New Discovery, Sohag: Ancient Stone Block Discovered At Illegal Excavation Site in Upper Egypt’s Sohag

The block is engraved with the cartouche of the 30th Dynasty King Nectanebo II, who is known for his construction projects. Wreitten By/ Nevine El-Aref.

The Whole Block Discovered

An Egyptian archaeological committee from Al-Belinna inspectorate in the Sohag town of Abydos found a stone block engraved with the cartouche of the 30th Dynasty King Nectanebo II during the inspection of an old house in the Beni Mansour area, under which the owner was carrying out an illegal excavation.

The Tourism and Antiquities Police caught the suspects conducting the illegal excavation red-handed and have confiscated the house until the completion of investigations, according to Hani Abul Azm, the head of the Central Administration for Antiquities of Upper Egypt.

Abul Azm added that the block may have been part of King Nectanebo II's royal shrine or an extension of a wall of a temple built by the king. Nectanebo II is well-known for his construction projects in Abydos. Abul Azm said that after the completion of the expropriation procedures, more excavation will take place at the site.

Ashraf Okasha, director-general of Abydos Antiquities, pointed out that the newly discovered block measures 1.40x40 cm, but the high level of subterranean water has made it difficult to determine whether it was part of a shrine or a temple wall.

Okasha added that the archaeological committee inspected the site at the two-storey mud brick house where the illegal excavation was underway, with the block discovered at the bottom of a four metre-deep hole.

Source: Ahram Online

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News, Cairo: Funerary Bed of King Tut Packed for Transfer to Grand Egyptian Museum

The bed of Tutankhamun

The king's entire treasured collection is planned for transfer to the GEM ahead of its 2018 opening. Written By/ Nevine El-Aref.

A team from the Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM) began packing on Monday King Tutankhamun’s treasured collection at the Egyptian Museum in Tahrir Square in a step towards transferring to its permanent location at the GEM.

Tarek Tawfik, GEM supervisor-general, said that the team is now packing the golden king’s funerary bed which is made of wood gilded with golden sheets and decorated with the head of the goddess Sekhmet.

Before packing the bed was subjected to scientific documentation and first aid restoration to guarantee its safe transportation.

GEM's head of first aid restoration Eissa Zidan told Ahram Online that the packing process is carried out in collaboration with a Japanese scientific team and will take eight hours to complete. 

The team will use acid-free packing materials and equipment to minimise vibrations during the bed’s transportation.

Zidan during packing process

Japanese expert during packing

Zidan said that devices to measure heat and vibration intensity would be used on the bed during its transportation.

All the Tutankhamun artifacts are to be packed and transported to the GEM according to a planned schedule until the soft opening of the new museum in mid-2018.

Source: Ahram Online

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Short Story: A Forecast of Egyptian Civilisation

Mai Samih listens to the story of civilisation in Egypt from a geological perspective.

Rocks and earth layers have as much to say as a drawing on a temple about the past, maybe even more. Head of the Department of Geology and professor of Geo-Archaeology at the Faculty of Science at Cairo University Mohamed Abdel-Rahman Hemdan said as much at a seminar at Beit Al-Sinary in Cairo in March when he claimed that “the past is the key to the present.”

“We geologists study the present to understand what happened in the past. However, that past is also the key to the present because archeologists have learned much about how the climate in particular has changed over time. This is a new trend we are now trying to work with,” he said.

The climate is the weather over the long term, Hemdan said, commenting that time-scales of 100 to a million years are not uncommon in geology. Cold weather in the north could affect the surface of the oceans and the winds in another part of the planet that carry rain.

“Rain for us in Egypt originates from two sources, the Atlantic monsoon from the west and the Indian monsoon from the east. These unite into one front named the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ), which causes rain. If this is directed northwards, it leads to rain, as happened some 11,000 to 8,000 years Before the Present (BP). If it goes southwards, a state of drought occurs. This could be good news for those who fear global warming, as when the sea level rises our desert will become green because there will be more rain,” he said.

Some 150,000 years BP the sea level was low, and the weather in Ethiopia was not as wet as it is today, so it did not feed a lot of water into the Nile. The River Nile looked like a small channel at the time, and the water level in the Mediterranean was 120 metres lower than it is today.

“Approximately 25,000 to 11,000 years BP there was a dry era called the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), and Egypt went through a drought. In cool weather, the sea level decreases. The Nile flood level was low, and because of the low sea level the Delta had more branches that started to multiply and deepen. These left what are sometimes called ‘turtle backs’ behind them, sediments of soil that people would settle on to be higher than the water level during floods,” Hemdan said. 

This period was followed by wet conditions. “From 11,000 to 8,000 years BP, the Nile flood was very high, and the desert also saw a lot of rain, meaning that scientists called it the ‘Green Sahara’ era,” he said, adding that human beings were free to live more widely as a result. 

From 10,000 to 8,000 years BP, the land was once again very wet, and the River Nile would increase one cm every year. There was a lot of rain in Ethiopia, and the water in the Nile turned the flood plains into swamps. The river did not deposit much sediment, and it would flood the valley all year round, Hemdan added.

“Some 2,000 years BP is a very important era for the whole planet as it was an ice age that lasted for about 1,000 to 1,500 years, also affecting Egypt,” he said, adding that the Nile at that time consisted of two channels, the main one and one that resembled the Bahr Al- Lebeni and Giza channels that can still be seen today. “We discovered this through satellite images. The first was a short, thin channel near the desert during the Pre-Dynastic Period, and the second one was a large one in the current Nile channel,” he said....  READ MORE.

Source: Al-Ahram Weekly

News, Taba: Egypt's Antiquities Minister Seeks to Smooth Pharaoh Island's Entry to UNESCO World Heritage List

Khaled El-Enany is supervising inter-ministry efforts to meet the World Heritage Committee's deadline of February 2018, says senior antiquities official. Written By/ Nevine El-Aref.

Minister of Antiquities Khaled El-Enany has met with representatives of various other ministries and departments in order to facilitate the addition of Pharaoh Island in Taba to the UNESCO World Heritage list, a senior antiquities official told Ahram Online.

The ministry of antiquities is preparing the final archaeological file needed to register the site with UNESCO, with a February 2018 deadline for submission to the World Heritage Committee (WHC). The file is being compiled in cooperation with the ministries of interior, foreign affairs, tourism, international cooperation, defence and environment, as well as Homeland Security.

According to Ahmed Ebeid, Supervisor General of the Technical Office at the antiquities ministry, El-Enany meet with representatives of the other ministries and departments in order to resolve obstacles that arose in compiling the preliminary file, which was submitted in October. The high-level meeting also reviewed the WHC's recommendations relating to the site in South Sinai, which incorporates a historic fortress.

Yasmin El-Shazly, general supervisor of the antiquity ministry's International Organizations Department, told Ahram Online that before the final file can be submitted, the ministry must develop the island's visitor centre, provide more facilities and services, and ensure safe access roads.

She said that the minister has already created an action plan to develop the site in a way that reflects its historic and environmental value. “When Egypt succeeds in registering Pharaoh Island on the Word Heritage List, this will be Egypt’s first site to be registered since 2002,” El-Shazly said.

Pharaoh Island, located some 250 metres from the shore of Taba in South Sinai, includes of a fortress built by the Ayyubid prince Salaheddin to protect the Islamic empire from the Crusades. It was the second of several such fortresses built in Egypt by Salaheddin.

Built in 1171 AD, the citadel is strategically located on Pharaoh Island on a steep, difficult-to-climb hill high above sea level – and with a beautiful, blue sea view. The citadel played an important role in protecting the Sinai Peninsula from invasion during the Crusades.

It was capable of stand-alone defense in case of siege, with towers and defensive walls part of the citadel’s strategy. Water tanks built into the rock provided protection and sustenance. Archaeologists have also identified a bakery, mill and bathroom, as well as a furnace for producing weapons, a meeting room and accommodation for soldiers.

Pharaoh Island attracts all types of tourism, including eco-tourism, cultural visits and safaris. With beautiful views of the warm, Red Sea, it also boasts untouched coral reefs. Tours visit both the citadel and the neighbouring Valley Taiwibh, which has ancient Egyptian inscriptions of the early Egyptians who lived in Sinai, as well as inscriptions from Arab Nabataeans of the second century BC.

Source: Ahram Online

Recovered Artifacts, France: Ancient Egyptian Limestone Relief Recovered From Paris

Egypt recovered a limestone relief and a collection of 44 cosmetic containers from France. Written By/ Nevine El-Aref.

Egypt’s Ministry of Antiquities officially received today an ancient Egyptian limestone relief, which has been recovered from France, during a ceremony held at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs headquarters in Cairo.

Shaaban Abdel-Gawad, the general supervisor of the ministry’s Antiquities Repatriation Department, says that the relief was on display at a Paris auction house. The ministry took all the necessary procedures to stop the sale of the relief and have it withdrawn from the auction.

Abdel-Gawad said that the relief was stolen from a temple at Saqqara necropolis during the 1900s and smuggled out of the country.

The relief, which is dated to the 30th Dynasty during the reign of King Nakhtenbo II, is about 44X50 cm in size and weighs about 80kg.

It is carved in limestone and depicts the goddess Sekhmet carrying the sun disk on top of her head. It has a line of hieroglyphic writing that contains the cartouche of King Nekhtenbo II.

Abdel-Gawad said that the ministry has also received a collection of 44 small and medium-sized artefacts that had been seized at Charles de Gaulle Airport in France.

The collection includes cosmetic and jewellery containers made of beads, ivory, and bone, with some dating from different ancient Egyptian eras, though most are dated to the Coptic era.

Source: Ahram Online

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New Discovery, Tuna Al-Gabal: Cachette of 17 Mummies Unearthed in Egypt's El-Minya

The Late Period burial site was discovered at the Tuna Al-Gabal archaeological site by a team from Cairo University. Written By/ Nevine El-Aref.

Egyptian Antiquities Minister Khaled el-Enany (C) speaks to the media on May 13, 2017,
 in front of mummies following their discovery in catacombs in the
Touna el-Gabal district of the Minya province, in central Egypt. (AFP)

Tuna Al-Gabal archaeological site, near Upper Egypt's El-Minya, buzzed Saturday with journalists who flocked in to catch a glimpse of a newly discovered cachette of mummies, dating from the Late Period.

During excavation work in the area, which neighbours the birds and animals necropolis, a mission from Cairo University stumbled this week upon the cachette -- a term that describes an unmarked burial site used to house multiple mummies and protect them from looting.

Mission head Salah El-Kholi told Ahram Online that the cachette includes 17 non-royal mummies wrapped in linen and very well preserved. It was found by chance through a radar survey carried out in collaboration with experts from the university's faculty of science in early 2016 that revealed hollow ground.

A mummy inside the newly discovered burial 

site in Minya, Egypt  May 13, 2017. (Reuters)

El-Kholi said the mummies were found in burial shafts along with a collection of eight limestone sarcophagi, two of which were carved in clay. A number of baboon coffins were also found.

Minister of Antiquities Khaled El-Enany described the discovery as important because it is the first made in the area since the discovery of the birds and animals necropolis by Egyptologist Sami Gabra between 1931 to 1954.

The discovery adds to a spate of recent finds at sites across Egypt. Most recently, a mission from the antiquities ministry stumbled upon the almost intact funerary collection of Userhat, the chancellor of Thebes during the 18th dynasty, in the Draa Abul Naga necropolis on Luxor's west bank.

A number of mummies inside the newly discovered burial
site in Minya, Egypt  May 13, 2017. (Reuters)

El-Enany told reporters about this week's cachette discovery at a gala ceremony attended by El-Minya governor Essam Al Bedewi, the ambassadors of Belgium, Hungary and Serbia and a number of top officials from the ministry and Cairo University.

El-Kholi said that both clay sarcophagi are anthropoid coffins, one of which is in good condition while the other is partly damaged. Two papyri written in Demotic and a gold decoration with the shape of a feather were also found.

"This feather could be decoration on the hair dress of one of the deceased," El- Kholi said. He said the papyri would be transferred to the Grand Egyptian Museum for restoration.

At a neighbouring site, the mission has also uncovered a number of Roman funerary houses made of clay. Inside they found a collection of different coins, lamps and other domestic items.

Source: Ahram Online

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New Discovery, Dahshur: Burial Chamber of Recently Unearthed 13th Dynasty Pyramid in Dahshur Uncovered

Newly Discovered Box 

Photo Nevine El-Aref

The wooden box of the canopic jars and remains of an anthropoid sarcophagus were uncovered inside the newly discovered pyramid remains in Dahshur necropolis. Written By/ Nevine El-Aref.

The Egyptian archaeological mission from the Ministry of Antiquities uncovered the burial chamber of a 13th Dynasty Pyramid discovered last month at Dahshur archaeological site.

Adel Okasha, head of the mission and the general director of the Dahshur site, explained that after removing the stones that covered the burial chamber, the mission discovered a wooden box engraved with three lines of hieroglyphics.

These lines are rituals to protect the deceased and the name of its owner.

Sherif Abdel Moneim, assistant to the minister of antiquities, revealed that the box housed the four canopic jars of the deceased with their name engraved, that of the daughter of the 13th Dynasty King Emnikamaw, whose pyramid is located 600 metres away.

He said that the mission also discovered last month a relief with 10 lines of hieroglyphics bearing the cartouche of King Emenikamaw. Hence the box may belong to the King’s daughter, or one of his family. Inside the box, the mission found wrappings of the deceased's liver, intestines, stomach and lungs.

Remains of an anthropoid sarcophagus have been found but in a very bad state of conservation. Excavation works would continue to uncover more of the pyramid's secrets.

Khaled El-Enany, minister of antiquities, visited the site this morning to inspect the excavation works.

Source: Ahram Online

Find More About New Discoveries in Egypt Here

News, Sakkara: Djoser Pyramid Restoration 90% Complete

CAIRO: More than 90 percent of the restoration work at Djoser Pyramid, also known as the Step Pyramid, has been completed, the head of the Projects Sector at the Ministry of Antiquities, Waad Abul-Ela, said Tuesday.

The pyramid will be open to the public once maintenance works are approved. “We are also working on repairing the southern tomb,” Abul-Ela added.

Djoser Pyramid, located in Saqqara, Giza, was built approximately 4700 years ago. Archaeologists believe it was the first pyramid built in ancient Egypt and is now the oldest stone structure of its size in the world. It is 62 meters high and consists of six 'steps' built atop one another.

In 2015, the cabinet approved the allocation of 15.3 million EGP ($844,000) for the pyramid’s restoration.

Source: Egypt Today

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News: Experts Meet In Egypt Over Moving King Tut Property

Archaeologists and conservation experts are meeting in Cairo to discuss the safe transportation of King Tutankhamun’s throne, chests and bed from the Egyptian Museum in central Cairo to a new one being built on the other side of the city.

Sunday’s gathering brought together experts from Egypt, France, Spain, Germany, Switzerland, Denmark and Japan and is being organized by the Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities.

No date has yet been set for the transfer of the priceless items, which would be displayed at two halls in the new museum near the Giza Pyramids. The halls are scheduled to open at the end of 2017.

The tomb of King Tut, who ruled Egypt more than 3,000 years ago, was discovered in 1922 in the southern city of Luxor.

Source: Ahram Online

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News, Cairo: Third Annual Tutankhamun Conference Inaugurated Yesterday

The Golden King Tutankhamun's human remains and furniture, discovered in his tomb, are the main focus of this year's conference. Written By/ Nevine El-Aref.

Under the title, "Tutankhamun: Human Remains and Furniture," the third annual conference on the boy king launched yesterday at Ahmed Kamal Pasha Hall at the Ministry of Antiquities premises.

The conference is organised by the Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM) since 2015 in an attempt to further discussion of best methods to restore and preserve Tutankamun’s funerary collection and ensure its safe transportation from the Egyptian Museum in Tahrir Square to the GEM overlooking the Giza Plateau.

It also discussed state of the art display techniques, to put on show the golden king’s collection at new permanent exhibition halls at the GEM.

Tarek Tawfik, GEM supervisor general, told Ahram Online that Egyptology professor at the American University in Cairo Fayza Heikal is the head of this year's conference with the participation of 12 scholars from six countries (France, Spain, Germany, Switzerland, Japan and Denmark).

Participants during the three days of the conference will discuss 17 scientific papers on the human remains of the boy king as well as his funerary collection.

Tawfik explained that on the first day the king’s chair, bed, and his wooden boxes would be the focus of discussion, while the second day would review the experience of the Berlin Museum in Germany and the Louvre Museum in Paris in transporting parts of their collection, along with new techniques used in exhibiting artefacts.

The third and final day, asserted Tawfik, would focus on the best techniques to be used to restore the king’s funerary collection.

Source: Ahram Online

New Discovery, Luxor: Unique Funerary Garden Unearthed in Thebes

For the first time, an almost 4000 year-old funerary garden is uncovered in Draa Abul Naga necropolis on Luxor’s west bank. Written By/ Nevine El-Aref.

During excavation work in the area around the early 18th Dynasty rock-cut tombs of Djehuty and Hery (ca 1500­‐1450 BCE) in Draa Abul Nagaa necropolis, a Spanish archaeological mission unearthed a unique funerary garden.

Mahmoud Afifi, head of the Ancient Egyptian Antiquities sector at the Ministry of Antiquities told Ahram Online that the garden was found in the open courtyard of a Middle Kingdom rock-cut tomb and the layout of the garden measures 3m x 2m and is divided into squares of about 30cm.

These squares, he pointed out, seem to have contained different kinds of plants and flowers. In the middle of the garden the mission has located two elevated spots that was once used for the cultivation of a small tree or bush.

At one of the corners, Afifi continued, the roots and the trunk of a 4,000 year-old small tree have been preserved to a height of 30cm. Next to it, a bowl containing dried dates and other fruits, which could have been presented as offerings, were found.

“The discovery of the garden may shed light on the environment and gardening in ancient Thebes during the Middle Kingdom, around 2000 BCE,” said Jose Galan, head of the Spanish mission and research professor at the Spanish National Research Council in Madrid.

He explained that similar funerary gardens were only found on the walls of a number of New Kingdom tombs where a small and squared garden is represented at the entrance of the funerary monument, with a couple of trees next to it. It probably had a symbolic meaning and must have played a role in the funerary rites. However, Galan asserted, these gardens have never been found in ancient Thebes and the recent discovery offers archaeological confirmation of an aspect of ancient Egyptian culture and religion that was hitherto only known through iconography.

Moreover, he pointed out, near the entrance of the Middle Kingdom rock-cut tomb, a small mud-brick chapel measuring 46cm x 70cm x 55cm was discovered attached to the façade. Inside it three stelae of the 13th Dynasty, around ca 1800 BCE, were found in situ.

He explained that early studies reveal that the owner of one of them was called Renef‐Seneb, and the owner of the second was “the citizen Khemenit, son of the lady of the house, Idenu.” The latter mentions the gods Montu, Ptah, Sokar and Osiris.

“These discoveries underscore the relevance of the central area of Dra Abul Naga as a sacred place for the performance of a variety of cultic activities during the Middle Kingdom,” asserted Galan. The Spanish mission has been working for 16 years in Dra Abul Naga, on the West Bank of Luxor, around the early 18th Dynasty rock-cut tombs of Djehuty and Hery.

Source: Ahram Online 

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Short Story: Rommel Cave to Reopen

The Rommel Cave Museum in Marsa Matrouh is to reopen to the public within the next two months after almost seven years of closure, reports Nevine El-Aref.

Holidaymakers in the Marsa Matrouh governorate on Egypt’s Mediterranean coast will have more to enjoy than the sun, sand and sea next summer. They will also be able to explore the Rommel Cave Museum, the place where German army field marshal Erwin Rommel, the so-called “Desert Fox”, hid in the area’s cliffs and planned German military operations against the British during World War II.

Rommel was one of Germany’s leading field commanders in World War II, and he was famous for his battle tricks, courage, determination and leadership. He fought the 12-day Battle of Alamein against the British from 23 October 1942, only to retreat on 4 November in the face of an onslaught by British troops.

According to a plaque at the Cave Museum, Rommel died in October 1944, having been accused of plotting against the life of German dictator Adolf Hitler and given the choice of either standing trial or quietly committing suicide to ensure the safety of his family. Rommel chose the latter course, and his death was announced as having been due to a heart attack.

The cave is located near the Rommel Beach in Marsa Matrouh, and it was originally cut out of the rocky cliffs during the Roman period as a storage space due to its position near an ancient seaport. When the German troops entered Al-Alamein, Rommel selected the cave as his military headquarters because it was hidden in the cliffs overlooking the harbour.

In 1977, the idea of transforming the cave into a museum was launched as a way of paying tribute to Rommel’s career. However, the plan was not put into effect until 1988, when it was opened to the public in order to display a collection of Rommel’s personal possessions, many of them donated by his son Manfred, as well as weapons, shells and military equipment used during World War I.

Among the exhibited objects are Rommel’s full-length leather coat, clothes trunk, photographs, field telephone, compass, military attire, maps he drew himself, battle plans and medals he received from Hitler. Copies of a newspaper produced by Rommel’s troops in Africa during the war, called Al-Waha (Oasis), are also on display, as well as boxes housing the files of German soldiers from the time.

In 2010, the museum was closed for restoration and development, and it has since been closed to the public. However, last month the Ministry of Antiquities resumed restoration work at the cave and the conservation of its artifacts, saying that it would be reopened to the public within the next two months.... READ MORE.

Source: Al-Ahram Weekly

News, Luxor: First Karnak Temples Conference to Be Held on Today in Luxor

The Karnak Monuments Scientific Research Department will hold the first Karnak Temples Conference on today in Luxor with the aim of exchanging academic studies on Karnak's temples, shrines, sanctuaries, obelisks, colossi and pylons. Written By/ Nevine El-Aref .

Moeimen Saad, director of the Karnak Monuments Scientific Research Department, told Ahram Online that the two-day conference will be held at the Misr Public Library in Luxor.

The conference will provide an opportunity for a large number of Egyptian and foreign Egyptologists – along with the French Institute for Karnak Temples Studies and the American Research Centre in Cairo – to discuss the newest academic studies that have been carried out on Karnak temples for publishing in a book.

Saad explains that the studies will show the latest restoration works that have been carried out on Karnak as well as new discoveries.

Source: Ahram Online

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New Discovery, Nile Delta: Skeletons Of Two Possible Eunuchs Discovered In Ancient Egypt

Recent excavations at the Ptolemaic-Roman site of Quesna in Egypt have revealed two skeletons of individuals who might have been eunuchs. But these people’s above-average height and other skeletal irregularities might also reflect a congenital condition rather than castration.

Skeleton B21 from Ptolemaic era Quesna, Egypt. With its immature bones and 

tall stature, this individual might have been intersex.

Presenting at last week’s American Association of Physical Anthropologists conference, archaeologists Scott Haddow (University of Bordeaux), Sonia Zakrzewski (University of Southampton), and Joanne Rowland (University of Edinburgh) highlighted the two unusual burials out of 151 total interments at Quesna, located in the Nile Delta region of the country.

One person – B21 – was an adolescent of indeterminate sex from the Ptolemaic Era. The burial was oriented rather differently: with the head to the south, rather than the typical head-north orientation of the period. Although the skeleton was poorly preserved, Haddow and colleagues noticed that most of the person's bones looked extremely immature, including the growth plates of the limb bones, which were completely unfused. This meant that the person was taller than average, even though they were not fully grown.

The other person – B26 – was also an adolescent of indeterminate sex, dating to the Roman Era. Buried in a collective tomb, this person was similarly much taller than average with completely unfused growth plates.

Archaeologist Scott Haddow excavating B26, a potentially intersex

individual from Roman-era Quesna, Egypt.

Haddow and colleagues began to suspect these individuals were possibly eunuchs because castration before the onset of puberty typically results in people who are tall and slender, with broad hips, narrow shoulders, and a sunken chest. Although there are few skeletal studies of individuals known to have been castrated, those that exist – such as of the Italian castrati Farinelli and Pacchierotti – also reveal incompletely fused long bones, tall stature, and osteoporosis.

So were these people from ancient Egypt eunuchs? The historical record would certainly allow for that possibility. Intersex individuals were present throughout the ancient world, Haddow and colleagues note, with eunuchs playing important administrative roles in Assyrian, Persian, and Roman courts. Linguistic evidence also indicates the recognition of non-binary gender statuses. In Egypt specifically, there are textual references to eunuchs working in administrative roles in the Ptolemaic and Roman courts.

But the skeletal evidence is not conclusive. Haddow and colleagues clarify that, beyond castration, other causes need to be considered. These involve a number of congenital conditions affecting the endocrine system, including sex chromosome abnormalities such as Klinefelter Syndrome or autosomal disorders such as Androgen Insensitivity Syndrome and an estrogen deficiency called aromatase deficiency. Because these conditions disrupt a person's hormonal balance and subsequent skeletal development in a similar way to pre-pubertal castration, it is difficult to differentiate among them..... READ MORE.

Source: Forbes

 Find More About New Discoveries in Egypt Here 

News, Luxor: The Biggest German Tourism Magazine Holds Its B2B Workshop in Egypt

The Leading German Trade Magazine for Tourism and Business Travel "FVW" continues to hold its high-profile workshops internationally. 

This time "fvw workshop" was held in Egypt (22-26 of April 2017)

40 German tour operators and travel agents came to meet with hoteliers and Egyptian officials to discuss the advantages, potentials and strategies for marketing Egyptian destinations to the German market which is the largest in Europe.

Mr. Klaus Hildebrandt, Editor-in-chief, spoke to Luxor Times on the workshop and tourism situation in general.

Update: You can read (In German) what Mr. Klaus Hildebrandt wrote about fvw workshop inEgypt HERE

For full interview, please watch the video below.

Source: Luxor Times Magazine

News, Cairo: Monuments on Cairo's Al-Muizz Street Safe And Sound After Shop Fire

Investigations are currently underway to determine the cause of the blaze. Written By/ Nevine El-Aref.

The storied Islamic monuments surrounding Al-Muizz Street in Historic Cairo are safe and unaffected by a fire that broke out in a shop there on Wednesday, Head of Egypt's Islamic and Coptic Antiquities Sector Al-Saeed Helmi announced.

Helmi told Ahram Online that the shop that caught fire sits in front of private residential building number 88, which is not registered on Egypt's heritage list for Islamic monuments.

The nearest monument is Al-Ashraf Bersbay School, located 400 metres away, Helmi said. The school was untouched by the blaze and remains safe and sound.

The civil security authority extinguished the fire promptly after it started at dawn. Investigations are currently underway to determine the cause of the incident.

A committee from the Ministry of Antiquities is also on site to follow the investigation and monitor all monuments on the street.

Source: Ahram Online

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News, Cairo: Collection of Prince Mohamed Ali Horse Paintings On Display at Cairo's Manial Palace

The Cover of A Book on Display

A temporary exhibition displaying a collection of paintings of Arabian and Egyptian horses belonging to Egypt's Prince Mohamed Ali (1875 - 1954) will open on Wednesday at El-Manial Palace. Written By/ Nevine El-Aref.

Walaa El-Din Badawi, director of the Manial Palace, told Ahram Online that the exhibition will put on display a collection of 75 paintings by renowned Egyptian and foreign artists.

The exhibition will last for one month, where a number of painting workshops for visitors will be held.

Badawi said that the exhibition comes as part of an effort by the ministry to organise temporary exhibitions to promote tourism and attract more visitors to archaeological sites and museums.

Badawi said that two books written by Prince Mohamed Ali – one on Arabian horses and other on Egyptian horses – will also be on display. “Prince Mohamed Ali was fond of horses and had [a very large stable],” Badawi said.

Source: Ahram Online