Sunday 27 December 2015

Happy New Year

Just got sent the nicest New Year card from Hourig so I thought I would share it

Wednesday 23 December 2015

King Tut's Beard Is Back, With Help From a Little Beeswax

Picture of a conservator working on the restoration of King Tutankhamun's maskKing Tut's Beard Is Back, With Help From a Little Beeswax: Concern over Tut's beard dates back to 1922, when Tutankhamun's tomb was discovered. “The study of the mask showed that its beard was detached and was not fixed back till 1946” says Christian Eckmann—the German expert who lead the mask’s restoration team—in a press conference that unveiled the mask after restoration. Eckmann is a conservator with a specialization in glass and metal, the two main components of the golden mask. He had previously restored and conserved several Egyptian artifacts, notably the two copper statues of King Pepi I, and the golden head of Horus.

Related Content

Radar Scans in King Tut’s Tomb Suggest Hidden Chambers
King Tut: The Teen Whose Death Rocked Egypt
Will a New Bout of King Tut Fever Bring Visitors Back to Egypt?

“The 2014 damage was exaggerated, since the beard was previously detached as the examination showed," says Friederike Fless, the president of the German Archaeological Institute in Cairo, one of the German and Egyptian bodies that cooperated in the restoration process.

Sun illuminates sanctuary of Egypt's ancient Karnak Temple - Politics - Egypt - Ahram Online

Sun illuminates sanctuary of Egypt's ancient Karnak Temple - Politics - Egypt - Ahram Online: A shaft of sunlight illuminated on Tuesday the usually dark sanctum of the Karnak temple, an ancient complex in the southern city of Luxor, in a rare astronomical phenomenon that happens twice a year.

Around 1500 tourists gathered to watch the spectacle that has endured for thousands of years of Egyptian history.

Photos showed a golden beam of light piercing the centre of the avenue of Sphinxes that lead to the Temple of Amun at the Karnak temple, one of the most popular sites from the Pharaonic era.

Karnak temple

Thursday 17 December 2015

(1) Ministry of Antiquities Press Office - more on the mask plus lots of photos.

(1) Ministry of Antiquities Press Office... - Ministry of Antiquities



From Facebook







A new discovery in the Golden Mask of King Tut
------------------------------------------------------------

A huge press conference was held yesterday at the Egyptian Museum to
announce the results of the restoration process of King Tutankhamun' s
famous Mask. Antiquities Minister Dr. Mamdouh Eldamaty who is also the
head of the scientific team responsible for restoring the Mask after a
false restoration last August declared that the Mask will be on display
starting from today 17-12-2015 in its original place in the Museum.


The restoration process revealed, added Eldamaty, a new archaeological
discovery related to the original technique used in manufacturing the
Mask; a gold tube was found inside the royal beard that was used to
install it in the Mask. Another secret was also revealed; the original
material used to fix the royal beard into the mask was the beeswax, the
same material used in this process.

Eldamaty also added that a
scientific study is being prepared now and a book will be published soon
tackling the whole restoration process and the detailed scientific
studies related to the Golden Pharaoh's masterpiece.

In his
presentation, professor Christian Ekmann, head of the scientific German
team has displayed the mechanical technique used in removing the resin
used in the false restoration saying that wooden tools were used in
order not to scratch the gold mask. He also emphasized that no chemical
solvents were used to remove the "epoxy" and separate the royal beard
from the Mask. Then the beard was refastened using beeswax, the same
material used by ancient Egyptians, so that it will be easy to remove in
the future.

© Ministry of Antiquities, Press Office
Wrote Eman Hossni

Tomb of Tutankhamun’s wet nurse to be open to public | Egypt Independent

 

Tomb of Tutankhamun’s wet nurse to be open to public | Egypt Independent: Antiquities Minister Mamdouh el-Damati will open the tomb of Maya, King Tutankhamun's wet nurse, to the public for the first time on Sunday since it was discovered in 1996 at Saqqara.

“This comes in conjunction with the examination of Tutankhamun’s tomb in Luxor, which may shed more light on the king’s secrets,” the minister said, adding that more archaeological sites will be open to the public in order to encourage tourism.

Smuggled Ancient Wall Carving Returned to Egypt - Yahoo News

Smuggled Ancient Wall Carving Returned to Egypt - Yahoo News



From a Seti I temple, I wonder if it is a Luxor one

Repaired King Tut Mask Back on Display in Egypt - The New York Times

 It might have been a disaster but actually it gave an opportunity for further study.

Repaired King Tut Mask Back on Display in Egypt - The New York Times: Luckily, the damage appears to have been reversible after all.

Egypt’s antiquities minister, Mamdouh el-Damaty, told reporters on Wednesday that the mask was repaired by a joint German-Egyptian team that studied the best ways to remove the epoxy and reattach the beard.

Wednesday 16 December 2015

Proyecto Djehuty . Excavación en Egipto







The official website of the Spanish Mission working at
Dra Abu el-Naga, led by Dr. Jose M. Galán (Spanish National Research Council,
Madrid), has been entirely redesigned and updated.
The new format adapts itself to different devices
(computer, tablet or cell-phone). The so-called "Djehuty Project"
shares plenty of photos, videos, articles... You can find the summary of each
campaign also in English and Arabic. We invite you to browse through it… and
don't miss the Digging-Diary.
 

via EEF




Proyecto Djehuty . Excavación en Egipto

Winter Solistice at Karnak 22nd Dec

Monday 14 December 2015

Reeves-determined-to-prove-his-theory - Al-Ahram Weekly

After three days of radar investigation to test his theory locating
Queen Nefertiti’s crypt inside Tutankhamun’s tomb, Nicholas Reeves was
standing next to Tutankhamun’s mummy. He wandered over, exhausted but
happy.



Reeves-determined-to-prove-his-theory - Al-Ahram Weekly



Reeves determined to prove his theory

Saturday 12 December 2015

Eternal Thebes part 2

From Myriam's facebook page

https://www.facebook.com/myriam.s.alvarez/posts/10153380632168667


"Thebes eternal", An exhibition at the Luxor Museum that displays objects of great value discovered in the temple of millions of years of Thutmose III.

The inauguration ceremony has counted with the presence of dr. Elham salah el din, director of the museums department of the ministry of Egyptian Antiquities, Dr. Mahmoud Afifi, director of the department of Antiquities of the pharaohs, Dr. Sultan Eid, territorial director of Antiquities of Luxor, Dr. Sanaa Ahmed Ali, director of the museum of Luxor, and political authorities of the local level. The sample exhibits some of the most relevant special pieces until now found in the above-mentioned field.

I encourage everyone to visit this museum and enjoy the exposure to meet the discoveries of the project of excavation and restoration in the temple of Thutmose III

"Eternal Thebes"
During the 8 campaigns in the Temple of Millions of Years of Thutmosis III in the West Bank, the Spanish-Egyptian archaeological mission has undertaken important discoveries such as those of gold jewelry and other beautiful objects found in funerary assemblages, foundation deposits, parts of statues and of stelae, lintels and many fragments of sandstone and limestone which show beautiful reliefs, some of which with polychrome, and interesting inscriptions.

The exhibit, which opens to public on the 12th of December 2015 in the Luxor Museum, shows some of the most relevant masterpieces found until now.

Eternal Thebes at Luxor Museum

A new exhibition was inaugrated at Luxor mseum today. A group of artefacts from the excavations at the Tuthmosis III temple was put on temporary display. the website of  the dig is
http://thutmosisiiitempleproject.org/ The dig director Dr Myriam Seco Alvarez explained that when they had come to the site in 2008 it was just buried under sand. Excavations revealed that the Memorial temple of Tuthmosis III was built on a large middle kingdom necropolis which had been robbed in antiquity. Part of the temple was still operational in Ramaside times under a priest called Khonsu. They had found many interesting objects and some of them were on display. We were allowed to take photos ( I did also grab some of the museum itself).


















 Luxor museum is a great museum and well worth looking at, here are some shots on my way out







Even the view as you leave is wonderful

Monday 7 December 2015