ST LOUIS ART MUSEUM TRIES TO PROTECT EGYPTIAN MASK FROM SEIZURE

THE ST LOUIS ART MUSEUM HAS FILED A FEDERAL LAWSUIT TO TRY TO KEEP A 3,200 YEAR OLD MUMMY MASK THAT EGYPT WANTS RETURNED, CLAIMING IT WAS STOLEN NEARLY TWO DECADES AGO. THE MUSEUM CLAIMS THE EGYPTIAN GOVERNMENT IS TRYING TO SEIZE THE 20 INCH LONG FUNERAL MASK OF KA-NEFER-NEFER AND RETURN IT TO EGYPT. BUT THE MUSEUM SAYS IT HAS LEGAL RIGHTS TO THE MASK IT PURCHASED FROM A NEW YORK ART DEALER FOR $499,000 IN 1998. EGYPT OFFICIALS HAVE CLAIMED THE MASK WAS STOLEN IN THE EARLY 1990s FROM A STORAGE ROOM NEAR A PYRAMID. THE SUIT, FILED IN FEDERAL COURT IN ST LOUIS ON TUESDAY, CLAIMS THERE IS NO PROOF THE MASK WAS EVER STOLEN. IT ALSO CLAIMS THAT THE STATUE OF LIMITATIONS HAS EXPIRED FOR ANY SEIZURE.

EGYPTIAN GOVENMENT MAKES THREATS OVER NEW YORK OBELISK

THE EGYPTIAN GOVERNMENT OFFICIAL CHARGED WITH PROTECTING HIS COUNTRY'S ANCIENT MONUMENTS IS THREATENING TO TAKE BACK AN ICONIC OBELISK IN CENTRAL PARK UNLESS NEW YORK CITY TAKES STEPS TO RESTORE IT. THE STONE OBELISK 'HAS BEEN SEVERELY WEATHERED OVER THE PAST CENTURY' WITH NO EFFORT MADE TO CONSERVE IT, ZAHI HAWASS, SECRETARY GENERAL FOR EGYPT'S SUPREME COUNCIL OF ANTIQUITIES, WROTE IN A LETTER THIS WEEK TO NEW YORK MAYOR MICHAEL BLOOMBERG. THE OBELISK, WHICH COMMEMORATES KING THUTMOSE III, HAS STOOD BEHIND THE METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART SINCE 1881. AT 71 FEET TALL, IT IS KNOWN AS 'CLEOPATRA'S NEEDLE' AND IS ONE OF A PAIR, THE OTHER ONE IS IN LONDON. THE OBELISK DATES BACK ROUGHLY 3,500 YEARS AND WAS GIVEN TO THE UNITED STATES IN THE 19th CENTURY BY AN OFFICIAL IN EGYPT. 'I HAVE A DUTY TO PROTECT ALL EGYPTIAN MONUMENTS WHETHER THEY ARE INSIDE OR OUTSIDE OF EGYPT', HAWASS WROTE IN A LETTER. 'IF THE CENTRAL PARK CONSERVANCY AND THE CITY OF NEW YORK CANNOT PROPERLY CARE FOR THIS OBELISK, I WILL TAKE THE NECESSARY STEPS TO BRING THIS PRECIOUS ARTIFACT HOME AND SAVE IT FROM RUIN', HE WROTE. THE HIEROGLYPHICS HAVE COMPLETELY WORN AWAY IN PLACES, HE SAID. JONATHAN KUHN, DIRECTOR OF ART AND ANTIQUITIES FOR NEW YORK'S PARKS DEPARTMENT, TOLD LOCAL NEWS WEBSITE DNAinfo THAT THERE WAS NO EVIDENCE OF 'ANY SIGNIFICANT ONGOING EROSION.' A METROPOLITAN MUSEUM STUDY IN THE 1980s FOUND THE GRANITE WAS 'LARGELY INERT' AND THAT THE DAMAGE TO THE INSCRIPTIONS AND THE BASE OF THE MONUMENT OCCURRED IN THE DISTANT PAST, KUHN SAID. 'WE HAVE BEEN WORKING IN RECENT YEARS WITH THE METROPOLITAN MUSEUM AND THE CENTRAL PARK CONSERVANCY TO FURTHER ANALYZE THE CONDITION OF THE OBELISK AND MONITOR ITS CONDITION', KUHN TOLD DNAinfo. REPRESENTATIVE OF THE MAYOR DECLINED TO COMMENT.

BRITISH MUSEUM PRESENTS EXHIBITION ON EGYPTIAN BOOK OF THE DEAD

AS SELF-HELP MANUALS GO, THE ANCIENT EGYPTIAN BOOK OF THE DEAD HAS CERTAINLY STOOD THE TEST OF TIME. FOR CENTURIES, THE 3,500 YEAR OLD GUIDE OFFERED EGYPTIANS A STEP BY STEP GUIDE TO THE JOURNEY FROM THIS LIFE TO THE NEXT. A STUNNING NEW EXHIBITION AT THE BRITISH MUSEUM HOPES TO SHED NEW LIGHT ON THE BOOK, WHICH WAS NOT A SINGLE VOLUME, BUT A SERIES OF SPELLS AND ILLUSTRATIONS INKED ONTO PAPYRUS SCROLLS AND DESIGNED TO HELP THE DEAD MAKE THE PERILOUS JOURNEY TO THE AFTERLIFE. THE SHOW SEEKS TO DISPEL THE MODERN NOTION, PARTLY CREATED BY ALL THE TOMBS, MUMMIES AND FUNERAL MASKS, THAT ANCIENT EGYPTIANS WERE OBSESSES WITH DEATH. THE SHOW, WHICH OPENS THURSDAY AND RUNS TO 6.MARCH, IS THE FIRST OF THREE BRITISH MUSEUM EXHIBITIONS LOOKING AT DEATH AND SPIRITUALITY THROUGH THE AGES. A SHOW NEXT YEAR LOOKING AT DEVOTION IN MEDIEVAL EUROPE. THE EGYPTIAN EXHIBITION REVEALS A HIGHLY DEVELOPED SOCIETY WITH A COMPLEX THEOLOGY, AND AN EYE FOR COMMERCE. IT WINDS, LABYRINTH-LIKE, THROUGH THE MUSEUM'S CIRCULAR READING ROOM, MIRRORING THE JOURNEY HUMANS WERE THOUGHT TO TAKE AFTER DEATH. IT WAS A SPIRITUAL OBSTACLE COURSE THAT SAW THE SOUL LEAVE THE MUMMIFIED BODY OF THE DEPARTED AND TRAVEL THROUGH THE NETHER WORLD. THERE IT COULD BE WAYLAID BY SCORCHING FIRES, POISONOUS SNAKES, WILD ANIMALS AND WORST OF ALL THE DEVOURER, A DEMON WITH THE HEAD OF A CROCODILE, THE BODY OF A LION AND THE HINDQUARTERS OF A HIPPOPOTAMUS. THE FINAL OBSTACLE WAS A TRAIL, AT WHICH THE HEART WAS PLACED ON A SET OF SCALES AND WEIGHED AGAINST A FEATHER. A LIGHT HEART MEANT SUCCESSFUL PASSAGE TO THE AFTERLIFE. A HEAVY HEART, WEIGHED DOWN WITH SIN, MEANT BEING THROWN TO THE DEVOURER. THE BOOK'S SPELLS AND ILLUSTRATIONS, DEVELOPED OVER CENTURIES FROM ABOUT 1,500 BC, WERE INTENDED AS A GUIDE TO OVERCOMING THESE OBSTACLES. THERE WERE 200 SPELLS IN ALL, FROM WHICH WEALTHY EGYPTIANS COULD PICK AND CHOOSE FOR THEIR OWN CUSTOM-MADE BOOKS OF THE DEAD. THE EXHIBITION BRINGS TOGETHER SOME OF THE TREASURES FROM THE MUSEUM'S WORLD-FAMOUS COLLECTION OF EGYPTIAN ARTIFACTS. THERE ARE MUMMIES, GILDED FUNERAL MASKS AND CEDAR COFFINS COLOURFULLY DECORATED IN RED AND BLUE. THE STAR OBJECTS ARE THE SCROLLS THEMSELVES, LONG ROLLS OF PAPYRUS COVERED WITH NEAT BLACK AND RED HIEROGLYPHIC COLUMNS AND ILLUSTRATED WITH SCENES OF THE AFTERLIFE. THEY WERE ROLLED UP AND PLACED ALONGSIDE MUMMIES IN THEIR COFFINS. SPELLS ALSO WERE INSCRIBED ON COFFIN WALLS. MUMMIES' SHROUDS AND EVEN THEIR LINEN BANDAGES. FRAGILE AND EASILY DAMAGED BY LIGHT, THE SCROLLS ARE RARELY DISPLAYED. THE LONGEST, A 120 FOOT SCROLL MADE FOR THE DAUGHTER OF A HIGH PRIEST ABOUT 3,000 YEARS AGO, HAS NEVER BEEN SHOWN IN PUBLIC BEFORE.
FOR MORE INFORMATION VISIT www.britishmuseum.org

TOLEDO MUSEUM OF ART PRESENTS EGYPT EXPERIENCE: SECRETS OF THE TOMB

DISCOVER AN ANCIENT CIVILIZATION'S FASCINATING APPROACH TO LIFE AND THE AFTERLIFE AT THE EGYPT EXPERIENCE: SECRETS OF THE TOMB, A NEW EXHIBITION AT THE TOLEDO MUSEUM OF ART (TMA). THE INSTALLATION OF MORE THAN 150 OBJECTS SPANNING 3,000 YEARS OF HISTORY ARE ON DISPLAY IN A SPECIALLY DESIGNED LOWER LEVEL EGYPTIAN GALLERY IN THE MAIN MUSEUM. TMA'S POPULAR MUMMIES RETURN TO PUBLIC VIEW FOR THIS EXPLORATION OF ANCIENT EGYPTIAN BELIEFS ABOUT LIFE AND THE AFTERLIFE. BELIEVING THAT IF THEY LIVED GOOD LIVES THEY WOULD LIVE AGAIN IN A BETTER WORLD AFTER DEATH, EGYPTIANS SPENT GREAT EFFORT TO ENSURE THE PRESERVATION OF BOTH BODY AND SPIRIT. TOMBS WERE BUILT AS 'HOUSES OF ETERNITY', PLACES FOR LIVING AFTER DEATH WITH THE AID OF RITUAL PRAYERS, FOOD AND DRINK, AND ALL THE GOOD THINGS OF LIFE. THE EGYPT EXPERIENCE: SECRETS OF THE TOMB INTRODUCES VISITORS TO THE CONVERSATIONS BETWEEN THE LIVING AND THE DEAD THAT FORMED A FUNDAMENTAL PART OF LIFE IN EGYPT FOR THOUSANDS OF YEARS. SPECIALLY BUILT CHAPELS AND TOMB-LIKE SPACES DISPLAY ARTIFACTS FROM THE FUNERAL CEREMONIES AND FINAL RESTING PLACES OF BOTH ROYAL AND NON-ROYAL EGYPTIANS. VISITORS MEET A SERIES OF INDIVIDUAL EGYPTIANS AND LEARN ABOUT THEM FROM THE EVIDENCE OF THEIR TOMBS, MUMMIES, INSCRIBED BIOGRAPHERS AND PERSONAL POSSESSIONS. AMONG THEM ARE: COURT OFFICIAL AKHET-HOTEP, OVERSEER OF THE PALACE OF KING SNEFERU; RARAMU, PRIEST OF THE MORTUARY CULT OF KING KHUFU, AND HIS WIFE ANKHET; ZEZEN-NAKHT, HEREDITARY PRINCESS AND OVERSEER OF THE ARMY OF THE NINTH NOME; THE ROYAL PHYSICIAN AMUNHOTEP, CHIEF PHYSICIAN AND ROYAL SCRIBE OF KING RAMSES II; HENUT-WEDJEBU, SINGER IN THE TEMPLE OF AMUN AND HER HUSBAND HATIAY, GRANARY OVERSEER OF THE TEMPLE OF ATEN; AND TAMESIA, DAUGHTER OF TASHENANOUP, WHO WAS BURIED BY HER MOTHER. ELEGANTLY CARVED AND PAINTED SCULPTURES, THE COFFIN OF THE LADY ANKH-TESH, A BOAT MODEL, CANOPIC JARS, SHABTIS, AND BEAUTIFUL YET HEART-RENDERING GRAVE GIFTS ARE DISPLAYED IN THE DRAMATIC SERIES OF GALLERIES. OBJECTS FROM THE MUSEUM'S OWN ANTIQUITIES COLLECTION, ENHANCED BY BEAUTIFUL AND SIGNIFICANT LOANS FROM THE METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART, THE INDIANA UNIVERSITY ART MUSEUMS, THE FIELD MUSEUM AND THE ORIENTAL MUSEUM INSTITUTE OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO, AMONG OTHERS, REVEAL THE SECRETS OF THE TOMB.
FOR MORE INFORMATION VISIT www.toledomuseum.org

ARCHAEOLOGISTS HAVE UNEARTHED A STATUE OF AMENHOTEP III

ARCHAEOLOGISTS HAVE UNEARTHED THE UPPER PART OF A DOUBLE LIMESTONE STATUE OF A POWERFUL PHARAOH WHO RULED NEARLY 3,400 YEARS AGO, EGYPT'S MINISTRY OF CULTURE SAID. A MINISTRY STATEMENT SAID THE TEAM OF EGYPTIAN ARCHAEOLOGISTS DISCOVERED THE 4 FOOT BY 3 FOOT STATUE OF AMENHOTEP III IN KOM EL-HITTAN, THE SITE OF THE PHARAOH'S MORTUARY TEMPLE IN THE SOUTHERN CITY OF LUXOR. THE TEMPLE IS ONE OF THE LARGEST ON THE WEST BANK OF THE NILE IN LUXOR. THAT STATUE PORTRAYS AMENHOTEP III WEARING THE DOUBLE CROWN OF EGYPT, WHICH IS DECORATED WITH URAEUS, AND SEATED ON A THRONE NEXT TO THE THEBAN GOD AMUN. AMENHOTEP III, WHO WAS THE GRANDFATHER OF THE FAMED BOY-PHARAOH TUTANKHAMEN, RULED IN THE 14th CENTURY BC AT THE HEIGHT OF EGYPT'S NEW KINGDOM AND PRESIDED OVER A VAST EMPIRE STRETCHING FROM NUBIA IN THE SOUTH TO SYRIA IN THE NORTH. THE PHARAOH'S TEMPLE WAS LARGELY DESTROYED, POSSIBLY BY FLOODS, AND LITTLE REMAINS OF ITS WALLS. BUT ARCHAEOLOGISTS HAVE BEEN ABLE TO UNEARTH A WEALTH OF ARTIFACTS AND STATUARY IN THE BURIED RUINS, INCLUDING TWO STATUES OF AMENHOTEP MADE OF BLACK GRANITE FOUND AT THE SITE IN MARCH 2009.

MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS, HOUSTON, TO PRESENT 'TUTANKHAMEN: THE GOLDEN KING AND THE GREAT PHARAOHS'

THE MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS, HOUSTON (MFAH), WILL HOST 'TUTANKHAMEN: THE GOLDEN KING AND THE GREAT PHARAOHS', AN ACCLAIMED EXHIBITION FEATURING MORE THAN 100 ARTIFACTS, MOST OF WHICH HAVE NEVER BEEN SHOWN IN THE US PRIOR TO THIS HISTORIC TOUR. THE EXHIBITION OPENS 13.OCTOBER.2011 AND WILL BE ON VIEW THROUGH 15.APRIL.2012. VISITORS WILL HAVE A ONCE IN A LIFETIME OPPORTUNITY TO VIEW THE SPECTACULAR TREASURES, MORE THAN HALF OF WHICH COME FROM THE TOMB OF TUTANKHAMEN. THESE INCLUDE THE GOLDEN SANDALS THAT WERE FOUND ON THE BOY KING'S MUMMY, A GOLD COFFINETTE THAT HELD HIS STOMACH, GOLDEN STATUES OF THE GODS, HIS RINGS, EAR ORNAMENTS AND GOLD COLLAR. THE EXHIBITION IS ORGANIZED UNDER THE DIRECTION OF THE EGYPTIAN SUPREME COUNCIL OF ANTIQUITIES AND ITS SECRETARY GENERAL, DR ZAHI HAWASS, BY THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC SOCIETY, ARTS AND EXHIBITIONS INTERNATIONAL AND AEG EXHIBITIONS. MAJOR PROCEEDS FROM THE TOUR WILL SUPPORT THE PRESERVATION AND CONSERVATION OF ANTIQUITIES AND MONUMENTS IN EGYPT, AS WELL AS THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE NEW GRAND EGYPTIAN MUSEUM IN CAIRO. TUTANKHAMEN: THE GOLDEN KING AND THE GREAT PHARAOHS' FEATURES TREASURES ASSOCIATED WITH THE MOST IMPORTANT RULERS OF THE 30 DYNASTIES THAT RULED EGYPT OVER A 2,000 YEAR SPAN. THE EXHIBITION EXPLORES THE SPLENDOR OF THE PHARAOHS, THEIR FUNCTION IN BOTH THE EARTHLY AND DIVINE WORLDS AND WHAT 'KINGSHIP' MEANT TO THE EGYPTIAN PEOPLE. VISITORS WILL ENCOUNTER MASTER SCULPTURES OF POWERFUL EGYPTIAN RULERS, INCLUDING KHAFRE, BUILDER OF THE GREAT SPHINX AND ONE OF THE PYRAMIDS AT GIZA; HATSHEPSUT, THE QUEEN WHO BECAME A PHARAOH; STATUES OF THE WARRIOR PHARAOHS, TUTMOSIS AND RAMESSES THE GREAT; AS WELL AS KING TUT'S FATHER AKHENATEN, THE PHARAOH WHO CHANGED EGYPT'S RELIGION TO THE WORSHIP OF ONE OMNIPOTENT SUN GOD. THE MAGNIFICENT GOLDEN DEATH MASK OF PSUSENNES I WILL ALSO BE ON DISPLAY. THE SPECTACULAR EXHIBITION ALSO SHOWCASES THE LARGEST LIKENESS OF KING TUT EVER DISCOVERED, A 10 FOOT STATUE OF THE PHARAOH FOUND AT THE REMAINS OF A FUNERARY TEMPLE. TUTANKHAMEN WILL BE ON VIEW IN THE 22,000 SQUARE FOOT UPPER BROWN PAVILION OF THE CAROLINE WIESS LAW BUILDING AT THE MFAH. ITS INTRODUCTION FEATURES A NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC DOCUMENTARY NARRATED BY AWARD WINNING ACTOR HARRISON FORD. THE FINAL GALLERIES ARE DEDICATED TO KING TUT'S TOMB, INCLUDING AN AREA DEVOTED TO ITS DISCOVERY BY BRITISH EXPLORER HOWARD CARTER IN 1922. THERE, VISITORS, WILL ENCOUNTER LEGENDARY TREASURES FROM THE TOMB'S ANTECHAMBER, ANNEX, TREASURY AND BURIAL CHAMBER IN CORRESPONDING GALLERIES.

AFTER SEVEN YEAR FACE-LIFT CAIRO MUSEUM TO REOPEN

THE WORLD'S LARGEST MUSEUM OF ISLAMIC ART WILL REOPEN IN CAIRO IN COMING WEEKS AFTER A SEVEN-YEAR FACE-LIFT, MUSEUM OFFICIALS SAID RECENTLY. TOURISTS FLOCK BY THE MILLIONS TO THE PYRAMIDS AT GIZA AND THE TEMPLES OF LUXOR DATING BACK MORE THAN 3,000 YEARS, BUT THE WEALTH OF ART AND DESIGN HERALDED BY THE ARRIVAL OF ISLAM TO EGYPT IN THE 7th CENTURY TENDS TO TAKE SECOND PLACE. BEFORE IT CLOSED IN 2003, ONLY A FEW THOUSAND CURIOUS TRAVELERS WERE VENTURING EACH MONTH INTO THE MUSEUM, SET BY A NOISY ROAD IN THE HEART OF EGYPT'S FRENETIC CAPITAL. THE BUILDING DESIGNED BY ITALIAN ALFONSO MANESCALO DATED FROM THE EARLY 20th CENTURY AND WAS JAMMED WITH SOME 3,000 TREASURES FROM A COLLECTION OF OVER 80,000, MANY POORLY LABELED, INCLUDING CERAMICS, TOMBS, DOORS, WOODEN SCREENS, ROBES AND RUGS. DURING THE CLOSURE, A RIVAL MUSEUM OF ISLAMIC ART OPENED IN THE GULF STATE OF QATAR DESIGNED BY CELEBRATED CHINESE-AMERICAN ARCHITECT I M PEI. 'OUR MUSEUM WAS OLD AND NEEDED ITS WALLS STRENGTHENING OR IT WOULD BE AT RISK OF COLLAPSE', MOHAMMED ABBAS SELIM, GENERAL DIRECTOR OF THE CAIRO MUSEUM TOLD REUTERS IN A RECENT INTERVIEW. AMONG THE 80,000 OBJECTS THAT SELIM AND HIS TEAM HAD TO CHOOSE FROM, SOME 1,700 ARE ON DISPLAY IN THE REFURBISHED MUSEUM. THEY INCLUDE AN EWER FOUND BESIDE THE TOMB OF EGYPT'S LAST UMMAYAD DYNASTY CALIPH AND DOORS COMMISSIONED BY THE FATIMID CALIPH AL HAKIM FOR THE AL AZHAR MOSQUE. THE NEW MUSEUM IS BRIGHTER, CLEANER AND LESS CLUTTERED. IT TELLS A STORY OF THE NUMEROUS ISLAMIC EMPIRES THAT PASSED THROUGH EGYPT OVER 1,400 YEARS AND HOW THEY INFLUENCED ART AND DESIGN ACROSS THE MEDITERRANEAN AND AS FAR AS BRITAIN.

KING TUT'S CHARIOT TO PRESENTED AT NEW YORK EXHIBITION

A HUMBLE CHARIOT THAT MAY HAVE PLAYED A ROLE IN KING TUT'S DEATH IS CURRENTLY TRAVELING TO THE HIGHLY-PUBLICIZED EXHIBITION DISPLAYING THE BOY PHARAOH'S FINERY AT THE DISCOVERY TIMES SQUARE EXPOSITION, NEW YORK, THE FIRST TIME THAT THE MYSTERIOUS 3,300 YEAR OLD ARTIFACT HAS LEFT EGYPT. THREADBARE AND WORN IN APPEARANCE, THE CHARIOT WAS DISCOVERED BY ARCHEOLOGIST HOWARD CARTER AFTER HIS FIRST REOPENED TUT'S TOMB IN 1922, AND IT WAS IMMEDIATELY NOTABLE FOR ITS SLIGHTNESS AND LACK OF REFINEMENT AMID THE ANTECHAMBER'S MORE DELUXE OBJECTS, WHICH INCLUDED THREE OTHER CHARIOTS. ZAHI HAWASS, SECRETARY GENERAL OF EGYPT'S SUPREME COUNCIL OF ANTIQUITIES, PREVIOUSLY TOLD ONLINE ART-SOURCE MAGAZINE ARTINFO THAT HE BELIEVES THE CHARIOT WAS INVOLVED IN AN ACCIDENT THAT BEFELL THE BOY KING MERE HOURS BEFORE HE DIED, AND MAY HAVE LED TO HIS PREMATURE DEATH AT THE AGE OF 18. 'I THOUGHT THAT TO BRING THE CHARIOT WOULD BE GOOD EVIDENCE TO SHOW PEOPLE', HE SAID. HAWASS BELIEVES THE VEHICLE'S MODEST CONSTRUCTION SUGGESTS IT WAS USED FOR EXERCISE, OR POSSIBLY HUNTING. THE TUT SHOW, WHICH OPENED IN TIMES SQUARE THIS APRIL AND RUNS THROUGH 2.JANUARY.2011, IS THE FOLLOW-UP TO THE 1979 EXHIBITION OF THE PHARAOH'S RAIMENT AT THE MET THAT USHERED IN THE AGE OF THE MUSEUM BLOCKBUSTER.

THE BRITISH MUSEUM PRESENTS 'JOURNEY THROUGH THE AFTERLIFE: ANCIENT EGYPTIAN BOOK OF THE DEAD'

THE BRITISH MUSEUM'S MAJOR AUTUMN EXHIBITION WILL PRESENT AND EXPLORE ANCIENT EGYPTIAN BELIEFS ABOUT LIFE AFTER DEATH. 'JOURNEY THROUGH THE AFTERLIFE: ANCIENT EGYPTIAN BOOK OF THE DEAD' WILL SHOWCASE THE RICH TEXTUAL AND VISUAL MATERIAL FROM THE BRITISH MUSEUM'S UNPARALLELED COLLECTION OF BOOK OF THE DEAD PAPYRI. THE 'BOOK', USED FOR OVER 1500 YEARS BETWEEN 1600 BC AND 100 AD, IS NOT A SINGLE TEXT, BUT A COMPILATION OF SPELLS THOUGHT TO EQUIP THE DEAD WITH KNOWLEDGE AND POWER WHICH WOULD GUIDE THEM SAFELY THROUGH THE DANGERS OF THE HEREAFTER AND ULTIMATELY ETERNAL LIFE. THE BRITISH MUSEUM HAS ONE OF THE MOST COMPREHENSIVE COLLECTIONS OF THE BOOK OF THE DEAD MANUSCRIPTS ON PAPYRUS IN THE WORLD, AND THIS EXHIBITION WILL BE THE FIRST OPPORTUNITY TO SEE SO MANY EXAMPLES DISPLAYED TOGETHER. THE EXHIBITION WILL INCLUDE THE LONGEST BOOK OF THE DEAD IN THE WORLD, THE GREENFIELD PAPYRUS, WHICH MEASURES 37 METERS IN LENGTH AND HAS NEVER BEEN SHOWN PUBLICLY IN ITS ENTIRETY BEFORE. ALSO ON DISPLAY WILL BE THE FAMOUS PAINTINGS FROM THE PAPYRI OF ANI AND HUNEFER, TOGETHER WITH SELECTED MASTERPIECES ON LOAN FROM INTERNATIONAL COLLECTIONS. THESE TREASURES WILL BE EXHIBITED ALONGSIDE A DAZZLING ARRAY OF PAINTED COFFINS, GILDED MASKS, AMULETS, JEWELRY, TOMB FIGURINES AND MUMMY TRAPPINGS.
FOR MORE INFORMATION VISIT www.britishmuseum.org/

THE PHILBROOK MUSEUM PRESENTS 'TO LIVE FOREVER: EGYPTIAN TREASURES FROM THE BROOKLYN MUSEUM'

ON 6.JUNE, THE NILE CAME TO TULSA WITH THE DEBUT OF 'TO LIVE FOREVER: EGYPTIAN TREASURES FROM THE BROOKLYN MUSEUM'. THIS BLOCKBUSTER SHOW, ON VIEW THROUGH 12.SEPTEMBER PROMISES TO BE ONE OF THE MOST EXTRAORDINARY EXHIBITIONS THAT THE PHILBROOK MUSEUM EVER HAS HOSTED. AS ITS TITLE SUGGESTS, TO LIVE FOREVER EXPLORES THE AGE-OLD QUESTIONS OF IMMORTALITY AND LIFE AFTER DEATH. FOR ANCIENT EGYPTIANS, DEATH WAS AN ENEMY THAT COULD BE OVERCOME THROUGH A BIT OF INGENUITY, THE END OF LIFE ON EARTH WAS MERELY A PORTAL TO THE NEW BEGINNING. FOR ITS SPECIAL EXHIBITION OF EGYPTIAN ANTIQUITIES, THE PHILBROOK HAS DRAWN FROM THE EXTENSIVE HOLDINGS OF THE BROOKLYN MUSEUM, RENOWNED AS ONE OF THE RICHEST COLLECTIONS OF SUCH ART IN THE WORLD. MORE THAN 120 RARE OBJECTS, INCLUDING MUMMIES, COFFINS, SARCOPHAGI, STATUARY, JEWELRY AND FUNERARY SHROUDS, TRACE THE EGYPTIANS' ALL-CONSUMING EFFORTS TO OUTFIT THEIR TOMBS TO PLEASE THE GODS, SUBDUE DEATH AND ALLOW THEM TO 'LIVE FOREVER' IN THE AFTERLIFE. AS TO LIVE FOREVER MOVES THROUGH THE PRACTICAL PROCESS OF PREPARING FOR DEATH, THE FOCUS SHIFTS TO MUMMIFICATION, FUNERALS AND TOMBS. THE EXHIBITION FEATURES THE ACTUAL SILK-SHROUDED MUMMY OF A MAN NAMED DEMETRIOS, AS WELL AS THE WIDE VARIETY OF EVERYDAY AND EXTRA-SPECIAL ITEMS THE TIMELESS TRAVELER WOULD NEED TO SURVIVE IN ETERNITY. THE EXHIBITION SHOWS THE REALITIES FACED BY RICH AND POOR ALIKE IN CREATING OR APPROPRIATING SUCH EXPENSIVE MATERIALS TO OUTFIT THEIR TEMPLES OR TOMBS AS ETERNAL RESTING PLACES.

THE FRANKLIN INSTITUTE 'CLEOPATRA: THE SEARCH FOR THE LAST QUEEN OF EGYPT'PRESENTS

WAS CLEOPATRA A CONNIVING TEMPTRESS WHO SEDUCED HER WAY TO THE TOP, OR THE TARGET OF RECORDED HISTORY'S MOST EFFECTIVE NEGATIVE CAMPAIGN? A STUNNING NEW EXHIBITION MAKING ITS WORLD PREMIERE 5.JUNE AT THE FRANKLIN INSTITUTE, PHILADELPHIA, MAKES A CASE FOR THE LATTER, USING RECENTLY DISCOVERED ARTIFACTS TO ILLUSTRATE TWO ARCHAEOLOGISTS' SEARCH FOR THE TRUTH, AND THE TOMB, OF ONE OF ANTIQUITY'S MOST MALIGNED AND ELUSIVE FIGURE. 'CLEOPATRA: THE SEARCH FOR THE LAST QUEEN OF EGYPT', FEATURES MANY NEVER BEFORE SEEN ARTIFACTS FROM A PAIR ON ONGOING EGYPTIAN ARCHAEOLOGICAL EXPEDITIONS. IT REMAINS IN PHILADELPHIA UNTIL JANUARY, WHEN IT BEGINS A TOUR OF FIVE NOT YET ANNOUNCED AMERICAN CITIES. THE SHOW EMPLOYS THEATRICAL LIGHTING AND SOUND, 17 VIDEO SCREENS DOCUMENTING ARCHAEOLOGISTS UNCOVERING SOME OF THE 150 ARTIFACTS ON DISPLAY, AND A FOUR MINUTE VIDEO PROVIDING AN OVERVIEW OF CLEOPATRA'S LIFE AND LOVES IN A STYLE THAT LOOKS AND SOUNDS LIKE A TRAILER FOR AN UPCOMING ACTION MOVIE. THE FIRST OF THE EXHIBIT'S TWO SECTIONS SHOWCASES THE DISCOVERIES OF FRENCH UNDERWATER ARCHAEOLOGIST FRANK GODDIO, WHOSE 20 YEAR EGYPTIAN EXPEDITION SO FAR HAS UNCOVERED CLEOPATRA'S PALACE, TWO ANCIENT CITIES NEAR THE COAST OF THE ANCIENT CITY OF ALEXANDRIA, AND OVER 20,000 ARTIFACTS. THE ARTIFACTS RANGE FROM TINY GOLD COINS TO A PAIR OF TOWERING EIGHT TON GRANITE FIGURES. ALL WERE RAISED BY GODDIO'S TEAM FROM SUBMERGED RUINS NEAR THE COAST OF ANCIENT ALEXANDRIA, WHERE CLEOPATRA WAS BORN IN 69 BC AND WHERE 39 YEARS LATER, THE LEGEND CLAIMS, SHE CHOSE A SUICIDAL BITE FROM AN ASP OVER CAPTURE BY THE CONQUERING ROMANS. VISITOR'S WILL SEE, THROUGH A GLASS WALKWAY UNDER FEET, ARTIFACTS LONG HIDDEN UNDER THE HARBOR'S SEDIMENT AFTER EARTHQUAKES AND TSUNAMIS SUBMERGED ANCIENT ALEXANDRIA MORE THAN 1,500 YEARS AGO. IN THE SECOND PORTION ARE NEVER BEFORE SEEN FINDS OF ZAHI HAWASS, SECRETARY GENERAL OF THE SUPREME COUNCIL OF ANTIQUITIES IN CAIRO. HAWASS, WHOM VISITORS MAY RECOGNIZE FROM HIS APPEARANCE ON ARCHAEOLOGICAL DOCUMENTARIES, DESCRIBES IN A BRIEF VIDEO HIS QUEST FOR THE LOST TOMB OF CLEOPATRA AND HER LOVER, THE ROMAN GENERAL MARK ANTONY. HAWASS BELIEVES AN ARTIFACT TRAIL OD SCULPTURE, JEWELRY, MUMMIES AND SUBTERRANEAN SHAFTS IS LEADING HIS TEAM CLOSE TO THE RESTING PLACE OF THE ILL-FATED COUPLE. BEYOND THE RARE HISTORIC ITEMS, THE SHOW EXAMINES THE MYSTERY AND ENDURING LEGEND OF THE ICONIC QUEEN WHO REMAINS A FIGURE OF FASCINATION THOUSANDS OF YEARS AFTER HER REIGN.
FOR MORE INFORMATION VISIT www2.fi.edu

GERMAN OFFICIAL SAYS NEFERTITI BUST SHOULD STAY IN GERMANY

GERMANY'S FOREIGN MINISTER SAYS THE 3,300 YEAR OLD BUST OF QUEEN NEFERTITI THAT HAS BEEN IN A BERLIN MUSEUM FOR DECADES IS IN GERMANY LEGALLY AND COULD BREAK IF MOVED TO EGYPT. EGYPT'S CHIEF HAD SAID HE WILL FORMALLY DEMAND THE RETURN OF THE BUST OF THE 14th CENTURY BC MONARCH BECAUSE IT WAS TAKEN OUT OF EGYPT WITH FRAUDULENT DOCUMENTS IN THE EARLY 20th CENTURY. GERMAN FOREIGN MINISTER GUIDO WESTERWELLE SAID RECENTLY THE CASE IS STILL OPEN BUT THAT THE GERMAN EXPERTS BELIEVE EVEN LENDING THE STATUE TO EGYPT COULD ENDANGER IT. GERMANY HAS DECLINED PAST EGYPTIAN REQUESTS FOR THE BUST'S RETURN, SAYING IT WAS TOO FRAGILE TO MOVE. EGYPT IS CAMPAIGNING TO RETRIEVE THOUSANDS OF ANTIQUITIES SPIRITED OUT DURING EGYPT'S COLONIAL PERIOD AND AFTERWARD.

ARCHEOLOGISTS UNEARTHE 57 ANCIENT EGYPTIAN TOMBS

ARCHEOLOGISTS HAVE UNEARTHED 57 ANCIENT EGYPTIAN TOMBS, MANY OF WHICH HOLD AN ORNATELY PAINTED WOODEN SARCOPHAGUS WITH A MUMMY INSIDE, EGYPT'S SUPREME COUNCIL OF ANTIQUITIES SAID RECENTLY. THE OLDEST TOMBS DATE BACK TO AROUND 2750 BC DURING THE PERIOD OF EGYPT'S FIRST AND SECOND DYNASTIES, THE COUNCIL SAID IN A STATEMENT. TWELVE OF THE TOMBS BELONG TO THE 18th DYNASTY WHICH RULED EGYPT DURING THE SECOND MILLENNIUM BC. THE DISCOVERY THROWS NEW LIGHT ON EGYPT'S ANCIENT RELIGIONS, THE COUNCIL SAID. EGYPT'S ARCHAEOLOGY CHIEF, ZAHI HAWASS, SAID THE MUMMIES DATING BACK TO THE 18th DYNASTY ARE COVERED IN LINEN DECORATED WITH RELIGIOUS TEXTS FROM THE BOOK OF THE DEAD AND SCENES FEATURING ANCIENT EGYPTIAN DEITIES. ABDEL RAHMAN EL-AYDI, HEAD OF THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL MISSION THAT MADE THE DISCOVERY, SAID SOME OF THE TOMBS WITH RELIGIOUS TEXTS THAT THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS BELIEVED WOULD HELP THE DECEASED TO CROSS THROUGH THE UNDERWORLD. EL-AYDI SAID ONE OF THE OLDEST TOMBS IS ALMOST COMPLETELY INTACT, WITH ALL OF ITS FUNERARY EQUIPMENT AND A WOODEN SARCOPHAGUS CONTAINING A MUMMY WRAPPED IN LINEN. IN 31 TOMBS DATING TO AROUND 2030-1840 BC, ARCHEOLOGISTS DISCOVERED SCENES OF DIFFERENT ANCIENT EGYPTIAN DEITIES, SUCH AS FALCON-HEADED HORUS, HATHOR, KHNUM AND AMUN, DECORATING SOME OF THE TOMBS. THE COUNCIL SAID THE FINDINGS WERE UNEARTHED AT LAHOUN, IN FAYOUM, SOME 70 MILES SOUTH OF CAIRO. LAST YEAR, SOME 53 STONE TOMBS DATING BACK TO VARIOUS ANCIENT PERIODS WERE FOUND IN THE AREA.

ARCHAEOLOGISTS UNEARTH 383 EGYPTIAN/GREEK COINS

ARCHAEOLOGISTS HAVE UNEARTHED 383 BRONZE COINS DATING BACK TO KING PTOLEMY III WHO RULED EGYPT IN THE 3rd CENTURY BC AND WAS AS ANCESTOR OF THE FAMED CLEOPATRA, THE EGYPTIAN ANTIQUITIES AUTHORITY ANNOUNCED THURSDAY. THE STATEMENT SAID ONE SIDE OF THE COINS WERE INSCRIBED WITH HYBRID GREEK-EGYPTIAN GOD AMUN-ZEUS, WHILE THE OTHER SIDE SHOWED AN EAGLE AND THE WORDS PTOLEMY AND KING IN GREEK. FOUNDED BY ONE OF ALEXANDER THE GREAT'S GENERALS, THE PTOLEMAIC PERIOD DYNASTY RULED EGYPT FOR SOME 300 YEARS, FUSING GREEK AND ANCIENT EGYPT CULTURES. THE COINS WERE FOUND NORTH OF QARUN LAKE IN FAYOUM OASIS 50 MILES SOUTHWEST OF CAIRO. OTHER ARTIFACTS WERE UNEARTHED IN THE AREA INCLUDED THREE NECKLACES MADE OF OSTRICH EGG SHELL DATING BACK TO THE 4th MILLENNIUM BC AND A POT OF KHOL EYELINER FROM THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE. THE OBJECTS WILL ALL BE DISPLAYED IN THE NEW EGYPTIAN MUSEUM WHICH IS UNDER CONSTRUCTION NEAR THE PYRAMIDS OF GIZA.

ARCHAEOLOGISTS UNEARTH DOOR TO THE AFTERLIFE

Door to Afterlife from Ancient Egyptian Tomb Found by Archaeologists
ARCHAEOLOGISTS HAVE UNEARTHED A 3,500 YEAR OLD DOOR TO THE AFTERLIFE FROM THE TOMB OF A HIGH-RANKING EGYPTIAN OFFICIAL NEAR KARNAK TEMPLE IN LUXOR, THE EGYPTIAN ANTIQUITIES AUTHORITY SAID MONDAY. THESE RECESSED NICHES FOUND IN NEARLY ALL ANCIENT EGYPTIAN TOMBS WERE MEANT TO TAKE THE SPIRITS OF THE DEAD TO AND FROM THE AFTERWORLD. THE NEARLY SIX FOOT TALL SLAB OF PINK GRANITE WAS COVERED WITH RELIGIOUS TEXTS. THE DOOR CAME FROM THE TOMB OF USHER, THE CHIEF MINISTER OF QUEEN HATSHEPSUT, A POWERFUL, LONG RULING 15th CENTURY BC QUEEN FROM THE NEW KINGDOM WITH A FAMOUS MORTUARY TEMPLE NEAR LUXOR IN SOUTHERN EGYPT. USHER HELD THE POSITION OF VIZIER FOR 20 YEARS, ALSO ACQUIRING THE TITLES OF PRINCE AND MAYOR OF THE CITY, ACCORDING TO THE INSCRIPTIONS. HE MAY HAVE INHERITED HIS POSITION FROM HIS FATHER. VIZIERS IN ANCIENT EGYPT WERE POWERFUL OFFICIALS TASKED WITH THE DAY TO DAY RUNNING OF THE KINGDOM'S COMPLEX BUREAUCRACY. AS A TESTAMENT TO HIS IMPORTANCE, USHER HAD HIS OWN TOMB ON THE WEST BANK OF THE NILE IN LUXOR, WHERE ROYAL KINGS AND QUEENS WERE ALSO BURIED. A CHAPEL DEDICATED TO HIM HAS ALSO BEEN DISCOVERED FURTHER SOUTH IN THE HILLS NEAR ASWAN. THE STONE ITSELF WAS LONG WAY FROM ITS TOMB AND HAD APPARENTLY BEEN REMOVED FROM THE GRAVE AND THEN INCORPORATED INTO THE WALL OF A ROMAN-ERA BUILDING, MORE THAN A THOUSAND YEARS LATER. FALSE DOORS WERE PLACED IN THE WEST WALLS OF TOMBS AND FACED OFFERING TABLES WHERE FOOD AND DRINK WERE LEFT FOR THE SPIRIT OF THE DECEASED.

MASSIVE RED GRANITE HEAD OF AMENHOTEP III DISCOVERED IN LUXOR

ARCHAEOLOGISTS HAVE UNEARTHED A MASSIVE RED GRANITE HEAD OF ONE OF EGYPT'S MOST FAMOUS PHARAOHS WHO RULED NEARLY 3,400 YEARS AGO, THE EGYPTIAN SUPREME COUNCIL OF ANTIQUITIES ANNOUNCED RECENTLY. THE HEAD OF AMENHOTEP III, WHICH ALONE IS ABOUT THE HEIGHT OF A PERSON, WAS DUG OUT OF THE RUINS OF THE PHARAOH'S MORTUARY TEMPLE IN THE SOUTHERN CITY OF LUXOR. THE LEADER OF THE EXHIBITION THAT DISCOVERED THE HEAD DESCRIBED IS AS THE BEST PRESERVED SCULPTURE OF AMENHOTEP III'S FACE FOUND TO DATE. 'OTHER STATUES HAVE ALWAYS HAD SOMETHING BROKEN: THE TIP OF THE NOSE, THE FACE IS ERODED', SAID DE SOUROUZIAN, WHO LED THE EGYPTIAN/EUROPEAN EXPEDITION AT THE SITE SINCE 1999. THE HEAD IS PART OF A LARGER STATUE FOUND SEVERAL YEARS AGO, ALONG WITH THE PARTS OF THE BODY, THE BACK SLAB, AND THE CEREMONIAL BEARD WHICH SOUROUZIAN SAYS WILL SOON BE CONNECTED WITH THE HEAD. AMENHOTEP III, WHO WAS THE GRANDFATHER OF THE FAMED BOY-PHARAOH TUTANKHAMEN, RULED FROM 1387-1348 BC AT THE HEIGHT OF EGYPT'S NEW KINGDOM AND PRESIDED OVER A VAST EMPIRE STRETCHING FROM NUBIA IN THE SOUTH TO SYRIA IN THE NORTH. SOUROUZIAN SAID THE PHARAOH WAS FAMOUS FOR LEADING EGYPT AT THE PEAK OF ITS ANCIENT CIVILIZATION, WHEN PEACE AND LUXURY WERE PREVALENT THROUGHOUT THE KINGDOM. CRAFTSMEN WERE ALSO HONING THEIR ARTISTIC TECHNIQUES DURING THE PERIOD, WHICH MAY EXPLAIN THE SYMMETRICAL FEATURES OF THE UNEARTHED HEAD. AMENHOTEP III'S MASSIVE MORTUARY TEMPLE WAS LARGELY DESTROYED, POSSIBLY BY FLOODS, AND LITTLE REMAINS OF ITS WALLS. THE EXPEDITION, HOWEVER, HAS UNEARTHED A WEALTH OF ARTIFACTS AND STATUARY IN THE BURIED RUINS, INCLUDING TWO STATUES OF AMENHOTEP MADE OF BLACK GRANITE FOUND LAST MARCH.

TESTS SHOW TUTANKHAMEN DIED FROM MALARIA INFECTION

KING TUTANKHAMEN, THE TEEN-AGED PHARAOH WHOSE EGYPTIAN TOMB YIELDED DAZZLING TREASURES, LIMPED AROUND ON TENDER BONES AND A CLUB FOOT AND MOST LIKELY DIED FROM MALARIA, RESEARCHERS SAID TUESDAY. THERE HAS BEEN SPECULATION ABOUT THE FATE OF THE BOY KING, WHO DIED SOMETIME AROUND 1324 BC PROBABLY AROUND THE AGE OF 19, SINCE THE 1922 DISCOVERY OF HIS INTACT TOMB IN EGYPT'S VALLEY OF THE KINGS. TESTS PERFORMED ON 16 ROYAL MUMMIES FOUND FOUR, INCLUDING TUT, HAD CONTRACTED A SEVERE FORM OF MALARIA THAT LIKELY CUT SHORT TUT'S REIGN, RULING OUT MURDER OF SOME OTHER SICKNESS. SCIENTISTS FROM EGYPT, GERMANY AND ELSEWHERE, INCLUDING ZAHI HAWASS OF EGYPT'S SUPREME COUNCIL OF ANTIQUITIES, COMPILES RESULTS FROM GENETIC AND RADIOLOGICAL TESTING PERFORMED OM THE MUMMIES BETWEEN 2007 AND 2009. THE RESULTS CLARIFY DETAILS ABOUT THE 155 YEAR LONG DYNASTY THAT INCLUDED TUTANKHAMEN, WHO INHERITED THE THRONE AT AGE 11. THE SCIENTISTS SPECULATED TUT WAS WEAKENED BY A BROKEN LEG POSSIBLY FROM A FALL. THAT AND THE MALARIA INFECTION LED TO HIS DEATH, THEY BELIEVE. TUT WAS AFFLICTED WITH A CLEFT PALATE. MILD CLUBFOOT IN HIS LEFT FOOT AND OTHER BONE AILMENTS. HE AND SOME FAMILY MEMBERS HAD A FORM OF KOHLER DISEASE, WHICH CAN CAUSE FOOT N=BONES TO COLLAPSE FROM LACK OF BLOOD BUT WOULD NOT HAVE BEEN FATAL. BESIDES THE PRICELESS GOLD ARTIFACTS FOUND IN TUT'S TOMB, HE WAS ALSO EQUIPPED FOR THE AFTERLIFE WITH SOME 130 CANES AND STAVES, SOME OF WITH SIGNS OF WEAR, AND A VERITABLE PHARMACY.

TOMB OF TUTANKHAMUN SET FOR FIVE YEAR RENOVATION PROJECT

EGYPT'S FAMOUS TOMB OF TUTANKHAMUN WILL UNDERGO A FIVE-YEAR PROJECT TO CLEAN AND RESTORE THE LAVISH WALL PAINTINGS IN THE UNDERGROUND CHAMBERS OF THE BOY KING WHOSE GOLDEN MASK AND ARTIFACTS HAVE LONG AWED THE WORLD. THE PROJECT TO RESTORE THE COUNTRY'S MOST FAMOUS TOMB IS THE LATEST COLLABORATION BETWEEN EGYPT'S SUPREME COUNCIL OF ANTIQUITIES AND THE LOS ANGELES BASED GETTY CONSERVATION INSTITUTE, WHICH IN THE PAST RESTORED NEARBY TOMBS AND DESIGNED AIRTIGHT CASES TO DISPLAY EGYPT'S MUMMIES. SINCE THE SMALL, FOUR-ROOMED TOMB AND ITS FAMOUS GOLDEN BURIAL MASK WERE DISCOVERED IN 1922 BY BRITISH ARCHAEOLOGIST HOWARD CARTER, OBSERVERS HAVE NOTED STRANGE BROWN SPOTS MARRING THE WALL MARKINGS. "I ALWAYS SEE THE TOMB OF KING TUT AND WONDER ABOUT THOSE SPOTS, WHICH NO SCIENTIST HAS BEEN ABLE TO EXPLAIN", SAID JAHI HAWASS, THE HEAD OF THE SCA, IN A STATEMENT. "NOW I AM HAPPY THAT THE GETTY WILL LOOK AT THE TOMB AND PRESERVE ITS BEAUTIFUL SCENES", HE ADDED. THOUSANDS OF TOURISTS VISIT THE UNDERGROUND CHAMBERS IN THE VALLEY OF THE KINGS EVERY MONTH, BRINGING HEAT AND HUMIDITY, WHICH DAMAGE THE MORE THAN 3,000 YEAR OLD TOMB. TUTANKHAMUN WASN'T EGYPT'S MOST POWERFUL OR IMPORTANT KING, BUT HIS STAGGERING TREASURES, RUMORS OF A MYSTERIOUS CURSE THAT PLAGUED CARTER AND HIS TEAM, DEBUNKED BY EXPERTS LONG AGO, AND SEVERAL BOOKS AND TV DOCUMENTARIES DEDICATED TO HIM HAVE ADDED TO THE INTRIGUE. ARCHAEOLOGISTS IN PRESENT YEARS HAVE TRIED TO RESOLVE LINGERING QUESTIONS OVER HOW HE DIED AND HIS PRECISE ROYAL LINEAGE. IN 2005, SCIENTIST REMOVED TUT'S MUMMY FROM HIS TOMB AND PLACED IT INTO A PORTABLE CT SCAN FOR 15 MINUTES TO OBTAIN A THREE DIMENSIONAL IMAGE. THE SCANS WERE THE FIRST EVER DONE ON AN EGYPTIAN MUMMY. THE RESULTS RULED OUT THAT TUT WAS VIOLENTLY MURDERED, BUT STOPPED SHORT OF DEFINITIVELY CONCLUDING HOW HE DIED AROUND 1323 BC. A RECENT HIGHLY PUBLICIZED GLOBAL TOUR OF TUTANKHAMUN'S ARTIFACTS DREW MORE THAN 4 MILLION PEOPLE DURING ITS INITIAL FOUR-CITY AMERICAN TOUR. THE CONSERVATION PLAN WILL INVOLVE A TWO-YEAR RESEARCH PERIOD TO DETERMINE THE CAUSES OF DETERIORATION, FOLLOWED BY THREE YEARS OF IMPLEMENTATION. THE SCA SAID IT HAD YET TO DECIDE HOW LONG THE TOMB WOULD BE CLOSED DURING THAT TIME. THE GETTY CONSERVATION INSTITUTE WORKS TO ADVANCE CONSERVATION TECHNIQUES FOR ART, PARTICULARLY ANCIENT SITES, AROUND THE WORLD.

MFA BOSTON PRESENTS THE SECRETS OF TOMB 10A: EGYPT 2000 BC

THEY SURVIVED TWO FIRES, THE ONSLAUGHT OF ROBBERS AND THE EFFECTS OF FOUR THOUSAND YEARS UNDERGROUND. NOW, THESE REMARKABLE MASTERWORKS FROM AN EGYPTIAN TOMB OF THE MIDDLE KINGDOM (2040–1640 BC) WILL BE ON VIEW I A SPECIAL EXHIBITION AT THE MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS (MFA), BOSTON, FROM 18.OCTOBER.2009 THROUGH 16.MAY.2010. 'THE SECRETS OF TOMB 10A: EGYPT 2000 BC' SHOWCASES FUNERARY OBJECTS DISCOVERED IN DEIR EL-BERSHA, A NECROPOLIS IN CENTRAL EGYPT, BY THE JOINT HARVARD UNIVERSITY/MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS EXPEDITIONS IN 1915. IT INCLUDES THE FAMOUS PAINTED 'BERSHA COFFIN', THE MUMMIFIED HEAD OF ONE OF THE TOMB'S OCCUPANTS, AND HUNDREDS OF ITEMS DEEMED NECESSARY FOR A COMFORTABLE AFTERLIFE IN ANCIENT EGYPT. THIS FIND REPRESENTS THE LARGEST MIDDLE KINGDOM BURIAL ASSEMBLAGE EVER DISCOVERED AND SHEDS LIGHT ON THE GRAND LIFESTYLE ENJOYED BY LOCAL GOVERNOR AND PRIEST DJEHUTYNAKHT AND HIS WIFE. THE CONVERSATION AND RECONSTRUCTION OF MANY OF THE ITEMS, DAMAGED BY GRAVE ROBBERS, HAVE TAKEN ALMOST A CENTURY TO COMPLETE. FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER SINCE THEY WERE PLACED IN THE TOMB, THE ASSEMBLAGE WILL BE DISPLAYED IN ITS ENTIRETY.
'THE SECRETS OF TOMB 10A' EXAMINES THE MYSTERIES SURROUNDING THE DJEHUTYNAKHTS, THEIR LIFESTYLE, THE FATE OF THEIR POSSESSIONS AFTER THEY WERE BURIED, AND WHETHER THE MUMMIFIED HEAD IS MALE OR FEMALE. IT ALSO OFFERS AN ENGAGING INTRODUCTION TO EVOLVING FUNERARY PRACTICES IN EGYPT FROM THE 11th THROUGH THE 13th DYNASTIES AND PROVIDES INSIGHTS INTO DAILY LIFE OF THE HIGH OFFICIALS OF THE TIME. FEATURED ARE MORE THAN 250 OBJECTS, MANY OF WHICH HAVE NEVER BEEN ON VIEW. THESE INCLUDE FOUR PAINTED COFFINS, CULT OBJECTS, VESSELS FOR FOOD AND DRINK, FURNITURE, JEWELRY, WALKING STICKS AND SEALED BEER JARS (ONE OF WHICH WILL BE OPENED AND EXAMINED), AS WELL AS THE LARGEST KNOWN COLLECTION OF WOODEN MODELS FROM THE MIDDLE KINGDOM REPRESENTING, IN MINIATURE FORM, A RANGE OF ACTIVITIES AND ITEMS THAT WOULD HAVE BEEN FOUND ON THE COUPLE'S ESTATE. THIS IS TRULY A ONCE IN A LIFE TIME EXHIBITION
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NEUES MUSEUM RECEIVES 3,300 YEAR OLD BUST OF NEFERTITI

A FAMOUS 3,300 YEAR OLD BUST OF THE EGYPTIAN QUEEN NEFERTITI HAS BEEN MOVED TO ITS NEW PERMANENT HOME AT BERLIN'S RESTORED NEUES MUSEUM. THE CITY'S MUSEUM AUTHORITY SAID IN A RECENT STATEMENT THAT OFFICIALS MOVED NEFERTITI 'WITH THE GREATEST CARE' ON SUNDAY FROM THE ADJACENT ALTES MUSEUM, HER TEMPORARY HOME IN RECENT YEARS. THE PLASTER AND LIMESTONE BUST WILL GO ON VIEW TO THE PUBLIC 17.OCTOBER WHEN THE NEUS MUSEUM REOPENS. THE BUILDING HAS BEEN RESTORED PAINSTAKINGLY AFTER LYING UNUSED SINCE WORLD WAR II, WHEN BOMB DAMAGE RUINED MUCH OF IT. NEFERTITI FIRST WENT ON SHOW AT THE NEUES MUSEUM, ONE OF FIVE BUILDINGS THAT MAKES UP BERLIN'S NEOCLASSICAL MUSEUM ISLAND, BEFORE THE WAR. NEFERTITI WAS THE GREAT ROYAL WIFE OF THE EGYPTIAN PHARAOH AKHENATEN. NEFERTITI AND HER HUSBAND WERE KNOWN FOR CHANGING EGYPT'S RELIGION FROM A POLYTHEISTIC RELIGION TO A HENOTHEISTIC RELIGION. THEY REVERED ONLY ONE GOD, ATEN, THE SUN DISC. SHE WAS MADE FAMOUS BY HER BUST, NOW IN THE ALTES MUSEUM. THE BUST IS ONE OF THE MOST COPIED WORKS OF ANCIENT EGYPT. IT WAS ATTRIBUTED TO THE SCULPTOR THUTMOSE, AND IT WAS FOUND IN HIS WORKSHOP. THE BUST ITSELF IS NOTABLE FOR EXEMPLIFYING THE UNDERSTANDING ANCIENT EGYPTIANS HAD REGARDING REALISTIC FACIAL PROPORTIONS. SOME SCHOLARS BELIEVE THAT THE NEFERTITI RULED BRIEFLY AFTER HER HUSBAND'S DEATH AND BEFORE THE ACCESSION OF TUTANKHAMEN, ALTHOUGH THIS IDENTIFICATION IS A MATTER OF ONGOING DEBATE.