque of Muhammad Ali, built in the Ottoman style between 1830 and 1857. The citadel also contains Al-Gawhara palace, the National Military Museum and the Police Museum.
UNESCO has recommended the height of the buildings known as the Cairo Financial Center, which would include shops, offices, a five-star hotel, an exhibition and conference centre and an entertainment centre, should be reduced to 31.55 meters from 59.5 meters so they do not protrude above the enclosing wall of the Citadel. That would mean shaving off the top five floors of a planned hotel and the top six floors of an office block, the government says.
The developers of the project said they were committed to the decisions of U.N. cultural body and were studying ways to find “the best way to implement them with the least losses”. Egypt’s chief archaeologist Zahi Hawass, head of the Supreme Council for Antiquities, said the original plans for the financial complex were unacceptable because they would damage the view of the medieval fortress that was the seat of government in Egypt for centuries.
http://africa.reuters.com/country/EG/news/usnL27902565.html
A Tale of Two Temples
The recent discovery of parts of a temple dating to the reign of pharaoh Ramses II during restoration work at the mosque inside the Temple of Luxor has created a “moral quandary” between archaeologists and local religious leaders.
The findings consist of sections of columns, capitals and elaborately inscribed reliefs built around 1250 B.C. Scenes depict Ramses II offering the sun god Amen Re the two obelisks that were installed at Luxor’s temple’s front facade, one of which stands today in its original location.
Because the inscriptions are dedicated to another god, and hieroglyphs represent humans and animals, images forbidden under Islamic law, negotiations are being conducted on how to resolve the issue of removing the objects or leaving them there but concealed. Complete removal would damage the mosque structure.
The mosque was erected as a shrine to Muslim saint Abul Haggag in the 13th century A.D. on the site of an earlier Christian church, which was itself built on top of the ancient Temple of Luxor.
Contrary to what happened at other ancient Egyptian religious sites where new occupiers would destroy or deface the ancient sacred inscriptions, this time the builders of the mosque covered the ancient walls in plaster, which has preserved them in perfect condition.
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/09/070927-egypt-temple.html
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By N2H
