Dr Zahi Hawass, has been promoted in the shake up of Egyptian President’s Hosni Mubarak’s new cabinet according to a report from AP. Formerly the Vice Minister for Culture, and the Secretary General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA), Dr Hawass will now take the role as Minister of a newly created department – the State Ministry for Antiquities. Literary critic Dr Gaber Asfour has been named the new Minister of Culture, replacing the long-serving Farouk Hosni.
The cabinet shake up comes in the wake of political turmoil across Egypt, which saw a lack of police protection for key sites such as Cairo’s Egyptian Museum. Looting at the museum saw damage caused to several artefacts including those discovered in the famous Tomb of King Tutankhamun, as well as reports of severe looting at sites including Saqqara, Memphis Museum and Abusir. Former director of the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, Wafaa el-Saddik, also revealed that museums in Egypt do not have insurance.
Last year, Dr Hawass was installed by President Mubarak as the Vice Minister for Culture in a move to allow him to postpone his pending mandatory retirement as the Secretary General of the SCA, as Egyptian ministers do not have a set age for retirement.
With several museums and heritage sites across Egypt in a state of disarray, Dr Hawass’ first priority will be to account for the missing artefacts, begin the restoration of damaged historical treasure and reopen museums and popular tourist spots such as the Great Pyramids of Giza as soon as possible.
Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities is to expand, with the addition of a new department for archaeological collections. Among its duties will be the registration of privately owned artefacts, as well as supervising the transfers of ownership on these items. The Archaeological Collections Administration is established to facilitate the execution of the newly amended Antiquities Protection Law. The announcement comes only days after Egypt held its first conference on the repatriation of artefacts, showing that Egypt’s focus is not just on retrieving looting antiquities from foreign collections, but mapping and saveguarding those ‘at home’ as well.
Farouk Hosni, Egypt’s Minister of Culture, announced the establishment of the first department for archaeological collections, the Archaeological Collections Administration (ACA), as a part of the Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA). The new division will be responsible for determining the archaeological status of transferred individual or institutional collections in accordance with the recently amended Antiquities Protection Law.
Those amendments lead to tougher punishments for theft and smuggling of ancient treasures, as well as cancelling the percentage of movable antiquities that were previously granted to ‘outstanding’ foreign excavation missions who discovered then. Division of any newly discovered objects is now prohibited by law. The recent amendment to the 1983 Law on the Protection of Antiquities also requires Egyptians who own antiquities to report their possessions to the Supreme Council of Antiquities, allowing them six months in which to do so. The council then has the right to claim the antiquity from the owner, if it offers a reasonable compensation.
The sale of antiquities is still banned, and suggestions to allow licensed antiquities trafficking did not make the new bill. The law does allow possession of antiquities by some individuals, but this is decided on a case by case basis. They can only change hands as a gift – which requires the council’s permission as well – or be passed on as part of an inheritance.
Egyptian archaeologist Dr. Hussein Bassir was appointed as director for the new department, which will be located at the SCA headquarters in Zamalek (Cairo), with local offices in various governorates.
Dr. Zahi Hawass said that a number of experienced archaeologists would be working with this department. Professionals from the SCA as well as advisors with the proper expertise would examine artefacts owned by individuals or institutions in accordance with articles 1 and 2 of the new Antiquities Protection Law.
The Archaeological Collections Administration will be responsible for accurately registering the privately owned pieces using modern registration techniques. It will supervise the transfer of ownership of the objects from private individuals to the government either by purchase, through donation, or by inheritance, as the trafficking of antiquities – or destruction of them – is illegal.
“The department will receive requests to register privately owned objects at which point it will examine the pieces in order to determine their authenticity,” said Dr. Hussein Bassir. The section will then proceed to accept them as donation should the current owner wish so, or purchase them on behalf of the SCA. The artefacts will be stored in the Egyptian Museum, Cairo, and later on be displayed in newly constructed regional museums.
There is exciting news breaking right now in Egypt. An archaeological team led by Dr. Zahi Hawass has discovered several new tombs that belong to the workers who built the pyramids of Khufu and Khafre.
This is the first time to uncover tombs like the ones that were found during the 1990s, which belong to the late 4th and 5th Dynasties (2649-2374 BC), said Dr. Hawass in the press release.
When we think of Giza we tend to think of the Giza Pyramids. However, while the pyramids were under construction, there was an extensive city to the south that supported the workers. It included houses, bakeries, magazines and a hypostyle hall (See the video below, in which Mark Lehner descibes his work researching this area).
This system of support for the workers also included burials for those who died at Giza. These tombs were built beside the kings pyramid, which indicates that these people were not by any means slaves. If they were slaves, they would not have been able to build their tombs beside their kings, said Dr. Hawass.
The idea of theGiza Pyramidsbeing built by slaves is a myth it has never had any basis in archaeological fact.
One of tombs uncovered belongs to a man named Idu. The release says that it is a rectangular structure with a mud brick outside casing that is covered with plaster. It has several burial shafts, each cased with white limestone there are niches in front of each shaft.
Thepress releaseparaphrases Adel Okasha, the supervisor of the excavation, as saying that the upper part of the tomb had a vaulted shape which symbolizes, the eternal hill from which the human creation began, according to the Memphis religious tradition. This is strong evidence that the tomb dates to the early 4th dynasty. This shape is also similar to those of tombs located beside Snefrus pyramid in Dahshur.
More tombs, containing coffins, were found to the west of Idus resting place. Another tombhas beenfound to the south that is built of mud brick and has several burial shafts each of which contains a skeleton and pottery sherds.
21 Buffalo and 23 Sheep a Day
One statement in the release that really caught my eye, is that evidence uncovered also revealed that the families in the Delta and Upper Egypt sent 21 buffalo and 23 sheep to the plateau every day to feed the workers.
It isobviously no surprise that people would send food on a regular basis.It’s alsono surprisethat the foodwould be rich in protein -sincethat’s somethingthat you needif youre going to be doing heavy manual labour.
What does surprise me is the detail provided in the release. Im curious to know how Egyptologists were able to work this out so exactly.
Have there been written records found that provide such precise detail? Do we also have detailed info on the rations for grain and vegetables? If so can we tell if this diet ever changed?
This is very fascinating stuff as the diet of the workers would be important for a project like this. After all, you cant build the pyramids with a severely malnourished workforce!
Im going to finish up with another quote from the release. Hawass pointed out that the families who sent these were not paying their taxes to the Egyptian government, but rather they were sharing in one of Egypts national projects.
Video: Mark Lehner’s Search for the Pyramid Builders of Ancient Egypt
Yesterday saw Dr Zahi Hawass, Egypt’s Antiquities chief, travel to Berlin to discuss the future of the Bust of Nefertiti with the director of the Neues Museum, her current home (watch a slideshow about the move). Yet statements released by both parties today appear to disagree on what was to be said at the showdown.
The Bust of Nefertiti (or Nofretete in German) has long been in the crosshair of Dr Hawass’ quest to repatriate Egypt’s showcase artefacts. Yet despite her place as one of his ‘famous five’ targets, the Neues Museum insists no formal approach was to be made concerning her future: “Friederike Seyfried, director of the Egyptian Museum Berlin, will travel to Cairo for a first visit to talk with Zahi Hawass about common projects,” its statement reads.
“Borchardt did act unethically, with intent to deceive.” – Zahi Hawass
“There will be no negotiations about the restitution of Nefertiti’s bust,” the statement adds. “Documents about the division of finds of 1912 will be given to the Egyptian side.” This may have been news to Dr Hawass, however, whose blog yesterday listed little more than the arguments for Nefertiti’s return.
He writes that the bust’s discoverer, Ludwig Borchardt, deliberately mis-categorised it so that it could leave Egypt. Borchart is purported to have listed the bust as that of a princess, made in plaster – when in fact it is the limestone bust of Egypt’s most mysterious queen. “These materials confirm Egypts contention that Borchardt did act unethically, with intent to deceive,” Dr Hawass writes.
Dr Seyfried does not have the authority to permit any repatriation, but Dr Hawass is set to call a meeting of the National Committee for the Return of Stolen Artefacts later this week, when he will make a formal request for the bust’s return. Museum officials have remained coy on the artefact, insisting they would look at loan options only if no risk of damage was involved.
Remember the ‘groundbreaking discovery’ of Cambyses’ lost Persian army a few weeks back, in the Western Desert of Egypt? Almost as soon as it had been announced, Zahi Hawass’ Supreme Council of Antiquities were all over it, rejecting the Castiglioni brothers’ claims they’d found the legendary fleet near Siwa Oasis.
Yet any doubts as to the brothers’ credibility have been lost on Iranian officials, who have branded Dr Hawass’ rejection of the discovery as politically motivated, and have urged UNESCOto step in to save the army’s remains. The request by Iran’s Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Toursim Organisation (ICHHTO) was made yesterday. Spokesman Hassan Mohseni tells Fars news agency: “Egypt’s chief archeologist Zahi Hawass has recently rejected the discovery of the army in his personal weblog due to political pressure.”
“Zahi Hawass has rejected the discovery due to political pressure.”
It’s an odd twist in a growing saga which promises to run for some time yet. Various cyber-sleuths have succeeded only in shrouding the story in even more mystery, digging up conflicting claims from sources as far back as 2004. Cambyses’ 50,000 men are said to have vanished in a huge sandstorm some 2,500 years ago, whilst on their way to Siwa’s Temple of Amun. The Castiglioni brothers have supposedly found large numbers of human bones and Persian artefacts just outside the remote oasis.
Yet almost immediately the web was awash with comments, rumour and controversy thanks to the SCA’s response to the ‘find’. “I need to inform the public that recent reports published in newspapers, news agencies and TV news announcing that twin brothers Angelo and Alfredo Castiglioni have unearthed the remains of the Persian army of Cambyses, are unfounded and misleading,” wrote Dr Hawass on his personal blog. We’ll keep you posted on the latest developments as soon as they happen.
Tutankhamun, or King Tut as he’s affectionately known, was the boy king who ruled Egypt during the New Kingdom’s 18th dynasty, from 1333 to 1324 BC. In life he wasn’t the most important or memorable of Egypt’s pharoahs, but in death he’s become the one pharoah everyone’s heard of. His death at the age of 19 has been the topic of much discussion (You can watch last week’s video on the mystery of King Tut’s death here) and he was buried in the Valley of the Kings, on the west bank of the Nile near Luxor (ancient Thebes). His tomb KV62 is one of the most famous archaeological discoveries ever and has generated not only a whole new body of knowledge about the young king’s life, but also one of the most intriguing mysteries surrounding the necropolis at Thebes.
The Curse of Tutankhamun’s Tomb (KV62)
The explorers who found KV62 on November 4th 1922 found an inscription at the entrance that seemed to say that all those who enter will be killed. But was this a curse or just a severe warning to tomb raiders? Within a year of the tomb being opened, Lord Carnarvon, one of the initial exploration party, died in a hotel in Cairo at the age of 57. The cause was possibly a mosquito bite, which became infected. Howard Carter lived on until 1939, when he died of cancer aged 64. So is the curse real and does it pose a danger to all those who enter KV62? You would think not, but according to one man who knows, the jury is out.
Dr Zahi Hawass, head of Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities isn’t the kind of chap to be scared off by a little superstition in fact his team of Egyptian archaeologists discovered eight baskets of doum fruit in KV62 in 2007. Dr Hawass has since worked at the site and personally accompanied the corpse of Tutankhamun when it underwent a CT scan. In this video he describes his initial scepticism about the curse, pointing out that the curse inscription was mis-translated by a reporter. Hawass says it is much more likely to be a simple (and commonplace) warning to tomb-robbers, rather than a mystical curse of the pharoahs.
Tips to Survive King Tut’s Curse
The excavatory techniques used in the early 20th century are also slightly dubious. Hawass says archaeologists were over-eager to enter the newly discovered tombs. Much of it comes down to common sense: if a tomb has been sealed for 3,000 years, and it contains a mummified body, as well as other organic material, then the air inside may contain unpleasant gasses and bacteria.
Is 21st century technology also prone to 3,000-year-old magic curses?
Hawass, who has been excavating for 35 years and has worked inside many tombs, reveals in this video his own tricks for staying healthy while examining ancient Egyptian mummies and other artefacts from tombs. They include:
Always open the tomb but never enter straight away. Leave it open for one day, so fresh air can circulate.
Don’t shave. Hawass believes that shaving can leave a man’s face with small abrasions that can leave him open to infection.
An Odd Series of Events: Curse or Coincidence?
However, Hawass also reveals that he is not entirely without his superstitious side. He himself experienced an odd series of events surrounding his own examination of the body and tomb of Tutankhamun. Last year, as he drove from Luxor to the Valley of the Kings, his car nearly ran over and killed a small child, he then received a phone call telling him his brother-in-law had died. Shortly afterwards, as he finished giving a TV interview, storm clouds gathered over the Valley of the Kings and it rained torrentially a pretty rare event in the parched desert around Luxor (which has average annual rainfall of less than one inch per year, compared to London with about 24 inches).
One final inexplicable incident seems to have left Dr Hawass with a suspicion that the famed curse of Tutankhamun might just be true after all. As his team scanned the Egyptian king’s mummified body in a CT scanner, the brand new machine inexplicably stopped working for an hour. Is 21st century technology also prone to 3,000-year-old magic curses? Or perhaps even sophisticated scanners gets the jitters in the presence of such a famed boy-king? There is certainly some doubt in Dr Hawass’s mind.
HDVideo: King Tut – The Curse of the Mummy (feat. Zahi Hawass)
The opening of Berlin’s Neues Museum and its ceremonial re-unveiling of the Bust of Nefertiti has provided a stark contrast to the recent climate on the repatriation of ancient artefacts. At the forefront of the debate is Zahi Hawass, chief of Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA): marauding worldwide with dossiers in hand, strong-arming museums into giving Egypt back its most prized possessions. Dr Hawass even sent one of his antiquities droogs to Berlin this month with a letter for the Neues‘ director. One can imagine it won’t be a shining eulogy to his work.
Dr Hawass’ Famous Five
“We own that stone, the motherland should own this,” Dr Hawass told an Al-Jazeera audience two years ago, referring of course to the Rosetta Stone that now takes pride of place in the British Museum. Dr Hawass lists a top five “objects that Egypt, the homeland of the pharaohs, does not have”: The Rosetta Stone and Nefertiti’s bust; the Dendera Zodiac in the Louvre; the Statue of Hemiunu (the architect of the Great Pyramid) in Hildesheim Museum and the Bust of Ankhhaf (architect of Khafre’s Pyramid) at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Dr Hawass can rant and rave about his ‘famous five’ ’til the cows come home. But what power does he really wield?
Give it Back – Or Else
Plenty, it seems – and there’s a feeling museums are beginning to fear the ‘Zahi Effect’. Two years ago Dr Hawass started an offensive against the StLouis Art Museum for their purchase of the mask of Ka-Nefer-Nefer. When the museum refused to back down, Dr Hawass lauched a media war, and even distributed leaflets to the city’s schools telling them not to visit the artefact. This July saw the SCA suspend the Louvre’s research at Saqqara over its alleged theft of tomb fragments from Thebes. The fragments were hastily handed back and work duly resumed. New York’s Metropolitan Museum went one step further last October, buying an ancient shrine fragment solely to send it back to Egypt. Dr Hawass’ position is clear: “If any museum will not co-operate with us, if any museum will not be fair with us, what we should do is stop any scientific operation (with) this museum.
But before you get the idea Dr Hawass is sitting in a gold-plated room, stroking a white cat and laughing maniacally at the money coming in from all his repatriated treasures, he is a man of immeasurable worth to the world of antiquities: fighting black markets and looters who threaten to dilute the planet’s ancient past in countries as far apart as Iraq, Bulgaria, the US and Guatemala. He has recovered over 6,000 artefacts from private collectors, thieves and rogue dealers since he began his tenure in 2002.
Dr Hawass also has a point when faced with the age-old question of whether returned antiquities can be as safe in Egypt as they are in their current homes. “Our museums now are more secure and the artefacts in a (more) beautiful display than many museums in Europe,” he argues. Having been to the Luxor Museum recently, I can vouch for him. And the more security is raised as a reason against repatriation, the more it seems a tired, desperate colonial attempt to keep something which doesn’t belong – a feeling echoed loudest in the British Museum’s stubborn refusal to hear Greece’s claims to the Elgin Marbles.
Repatriation could Destroy Archaeology
Yet some argue restrictions on artefact exports are doing more harm than good. John Tierney, writing in his New York Times column, says letting less go could be driving the trade underground: “Restricting the export of artefacts hasnt ended their theft and looting any more than the war on drugs has ended narcotics smuggling. Instead, the restrictions promote the black market and discourage the kind of open research that would benefit everyone except criminals.” You could argue the real aim is to destroy illegal trade altogether, something Dr Hawass addressed at the start of his post with the invention of the Department of Stolen Antiquities. Experts are divided, however, on the department’s results and it might be more than a little nave to think we can stop a system that’s been working for thousands of years.
A Happy Medium?
“Restricting the export of artefacts hasnt ended their theft and looting any more than the war on drugs has ended narcotics smuggling.” – John Tierney
James Cuno, Director of Chicago’s Art Institute, writes in his book Who Owns Antiquities? that archaeologists should go back to the days of partage, whereby experts agreed to take home a certain percentage of discovered artefacts. He sees scholars of today largely as sell-outs, ready to acquiesce all too easily to governments willing to use archaeology to propagandise. See Saddam Hussein’s shameful highjacking of Nebuchadnezzar’s name for the loudest recent example. Cuno believes westerners should be able to see Egyptian treasures just as much as Egyptians: they are “not, and can never be, the property of one modern nation or another.”
The Rosetta Stone, equally, would never have acquired the importance it now enjoys without international co-operation, something which could potentially vanish under Dr Hawass’ ‘Egypt-only’ views. Yet Cuno’s definition of a ‘modern nation’ is a dangerous one, and one which has been used far too often to argue against repatriation. ‘How,’ many westerners cry, ‘can Arab Egyptians claim artefacts back when they’ve got so little in common with ancient Egyptians?’ Well, if you’re going to use that argument you may want to take a look at the history of Egypt’s archaeology.
Many if not all of Egypt’s most precious items were taken under colonial rule, when the British and French were in charge. So what rights did London or Paris have to take objects back then? Surely it would cost someone across the world just as much to get to Luxor as the Louvre and a lot less to stay: all-but ending the argument that either the Louvre or the BM is a ‘global museum’.
The issues surrounding repatriation are many and complicated. Who own antiquities and who are responsible for them is one of history’s hottest topics, debated fiercely all over the world. “We have to follow those who steal our artefacts,” warns Dr Hawass. The question is, when is something stolen?
It’s the most exciting project in Egypt, and one that’s captured the hearts and minds of people all over the world: could Kathleen Martinez have discovered the tomb of Cleopatra? The Dominican expert certainly thinks so, and tells Heritage Key all about it in this special video.
A Long Route to Egypt
It has taken Dr Martinez ten years to convince herself Taposiris Magna, just outside Alexandria, is the famous queen’s final resting place. And she knew from the off she had to get out in the field herself to have any chance of finding the tomb. “I needed to come to Egypt…to see the remains of this temple, to be sure that it has the possibility of being the lost tomb of Cleopatra.”
“This is the perfect place for the tomb of Cleopatra.”
Yet Martinez thought she had no chance of securing a spot in the field until she got a letter from Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities, headed by Dr Zahi Hawass (watch the fascinating video about the project with Dr Hawass here) “They would give me two months only to prove my theory,” says Martinez. “In archaeology, two months is nothing.” The race was on: could Martinez capture her holy grail, and find the tomb of Egypt’s last queen?
Time Running Out
Almost two months in the project seemed doomed to failure. But just as things were coming to a close, Martinez’ team hit gold. Tunnels were found, which would eventually reach a depth of 35m. They’re still being cleaned today, after Dr Hawass granted Martinez another season to prove her claim. To date the team’s biggest find has been a cemetery outside the temple, “which is the proof that in this area there is a royal tomb,” Martinez says excitedly.
Martinez feels a sense of responsibility for finding Cleopatra, an ancient character long draped in romance and legend. “If there’s a one per cent chance that the last queen of Egypt could be buried there, it is my duty to search for her.” So far the team has unearthed a huge number of Greco-Roman artefacts, including coins with Cleopatra‘s head on them. Dr Hawass has already hailed the dig as a success, whatever its outcome: “If we discover the tomb…it will be the most important discovery of the 21st century. If we do not discover the tomb…we made major discoveries here, inside the temple and outside the temple.”
A World-changing Discovery?
Martinez is captivating, and her passion for the discovery is clear to see. She knows this could be one of the world’s greatest discoveries, and a smile beams across her face. “We have changed forever what they know about funerary temples. This is the perfect place for the tomb of Cleopatra.”
HDVideo: Search for the Tomb of Cleopatra (Featuring Dr. Kathleen Martinez)
What do you think will happen at Taposiris Magna? Is it the perfect place to find Cleopatra? And what about Mark Antony – was he buried with his great love? Have your say, either via the , our contact page or by emailing me direct. You can watch a whole host of great videos here at Heritage Key – from the perils of Venice to the lost tombs of Thebes. Catch us here or on YouTube.
Ever wondered what ancient histories might be waiting to be discovered underwater, or dreamed about diving in the Nile and looking for treasures? Well, check out this new video from Heritage Key, featuring Dr. Hawass and teams of Egyptian divers excavating underwater relics near Aswan, Egypt. Experience almost first-hand that feeling of adventure that surrounds Zahi Hawass and his team as they search in the greenish basin of the Nile for precious items.
The success of Mediterranean underwater archaeology has led divers and Egyptologists to re-consider the the Nile as an attractive archaeological site. Already, the river has yielded some remarkable treasures, and unlike many of the country’s ancient artefacts, any found here will be staying in Egypt.
In this video we can see some of the artifacts found by professional divers working for the Supreme Council of Antiquities near Aswan; from a grinding stone to Coptic churches’ niches. Dr. Hawass stresses that this area would have been a market area in the past. The Nile was the ‘highway’ of Egypt and all commercial products as well as construction materials were transported up and down the river frequently. In fact, the river was so jam-packed with trade that any distraction, accident or dispute would result in materials and objects getting lost overboard seemingly forever – or at least until now.
Aswan was the source of sandstone for many of Egypt’s ancient monuments and was famous for its quarries. The ‘Unfinished Obelisk’ today sits at the site of an Obelisk production area, and Dr. Hawass dreams of finding a ‘major obelisk’, as he says in the video. But not only obelisks were made here. Sandstone was also used to make grinding stones, the ones used in bakeries to make the daily bread, one of the staple foods ancient Egyptians could not live without.
Religious objects made of stone are also being found at the bottom of the Nile; niches that were intended to be places in Coptic altars, in churches along Egypt, homes to the first Christian settlements, are also being ‘dug up’. Even big ceramic flasks or bottles resembling Roman amphorae are found. These prove that international commerce between Egypt and the surrounding countries once thrived, including, Dr. Hawass believes, trade with Turkey. He intends to pursue this quest further up the Nile where it runs north to meet the Mediterranean Sea in the Nile Delta.
But Dr Hawass is not the first to venture beneath the Nile. Underwater archaeology in Egypt began maybe in 1910, with a French engineer, Gaston Jondet. During the enlargement of Alexandria’s western port, Jondet noticed ancient harbour structures underneath. And again in 1933, at Abu Kir, some 30 km from Qaitbay, to the east of Alexandria, a British aircraft pilot noticed some vestiges within the water again.
In 1961, Kamal Abou el-Saadat, an Egyptian diver, noticed stone ruins at Silsileh, east of the ancient Cape Lochias, which turned out to be a seven metre statue of Isis Pharia, made from Aswan granite. In 1983 the French ships from Napoleon‘s fleet were also discovered. Along with the ships, many objects were recovered, including both weapons and personal objects.
But besides what was done at the time of the building of Aswan Dam (1900 and 1952), and the rescue of monuments, nothing in particular has characterized archaeology in Egypt in submarine terms that is important enough to be mentioned.
Until now.
In early 2008 a team from the Supreme Council of Antiquities – Department of Underwater Archaeology (SCA-DUA) conducted a survey of an area below the Aswan Dam near Elephantine Island using side-scan sonar.
An underwater survey was done and a number of items associated with a temple dedicated to the Egyptian Fertility God Khnum were found (previously located at the Elephantine Island), such as a stone doorway to the temple weighing many tons, from which a 1-ton section was brought to the surface and also the remains of an ancient Christian church.
A new branch of Egyptology might be in gestation – underwater Egyptology, with new disciplines to be learned in classes for future researchers, such as marine biology, geology and shipbuilding. The rest of us will wait with bated breath on shore, eager to see what treasures the Nile will reveal.
Video: Underwater Archaeology – Dr Zahi Hawass Excavates the Nile at Aswan
Egypt has decided to suspend all archaeological cooperation with the Louvre, after the French museum refused to return fragments of a Theban Tomb. The news was confirmed today by Dr. Zahi Hawass, head of Egypt’s antiquities department. The artefacts were excavated in a tomb near Luxor, and according to Dr. Hawass were stolen by the French. This decision endangers planned conferences at the Louvre, as well as the French team’s current excavations at Saqqara, the ‘city of the dead’. A boycott of the Louvre‘s Egyptological activities also ensures no archeological expeditions sponsored by the French museum could go ahead in Egypt.
The decision to cut all ties with the Louvre, as well as its archaeological teams, was taken two months ago after the Louvre had repeatedly ignored requests for the return of four reliefs. Dr. Hawass says the reliefs were illegally taken from a tomb in Luxors Valley of the Kings in the 1980s.
The disputed artefacts are 5 fragments from the wall of Theban Tomb 15 (TT15), the tomb of Tetiki on the West Bank at Dra Abu’l Naga. The tomb was photographed in 1968 and shown intact. In the 1990’s the tomb was – like so many – lost, and thought to be destroyed by modern building. A team from the Heidelberg University rediscovered this tomb during excavations at Dra Abu El-Naga in 2001, but the fragments were missing.
Four fragments of TT15 were acquired by the Louvre in 2000, and a fifth one in 2003. In January 2009, the SCA presented the evidence to the Louvre; these fragments that resurfaced in the French Museum’s collection had clearly been stolen.
The Louvre has promised to return the pieces – but that it will have to wait for advice from a national body the French Museum. In September, the SCA informed the Louvre that it was suspending its excavations at Saqqara until the pieces were returned. There is a meeting of the National Scientific Commission for Museum Collections on October 9th, at which the official decision about the return of the fragments of TT15 will be made.
Dr. Hawass has made repatriating ‘stolen’ Egyptian antiquities a priority, especially those he calls ‘icons of our Egyptian identity’ – unique artefacts of Egyptian cultural patrimony. The SCAis also pressuring Berlin’s Neues Museum for the return of the Bust of Neferiti, and the British Museum for the Rosetta Stone. The antiquities chief had already been purusing the Louvre over the Dendera Zodiac, an amazing astronomical chart which was torn from the Temple of Hathor at Dendera by French general Louis Charles Antoine Desaix in 1821.
There is exciting news breaking right now in Egypt. An archaeological team led by 
The idea of theGiza Pyramidsbeing built by slaves is a myth it has never had any basis in archaeological fact.
It isobviously no surprise that people would send food on a regular basis.It’s alsono surprisethat the foodwould be rich in protein -sincethat’s somethingthat you needif youre going to be doing heavy manual labour.
Remember the 
However, Hawass also reveals that he is not entirely without his superstitious side. He himself experienced an odd series of events surrounding his own examination of the body and tomb of 
Almost two months in the project seemed doomed to failure. But just as things were coming to a close, Martinez’ team hit gold. Tunnels were found, which would eventually reach a depth of 35m. They’re still being cleaned today, after 
