And now. . . .the news from the EEF
The German refusal to lending the Nefertiti bust to Egypt:
http://www.eux.tv/article.aspx?articleId=6374
"Generally speaking we welcome loans of objects within the
international museum community. But experts have voiced
considerable reservations about a lengthy transportation of
Nefertiti from a conservation and restoration point of view."
[But note that in 2003, the museum allowed artists to
temporarily attach the bust to a bronze statue...]
-- Other press reports about this:
http://snipurl.com/1h77m
[http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601088&
sid=a3TFUp1cnxqM]
http://snipurl.com/1h77o
[http://www.expatica.com/actual/article.asp?subchannel
_id=52&story_id=38746]
http://snipurl.com/1h77z
[http://www.metimes.com/storyview.php?StoryID=
20070416-041304-1311r]
The Egyptian reaction to this refusal:
http://snipurl.com/1h783
[http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=588&
art_id=nw20070415235514842C565378]
"(Egypt) will never again organise antiquities exhibitions in
Germany if it refuses a [renewed] request, to be issued next
week, to allow the bust of Nefertiti to be displayed in Egypt for
three months," antiquities supremo Zahi Hawass said."
-- Another, rather different, press report about this:
http://snipurl.com/1h786
[http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/04/07041
8-nefertiti-egypt.html]
""They fear we will be like Raiders of the Lost Ark and we will
take it and not give it back," said Hawass (...) "It will be a
scientific war" [if the request is refused]. (..) Hawass said Egypt
didn't consider the Nefertiti bust to be a looted antiquity. (..)
"Still, it is one of a handful of truly singular Egyptian antiquities
still in foreign hands. "I really want it back," he said. " [Note
that under II.b, ZH says that the Germans have smuggled the
bust to Germany in 1914 and that he will reclaim it if the
loan request is denied... Under II.e, the Germans say the bust
was exported in 1913, with all the needed paperwork and
stamps of the Egyptian authorities.]
Press report: "Dig this: Forget the mummy's curse. The real
power of ancient objects lies in their ability to piece together
the past"
http://www.newsobserver.com/105/story/564409.html
Interview with Caroline Rocheleau, "who, as a curatorial
research fellow at the N.C. Museum of Art, helped put
together the new "Temples and Tombs: Treasures of
Egyptian Art From the British Museum" for its Raleigh run. "
Press report: "Mummy's the word for museum meeting.
Native digs deep, finds answers to local historical treasure."
http://snipurl.com/1h79u
[http://www.pal-item.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/
20070414/NEWS01/704140303]
"Bonnie M. Sampsell has been a super sleuth, helping the
Wayne County Historical Museum answer many questions
about its mummy and its Egyptian collection; (..) last summer
she began cataloging the artifacts, researching the collection
and updating the mummy's display.(..) The mummy has long
been believed to be a priestess because of the markings on
the sarcophagus, but the expert in Egyptian skeletons that
Sampsell consulted in Cairo believes the mummy is a man."
[Video of (AFAIK) this mummy at
http://www.waynecountyhistoricalmuseum.com/exhibits.htm#Mummy ]
Press report: "Restoring Djoser's Step Pyramid"
http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2007/841/he1.htm
Description of the complex and the plans with it.
"Now, following three years of archaeological and
scientific studies, a comprehensive restoration project
to save and preserve this great pyramid from further
destruction has been outlined." The three phases
of the project are sketched.
Press report: "University researchers study mummy
using modern technology"
http://snipurl.com/1h7a5
[http://media.www.studlife.com/media/storage/paper337/
news/2007/04/18/News/University.Researchers.Study.
Mummy.Using.Modern.Technology-2848779.shtml]
"Washington University researchers have recently made
a series of important discoveries based on examinations of
the bones and DNA of a mummy recently added to the
permanent collection of the St. Louis Science Center. (..)
>From the scan, the scientists determined that the baby
mummy was a boy (..) between seven to eight months old (..).
The baby's mitochondrion sequencing suggests that his
mother was from the haplogroup which was found in Europe.
Hildebolt said that this conclusion fits. "Greeks and Romans
often adapted burial practices of the Egyptians, it is
certainly possible that the mother was Greek or Roman." "
The 'Internet Archive' website has a lot of digitized material:
http://www.archive.org/index.php
If you search under 'All Media Types' with "ancient Egypt",
then you get several 19th c./ start 20th c. books, digitized
in several formats. E.g. books by John Wilson, Arthur Weigall,
James Breasted, and Henry Rhind.
The widest appeal may have:
Patrick Boylan, Thoth, the Hermes of Egypt: a study of some
aspects of theological thought in ancient Egypt (1922)
http://www.archive.org/details/thoththehermes00boyluoft
Unfortunately the books come in very large files.
Peter Dorman, Betsy Bryan (Eds.), Sacred Space and Sacred
Function in Ancient Thebes. SAOC 61, Oriental Institute
Chicago, 2007. List of contributors at:
http://oi.uchicago.edu/research/pubs/catalog/electronic.html
The book is available as PDF (7,58 MB) at:
http://oi.uchicago.edu/pdf/saoc61.pdf
Proceedings of a session of the Theban Workshop held
at the British Museum in September 2003.
[Submitted by Chuck Jones ]
The 11 plate volumes and 9 text volumes of the monumental
'Description de l'Egypte' have been digitized and put online:
http://descegy.bibalex.org/
End of EEF news