New Publication - Giza Mastabas

Originally published January 27, 2010 | David Brown Book Company | by Peter Der Manuelian | For those of you who are faced with difficulty in finding an Egyptological book that you don't have, here's a new publication (I will certainly have it on my bookshelf ones of these days. Here's an excerpt:

West of the Great Pyramid at Giza, the Fourth Dynasty pharaoh Khufu laid out scores of mastaba tombs for the elite members of ancient Egyptian society. Specific clusters of tombs seem to form architectural and archaeological units, prompting the modern division of the Giza Necropolis into discrete nucleus cemeteries. This book interprets the complete archaeological record of the mastabas of Cemetery G 2100, one of the six nucleus cemeteries at Giza. As a key to understanding Old Kingdom mortuary development at Giza, it explores the distinguishing features of such a grouping of tombs and tomb owners: relative chronology and individual artistic styles; common administrative titles, possible familial connections to the king; and the relationship of the earlier, major mastabas to the subsequent, minor burials surrounding them.

The web site also features an excerpt from the book itself, a batch of 3D photos featured in the book, notes about the author, and related publications.

Exhibit at the Petrie Museum and Free Lectures

Originally published October 1, 2009 | Challenging the Past Blog | by Marsia Sfakianou Bealby

If you are near the greater London area, there are some great Egyptological things beckoning to you: an exhibit entitled Framing the Archaeologist: Portraits and Excavation, which runs from Sept. 22 - December 19, and a couple of free lectures: Ancient Egypt, Racial Construction and Robert Knox and Inventing Traditions: Performances in Pre-Dynastic Cemeteries. The where, when, what, and how much are listed at Challenging the Past, with a direct link to the Petrie Museum's web site.

Ancient Animal Graves From Private Zoo?

Originally published September 14, 2009 | National Geographic News | by Patrick Walters

Video - The Search for Antony and Cleopatra

Originally published May 18 | Dr. Zahi Hawass' Blog

Dr. Hawass takes you inside a mysterious temple that could have been the tomb of the famed Cleopatra VII and Mark Antony. In a video he describes the latest information about and shares his thoughts on the possibility of at least three likely areas within a large Greco-Roman cemetary just outside the Temple of Taposiris Magna near Alexandria being the location of their resting place.