The Year 2013 in Egyptology

  
           Dedicated to Sameh Ahmed Abdel Hafiz, who this year
              lost his life in the storming of the Malawi Museum

January brought finds in the mortuary complex of Amenhotep II, which included late-period burials. This news was better than the end of last year, which saw the king's mummy in the Cairo museum have one of his toes fall off, don't you just hate when that happens!

Throughout the spring, discoveries were coming in at the excavations in the mortuary temple of Amenhotep III, but it was in early February that colossal statues of the king were rediscovered with a view to re-erecting them.

March started off with a sewage pipe bursting in the boat museum next to the Great Pyramid at Giza. No damage occurred to the boat, but the message was clear that the boat would not last forever and that perhaps a reason for the second boat currently being restored to be resealed back in its pit for a distant future.

By the middle of April, a port was discovered bearing stones with the IV Dynasty King Khufu's cartouches, as well as a rare discovery of dozens of Old Kingdom papyrus' in nearby caves.

May brought an unfortunate act of graffiti at Luxor temple when a teenage tourist scratched his name into a relief, much to the regret of his nation.

In July, archaeologists working in northern Israel found the paws of a statue of a sphinx of the IV Dynasty Egyptian King Mycerinus. The sphinx, the only one known of for this king from the 27th century BC, was probably brought to Israel a thousand years after its creation, perhaps as plunder or a diplomatic gift. The excavators are hoping the rest of the statue is nearby!

By July, Egypt's elected President Morsi had granted himself unlimited powers to legislate above judicial review, and with this, a military council which included the defense minister, opposition leader, and the new Coptic pope came to a decision with the end result on July 3, President Morsi was arrested and removed from office.

The beginning of August brought continuing chaos, and six stone fragments of ancient sculpture, including a red granite fragment of a statue of a king's throne, came to light. The artifacts were declared stolen when they were brought to Christie's auction house to be sold.

 

 The year's great tragedy comes from the middle of August when the Malawi Museum was stormed by protesters who killed the ticket taker and stole just about everything in the museum, including a statuette of a daughter of Akhenaten, the heretic Pharaoh. The statuette was recovered by police, along with about 800 of the 1050 artifacts stolen are now back.

September contained perhaps this year's biggest mystery when beautiful props of a fully prepared Egyptian mummy and its coffin were found in a German attic by a 10-year-old boy. X-rays showed that the mummy has a skull and skeleton which appeared to be bedecked in a full set of jewels beneath its modern machine-woven wrappings. Further investigation showed the skull was real while the skeleton was a plastic anatomy specimen.
 

As September ended The Search for Alexander was very well received but more exciting are the experts at the Cairo museum who announced that objects which had been damaged in the attack on the museum in 2011 were ready to be put back on display including this very wonderful statue which I can imagine crumbling in the robbers hand and which is an amazing triumph of the art of restoration. A great highlight for the year!

This year's list contains the discovery of yet more repulsive statues of Ramses II; will it ever end? And if you were to judge the power of an ancient Egyptian god by the number of statues, Sekhmet would be right up there, and this year, even more were discovered both in excavations and on the international art market.

Of the year's posts must be mentioned last December's contributions, "Animal Tombs in the Valley of Kings" and "Jewels of the Pharaohs," have been the big runners of the year by more than two to one for every other article this year. More recently, the reviews "Eternal Egypt" and "Mummies: Life after Death in Ancient Egypt" are the runners.

I wish to thank my readers for their support in 2013 and look forward to the next exciting year in Egyptology. I particularly wish 2014 to bring peace, prosperity for all, and for the tourists to come home to Egypt.

Alhamdulillah! 

Notes:

Photos:
1) Al Ahram
2) Boat Museum photo: Berthold Werner
3) Old Kingdom Papyrus: Luxor times 
4) Fake Mummy Lutz-Wolfgang Kettler
5)  Tutankhamun statuette Luxor Times
6) Ramses II statue Al Ahram

Coming Home from America

This has certainly been a year of international co-operation in the preservation of Egypt's heritage, though the causes of the industry remain at odds with the intellectual desire to preserve everything in a museum drawer or others acquiring beautiful ancient objects for personal collections.

This is an article on several artifacts, including coffins confiscated at New York City customs in 2011 and on their way back to Egypt in the coming year. The objects have probably come from illegal digs and also include Middle Kingdom artifacts.

Egypt to the End of the Old Kingdom

Cyril Aldred
McGraw-Hill Company
New York
1974
ISBN: 9780070009950

This short book is particularly for the young as it is easy to read and understand, with good, reliable information. Part of what makes this book accessible to all ages is a good assortment of images that directly explain what the author is talking about.

As a person who has read many excavation reports and books on Egyptology and archaeology, it is always a delight to find new information I have not heard before and images of artifacts that I have not seen before, and this book has them both.

Too often, Egyptian art is represented by the famous pieces, which tends to limit the imagination of the reader, but the pictures in Egypt, to the end of the Old Kingdom, are of many equally great objects, though lesser known, making the book an interesting and thought-provoking view of the subjects presented.

To the credit of the late Cyril Aldred belongs another fine book that will be the basis for a solid foundation of a young person's knowledge of ancient Egypt to the end of the Old Kingdom.

A Crypt Full of Mummies

This is an article on a medieval crypt recently discovered in Northern Sudan, which may contain the remains of a powerful archbishop. The whitewashed walls of the tomb have been heavily inscribed with Christian writings in Greek and Coptic meant to protect the occupants.

The crypt contained the remains of seven men older than 40 years and lightly dressed in linen, though much of the material has disintegrated.

Minbar to be Restored

Some unfortunate soul stole parts of the minbar from the mosque of Ghanim Al Balwan back in 2008, which have now turned up in Denmark. A Danish court has ordered the pieces to be returned to Egypt, where they will be restored to the minbar.

Egypt by H. H. Powers

Harry H. Powers
The University Travel Series
The Macmillan Company
1924



Right from the start of this pocket-sized book by Harry Powers, the author appears to be a bit of a pessimist, as his journey takes him to Egypt from Madeira. The author says, "The thoughtful traveler will view Madeira with mingled feelings. The shadows in the picture are due less to depravity (largely imported) than to sheer backwardness." Our guide goes on to say of Monte Carlo, "It used to hide its depravity under a certain tone and elegance."


Having, at last, arrived in Egypt, our friend Harry begins describing the things to see, including Pompey's pillar, of which he says, "a huge and meaningless shaft of uncertain origin concerning which little is known except that it had nothing to do with Pompey."


After a "monotonous" but interesting journey to Cairo, our friend tours various mosques and provides some very interesting descriptions of a few of the most important, but also points out the shoddy construction and dilapidated conditions of the buildings.


The author is clearly a learned man with great insight into the subject of the arts of the individual periods, taking the reader to less-viewed displays in the Cairo museum, and though the author's chronology is off, he is not off by that much. As our guide makes his way around Egypt in chronological order, he describes which sites to see and those that hold little interest.


In the pyramid fields, Powers describes the pyramids and tombs from the poorly constructed step pyramid of King Djoser to the "false Pyramid of Meidum," but being suitably impressed by the pyramid of Khufu, the author goes on to give Herodotus' account of its building. The book has many nice but small images, including one, unfortunately, labeled "Sarcophagus of King Khufu, Cairo Museum".


The mastabas of Ti and Ptah-hotep at Sakkara are very impressive and are a recommended visit for their beautiful reliefs of the everyday life of the ancient Egyptians. Also, at Sakkara, the author visits the Serapeum, remarking on the poor engraving on the massive sarcophagus and a review of that cult.


Our friend Powers recommends the Middle Kingdom tombs at Beni Hassan not for their colorful but inferior images, but for their architecture, including the introduction of the Doric column and the development of the Egyptian column thereafter. Assiout's badly damaged Middle Kingdom tombs stand as great square caves with little left of interest except, of course, the magnificent view of the Nile valley from them.


We find ourselves at Thebes because the author wishes us to walk through the temple of Mentuhotep II at Deir el-Bahri, talking about the architectural concept of the building. The author then goes on to Luxor and the period of the empire with an excellent overview of the decline of the Second Intermediate Period with the rise of the eighteenth dynasty kings.


Our guide Powers gives an out-of-date explanation of the order of the Thutmoside rulers, with the order given going: Hatshepsut and Thutmosis III,-Hatshepsut,-Thutmosis III,-Thutmosis II, not an uncommon interpretation for the early 1920s. The black and white picture of Hatshepsut's obelisk is a gem.


The author goes on with the evolution of Karnak from the missing Middle Kingdom temple to the ever grander elements added by the Thutmoside and Ramaside kings. Powers, in the end, sees the overview of the chaotic construction of the temple lacking in overall vision for the complex.


With some excellent old photographs, our friend makes his way through the Valley of Kings and recommends that the viewer see a handful of tombs, including those of Thutmosis III, Amenhotep II, Seti I, and Rameses VI.


We find Powers stopping in front of the well in the tomb of Amenhotep II, pondering the human skeletons found at the bottom of it and wondering, "Were these the builders of the tomb murdered that its secret might die with them? Or were they grave robbers who fell in here and were unable to escape?"


Our guide ends this journey in the valley with a visit to the tomb of Merenptah, descending to its burial chamber to view the figure on the lid of the sarcophagus left there. Interesting, though the author acknowledges the discovery of the tomb of Tutankhamun, he says nothing else about it.


As we make our way upstream, the author breaks from his chronology to talk about the remarkable Ptolemaic temples of Kom Ombo, Edfu, Esna, and Dendera. At Esna, we find the beautifully preserved temple still buried deep in the mud and hidden from view, surrounded by houses. While on his return journey, the author can see the temple of Dendera from his boat, with our friend Powers disembarking the boat to cross fields of beautiful opium poppies to reach the temple.


Our guide takes us past the partly flooded island of Philae and on to Abu Simbel, past the cataracts and back down the Nile, finishing off at Abydos and the reliefs on the temple of Seti I. The author here discusses the history of art from the early reliefs at Sakkara to the reliefs found in this temple.


I can say after having read this book that it was well worth my time, though one must be warned that the author has a habit of looking down on those less than English types. Egypt by Harry Powers is an interesting place to see with the author's fashion views forgivable to his knowledge of the history of Egyptian art.

The Ancient Nobles of Armant

Archaeologists working at the temple of Montu at Armant have had good pickings recently with the discovery of five heads with crowns, said to be of the Middle Kingdom period, and now two statues of nobles, though without their heads.

The first is of an 18th Dynasty royal scribe and physician named Nebamon, who is seated with a naos on his lap containing the God Montu. The second statue is from the 19th Dynasty, the reign of King Ramses II, of a high priest of Montu, called Ramose.

Ramose is already known through another statue and a representation in the Theban tomb of Khonsu.

Photo: J. Maucor

The Ambassadors of Ancient Egyptian Art

This is a list of some of the most important Egyptian artifacts not the property of Egypt's Ministry of Antiquities, including the silver cult statue of Horus the Elder from the Miho Museum. This 36+ pound silver statue was once covered in thick gold sheeting and may well be the only surviving cult statue taken care of in its temple by its priests.

1. Rosetta stone (EA 24)- Discovered in the foundations of a fort at Rosseta by Napoleon's men in 1798, the stone was handed over to the British in the treaty of Alexandria in 1801. The stone was given to King George III, who, in turn,  donated it to the British Museum.

It is, in fact, the Rosseta stones' modern history that gives them importance in learning to read the Egyptian hieroglyphs; otherwise, the stones would be of limited importance to ancient Egyptian history.

2. Calcite sarcophagus of "Seti the Great"-The sarcophagus of the Egyptian Pharaoh Seti I, collected by Giovanni Belzoni. The sarcophagus rested in the British Museum for a time before it was rejected in 1824 by the trustees of the British Museum and was snapped up by Sir John Soane as the star attraction in his Soane Museum, London.

This has almost always been seen as a mistake by the trustees, but it must be remembered that the museum had just spent a wad of cash on acquiring the Parthenon marbles. An amazing moment when not one but two amazing finds come on to the market at the same time, and I myself would take the marbles also.

3. Limestone bust of Nefertiti - Discovered by archaeologists at Tel el Amarna in December 1912, its acquisition for Berlin through the division of finds is perhaps the most controversial decision made by representatives of Egypt's antiquity authorities. The bust is currently in Berlin's Neues Museum. The bust may well be the piece that the Egyptian antiquities authority most misses not having, that or the Rosseta stone?

4. The Sarcophagus of Ramses III (Louvre D1=N337), its lid in the Fitzwilliam (E.1.1823) - The box was collected by showman Giovanni Belzoni in 1816 for the collection of British Consul-General Henry Salt and was acquired for the collection of the Louvre in the early 1820s. Since Mr. Belzoni was only asked to collect the sarcophagus box for Consul-General Salt, Mr. Belzoni claimed the sarcophagus' lid for himself; thus, the lid ended up in the Fitzwilliam Museum, separate from its box, unfortunately.

5. Sarcophagus of Nectanebo II (EA 10) - Discovered being used as a ritual bath in the courtyard of a mosque by Napoleon's men, it was transferred to the British in the treaty of Alexandria in 1801. The sarcophagus is at present in the British Museum.

 

6. Doorjambs from the hall of beauties in the tomb of Seti I - In an act of vile arrogance, two scenes were sawed from the walls of Seti's tomb (Kv17) in the Valley of Kings by the Champollion and Rossellini expedition of the late 1820s. The doorjambs were collected for the Louvre and Turin Museums.

7. The Denderah Zodiac - In another disgraceful colonial act, the zodiac was taken from the little temple on the roof of the temple of Hathor at Denderah. The temple was badly damaged by the Zodiac's removal in 1820; the ceiling is now in the Louvre.

8. The Berlin green head - Truly a masterpiece of portrait sculpture in the round. Unfortunately, the Berlin head has no notable provenance; the piece was given to the museum by benefactor James Simon, who also owned the bust of Nefertiti represented in this article. The head has the quality of the royal workshops and may well represent a high official of the late Ptolemaic period.

9. The Norbert Schimmel Talatats-  These Amarna period architectural blocks from the middle of the 14th century B.C. are a fortunate survival as a result of the Pharaoh Akhenaten becoming an immediate enemy to the state, and his unusual monuments were dismantled being used as fill in his successors' monuments, thus the fine preservation. This particular block displays another feature of the Amarna royal monuments in that the king's wives' iconography is often usurped by their successors, as this talatat may be re-carved from a former king's wife to a daughter of the king, the result of two women of the king's court being represented.

10. Statue of Ramses II in the Turin Museum- For a king who ruled for more than six decades, creating countless statues of himself, this is certainly the finest, entering the Turin Museum in several pieces, its quality obvious. The statue was acquired in the early 19th century by Consul-General Drovetti and bought with a large collection, including many very fine statues.

11. Bronze bust of Middle Kingdom Pharaoh Amenemhet III - A collection of Middle Kingdom bronzes came to light some years ago, with the best pieces,  including the bust of the king, ending up in the George Ortiz collection in Switzerland, as provenance unknown. The collection also includes statuettes of a queen and named viziers, each in itself important.

12. Gold Crown of a Wife of Thutmosis III- Locals found the tomb of three wives of Thutmosis III in 1916, breaking the assemblage of jewels into several different lots which were acquired and reassembled by the conservators at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. 

A very prestigious list of ancient Egyptian art of the first rank, objects that are only a few among many gracing some of the best collections in the world. These pieces are in themselves some of Egypt's most important ambassadors, protected well in some of the finest museums and collections that can preserve ancient Egypt from all corners of the world.
 
Photo's;

Header: Vulture Ceiling, Global Egyptian Museum
1. Rosseta Stone by Hans Hillewaert
2.  Sarcophagus of Seti I by Martin Churchill
3. Bust of Nefertiti by Federico Cinquepalmi
5. Nectanebo II sarcophagus by Michael Harding
8. Berlin Green Head by Keith Schengili-Roberts
9. "Relief of Queen Kiya [Egyptian]" (1985.328.8) In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/works-of-art/1985.328.8. (October 2006)
11. George Ortiz collection, Photo: Al Ahram 
12. Gold Crown AnnekeBart

Gift of the Nile

Timothy R. Roberts
Metro Books
Friedman/Fairfax Publishers
1999

ISBN: 1-56799-585-3


I guess this book has been on the shelf for a few years because it is large and slightly cumbersome, and I was not familiar with the author's work. The book opens with a nice map of Egypt and a layout that would be appropriate to a young person, though the size is bound to be a challenge.


The two-page timeline presents interesting tidbits to represent periods and dynasties. Chapter one starts with a two-page photo of a beautiful double pot from the Pre-Dynastic period, known to archaeologists as the Naqada period, from the site of discovery.


The author takes the reader to the earliest Egyptian's who left behind mass quantities of crude stone axes to the Aterian culture and a graveyard numbered 117, which possesses evidence of early practices in agriculture. Within just four pages, we are presented with four objects rarely published and remarkable in content. Mr. Roberts moves on to the Bardarian and Merimdan cultures, taking us from the prehistoric to the edge of the dynastic period.


"People such as the notorious French art dealer Jacques de Morgan ransacked sites for large and spectacular pieces of art to sell in Paris. The worst of the lot, however, was Emile Amelineau, who not only shared de Morgan's lust for the flashy, salable pieces but also smashed less spectacular examples of art to drive up the value of those he chose to keep."


These are two examples of archaeology of the first hundred years in Egypt, which was that of treasure hunting until Sir Flinders Petrie, with the author laying down the work of the man known as the grandfather of archaeology, in this case, particularly the work Sir Petrie did at the site of Naqada in the years 1894-95.


Mr. Roberts is onto the origins of the Egyptian state leading up to 3100 B.C., using examples of the mace head of Scorpion and the Narmer palette as the leading documents of the period to describe the rise of kings of the two lands at that date.


We are into ancient Egypt's Archaic period and Old Kingdom, beginning with the Archaic Dynasties I, II, which are explored with the power of the kings and the tombs at Saqqara and Abydos. This takes the reader into the age of the pyramids and their leading architect, Imhotep, erecting his King, Djoser's funerary monument.


The usual evolution of the pyramids from Djoser to Khufu and on is dealt with, including the burials of other nobles of the pyramid age, particularly Khufu's mother Hetepheres and Khufu's successors Khafra and Menkaura. Some of the ancient Egyptian history's best-carved reliefs also come from this age, with beautifully sculpted walls displaying everyday activity.


The author explores the literature of the Old Kingdom, leading with the pyramid texts but also including medical texts and manuals of behavior. In contrasting images, we have on one page a luxurious servant statue making beer completely painted, while on the opposite page, the viewer sees the "famine relief" from King Unas' causeway.


Mr. Roberts moves on to the First Intermediate period as well as the Middle Kingdom period in the following chapter, starting with the breakdown of central authority and the rise of numerous petty kings who ascend the throne only to be overthrown in an age of chaos. The ninety years of the First intermediate period came to an end, and the ancient Egyptian's now found themselves under the rule of two dominant powers at Thebes and Herakleopolis, with the rulers of Thebes uniting Lower and Upper Egypt, establishing the XI Dynasty.


We are presented with the democratization of the afterlife and the rise in the use of shabti figures to do the owner's bidding in the afterlife. The author talks about the rise of the cult of Isis and Osiris, in which, with the right spells, anyone could now become an Osiris and rise again in the underworld to live.


As the XI Dynasty ends, we find the King's Vizier Amenemhet rising to the position of king, founding the XII Dynasty and ancient Egypt's "Classical Period". The kings of the XII Dynasty set out a program to engineer the Fayum oasis while taking control of the nomarchs that might test the king's strength, resulting in the epoch of the Middle Kingdom in the reigns of Senwosret III and his son Amenemhet III.


For all the glory of the period, the monuments of these kings have not survived, including sadly, Amenemhet III's famous labyrinth, where the king's mummy was interred in one of fifteen hundred rooms under the labyrinth, surrounded by mummified crocodiles. The literature of the period included the development of the coffin texts to the Egyptian Book of the Dead.


There is a mistake on the page. 71, which depicts a lovely winged scarab jewel described by the author as "A typical scarab from the Middle Kingdom Period." Yes, I didn't think. Period, needed to be capitalized, though a little more concerning that the image of the winged scarab jewel described spells out "Nebkheperure", Tutankhamun's throne name!


The science and medicine of the Middle Kingdom are fascinating, particularly the medical texts of the time, with among the cures a successful remedy for contraception. The Middle Kingdom town of Kahun was inhabited during the building of Senwosret II's pyramid complex at Lahun, and its preserved remains have left evidence of the homes and daily life in the town, a town that had only one way in and one way out.


The death of Amenemhet IV finds the royal household without a male heir, so Queen Sobekneferu reigns until 1783 BC. The breakdown of central authority is not the collapse of the Old Kingdom but a period of bureaucratic realignment in the XIIIth Dynasty, with its first ruler, Wegaf, the first of seventy kings of this dynasty.


The fragmentation of power leads to foreign kings occupying the delta under Dynasties XV &XVI, with Dynasty XVII at Thebes. The limited power of many of these kings has left few monuments, and many of the kings of the era are represented by nothing more than their names from an ancient list.


The conquest of the Hyksos by the Theban King Ahmosis united Egypt and founded the XVIII Dynasty, the New Kingdom, and the start of the empire. Again, we find another remarkable photo, this time, it is an image of the mummy of King Rameses II showing that his genitalia has been torn off.


It disheartens me that with this well-told story, I find the mistakes, though to a degree I wonder how much was unseen in the proofread book, and/or whether the editor was unfamiliar with ancient Egypt. The mistakes include several misidentified beings, while Amun's wife is not Khons and their son is not Mut, or that now Khnum, the potter, is accorded as a goddess; these are incorrect!


The line of XVIIIth Dynasty kings is laid down in an easy-to-read format suitable for ages ten and up, with the remarkable building projects by kings that had the time and concern, and as usual, Akhenaten dominates his predecessors with sheer audacity. The final collapse of the dynasty was followed by new kings from the delta, including the exploits of Seti I and his long-lived son, King Rameses II.


Still, yet more mistakes, I mean lots of mistakes, including the author claiming that four lovely blue faience stipula vases are Rameses II's canopic jars, while the author talks about Rameses' tomb in the Valley of Kings, yet he appears to be describing the tomb of Seti I.


The beautiful pictures are still present, though the mistakes keep coming as the author describes a three-chambered shabti box surrounded by three shabti as an unusual three-chambered canopic box. The military role in the New Kingdom is examined, as is the literature and medicine of the period.


Clearly, the photos are what's special about this book. The authors' promise, however, was eroded by a continuous stream of mistakes, and though the book is child-friendly, I would not give the book as a gift, concluding I will likely go through it again, looking for certain images I have only seen in this questionable "Gift of the Nile".

Amarna Princess Recovered

The Egyptian police have recovered the Amarna princess statuette stolen during the sacking of the Malawi museum this past summer. The statuette is one of the most important pieces stolen from that museum and one of about 800 artifacts recovered out of 1050 objects stolen.

Ushabti Stolen During Revolution Returns

A well-known ushabti from Egypt's XXVI Dynasty was among the stolen pieces taken from the Cairo Museum during the January revolution of 2011 and the robbery of the museum. The ushabti was broken during its theft, and its lower half was left in the museum while the torso was stolen, but has now turned up in Belgium.

The ushabti was found in the Memphis necropolis in 1858 and is set to be returned to Cairo soon. Equally fascinating is that the ushabti did not appear on the list of objects stolen.

Dog Burials at Abydos

 

 

During excavations in 2009 by the North Abydos Project from New York University, at the huge funerary enclosure of the IInd Dynasty King Khasekhemwy (c.2750 B.C), several pots containing dogs turned up in the soft sandy fill inside the enclosure. Professor of Egyptology, Salima Ikram of The American University of Cairo, is an expert in animal mummies and has examined the dogs that cannot be removed from their pots without risking the integrity of the animals.

The article is particularly concentrated on two of the five dogs found, including a large dog that has been affectionately named Houdini and a second, not as well preserved, named Chewie. Neither pot contained fabric, though Chewie was accompanied by the shards of another pot.

Photo: [Credit: NYU-IFA mission to Abydos/Discovery News]

The Mystery of the Cocaine Mummy

 This is an interesting show, which was controversial and still is. Whether the mummy really took cocaine or was handled by someone in the past who ingested cocaine. The program features Dr. Rosalie David from the Manchester Museum Mummy project.

Back to the Valley of the Kings

There are new ground-penetrating radar studies going on in the world-famous necropolis, Biban el Malouk, Valley of the Kings. The team consists of Egyptians working on behalf of the Ministry of State for Antiquities and the Glen Dash Foundation for Archaeological Research.

This is not the first time that ground penetrating radar has been used in the valley, but the technology has now become much better, and they are hoping for the best, preferably to find King Thutmosis II and/or Ramses VIII intact! That would be nice, they are also being realistic, from experience from last time, when digging proved that many of the anomalies from previous radar readings were natural fractures and old lighting equipment.

France Returns Internet Loot

Five objects found for sale on the internet in France, allegedly stolen from Egypt during the 2011 revolution, have been returned to the Egyptian Antiquities Ministry. The five pieces are from the Ptolemaic period. This coffin lid is an example of an artifact recently returned, which has been cut in half to fit in a suitcase.

A number of pieces of a glass statue of a man have also been returned and, after restoration, will be deposited into a local museum.

Photo: Israel Antiquities Authority

The Cairo Museum

I started this article in 2010, though it was forgotten in those days by the coming of the revolution. The article featured the plight of the museum's staff, who, among other things, I was wondering if they were happy in their jobs, paid well, and if differentiating opinions from the workers to the boss might be enough for them to lose their jobs.

The end of January 2011 brought the robbery of this national museum and the flaws in the museum's security, presenting an image that the great museum, for being more than 100 years old, seems to have benefited little from its international standards. The revolution has been slower than anyone probably wanted, with the result that the tourists have left, the traveling exhibitions have come home, and the Cairo museum workers remain unpaid.

It sounds like the Cleopatra exhibition came home to Egypt from the United States early because of a dispute over the law, which may have felt that some of the pieces in that exhibition were too precious to leave Egypt in the first place. Hopefully, the officials, in partnership with international museums, can put together another traveling exhibition that can be used to fund the Cairo museum's staff, to pay their wages, and provide the museum with all of its needs to function properly and securely.

Instead of filling a room that few people visit with stolen antiquities recovered from international schemes, perhaps the museum would be better served if that gallery's recovered material were sent on tour with life-size images of stolen objects still missing. This, in practicality, would raise funds for the running of the museum while making familiar to millions of exhibition goers what the missing objects look like.

Hopefully, the people of Egypt have turned a corner and are closer to the brighter future they have sacrificed for.

Photo: AP