CyberNews-05 (2 November 2005)
1) Antiquities thefts in the Sinai
2) BBC Egyptian epic to air
3) Possible damage to London obelisk by overcleaning
4) Tebtunis papyri returned to UC Berkeley's Bancroft Library
5) Live Webcam Captures the Pyramids
6) Stabilization of the Temple of Hibis at Kharga Oasis
7) Mosque of al-Mu'ayyad Shaykh in Cairo to reopen after restoration
8) Odds and ends of Tut stuff
9) Egyptomania items
10) Bowers Museum opens a mummy exhibition
11) Ancient Egyptian mummy robs bank in Vienna, Austria
1) Antiquities thefts in the Sinai
One part of Egypt that perhaps to this day gets scant attention -- the vast desert stretches of the Sinai -- was in the news in the summer of 1937 following the theft of buried antiquities and a subsequent court trial which rendered a surprising verdict. One of the rare occasions when the attention of Egyptian public opinion was turned to the "unknown" part of Egypt occurred in 1937. The cause was what the press labeled "The Ameriya antiquities case" which surfaced in June that year and continued until a ruling was pronounced on 24 May of the following year.
Little did Egyptians know that there was a wealth of Greek and Roman antiquities buried beneath the sands and that these were being unearthed and sold to intermediaries who smuggled them abroad. This startling information was confirmed by reports in the press of a series of "strange charges," as Al-Ahram described them, that were brought against a number of government officials who took advantage of their postings in remote areas for pecuniary gain. Indeed the slate of charges was extensive. According to Al-Ahram, the deputy public prosecutor accused the defendants of "clandestine excavation and trade in antiquities, procuring bribes from companies and contractors, forging official documents and government records, levying illegitimate taxes from the people, subjecting Bedouins to torture and illegal imprisonment for purposes of personal gain, embezzlement of public funds and falsifying evidence in cases before Western Desert provincial courts."
All defendants were acquitted with the exception of one: Wadie Girgis. The former chief clerk of the Eastern Division was sentenced to a year in prison with hard labour, a fine of LE61 and the repayment of the LE30 he had embezzled. Al-Ahram was clearly surprised by the outcome of the trial, which lasted 170 sessions and which produced 2,500 pages worth of documentation. How was it, it wondered, that the defendant who had been charged with 26 counts was let off entirely while Girgis, who initially appeared as a witness for the prosecution, ended up as the only party found guilty? Ultimately, the results can only be chalked up to circumstances in the "other Egypt," where the network of personal relations and the ease of concealing evidence made it almost impossible to make an accusation stick. Little wonder that many newspapers described the trial as the "murky case".
Al-Ahram Weekly Online
http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2005/763/chrncls.htm
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2) BBC Egyptian epic to air
This October, BBC ONE viewers are being offered the opportunity to explore Ancient Egypt through the eyes of some of the finest Egyptologists, adventurers and scholars in recent history: Howard Carter, The Great Belzoni and Jean-François Champollion.
For the first time on British television, the stories of these amazing and truly unique individuals are brought to life in a six-part historical drama-documentary series, which will reveal how the mysteries of Ancient Egypt were uncovered piece by piece by these three incredible men.
The first two, hour-long episodes feature the life and work of Howard Carter, the man who finally uncovered the resting place of Tutankhamun. The third and fourth episodes follow the archaeological adventures of Giovanni Belzoni - a real-life Indiana Jones – as he battles with his French counterpart to be the first to discover lost tombs and fantastic treasures. In the final episodes, the series follows Jean-François Champollion as he struggles to be the first to decipher Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics.
InfoSat
http://www.infosat.lu/Meldungen/index.php?msgID=17800
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The BBC is investigating how its big new docudrama Egypt has overspent by millions of pounds. As the corporation tries to be more cost-conscious in the run-up to charter renewal, it has emerged that despite an agreed increase in its budget, costs are still rising on the epic series on the wonders of the ancient world.
It's understood that the initial budget for the co-production between the BBC and America's The Learning Channel was around £6.5m. But problems filming on location in Egypt, including the weather and illness, meant costs for the six-part series have spiralled. It is understood the producers were initially given another £2m but spending continued to rise. The programme is now in post-production.
Because of the amount of computer wizardry involved in recreating ancient Egypt for the six hour-long episodes, sources estimate that the overspend could reach up to £5m, though the BBC denies this.
Guardian Unlimited
http://media.guardian.co.uk/broadcast/story/0,7493,1592555,00.
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3) Possible damage to London obelisk by overcleaning
And Cleopatra's Needle, the 68ft, 3,450-year-old obelisk on the Embankment, has just had its latest scrub-down - the first since the Seventies and only the second since the late 1900s. Westminster City Council unveiled the newly-cleaned monument today (Thurs) after a £40,000 two-month operation to remove decades of grime and dirt.
"And we are delighted at how stunning the Needle looks following the cleansing operation. The cleaners have brought to life the granite surface and the heiroglyphs, which are already turning the heads of visitors, and I'm sure it will become a major attraction. This was an extremely delicate job and it is testament to the Council's world-class Cleansing Department and its partners that it can apply the same level of expertise to these sort of tasks as it does to keeping the streets of Central London clean."
During the work, a full scaffold was erected and the work, by specialist contractor Antique Bronze Ltd, involved steam cleaning, low pressure water and soap solutions. Two large bronze Victorian Sphinxes on either side were also cleaned, along with the granite base.
City of Westminster Press Release
http://www.westminster.gov.uk/councilgovernmentanddemocracy/councils/pressoffice/news/pr2860.cfm
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Observers have noted and documented damage due to the overcleaning. Interested persons should contact the CyberScribe for details.
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4) Tebtunis papyri returned to UC Berkeley's Bancroft Library
Just a few weeks ago, three tins of ancient papyri belonging to the University of California, Berkeley, finally arrived home, shipped across the Atlantic more than a century after they were collected in Egypt. British archaeologists Bernard Grenfell and Arthur Hunt excavated the temple, town and cemetery of Tebtunis, Egypt, in an expedition for UC Berkeley in the winter of 1899-1900 at the behest of university benefactress Phoebe Apperson Hearst. After uncovering a treasure trove of papyri and artifacts, they brought them to their home base at Oxford for study and publication of selected pieces.
After the first two volumes were published, further publication was slowed by the illness and death of the two scholars, so the papyri remained at Oxford for longer than expected, said Todd Hickey, a papyrologist and curator of the Center for Tebtunis Papyri at UC Berkeley's Bancroft Library. Although much of the material was eventually sent to the campus from the late 1930s through the '50s, additional containers remained overlooked, Hickey said.
More information about the Center for Tebtunis Papyri is available online at: tebtunis.berkeley.edu.
UC Berkeley News
http://www.berkeley.edu/news/media/releases/2005/10/18_tebtunis.shtml
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5) Live Webcam Captures the Pyramids
The Pyramids of Egypt are arguably the most famous and grandest of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, yet only a small percentage of people have ever viewed them live -- until now. PyramidCam.com provides the first live view of these ancient and beautiful monuments, seen through the lens of a high definition network camera (http://www.pyramidcam.com).
"The Internet and network cameras make it possible for anyone with a computer to view the Pyramids during the daylight hours in Cairo in all their varying moods under changing light and local weather conditions," said Jim Sorenson of PyramidCam.com. "Our main objective is to make the Pyramids visually available to the entire world on a real-time basis: to schools and universities; to those who cannot travel; and to those who only know them from pictures in books, from television or from scanned photos taken off the web."
The high definition network camera used at PyramidCam.com is from StarDot Technologies (http://www.stardot-tech.com), a southern California corporation, best know for its high profile cameras seen on the Yosemite and Yellowstone National Park web sites. "This is such an exciting use of technology -- to be able to provide a live view of the Pyramids for the entire world to see," said Vance Kozik, StarDot's Product Manager. "Capturing the majesty of these great monuments is a perfect application for our high definition NetCam IP cameras."
Yahoo.Finance
http://biz.yahoo.com/iw/051026/099180.html
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PyramidCam was established with two major objectives in mind: First, we want to show the beauty and grandeur of the Pyramids to those in the world community who may never have the chance to visit Egypt. Second, by providing live high resolution color images of the Pyramids over the Internet, we hope to encourage those who have thought about visiting Egypt as a tourist destination to do so. Viewing our live images provides a unique visual experience that cannot be captured by photographs in books, television, or from scanned tourist photos published on the web. Our particular vantage point and the way our cameras have been deployed to view the Pyramids is special - however, to fully feel and appreciate their magnificence and beauty; their physical impact and their many moods and facets, you must eventually travel here and see for yourself.
If you've just joined us, I'd like to remind you that PyramidCam provides the best viewing around our sunrise and sunset. In the early morning, when the sun is rising - the first two hours of daylight furnish the optimum illumination for bright sharp images and clear rich colors. When the weather is misty or foggy in the Nile Valley and the sun begins to warm the atmosphere and burn off that fog, Khufu and Khafre will slowly emerge out of the mist like two huge ships, tops appearing first - a viewing delight.
The best viewing times for timezone will be posted shortly so you can join us at optimum viewing times and capture that once in a lifetime Pyramid picture when it happens. A schedule of sunrise and sunset times for Cairo for 2005 is available on the main menu if you click 'Viewing Times'.
http://www.pyramidcam.com/
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6) Stabilization of the Temple of Hibis at Kharga Oasis
But for the past decade the Cintec team have been doing their bit for archaeology in ancient Egypt, stabilising mosques many hundreds of years old, after damage from the earthquakes of the early 1990s. And today they're in the middle of their most exciting venture yet: restoring the Temple of Hibis in the Kharga Oasis.
The Temple of Hibis, the largest in the area, was built in the Persian period, started in 558BC, probably by King Amun-Re, and completed 36 years later in 522BC by Darius I, making it around 2,500 years old. In ancient times, the temple was dedicated to three gods who formed the Theban triad - Amun (patron of wind and the sun), Mut (patron of the sky and of mothers) and Khonsu (their son, and god of the moon).
The temple used to be surrounded by a lake, but today it stands in the dust. And despite the changing water levels, which caused a fair amount of damage to the ancient structure, the Hibis is the best preserved of the temples in the Kharga Oasis.
IC Wales
http://icwales.icnetwork.co.uk/0100news/features/tm_objectid=16206663&method=full&siteid=50082&headline=the-pyramid-savers-name_page.html
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7) Mosque of al-Mu'ayyad Shaykh in Cairo to reopen after restoration
The "mosque of al-Mu'ayyad Shaykh ... will be opened within the next few weeks after the completion of its renovation work" which cost up to 14 million Egyptian pounds (about 2.43 million US dollars), Hosni was quoted as saying by the official MENA news agency. The mosque, built between 1415 and 1422, had suffered from years of exposure to the corrosive effect of subterranean water and its condition grew even worse after the earthquake that hit Egypt in October 1992, according to the report.
Rehabilitation of the mosque lasted five years and were mainly carried out by specialized Egyptian technicians, but foreign experts helped to repair the mosque's mural, said Hosni. The mosque is part of a complex built by Sultan al-Mu'ayyad who was reigning between 1412 and 1421.
People’s Daily Online
http://english.people.com.cn/200510/03/eng20051003_212216.html
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8) Odds and ends of Tut stuff
Banking on the likelihood that Tutankhamun is still funky, rock concert promoter AEG decided to back a second US tour for the boy king, and LACMA is the lead venue in the US tour. The show, which runs until 15 November, has been assailed as profit-motivated popular entertainment, or as Los Angeles Times critic Christopher Knight puts it, “an ethically dubious ode to the cash register”.
The financial arrangement serves the Egyptians and AEG far more than the museum, which may be seen as an instrument of profit for the other parties. But Ms Kanschat explains that it made sense for LACMA from a financial standpoint: “All of the out of pocket expenses and overheads are paid for by AEG. There is really no financial downside for LACMA.” She says the only outlay was LACMA curators’ time, and the contract ensures the museum is reimbursed for installation, equipment and extra support staff.
By early September, 600,000 tickets had sold, and total attendance was projected to approach one million, placing the exhibition second in overall attendance only to the 1.2 million attracted by the 1979 show. Ms Kanschat expects the exhibition will earn LACMA $1.5 million or more. But critics still say the enterprise is too commercial. They say the ticket price is excessive (adult tickets cost $25 on weekdays and $30 on weekends, plus a $3.75 “convenience charge” through AEG), but Ms Kanschat says polling in the galleries supports the ticket price. She points to their sales as further evidence: “I say the critics are wrong. This is very much about providing the opportunity to see these rare and important works in Los Angeles. It’s been very popular.” Jason
The Art Newspaper
http://www.theartnewspaper.com/article01.asp?id=19
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Hallmark Entertainment is producing a TV miniseries about the discovery of King Tut`s tomb starring Malcolm McDowell and Casper Van Dien. The company recently wrapped shooting in India on the four-hour 'The Curse of King Tut`s Tomb,' the Hollywood Reporter said Tuesday. The miniseries is a fact-based fantasy adventure set mostly in the 1920s with flashbacks to ancient Egypt.
Van Dien plays an archaeologist in the 1920s and McDowell appears as Van Dien`s nemesis, the Reporter said.
SmallScreen News
http://smallscreen.monstersandcritics.com/article_1052539.php/Hallmark_has_King_Tut_miniseries_in_works
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The stiff jab on my shoulder jolted me into consciousness. I looked through weary eyes and met my husband's stern gaze.
"Only you could fall asleep in the middle of a crowded museum," he barked. Actually, that wasn't true. There were several of us seated on benches and propped up against walls dozing. We were all the victims of mismatched couples. I mean sure, two people can see eye to eye on things like having children, where they'll live and whether to resuscitate, but inevitably, some things missed the cut.
So there I was at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art's "Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs" exhibit. I tried, I really did. I'd look at a vase, a chair or a statue and just think, "this looks an awful lot like the stuff I see at Pier 1, and I don't have to pay $30 for a ticket to get in."
Diana Sholley is a staff writer. Her column runs every other Sunday and the third Tuesday of the month. Contact her at (909) 483-8542 or e-mail d_sholley@dailybulletin.com.
San Bernadino Sun
http://www2.sbsun.com/entertainment/ci_3078984#top
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9) Egyptomania items
Egyptian motifs are found throughout our culture, he notes, in everything from tattoos (the ankh and the eye of Horus are particularly popular) to the pyramid on the back side of the $1 bill and that towering obelisk, the Washington Monument, far taller than any ancient Egypt ever had.
(A series of examples follows)
Sun Sentinel - Fort Lauderdale, Florida
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/features/lifestyle/sfl-liegypt-sideoct13,0,4746691.story?coll=sfla-features-headlines
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Since visitors first brought back tales of great pyramids and fabulous pharaohs, ancient Egypt has fascinated outsiders as a land of extravagant beauty and inexplicable mystery. Yet for years Hollywood and pop culture too often reduced one of the world's great civilizations to stereotypes of Boris Karloff's mummy, King Tut's curse and The Rock's "Scorpion King."
Thankfully a charming new exhibit at the Worcester Art Museum reveals the wonder Europeans felt as they once again encountered Egypt through the prism of 19th-century art. The new show "Egyptomania: Modern Fascination for an Ancient Civilization" captures the European flush of excited curiosity about Egypt that still continues today. It features 55 oil paintings and watercolors, photographs and prints, and a 2,600-year-old sarcophagus holding the mummified remains of a royal child.
The Worcester Art Museum is located at 55 Salisbury St. in Worcester. Hours are Wednesday through Sunday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., Thursday 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Saturday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
MetroWest Daily News
http://www.metrowestdailynews.com/artsCulture/view.bg?articleid=110393
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10) Bowers Museum opens a mummy exhibition
Bowers Unwraps a New Mummy Exhibit. Hailing from the deserts of Egypt, across the Atlantic Ocean, and now settled snugly for a limited time in Orange County, comes the Bowers Museum’s “Mummies: Death and the Afterlife in Ancient Egypt … Treasures from the British Museum.”
This mummy exhibit, designed by Paul Johnson, who is the Bowers Museum director of exhibition design, introduces visitors to the Egyptian perspective of death and the afterlife through 140 ancient Egyptian artifacts, including 14 actual mummies and coffins, the largest exhibition to be shown by the British Museum outside of the United Kingdom.
The Bowers Museum is open from Tuesday through Sunday from 11 am to 4 pm. Student admission is priced at $12 on weekdays and $14 on the weekends.
UC Irvine New University
http://horus.vcsa.uci.edu/article.php?id=4063
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11) Ancient Egyptian mummy robs bank in Vienna, Austria
A bank robber dressed as an Egyptian mummy staged a successful raid on a bank in Vienna. The bandage-clad robber walked into a bank in the Austrian capital and stood in line waiting to be served. He then passed the cashier a piece of paper saying he had a hand grenade hidden in his bandages - and demanded all the money.
He then quietly walked out with a bag filled with cash before police could arrive.
Ananova
http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_1569756.html
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Thats bizarre: Cashiers were left stunned when their bank was raided - by an Egyptian mummy. The bandaged robber allegedly marched into the bank, in Vienna, and politely queued up with the other customers.
But when it was the thief's turn he passed the nervous bank teller a note saying he had a hand grenade tucked beneath his binding - and demanded she fill a sack with money. The panicked employee quickly handed over a sack of cash and the 'mummy' fled.
Police now fear the robber may strike again and have warned all banks to be alert to anyone in bandages.
FemaleFirst
http://www.femalefirst.co.uk/entertainment/100602004.htm
[EDITOR'S NOTE: this story appears to fall very close to an 'urban myth'...]
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