Egypt 'safe', Britons told - Telegraph

Egypt 'safe', Britons told - Telegraph: “In Luxor, Aswan and Upper Egypt there have been no real problems throughout the past couple of years. In Luxor last Saturday not one incident was reported.

“Those on the ground can’t understand why tourists are not coming. People’s livelihoods are at risk and they are crying out for tourism.

Temples of Luxor - Portraitures

Even if you normally avoid Facebook like the plague I do encourage you to look at this series of photos from the travel photographer Kim Lau. He has several albums and this is his Luxor people and temple series. I really like that he has got peoples names and this is my favourite photo as the colossi are almost incidental to the picture.


Temples of Luxor - Portraitures


Kim at work

Is It Safe to Return to Egypt? : Condé Nast Traveler

"There sure is a lot of pent-up demand for Egypt right now. Within the past couple of weeks I've received more than a dozen emails from readers itching to go this spring and asking whether I think it's safe. I've been replying that, if it were me, I'd go. While the situation has been iffy at times and periodic political unrest in certain spots probably won't disappear anytime soon, earlier this month the U.S. State Department replaced its Egypt travel warning—which was advising people to avoid the country—with this Egypt Travel Alert, which says it's okay to go as long as you take certain precautions, such as avoiding demonstrations and locations where crowds gather. If it were me, I'd go now in order to take advantage of the relatively empty tombs, temples, hotels, and Nile cruise boats, and consequent low prices."................

Is It Safe to Return to Egypt? : Condé Nast Traveler

Breath-taking photos from inside Egyptian pharaoh Ramesses' royal tomb | Mail Online

Breath-taking photos from inside Egyptian pharaoh Ramesses' royal tomb | Mail Online



Do check these photos out, they are superb.

Updates from ARCE on the work at Qurna

Spotted on EEF. Update on ARCE Luxor's Qurna Site Improvement (QSI) project (protecting ancient and modern remains + magical spells + house construction + alabaster workshop)

ARCE Luxor's Qurna Site Improvement (QSI) project continues to record the ancient and modern remains left in the wake of the demolition of the modern hamlets of Shiekh Abd el Qurna and El Khokha.

For general information on the project, visit http://arce.org/conservation/Qurna/qurna-overview

For updates on two more debris areas that have been cleared and recorded, visit

http://www.arce.org/conservation/Qurna/q/q03

http://www.arce.org/conservation/Qurna/q/q11

Andrew Bednarski, Ph.D.

Assistant to the Director for Special Projects Project Egyptologist, APS Luxor The American Research Center in Egypt

Tourism: Egypt: the slow agony of Luxor and the Nile Valley - Tourism - ANSAMed.it

Although this is a sad story it also tells you of what the governor is trying to to and well done him! 

Tourism: Egypt: the slow agony of Luxor and the Nile Valley - Tourism - ANSAMed.it

Calender clearance - 30% off

It’s Lulu’s Calendar Clearance and they’re all 30% off with code 14CAL30. Hurry! Sale ends on January 26^th.

Get Luxor 2014 here 

Howard Carter's watercolours

I had a discussion on Facebook about Carter's watercolours and wondered if there was a collection of them. This post is the results of that discussion. Do you know of any more, or a published collection?

Carter started his working life in Egypt as an artist and only later became an archaeologist. His father was also an artist and Carter inherited his talent. Carter; having originally painted an image for the purposes of scientific recording, subsequently  sold images like this to tourists.

1) Griffiths

The Griffiths Institute in Oxford has a big collection of his bird pictures.This is an example of one of them but there are lots more on the website. Howard Carter's watercolours of bird and animals

2) Highclere Castle
They have a fabulous picture he painted of the temple of Hatshepsut, this is a poor quality scan of the back of their guide book.

 

3) The Egypt Exploration Society 

EES have a number published on this link  http://www.ees.ac.uk/userfiles/file/Images%20in%20Word.pdf .

 

4) From the excavation manuals of E. Neville's exploration of the Deir al Ba'hri.Here is one example.

 

Egypt’s Luxor Fest Kicks Off With ‘Excuse My French’ And No ‘The Square’ In Sight | Variety

Big report on the Luxor film festival.  

Egypt’s Luxor Fest Kicks Off With ‘Excuse My French’ And No ‘The Square’ In Sight | Variety

Another royal tomb found! - Ahram Online

The tomb of Abydos dynasty king found: Gallery - Ancient Egypt - Heritage - Ahram Online: According to a statement by the Ministry of State of Antiquities (MSA), the name of the king is Sneb-Kay. His name was found on Tuesday engraved on a wall of his tomb.

MSA Minister Mohamed Ibrahim told Ahram Online that it is a very important discovery because it shed more light on Abydos local families that ruled the nome during the Second Intermediate Period, considered one of the most critical phases of ancient Egyptian history.

EEF has a link  that explains the Abydos dynasty

http://www.egyptologyforum.org/bbs/Abydos_Dynasty.pdf

There are some great photos also on Facebook

 https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10200263769197200&set=pcb.10200263779637461&type=1&theater

 

"In April an exact facsimile of the tomb of #Tutankhamun will open" from Factum Arte

Just caught this on Twitter from  Factum Arte ‏@FactumArte

Start of works in the Valley of the Kings! In April an exact facsimile of the tomb of #Tutankhamun will open in Luxor

Cheap flights to Luxor | Free flight comparison at www.skyscanner.net

There are lots of cheap flight websites but this is the best one that I have found, get it as an app for your phone or tablet or check on the website. You can definitely find some bargains for your next holiday for sunny Luxor.
Cheap flights | Free flight comparison at www.skyscanner.net

State Information Services Antiquities Minister opens new archeological sites in Luxor Saturday

State Information Services Antiquities Minister opens new archeological sites in Luxor Saturday: Antiquities Minister opens new archeological sites in Luxor Saturday



With the Mut temple reopening you may be wondering exactly what there is to see. If you have bought my book Hidden Luxor you know as I included it. The temple has been scheduled for reopening for some time and I have been lucky enough to visit there several times thanks to Mansour Boraik. That is why I included it.

If you want to know even more the following links will be of interest

http://www.jhu.edu/egypttoday/ Dr. Betsy Bryan of the John Hopkins University excavated there

http://www.brooklynmuseum.org/features/mut/ The work of Brooklyn Museum at the site

http://www.osirisnet.net/monument/temple_mout/e_temple_mout.htm Excellent description by the guys at Osirisnet; maps (copied above), photos and description

http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/templemut.htm Tour Egypt page on the temple

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Precinct_of_Mut Wikipedia entry

 

Press Conference tomorrow

For everyone in Luxor, there is a press conference tomorrow, with all the ministers that are here in Luxor at the moment, at 5.30pm at the conference centre in Karnak presenting the constitution in English!!!!

via Barbara Clarke on Facebook

New sites opening in Luxor.

Luxor committee Meeting Minutes From 4 th of January 2014 | Luxor Committee: Luxor already has 24 ticketed sites and it looks like more are opening; the Temple of Kasr El Aguz, in West Bank – Temple of Mut, in East Bank – And 2 tombs in West Bank TT148 at Dra Abu Naga and TT41 Khokha. Even more reason to visit Luxor. This photo is from a private visit I made to the Mut temple some time ago.

US relaxes Egypt Travel Alert to Luxor - Welcome back US citizens

Finally even America has realised Luxor, Upper Egypt and the Red Sea are safe :) 

Egypt Travel Alert: The security situation in most tourist centers, including Luxor, Aswan, the Luxor-Aswan Nile cruise routes, and Red Sea/Southern and Western Sinai resorts such as Hurghada, Sharm el Sheikh, Dahhab, Nuweiba, and Taba has been calm; U.S. citizens should remain alert to local security developments.

Happy Christmas

No I haven't lost the plot, the 7th Jan is actually the day the Coptic church celebrates the birth of Jesus. 

Egypt: Christmas in Egypt: Egyptian Orthodox Christians (or Coptic Christians) celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ on January 7th, a date equivalent to the 29th day of the Coptic month of "kiohk, or Khiahk", though this date in relation to the western calendar advances over long periods of time. Of course, in many other countries Christmas is celebrated on December 25th, though celebrating Christmas on this date is not unique to the Copts. For example, the Russian Orthodox Church also celebrates Christmas on January 7th. The difference in the dates comes from the difference between the Coptic and Gregorian calendars. This means, for example, that beginning March 1st of 2100 AD, the Coptic Christmas will be celebrated on the 8th day of January in relation to the Western calendar.

Royal tomb discovered at Abydos!

This should reopen the Abydos/Sakkara cenetaph v burial debate. Evidence of a royal burial there has implications for the importance of this site.

Dr. Mohamed Ibrahim announced today the discovery of King Sobekhotep (1786-1763) who is probably the first King of the 13th Dynasty.

The tomb discovered by Pennsylvania University mission working south of Abydos, Sohag.

The Minister said that the first evidence that led to this discovery was when the huge quartzite sarcophagi of 60 tons was found in 2013, then last week, parts of tablet was found depicting the name of the King and shows him sitting on his throne.

Also parts of canonic jars and funerary objects were found.

The Minister also emphasised on the tight security around the tomb till excavations are finished and the tomb restored to be open to public as a part of the ministry efforts to open new sites to encourage tourists to come to Egypt.

This little exchange I just caught on Facebook indicates the implications

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  Steve Harvey Needless to say, one might also reconsider the status of the Senwosret III and Ahmose tombs at Abydos...

  57 minutes ago via mobile · Unlike · 2
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  Aidan Dodson As you know, I'm now very much of the view that the SIII and AI tombs were 'real' ones, although Ahmose may have been evacuated to Thebes a few year later .....

  41 minutes ago · Like · 1
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  Steve Harvey Interesting! This discovery is certainly going to force us all to have a hard think! I'm eager to hear more evidence regarding a pyramidal superstructure.

  31 minutes ago via mobile · Like