Still Them and Us - a Look at the Drawings of the Time Exhibit

Originally published February 25, 2010 | Al-Ahram Weekly Online | by Gamal Nkrumah | Gamal Nkrumah's reaction and analysis of Drawings of the Time: Impressions of Edfu Temple exhibit. An excerpt:

Drawings of the Time: Impressions from Edfu Temple is an exhibition that displays colourful and engaging portraits of high priests of ancient Egyptian Temples. Gamal Nkrumah discovers they tend to be at odds with contemporary art in many respects. These striking images are definitely not the stuff of daily life in the closing years of the Pharaonic era. They have a broader and more aspiring canvas.

The exquisite works of Andalusian artists Asuncion Jodar Minarro and Ricardo Marin Viadel ornament the Egyptian Museum and offer a timely lesson in Mediterranean camaraderie. The exhibition focuses on the miscellaneous aspects of the high priests of the Ptolemaic Period. The focus of this show is art rather than history. And yet the images have quite a tale to tell.

What a difference a couple of millennia make. Two thousand years ago, these images were adored as the very likeness of the living gods. Or those destined to serve the gods. Today they are admired as imaginative and ingenious interpretations of an art of an age bygone. They were worshipped then, and they are viewed with wonder now.

Two Granada Artists at the Egyptian Museum in Cairo

Originally published January 29, 2010 | Amigos de los Egiptología | An excerpt in its original Spanish (click on the above link to access this article, translated to English; click here to read the article in Spanish):

Dos granadinos serán los primeros pintores contemporáneos en exponer su obra en el Museo Egipcio de El Cairo, y lo harán gracias al trabajo de investigación y reproducción de las treinta y una figuras de los sacerdotes portainsignias de la escalera Oeste del templo Horus en Edfú (Egipto). Asunción Jódar y Ricardo Marín han realizado más de 400 dibujos, la mayoría de ellos a gran escala, de esos sacerdotes, que serán expuestos en el Museo Egipcio de El Cairo a partir del 8 de febrero y, en Granada, a partir del 27 de abril.

Impresiones del templo de Edfú es una muestra de dibujos monumentales que Jódar y Marín llevaban realizando desde el año 2005. La idea de reproducir en pintura los dibujos de los relieves de los sacerdotes surgió, según explicó Asunción Jódar, cuando la pareja de artistas visitaba el templo de Edfú. "Vimos entonces la escalera oeste del templo y me pareció muy especial, sobre todo las 31 figuras que la decoraban. Aquellos sacerdotes me llamaron la atención y pensamos en la posibilidad de dibujar sus imágenes".

New Discovery of Greek Cat Goddess Temple at Alexandria

Originally published January 19, 2010 | Dr. Hawass' Blog | by Dr. Hawass | Naturally, I'm going to direct you to the more authoritative source of this latest discovery - at Dr. Hawass' Blog, of course. Here is an excerpt from his post:

An archaeological mission of the Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA) led by Dr. Mohamed Abdel Maqsoud, Head of Antiquities of Lower Egypt, discovered the remains of a temple of Queen Berenike, the wife of king Ptolemy III (246-222 BC), along with a cachette of 600 Ptolemaic statues.

An inscribed base of a granite statue from the reign of King Ptolemy IV (205-222 BC) was also unearthed. It bears ancient Greek text written in nine lines stating that the statue belonged to a top official in the Ptolemaic court. Dr. Maqsoud believes the base was made to celebrate Egypt’s victory over the Greeks during the Battle of Raphia in 217 BC.

Yahoo! News has two resources covering the same discovery:

• Ancient Greek Temple Found in Alexandria
• Egypt Announces Find of Ancient Cat Goddess Temple

Cleopatra Exhibit Coming to the U.S.

Originally published January, 2010 | Art Museum Journal | by Stan Parchin |

Making its majestic debut at the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania is Cleopatra: The Search for the Last Queen of Egypt (June 5, 2010-January 2, 2011). Touring five North American cities, the exhibition presents more than 250 artifacts that describe archaeologists' recent attempts at locating the elusive tomb of the enigmatic Cleopatra VII (69-30 B.C.), Ptolemaic Egypt's legendary last queen, and Roman general Mark Antony (83-30 B.C.), antiquity's most famous pair of ill-fated and clandestine lovers.

Restoring Saqqara

Originally published October 17, 2009 | Zahi Hawass' Blog | by Dr. Hawass

In this article at Zahi Hawass' blog, Dr. Hawass describes the Saqqara necropolis, details his impressions on it and its place in history, and reveals upcoming and ongoing restorative efforts on the historic site.

The King and I: An Audience with Tutankhamun

Originally published June 28, 2009 | The Independent | by Sankha Guha

One person's account of Egypt par dahabiyya: from standing in wonderment inside the Great Pyramid to gazing in awe into the blinkless eyes of Tutankhamun's funeral mask, from the seemingly inadequacey of the Egyptian Museum to the vastness of the cities and monuments of the dead, into Tutankhamun's tomb and through Edfu and Philae, and out of the suks of Aswan only to be wooed by the setting sun.

The article ends with Nile cruise, Egypt flight, and dahabiyya departure information, should you endeavor to experience the same.

Mubarak Sends Greeting Message to Egypt's "Sunken Treasures Exhibition" in Japan

Originally published June 24, 2009 | Egypt State Information Service

Egypt State Information Services announces the opening of an exhibit called Egypt's Sunken Treasures, which runs from June 27 through September 23 and will feature nearly 500 Ptolemaic Period artifacts that Egyptian archaeologists salvaged from the Mediterranean Sea in Alexandria.

A special event - a tourist week - will run from June 20 through July 5 in conjunction with the exhibit.

Saving the Serapeum

Originally published June 25, 2009 | Zahi Hawass' Blog | Dr. Hawass

Zahi Hawass writes about the Serapeum, about the importance of the Saqqara plateau and the key figures who had a hand in its development; it's role in past and recent-present history, spanning from Strabo to Auguste Mariette; and his attempts to find a solution to preserving and protecting this unique monument, which has been closed to visitors for safety reasons, asking for every authoritative person's advice. He describes the Serapeum's current state and how he's keeping a loving and watchful eye on this mysterious place.

Featured in the post are beautiful pictures showcasing the support and ventilation systems that are meant to help preserve and stabilize the Serapeum.

No Mummy Once the Loan Tuns Out

Originally published June 7, 2009 | Recordnet | by Michael Fitzgerald

Stockton's Haggin Museum will relinquish its most spectacular artifact (a mummy with coffin) to the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco on August 18.