Thursday, June 16, 2005

Let's get the show on the road King Tut returns to dazzle

Pharaohs may never have found the glorious afterlife they were expecting, but one thing about ancient Egypt is eternal -- the popularity of King Tut.

The Boy King -- and his bling -- return to the United States 26 years after his treasures dazzled 8 million museum visitors and created a new category of cultural event: the museum blockbuster.

Even by today's over-the-top standards, the Tutankhamun collection is staggering. This time, curators of "Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharoahs" are packing displays with more than twice as many gold and jewel-encrusted artifacts from the world's most celebrated archaeological discovery. There are 50 objects from the pharaoh's tomb and 70 more from the graves of his noble relatives. All the artifacts are at least 3,300 years old.


CBS article here and check out the photo essay.

NPR's take here.

Yahoo! has a similar photo montage:


"Eh, the CGI ones in "Mummy" were way cooler. Cuz, you know, they moved."


Heeeeey, where are that camel's eyes pointing. . . . .


Aaagh! It's a walking, dessicated. . . oh, uh, never mind.


Um, how about that, another JLH picture. . . .


Fancy that, Zahi's there.


Okay, last one. Promise.

Okay, back to something resembling reality. . .

Ancient structures found near highway

For the first time archeologists in Norway have been able to reveal a large surface area linked to known helleristninger - rock carvings - and the dig has produced results.

Traces of two 12-15 meter (39-49 foot) long constructions have come to light in the middle of the key area for rock engravings in Østfold County, near Solbergkrysset in Skjeberg. A few meters to the side of the longhouses lies a large stone bearing carved drawings of a great ship and a rider on a horse.

"Before we had indications of a dwelling from a posthole. But the find of two fine longhouses is much more than we could have dared to predict," said archeologist Gro Anita Bårdseth of the Museum of Cultural History in Oslo and head of the E6 project.


Not much else coming across the wires today.