New film about Ancient Egypt
Agora, filmed on the island of Malta, takes place in Ancient Egypt. Rachel Weisz will star as Hypatia, an astrologer/philosopher battling to save “the collected wisdom of the world” as religious riots flare and threaten the fabled Library of Alexandria. Max Minghella will also star as her slave, along with Oscar Isaac and Michael Lonsdale.
The English language film is due to wrap by the end of June. The film is Academy Awards winner (”Mar Adentro”) Spanish director Alejandro Amenabar’s most ambitious production to date.
Amenabar has hired Guy Dyas (Indiana Jones) as production designer and Gabriella Pescucci (The Age of Innocence) as custom designer.
http://www.cinematical.com/2008/04/28/amenabar-recreates-ancient-egypt/
Ancient Egypt in Seattle
Dr. W. Benson Harer Jr., of Seattle, an OB/gyn by profession and an amateur Egyptologist by passion, learned about a case of female genital herpes from a centuries-old medical text written on papyrus. Examining photos of papyrus scrolls, records of a mummy autopsy and clay figures, Harer has found indications of herpes, chlamydia and cervical cancer. In one ancient medical text, the image of a knife is used to convey pain associated with ulcerated sores of the vulva, a sign Harer says suggests the herpes virus.
His interest in sexually transmitted diseases in a long-ago civilization may be the ultimate proof that no aspect of ancient Egypt has gone unstudied, a fact that was in evidence this weekend as 300-plus Egypt scholars gathered from around the world to discuss all about Egypt. The event is the 59th annual meeting of The American Research Center in Egypt, a nonprofit formed to facilitate American study in Egypt and to strengthen cultural ties between the countries.
Americans’ fascination with ancient Egypt persists partly because “it presents us with two very different faces,” said Gerry D. Scott III, the center’s director, who is based in Cairo, Egypt. “It’s a combination of things that are familiar, that strike a chord with us, and things that are mysterious, that are alluring.”
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2004370166_egypt24m.html
New Evidence on Egypt’s Pyramids Construction
Marine fossils in the limestone blocks that make the Pyramids and other famous monuments indicate that ancient Egyptians carved those blocks and transported them to the building sites, according to a new study.
The researchers analyzed the mineralogy, as well as the chemical makeup and structure, of small material samples chiseled from the Sphinx Temple, the Osirion Shaft, the Valley Temple, Cheops, Khefren, Osirion at Abydos, the Temple of Seti I at Abydos and Qasr el-Sagha at Fayum.
“The observed random emplacement and strictly homogenous distribution of the fossil shells within the whole rock is in harmony with their initial in situ setting in a fluidal sea bottom environment,” wrote Ioannis Liritzis and his colleagues from the University of the Aegean and the University of Athens.
Liritzis and his team argue that since the fossils are largely undamaged and are distributed in a random manner within the stone, in accordance with their typical distribution at sea floors, the large building stones used to construct the monuments must have been carved out of natural stone instead of cast in molds.
Joseph Davidovits, professor and director of France’s Geopolymer Institute, formulated the theory that natural limestone was cast like concrete to build the pyramids of Egypt.
http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2008/04/25/pyramids-fossils-egypt.html
New Interactive Map of Egypt
I have added an interactive map of Egypt in the website. This makes it much easier for future travelers to locate the most popular places to visit in the country, with plenty of information and sightseeing tours you can choose from and book directly on the site. Please click on the link below:
http://www.all-about-egypt.com/egypt-tourist-attractions.html
Taxi Fares Displayed at Luxor Airport
In her Luxor News blog, Jane Askar posts that there is now a big sign at the airport stating the taxi fares to the various hotels on the East Bank. Usually, you need to agree the rate before stepping into an Egyptian taxi, but now you are informed that from the Luxor Airport to the center of town is 25LE, slightly out of town is 30LE and the fare to Jolliville and Sofitel are marked as 35LE. Askar asks tourists to be generous on tipping and explains why.
“I know when you are on holiday in Egypt the constant requests for tips or baksheesh are wearing. In fact it can put you off. I want you to understand what it is like for a man here.”
She goes on to explain how inflation is hitting the poorest very hard, and in a place with little industry and manufacturing, men must rely on tourists to bring bread to their families. And bread, which Egyptians call ayish, meaning “life”, is in shortage and prohibitively expensive.
Alexander the Great’s "Crown," Shield Discovered?
One of three royal Macedonian burials excavated in 1977 by archaeologists working in the northern Greek village of Vergina may actually belong to Alexander the Great’s half brother. If proven, some of the artifacts found in the tomb—including a helmet, shield, and silver “crown” are probably those of the great general himself, since his half brother is thought to have claimed these royal trappings after Alexander’s death.
When discovered, archaeologists announced that the burial in the main chamber of the large rich tomb was that of Philip II, father of Alexander the Great. But recent analyses of the tombs and the paintings, pottery, and other artifacts found there, suggest that the burials are in fact one generation more recent than had previously been thought. One evidence are paintings depicting a ritual hunt scene with Asian themes, resulting from Alexander’s extensive campaigns to the east.
Most of the ancient artifacts found at Vergina are on display today at a museum at the site of the tombs.
After Alexander’s death, his generals appointed Philip III to take his place, and the half brother claimed Alexander’s royal objects as public symbols to solidify his power, historians suggest.
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/04/080423-alexander-great.html
"The country that runs through my blood"
If more Egyptians remember and honor their wondrous past, a better Egypt is in the future.
Such is the belief of the Heritage Conservation Think Tank, a project co-founded by Hassan Shehawy, 21, and Sherif Abo Al-Hadeed, 23.
Tired of waiting for government action, the two men are strengthening cultural identity through educational programs and activities aimed to raise awareness among young Egyptians of their glorious past. They insist a reform in education is necessary.
The task is as daunting as Egypt’s history is long. The majority of today’s Egyptians are not direct descendants of their pharaonic era predecessors. Like earth strata, Egypt has been adding up to its national identity the beliefs and traditions of diverse cultures over millennia, some of which clash directly with the legacy of their illustrious ancestors.
Ancient and modern Egypt are long estranged brothers. Albeit admiration, how much the younger is willing to identify with and adopt the ways of the elder is another matter. Still, Egyptians have a rich cultural heritage that runs through their veins like the life giving Nile.
“A tree with no roots will not blossom,” says Abo Al-Hadeed. “I want to discover the real history behind Egypt — the country that runs through my blood.”
http://www.egypttoday.com/article.aspx?ArticleID=7972
Amarna Princess statue forger ordered to pay back
Shaun Greenhalgh, the convicted master antiquities forger who deceived museum experts into buying an obviously fake Amarna statue has been sentenced to pay £363,000 to the Bolton Museum. His elderly parents, both in their eighties have also been charged and found guilty.
The statue was authenticated by experts at Christie’s and the British Museum as a 3,300 year old Egyptian piece in the so called Amarna style, during the reign of pharaoh Akhenaten. The Bolton Museum paid Greenbaugh £440,000 for the 52 centimeter high alabaster statue, apparently out of a desire to keep a valuable rare artefact in their collection, despite the clear anomalies in the figure, conveniently headless and also without hands and feet, portions of a figure which are very difficult to replicate exactly. The sinuosity of the posture renders it more like a badly proportioned Greek statuette. But because there are so few authentic sculptures of its kind for comparison 
(see Louvre Amarna sculpture on the left) and, aided by a genuine catalogue of antiquities from 1892 in which the Earl of Egremont was auctioning a headless figure, the master forger was able to convince the museum into acquiring the “priceless masterpiece” for a £60,000 less than the Christies Egyptology department experts had valued it.
Shaun Greenhalgh, currently serving four years and eight months in jail is a self taught artist and sculptor who used his skills to create copies of rare and sought-after masterpieces at the family’s home in The Crescent, Bromley Cross. His father George, aged 84, acted as a convincing salesman and provided carefully researched stories about the origins of every fake they passed off as real. His 83 year old mother Olive made phone calls to unwitting buyers to arrange meetings.
Ironically, the family lives in “abject poverty”, according to Detective Sergeant Vernon Rapley, which makes this another case of talented but unlucky artists who create well crafted artworks not for money or recognition but to fool and expose the expertise of professionals supposed to judge what’s genuine or great in the art world.
First Crocodile Museum opens in Aswan
A new museum located in front of the Temple of Kom Ombo in Aswan will exhibit forty mummified crocodiles, from the smallest specimens, 1.5 meters long, to the real giants of almost five meters of length. Crocodiles were worshipped by the ancient Egyptians. The god Sobek, for whom the Temple of Kom Ombo is dedicated, was represented as a man with a crocodile head.
http://www.ansamed.info/en/egypt/news/ME03.@AM19065.html
Largest tomb even larger
An all-Egyptian archaeological team, the first of its kind in the Valley of the Kings, has discovered that the tomb of pharaoh Seti I, the largest tomb in the valley, is bigger than originally believed.
Giovanni Battista Belzoni, a charismatic circus man turned explorer and egyptologist, discovered the tomb of Seti I, father of Ramses the Great in 1817. He measured the tomb at 328 feet (100 meters). But, according to a report in National Geographic News, the crypt is actually 446 feet (136 meters) in length.
The tomb of Seti I is not only large, but richly decorated and most impressive for its beauty. It was recently featured among the ten greatest Egypt discoveries in a recent documentary by the Discovery Channel. Unfortunately, this tomb is currently closed to visitors.
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/04/080417-seti-tomb.html
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By N2H
