Not a Loan

This article is on the Rosetta stone and Egypt's Secretary general of the Supreme counsel of antiquities desire to have it back not as a loan but permanent. In recent weeks Dr. Zahi Hawass has become less diplomatic with not only the British museum but also Berlin's Neues museum over a bust of an Amarna queen and the Louvre over frescoes now returned, though Dr. Hawass still expects the Louvre to give back to Egypt the Denderah Zodiac.

Interesting in the article was the mention that the good doctor also wants the statue of Ramses II in the Museo Egizio in Turin, Italy. A statue Dr. Hawass said himself he did not appreciate that was until the museum installed new lighting.

Dr. Hawass has long been known for the chip on his shoulder against Egypt's former colonial overlords, as a result his wrath is directed at the benefactors of those powers including the Louvre and the British museum. Berlin only comes into the game since the bust of the queen has been stolen in his mind and maybe so.

In Dr. Hawass' favour it must be said that he has been asking for these to be loaned to Egypt for more than five years with only the loan of the statue of Hemiunu otherwise the rest of the asked institutions have basically ignored his requests.

Unfortunately over the last five years Dr. Hawass' intentions have become most clear particularly with Berlin's bust. Such a threatening environment created by the doctor may have left other institutions wondering how you can lend an object in good faith to someone who believes you stole it from them?

Frescoes Returned

Here is a nice picture of one of the frescoes taken from the 3200 year old tomb of Tetiky in the Theban necropolis. Egypt's Supreme council of antiquities had recently cut off the Louvre's concessions in Egypt over the frescoes.

The Cash Register in the Desert

Dr Zahi Hawass said:

"Even though we had allowed people to take pictures in the Valley, people continued to bribe the guards and take cameras into the tombs and use flash."

I would be curious to know what exactly does a guard make working in the valley of kings? People who make a decent living will respect their jobs and be better employees. That being said the root of the problem is the infection known as tourists who bring their manners, whatever that's worth, and a pocket full of cash.

A thousand U.S. dollars to a guard in the valley of kings will get me what special treatment? Is this a lot of money to a guard in the valley of kings? Is $5000 enough for me to take pictures in the tomb of Seti I or would it be cheaper on an official level?

Three thousand dollars gets me into Nefertari's tomb in the valley of queens but can I take pictures or is that extra? The problem of bribery of the guards is the history of the valley of kings in a nut shell. The pharaohs knew this as did the priests of the necropolis and nothing has changed.

The best that can be expected would be for clear guidelines being handed out in a booklet to every tourist who enters Egypt, proper pay to the employees of the Supreme council of antiquities and tourists behaving properly.

Okay so its hopeless the rich will still visit the valley of kings while the once in a life timers will be herded into the faux valley where there will be no point to bribe a guard and they will all wear hats that say "Disney" with cobras on the front of them !

The Courtiers of Khufu and Khafra

These 30 odd old kingdom reserve heads as they are known appear to be funerary in nature. Nearly all are carved of white limestone but at least one is made from Nile mud.

Many appear to be actual portraits while some are too idealized to be portraits of the tomb owners in which all the heads were found.

Harvard Egyptologist Dr. George Reisner found most of the heads in tombs from the fourth dynasty at Giza relating to courtiers of Pharaoh's Khufu and Khafre. One was found by Jacques de Morgan in 1894 at Saqqara.

One of the heads was undisturbed since the day of burial and was found in the burial chamber next to the sarcophagus. The other heads were found scattered around the tombs and in their shafts discarded by ancient robbers.

One of the heads which came from Giza tomb G4940B and now in the Boston museum of fine arts has a heavily plastered attachment to its face and holes indicating the ears were in another material. Some have suggested the heads were created as molds for funerary masks.

The heads show that the royal court of this dynasty contained members of a number of races. The practice of mummification at this period was not perfected and these heads may be an early form of Ka statue for this nearly three dozen courtiers of the fourth dynasty.

Where did these reserve heads come out of and why did they not integrate into the conventions of Egyptian funerary sculpture? What had been the need for limestone heads with their features in plaster? Could it have been part of the death rituals, the act of coating the limestone head and modelling its features may have evolved in the 5th dynasty to the coating of the human mummy with the same modelling represented in the reserve heads? That mummies like Nefer/Watay in the 5th dynasty which are sculpted out of plaster could be the descendants of these heads in the 5th dynasty with the mummies being far rarer than the preceding reserve heads.

The heads are unlike the seradab statues of the same dynasty which feature individual Egyptians in full frontal poses from head to toe with their families. Many of these much more elaborate constructions are for people of much lower status than those represented by the 30 odd reserve heads who are the prince's and princess's and their partners of the kings court.

The head of Princess Merytyetes bears a distinct dignity her head slightly upturned bearing her royal constitution while her husbands head which is better preserved does not posses her haughty disposition but rather a calming smile. Many like the royal couple just mentioned are wearing skull caps like that worn by the God Ptah while some are bald.

The heads may have led to the development of plaster mummies in the middle of the Old kingdom with limited success and the 4th dynasty convention of reserve heads became obsolete.

Five Books That Will Make Great Gifts

If you have an Egyptophile on your gift list and you do not know what to get them here are 5 books well worth reading.

1. The Secret of the Great Pyramid by Bob Brier and Jean-Pierre Houdin

Though more than 4500 years old the authors convincingly read the intentions of the pyramids architect Hemiunu making the theory on its building a real possibility.

No doubt this story will have legs for years to come hopefully someday real proof will prove whether the theory was right or not but for now this book is an excellent read on the building of the great pyramid.

2. The Complete Valley of Kings by Nicholas Reeves and Richard H. Wilkinson

The facts of the book are excellent and there are many images I have not seen before including the objects from the foundation deposits in front of the tomb of Amenhotep III.

I thought the book was a delight of details of importance to the average reader like myself who loves everything I can find on the valley of Kings and will be referencing its many charts and details for years to come.

3. The Royal Tombs of Egypt by Zahi Hawass

This is certainly the most beautiful of books on my list but it is a large and heavy coffee table book making it difficult to read. Dr. Hawass places very helpful descriptions of the texts that of the "Amduat" and "the book of gates" as well as other sacred books which were drawn on the walls of the kings tombs from the valley of kings.

The price tag, the size and the subject matter make this excellent book much more appealing to a mature reader than a younger one. I will happily now use this lovely book for years to come as solid reference material.

4. Ancient Lives by John Romer

This book is written from the thousands of unique documents that survive from the ancient community of Deir El Medinah, the builders of the tombs in the Valley of Kings. The story is crafted to reveal a community of privilege who's members are at once orderly and human, highly respected and high spirited.

Truly "Ancient lives" is John Romer's masterpiece and one of the finest compositions I have read.

5. The Search for Nefertiti by Joann Fletcher

Ms. Fletcher's charms are apparent right from the start of this 380 page book and it is not long before the book heats up and starts becoming fascinating. The authors knowledge on mummies is well justified from her research and intelligent view.

Whether the mummy in question is Nefertiti is still up to dispute but the book itself is a good read and I would recommend it to anyone interested in Egyptology or mummies.