I'm keeping an eye on this

Inspection of King Tut’s Tomb Reveals Hints of Hidden Chambers: Secret doors may conceal the burial chamber of Queen Nefertiti, but tantalizing clues await further testing.

Nearly a century after the rediscovery of King Tut’s tomb ignited a worldwide craze for Egyptology, new findings could turn out to be almost as stunning.

On Monday, after a group of Egyptian and foreign archaeologists examined the famous tomb, Egypt’s antiquities minister confirmed that they found evidence suggesting the existence of two previously undiscovered rooms. “This indicates that the western and northern walls of Tutankhamun’s tomb could hide two burial chambers,” minister Mamdouh Eldamaty told the Egyptian state press.

My favourite items from the Field Museum (as far as what I saw)

A formula for healing a sick cat

[All pictures from the Field Museum are under the Creative Commons Licence, as per the Museum's request.]

I took lots of pictures, but these were my favourites.  I also loved Sue, the Tyrannosaurus Rex skeleton which I've already posted here.

The ticketed exhibit on Voudou of Haiti was very interesting, but I didn't take pictures there.  I did get the book which details the collection and includes many pictures of the exhibit items on display, although it could not capture the painted veves on the floor, the size of the exhibits (many of the loa figures are life-sized), and there were also some televised ceremonies and music playing on monitors there.

A female architect and her daughter (it was during the reign of the female Pharaoh Hatshepsut), 

An amethyst cameo (my favourite stone)

From the Hall of Jade

From the exterior of the building

Neat-o, says the archaeology/Aegyptology buff

Arts Workshop Brings King Tut’s Tomb Back to Life

The burial chamber of King Tutankhamen is currently in Madrid. OK, it’s a re-creation. But it’s a near-perfect re-creation, down to the paint on his sarcophagus. Made by arts workshop Factum Arte, the copy is awaiting transport to Egypt, as soon as the political situation there calms down.

Since Tut's tomb is expected to close to the public soon to preserve it, this will be the best chance to see what it was like.

Amelia* would be so thrilled

Egyptian pyramids found by infra-red satellite images

Seventeen lost pyramids are among the buildings identified in a new satellite survey of Egypt.

More than 1,000 tombs and 3,000 ancient settlements were also revealed by looking at infra-red images which show up underground buildings.

Initial excavations have already confirmed some of the findings including of two suspected pyramids.

"To excavate a pyramid is the dream of every archaeologist," says Dr Sarah Parcak.

*(For those not in the know, Amelia Peabody is a fictional Victorian/Edwardian sleuth created by Elizabeth Peters, aka Barbara Mertz. She has a weakness for pyramids and murder. It's a very enjoyable series, my favourite of historical mysteries. I must say, the author has been very prolific, and she's 83 and still writing.)

Cool

Robot to expose hidden secrets of pyramid: Device will unlock Egyptian room that has been sealed for 4,500 years

Following in the footsteps of Howard Carter and Abbot and Costello, a specialized robot will penetrate deeper into the Great Pyramid of Giza than ever before. The robot, part of a years long exploration called the Djedi Project, will explore a shaft inaccessible to a previous robot, unlocking a room that has remain sealed for 4,500 years.

Here's some more information on the Djedi Project from Dr Zahi Hawass, Secretary General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities in Aegypt.

Some of the news I'm reading

Chimps kill chimps ... for their land: Rival gangs murder each other in turf wars, scientists say

Chimp-on-chimp attacks in the wild are very common, especially among small packs of males on patrol. Now research suggests the motive for these crimes is to gain territory.

Ancient Egyptian city located in Nile Delta by radar

An ancient Egyptian city believed to be Avaris, the capital of the Hyksos people who ruled 3,500 years ago, has been located by radar, Egypt's culture ministry says.

Lucy's 'great-grandfather' found

Anthropologists say they have discovered the 3.6 million-year-old partial skeleton of a creature that came from the same species as Lucy, but was 400,000 years older and at least as good at walking upright.

Cassini Skims Through Titan’s Upper Atmosphere

The flyby took Cassini within 547 miles of Titan’s surface, about two and a half times the altitude of the International Space Station. Although this distance shaved only 43 miles off the next nearest approach, the flyby was the first to take the spacecraft below Titan’s ionosphere, a layer of charged particles in the upper atmosphere. The ionosphere shielded the spacecraft from Saturn’s much larger magnetic field, allowing scientists the first hints of whether Titan has a magnetic field of its own.

Archaeologists find remains of Nevern Castle in Wales

Archaeological excavations on the site of Nevern Castle in Wales has revealed a large group of buildings thought to date from the 12th century. It is hoped that the discovery will provide new details on the history of the Norman fortress that was built in 1108.

7th-graders discover mysterious cave on Mars

The 16 students from teacher Dennis Mitchell's 7th-grade science class at Evergreen Middle School in Cottonwood, Calif., found what looks to be a Martian skylight — a hole in the roof of a cave on Mars.

The intrepid students were participating in the Mars Student Imaging Program at the Mars Space Flight Facility at Arizona State University. The program allows students to frame a research question and then commission a Mars-orbiting camera to take an image to answer their question.

E-Reader Prices Are Slashed

Barnes and Noble started a price war by slashing its 3G Nook to $199 and its Wi-Fi-only Nook to $149. Amazon has responded by reducing the Kindle from $259 to $189. I so want a Kindle, and this only increases the temptation. But for now, I'm concentrating on bills....

This is so nifty cool...

I am an Aegyptology geek, what can I say. :)

57 tombs with mummies found in Egypt: Archaeologists say discovery throws new light on religion

Oooooooooh!!!

Egypt archaeologists discover huge tomb near Cairo

Archaeologists in Egypt have said they have discovered the largest known tomb in the ancient necropolis of Sakkara, to the south of Cairo.

The tomb dates back 2,500 years to the 26th Dynasty and contains important artefacts, including mummified eagles.

It is one of two newly discovered tombs found by an Egyptian team working close to the entrance of Sakkara, the burial ground for Egypt's ancient capital.

Ah, a great chance at exploration!

Cave complex may lie beneath Giza Pyramids: British explorer claims to have found the lost underworld of the pharaohs

'In his memoirs, British consul general Henry Salt recounts how he investigated an underground system of "catacombs" at Giza in 1817 in the company of Italian explorer Giovanni Caviglia,' [Andrew] Collins said.

The document records that the two explored the caves for a distance of 'several hundred yards,' coming upon four large chambers from which stretched further cave passageways.

With the help of British Egyptologist Nigel Skinner-Simpson, Collins reconstructed Salt's exploration on the plateau, eventually locating the entrance to the lost catacombs in an apparently unrecorded tomb west of the Great Pyramid.

Meanwhile...

Zahi Hawass, chief of Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities, has dismissed the discovery.

'There are no new discoveries to be made at Giza. We know everything about the plateau,' he stated.

Those are just the sorts of words scientists should never utter, for no matter if it's biolgoy, history, or archaeology--someone's going to come along to prove you wrong. I'd be interested if Collins' claims will be borne out. If so, it's a significant discovery. If not, it will be yet another spurious claim about the mysteries of Aegypt.

Home at last

I took off from the hospital today to run some errands and go to an exhibit on Flinders Petrie's excavations of Aegypt that's wrapping up at UK by Sunday. I thought it would be $10 to get in, but it turns out that it's free to alumni, but you don't have to be in the Alumni Association or anything. Petrie, unlike other excavators of the time who were interested in carting off treasure as quickly as possible, saw archaeology as a science and approached it very systematically. These are items from the Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology in London, some never displayed before, and with my interest in Aegyptology, I wanted to take advantage of it. Although I've read quite a bit about Aegypt's history, life, and language, I first heard of Petrie from Elizabeth Peters' Amelia Peabody mysteries. Peters is a pseudonym for Barbara Mertz, who holds a phD in Aegyptology.

The exhibit was very nice and spanned most of Aegypt's pre-Islamic history, including items considered classically Aegyptian but it also had Ptolemaic, Roman, and Coptic artefacts. It was well-attended. There was a group of elderly men and women and two women with their pre-teen children, among others. The exhibit runs through the 14th (Sunday), after which it returns to England. Hours are 12-5 except on Friday, when it is open till 8, and although it is $10 for the general public, it is free on Friday from 5-8, and also free to students, staff, and alumni of the university.

After that I went to my friends' house and painted shelves and did some work around the house for them. I stopped at the gas station on the way home to pick up a PowerBar for dinner, then walked home through a steady rain. Now I'm glad to be home. I did manage to go to the pharmacy in the early part of the day and got a lace-up support for my ankle, although it's a devil to get on. :)

Tomorrow I have a consortium meeting over at UK's Young Library where we'll have a continuing education class. I think it's on evidence-based medicine. I'll have to leave a little earlier than usual to make it there on time by bus. Then it's over to the store for truck night from 6-10.

Saturday I work from 10-6 [not by myself!] and then there's more painting to do (the last of this project, though). Sunday is the game. Monday I have my appointment with the podiatrist in the morning, and then I work at the hospital, staying a little later since I'll come in late. Tuesday and Wednesday are long days, working at the hospital and then working at the store from 3-10. On Thursday I'm getting the car fixed. It's also our employee appreciation cookout, so I'm torn as to whether to take the day off and hang out at the repair shop or go back in to work and then pick the car up afterwards. I'm taking the car in by 8 am, so it hopefully will be finished fairly early. Whew! It's going to be a busy week!

Cool

After 3,300 years, face of King Tut is unveiled