Archive for February, 2010

Four people were killed and more than 50 hurt as bad weather wreaked havoc across Egypt, pelting the capital with a freak hail storm and smashing a luxury liner into a pier, officials and media said Friday. In the northern Mediterranean city of Alexandria, waves as high as a two-storey building pounded the coast, media... »

Saudi Arabia handed over three valuable artifacts that were intercepted at King Khaled International Airport in Riyadh to their rightful owners in Egypt. The artifacts, which were being smuggled in a silver Qur’an cover, were given to the Egyptian Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA) delegation at the King Abdul Aziz Historical Center, the Saudi Commission... »

Egypt’s parliament voted by an overwhelming majority on Saturday to regulate organ transplants in a bid to curb illegal trafficking and tourism over the issue. The law bans commercial trade in organs as well as transplants between Egyptians and foreigners, except in cases of husband and wife. Operations in government hospitals are to be financed by... »

New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art presents the special exhibition Tutankhamun’s Funeral from March 16 to September 6, 2010. The installation features 60 objects used in the mummification and religious rituals associated with the boy-king’s burial. Most of the artifacts are derived from the museum’s permanent collection. The museum’s installation is greatly enhanced by the... »

Image via Wikipedia A study looking at the impact of poverty on children in Egypt reveals that while significant progress has been made, vulnerable children continue to face serious deprivations. The study – Child Poverty and Disparities in Egypt: Building the social infrastructure for Egypt’s future – is the first such study in the country that... »

Image via Wikipedia Reporter Christine Bates has written a very insightful article called To the Pyramids and Back: What Guidebooks Don’t Tell You about her recent tour of Egypt. There’s no such thing as a perfect tour. That’s mostly advertising jargon. As I’ve always tried in All-About-Egypt and in this blog to bring a fair picture... »

Image via Wikipedia UPDATE: June 28, 2010 – German researchers at the Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine in the northern city of Hamburg said in a letter published online Wednesday by the Journal of the American Medical Association that closer scrutiny of Tutankhamun’s foot bones pointed to sickle cell disease, in which red blood... »

Around 35 million of Egypt’s 80 million people are in the state health insurance system, according to the Health Ministry, and most of the rest are supposed to get free health care. Those seeking free treatment must make their case at a Health Ministry office and, if successful, receive an official letter authorizing public hospitals... »

The Ruhr Museum in Essen in the west of Germany has now assembled a show entitled, The Great Game: Archaeology and Politics in the Colonial Period. It takes a look at the treasure-hunting era before archaeology settled down to become just another academic subject. Charlotte Truempler, head of the archaeology department of the new museum,... »

Sixty-seven families in the Warraq and Imbaba Airport area in North Giza have been evicted from their homes after the land was sold to investors to establish new housing projects. The Ministry of Housing, Utilities, and Urban Development had initially reportedly promised to evict the families only when the alternative housing units were ready. The... »