SCA

Last year, Dr Zahi Hawass spoke to Heritage Key in a video interview about the restoration work being carried out at the Moses Ben Maimon (Maimonides) synagogue in Cairo by the Egyptian Supreme Council of Antiquities (see the video at the bottom of this page). With the project nearing completion, the SCA chief has today announced that a planned celebration to mark the reopening of the restored monument has been cancelled.

Dr Hawass explained that the decision comes in the aftermath of Israeli authorities prohibiting worshippers from praying in the Al-Aqsa mosque in the West Bank.

After two years of investigation and negotiation, the 21st Dynasty coffin of Imesy is being returned to Egypt. Minister Farouk Hosni describes the coffin as beautifully plastered and painted with colourful religious scenes.

It was intercepted at Miami International Airport in 2008 when the importer failed to show the necessary documents to prove his ownership of the ancient Egyptian sarcophagus, which was part of a shipment from Spain. This raised concern amongst the American authorities that the coffin had left Egypt illegally.

An investigation was started by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency (ICE) of the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS). As the earliest public record of the piece dates to 2007 when it was being exhibited in Madrid, they concluded that the coffin had left Egypt after 1970. ICE then confiscated the coffin and contacted the SCA, who petitioned for the artefact's return to Egypt.

It's only 24 hours since all Tut broke lose, and additional information is still gradually being released (confirming my theory that the main bulk of the information was leaked too early ahead of the press conference). That, or it took the released information a while to percolate through my brain. The following bits are new or extra info (to me) from the official SCA press release.

Egypt’s Minister of Culture, Farouk Hosni, and Zahi Hawass, Secretary General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA), along with the governor of Luxor, Samir Farag, will embark today on an inspection tour along the Avenue of Sphinxes that connects the Luxor and Karnak temples. During this visit, they will install the piece of red granite that was returned to Egypt by the Metropolitan Museum of Art in its original place at the Ptah temple at Karnak.

The remains of a temple of Queen Berenike - wife of King Ptolemy III - have been discovered by archaeologists in Alexandria, Egypt. Dr. Zahi Hawass said the remains discovered are 60 meters by 15 meters, and extend under Ismail Fahmy street.  About 600 Ptolemaic statues - amongst which are beautiful depictions of the cat goddess Bastet - were also unearthed.

Dr. Mohamed Abdel Maqsoud, Head of Antiquities of Lower Egypt, said that the mission excavating at Kom el Dikka on property of the Alexandria Security Forces included 18 skilled excavators and restorers. The large collection of Bastet statues indicates that the temple was dedicated to her.

Two large tombs have been discovered at the ancient Egyptian necropolis of Saqqara - one of which is the largest ever found at the site. The 26th Dynasty tombs, likely robbed during the Roman era, are nonetheless filled with important arefacts including coffins, skeletons, pottery and mummified eagles.

The tombs, discovered by an Egyptian archaeological mission from the Supreme Council of Antiquities, are at the Ras El Gisr area of Saqqara, near the landmark's entrance. Both tombs are cut into the hills of the region: the larger first tomb is hewn from limestone while the other is mud-brick.

A Polish archaeological team has discovered a decorated clay vessel containing dozens of gold coins at a lost monastery in Egypt. The find was made in a room of the Archangel Gabriel monastery (Deir Malek Gubrail) in Naqlun, in the Fayum Oasis, by the Polish Centre of Mediterranean Archaeology of Warsaw University. SCA chief Zahi Hawass says the hoard's 18 coins and 62 coin fragments are dated to Egypt's Abbasid Period, which ruled northern regions between 750 and 1258 AD.

Team leader Wlodzimierz Godlewski says the monastic complex of Naqlun was built at the beginning of the 6th century AD. Yet the hoard, found beneath a collapsed wall, dates to around a hundred years later. A chandelier and lamp, both bronze, were also found at the site.

The tomb of Tutankhamun is one of the world's most famous ancient spots. Yet spots are precisely what are causing the decay of its beautiful wall paintings. The US-based Getty Conservation Institute have been drafted in to help mend the murals, but have been finding it an uphill struggle in the face of fierce desert weather and the onslaught of eager tourists.

Egypt will host an international conference next March for countries seeking the return of ancient indigenous treasures being kept in foreign museums, the Sydney Morning Herald reports. Dr. Zahi Hawass, Secretary General of the SCA and deputy-Culture Minister, said the conference - with Greece, Italy, China and Mexico attending - would be a world first.

''We expect around 12 countries to participate, possibly several more,'' Dr. Hawass told the Herald. ''There is a moral imperative for museums around the world to return certain artefacts to the countries they came from, and we are going to identify how we can help each other to increase the pressure on the keepers of those artefacts.'' Dr. Hawass added, ''I am calling on all nations who want their important artefacts returned to attend the conference."