Egyptology news and gossip

News and Gossip

News for 2003

14 October 2003	10 October 2003
More on Qantir and on the Bolton statue An account of the tablet in cuneiform found at Qantir has appeared in al-Ahram Weekly: http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2003/659/hr2.htm The Amarna statue in Bolton has been successfully acquired: http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,3604,1052408,00.html	IAE Grenoble 2004 'The best-kept secret in Egyptology' is how I have heard described the registration form for the IAE conference next year: http://www.fak12.uni-muenchen.de/aegyp/IAEPage.html
25 September 2003	24 September 2003
Cuneiform at Qantir? A report on an Austrian web site indicates that the Hildesheim expedition at Qantir in the Delta (site of Per-ramses) may have found a cuneiform tablet, which could be part of the diplomatic archive of Ramesses II. Readers may recall that such an idea was floated a couple of years back by the excavators, but there now appears to be some evidence for it. http://science.orf.at/science/news/90425	Zahi Hawass on current issues in Egypt A very interesting article in al-Ahram which deals with a number of current issues, including foreigners in Egypt, the Nefertiti affair, and the Rosetta Stone. http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2003/656/hr2.htm Museum of medicine in Cairo http://www.uk.sis.gov.eg/online/html10/o160923.htm
1 September 2003	1 September 2003
Nefertiti? The best account so far of the matter of the mummy in the tomb of Amenhotep II in the Valley of the Kings has appeared in al-Ahram Weekly: http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2003/653/eg8.htm	Bolton Museum The museum in Bolton is hoping to buy a piece of Amarna sculpture which has been for a long time in a private collection: http://www.manchesteronline.co.uk/news/stories/Detail_LinkStory=66481.html
12 August 2003	11 August 2003
James F. Romano From Richard Fazzini at the Brooklyn Museum of Art: It is with great sadness that the members of the Department of Egyptian, Classical and Ancient Middle Eastern Art of the Brooklyn Museum of Art announce the death of friend and Curator James F. Romano on August 11, 2003, as a result of injuries sustained in an automobile accident. [1/9/03 Ed: There is now an obituary at the New York Times at http://www.nytimes.com/2003/08/16/obituaries/16ROMA.html Regrettably it is only possible to get to this by logging in, and for copyright reasons I should not reproduce it here.] [This has been a truly awful week for losses in Egyptology]	Sarah J. Clackson From James Clackson: Sarah Clackson died peacefully at home at 3.00 p.m. on Sunday August 10th. Her funeral will take place at the West Chapel, Cambridge Crematorium, at 12.45 p.m. on Tuesday 19th August. Sarah did not want people to send flowers, but rather that money be donated to a fund in her name, to enable scholars to access her papers which will be held in the Archive of the Griffith Institute, Oxford, and to further her work in Coptic and papyrology. Cheques should be made out to the University of Oxford Development Trust (an accompanying note should say that it is for the Sarah (J.) Clackson Coptic Fund) and sent to: University of Oxford Development Office (attention Paul Rickett) Oxenford House Magdalen Street Oxford OX1 3AB UK Further details about overseas payments available here [Sarah Clackson was the Wallis Budge Fellow in Egyptology at Christ's College, Cambridge and Britain's foremost Coptologist].
30 July 2003
Tuna el-Gebel Reports on the work of the German Mission at this site have surfaced in Australia: http://www.abc.net.au/science/news/stories/s901864.htm
4 July 2003	27 June 2003
On 26 June, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit upheld the conviction of Frederick Schultz, a prominent New York Antiquities Dealer. See a Press Release on the web site of the Archaeological Institute of America.	A report in al-Ahram Weekly indicates that a design has now been chosen for the new Egyptian Museum in Cairo. http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2003/642/he1.htm
19 June 2003	5 March 2003
Wilbour lists After a break of the best part of three years, I am glad to say that the Wilbour Library accession lists are now being added to this site again. Follow this link to find out about them. Apologies My apologies for the lack of information over the past few months. A combination of various family troubles and breaking my laptop computer have made it next to impossible to find the time to deal with this page properly.	Death on the Nile' set I realise this is rather close to commercialism, but readers may be interested to know that one of the sets for the film 'Death on the Nile' is for sale. This set I am told purports to be of the tomb of Sety I, although the shot I have seen of it is a pastiche of a private tomb and that of Nefertari. Anyone with further interest should look at the web site of the sellers, The London Architectural Salvage & Supply Co. http://www.lassco.co.uk/antiques I believe the guide price is along the lines of that of a very small car.
17 February 2003 [Cyberscribe]
Possible new temple of Ramesses II near Ehasynia Foundation plaques found near Ehasynia (ancient Herakleopolis, near Beni Suef) indicate the presence of a Ramesside temple. Egyptian State Information Service: http://www.uk.sis.gov.eg/online/html8/o120123k.htm Also news of a cemetery at Ehasynia itself: Egyptian State Information Service: http://www.uk.sis.gov.eg/online/html8/o291222g.htm	More URLs on the statues in the Sudan Quickwire: www.iol.co.za/index.php?click_id=143&art_id=qw1042995240187B235&set_id=1 Middle East OnLine: http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=4068 Temple of Hibis Water table problems over the years have taken their toll on the temple of Hibis in Kharga. It has now been decided not to move the temple and to protect it in other ways. Egypt State Information Service: http://www.uk.sis.gov.eg/online/html8/o060223o.htm
4 February 2003	30 January 2003
László Kákosy News has come from Budapest of the death on 29th January, 2003 of László Kákosy, for many years occupant of the only chair of Egyptology in Hungary. Prof. Kákosy was an expert in Egyptian religion of the later periods, and for many years had been excavating at Thebes. We got to know him and his colleagues when we were working close to each other in the 1980s, and had many good times with them. He will be missed. I shall add any obituaries here as they are announced. This information came from István Nagy.	New discoveries at Saqqara and Tell Basta A new tomb at Saqqara and a statue at Bubastis; article in al-Ahram Weekly: http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2003/622/he2.htm The Bubastis statue is also mentioned elsewhere: http://www.uk.sis.gov.eg/online/html8/o040123a.htm http://www.arabicnews.com/ansub/Daily/Day/030104/2003010430.html Nubia The Swiss Mission in the Sudan has found a cache of statues (BBC): http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/2677919.stm Article about Zahi Hawwass Zahi talks about the Hidden Treasures exhibition and other things in al-Ahram Weekly: http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2003/621/he2.htm
3 February 2003
More on stolen antiquities An unconfirmed report on the web indicates that a senior official in the Stolen Antiquities Office of the SCA has been arrested in connection with stolen objects: http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_743828.html
21 January 2003	4 January 2003
Examination of the mummy said to be Ramesses I Back in July I reported on the suggestion being made by the Carlos Museum in Atlanta that one of their mummies, originally in the Niagara Falls collection, was that of Ramesses I. Readers may recall my extreme scepticism at the time, and that I suspected a publicity stunt, compounded by the offer, apparently now accepted, of returning the mummy to Egypt. Now the scientist who examined the mummy in the 1980s has re-examined his files and the X-rays, and has come to the conclusion that there are no grounds on available evidence for making this association. The only way to obtain more evidence would be to compare DNA samples with the mummies of Sety I and Ramesses II in Cairo. The report (in German only I'm afraid) may be found at: http://www.uni-tuebingen.de/aegyptologie/y0mumie.htm	Reinstalled galleries in Brooklyn from April I have been sent a press release by the Brooklyn Museum of Art about their new installation opening in April.
12 December 2002 [Cyberscribe]
Zahi Hawass on the new rules for foreign missions An article in al-Ahram Weekly gives Zahi Hawass' perspective on the new rules for foreign missions working in Egypt. [Cyberscribe] New objects puled from the sea at Alexandria See an article in the Egyptian State Information Service. [Cyberscribe] Also a couple of articles by Jill Kamil on the city in al-Ahram Weekly. http://www.ahram.org.eg/weekly/2002/605/hr3.htm http://www.ahram.org.eg/weekly/2002/605/hr1.htm. [Cyberscribe] An article on the forthcoming 'Hidden Treasures' in Cairo From AP and the Tampa Tribune [Cyberscribe] ROM al-Ahram Weekly has a story with the history of the Royal Ontario Museum's involvement in Egypt. Charterhouse School This English public school has caused great controversy by selling off its collection, including a number of objects given to it by the Egypt Exploration Society. See an article in the Surrey Advertiser. The school has proved deaf to appeals and criticism; the Egyptians are also mounting a legal challenge. This reference is due to [Cyberscribe]	Egypt Exploration Society An article on the history of the society has appeared in al-Ahram Weekly.[Cyberscribe] Second solar boat at Giza and articles on the pyramids It is reported that the Japanese have offered a grant to set up a project to work on this boat. See the Egyptian State Information Service [Cyberscribe] Al-Ahram has had a couple of articles on the Great Pyramid [Cyberscribe] http://www.ahram.org.eg/weekly/2002/607/her3.htm http://www.ahram.org.eg/weekly/2002/607/her1.htm Stolen antiquities Yahoo News has a story on some returned antiquities. [Cyberscribe] Egyptian temple at Hadrian's villa Times Online has a story about an Egyptian temple found at Hadrian's villa [Cyberscribe] Japanese work at Saqqara Report in al-Ahram Weekly; report from Egyptian State Information Service [Cyberscribe]