競売会社ピアザ(Piasa)が手掛けた今回の競売はまさに異例だった。同様の埋葬布は世界で他に22枚しか確認されておらず、その大半がパリのルーブル美術館(Louvre Museum)や米ニューヨーク(New York)のメトロポリタン美術館(Metropolitan Museum of Art)などの美術館の所蔵となっているからだ。
仏国立科学研究センター(National Centre for Scientific Research、CNRS)の専門家、アニー・ガス(Annie Gasse)氏は「これが極めて優れた偽物製造者かつ卓越したエジプト学者の作品だとするなら、作るには特殊な顔料を使わなければならなかっただろう。それは不可能と思われる」と話している。(c)AFP/Joshua MELVIN
Big surprise for Egyptian history fans, Special Christmas in Egypt
h
ttp://luxortimesmagazine.blogspot.com/2015/08/big-surprise-for-egyptian-history-fans.html
写真撮影可能か?
Have you been to the Egyptian museum in Tahrir before and had to leave your camera before entering the museum building?
It has been a long time since photography was allowed in the museum which hosts the largest collection of the ancient Egyptian antiquities.
At a press conference held at the Grand Egyptian museum, minister of antiquities Dr. Mamdouh El Damaty announced a big surprise for the Egyptology buffs and visitors to Egypt.
The Minister of Antiquities said "For the Christmas holiday season, photography with no flash will be allowed in the Egyptian museum in Tahrir for all visitors starting from 1st of December 2015 till 7th of January 2016."
【9月29日 AFP】(一部訂正)米アリゾナ大学(University of Arizona)の英国人考古学者ニコラス・リーブス(Nicholas Reeves)氏は28日、古代エジプト王ツタンカーメン(Tutankhamun)の墓の前に立ち、この墓の秘密の小部屋にツタンカーメンの父親の妃ネフェルティティ(Nefertiti)が埋葬されているとする自らの仮説を熱心に主張した。
The restoration of King Tutankhamun's world-famous golden mask will begin Saturday, over a year after the beard was accidentally broken off and hastily glued back with epoxy, Egypt's state-run news agency said Friday.
A German-Egyptian team will remove the mask from its display at the Egyptian Museum in Cairo and repair it in another area of the museum, MENA reported.
The 3,300-year-old burial pharaonic mask was discovered in Tutankhamun's tomb along with other artifacts by British archeologists in 1922, sparking worldwide interest in archaeology and ancient Egypt.
The beard became detached during work on the relic's lighting in August 2014 and then was hastily reattached with epoxy.
In a January press conference by Egypt's antiquities ministry, days after the botched reattachment came to light, restoration specialist Christian Eckmann said the epoxy could be removed and the mask properly restored.
Eckmann said the beard had likely loosened over the years and has been detached previously.
The mask is arguably the best-known piece in the museum, one of Cairo's main tourist sites, which was built in 1902 and houses artifacts and mummies of ancient Egyptian rulers.
Egypt Independent
The Egyptian Museum will mark its 113th anniversary next Monday and locals and foreigners living in the country will be offered free entry to mark the special occasion, according to antiquities and museum officials.
The measure comes as part of the ministry’s interest in boosting tourism, Antiquities Minister Mamdouh al-Damati said in statements quoted by local media.
Khaled al-Anani, the museum’s general supervisor, was also quoted as saying that the ministry’s celebrations will begin at 9:30 a.m.
The celebration will include performances and the museum’s past directors will be honored in the presence of public dignitaries and university students. He added that volunteer tour guides will guide visitors for free.
ギザの大ピラミッドに対する赤外線カメラを使った表面温度分布調査の結果、大ピラミッドの表面を覆っている石のブロックは、特定の3つのブロックだけ他の石ブロックに比べて著しいく高い温度を示していることがエジプト考古庁(Supreme Council of Antiquities)とHeritage Innovation Preservation Institute(HIP)が行った共同記者会見で判明した。
【11月16日 AFP】エジプトの首都カイロ(Cairo)郊外にあるギザの大ピラミッド(Great pyramid of Giza)前で15日、イスラム過激派組織「イスラム国(IS)」が犯行声明を出している3つの事件の犠牲者を追悼する式典が開かれた。ピラミッドにフランス、レバノン、ロシアの国旗が投影され、大勢の人々がろうそくを手に犠牲者たちに祈りをささげた。
Museum to open tomorrow at Cairo International Airport h
ttp://english.ahram.org.eg/News/172757.aspx @ahramonlineさんから
Egypt's first airport museum is to open tomorrow at Cairo International Airport’s Terminal 3
Nevine El-Aref , Sunday 6 Dec 2015
Egypt's Ministry of Antiquities Mamdouh Eldamaty is to open tomorrow evening a small museum in the transit hall at Cairo International Airport's Terminal 3.
Eldamaty told Ahram Online that the museum was established in an attempt to promote tourism and Egypt’s distinguished civilisational history.
Elham Salah, head of the Museums Section at the antiquities ministry, told Ahram Online that the museum includes 38 artefacts carefully selected from different museums around Egypt, including the Egyptian Museum in Tahrir, the Coptic Museum in Old Cairo and the Museum of Islamic Art in Bab Al-Khalq area.
Salah explained that the displayed objects show the daily life of ancient Egyptians as well as their religious beliefs. The Islamic era is presented through a collection of lamps, plates, chandeliers and a copy of the Quran, while the Coptic era is shown through a collection of objects depicting religious rituals inside cathedrals, along with Coptic manuscripts.
A copy of the Holy Bible is also exhibited.
Salah said that the airport museum is meant to not only attract travellers who are visiting Egypt, but also those transiting through the airport. She pointed out that museum tickets cost $3 for foreigners and LE25 for Egyptians.
Tutankhamun's gold mask restored after botched repair ht
tp://english.ahram.org.eg/News/173700.aspx @ahramonlineさんから
AFP , Wednesday 16 Dec 2015
Egypt put the restored gold mask of Tutankhamun back on display Wednesday after German experts removed glue applied in a botched repair when the priceless artifact's beard fell off.
The restored mask -- now back in its display case at the museum -- was shown to journalists after more than two months' work by a team of German experts.
"It is done," Christian Eckmann, a German specialist in restoration work on antiquities in glass and metal, told reporters at a press conference.
The beard fell off the boy pharaoh's funerary mask in August 2014 at the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, and employees tried to reattach it with glue.
The accident happened when the mask was removed from its display case to repair the lighting.
In a hurried attempt to fix it, museum workers applied too much epoxy glue, leaving a visible crust.
The restoration included a 3D scan of the mask and removing the beard once more.
"The most challenging process was to remove the beard. We did it by mechanical means... using wooden tools," Eckmann said.
The process included warming the mask to enable the adhesive to be removed.
The boy king's death mask is a top attraction at the museum, which has hundreds of items from the tomb found in 1922 by British archaeologist Howard Carter along with the pharaoh's mummy in Luxor's Valley of the Kings.
When Carter discovered the treasure, the ceremonial beard was already loose and he himself removed it for the first time, Eckmann said.
"Ninety years after Carter accomplished the first restoration of the mask in December 1925, we have the pleasure to present the mask in its original" form, he said.
Tutankhamun died aged 19 in 1324 BC after reigning for nine years. His 11-kilo (24.2-pound) solid gold funerary mask is encrusted with lapis lazuli and semi-precious stones.
The bus's right-side window was shattered, though no casualties were reported among the tourists
Thursday 7 Jan 2016
A tourist bus was hit by fireworks during a rally by Muslim Brotherhood supporters early on Thursday in Al-Haram Street near Giza pyramids, according to Egypt's Ministry of Interior.
The incident occurred when approximately 15 Brotherhood supporters fired fireworks at security forces outside the Three Pyramids hotel where the bus was transporting tourists, according to interior ministry spokesperson Abu Bakr Abdel Karim.
There were no reported casualties, according to the spokesperson.
The bus's right side window was shattered and the hotel's facade damaged.
The passengers on the bus were Arab-Israeli citizens, according to a statement released by the Israeli government.
One suspect was arrested at the scene and is currently being investigated for his involvement in the incident.
Al-Haram Street in Giza, close to the Pyramids, regularly witnesses pro-Morsi rallies and protests.
Gunmen open fire on tourist bus outside Cairo hotel @AJENews h
ttp://www.aljazeera.com/news/2016/01/gunmen-shoot-tourists-cairo-hotel-160107102206541.html
Gunmen open fire on tourist bus outside Cairo hotel
No casualties reported in attack on a road leading to the pyramids in the Egyptian capital.
07 Jan 2016 12:16 GMT | Middle East, Egypt
Tourists were attacked by gunmen on a motorcycle as they boarded a bus outside their hotel in the Egyptian capital of Cairo.
Thursday's attack took place outside the Three Pyramids Hotel which is situated on a road leading to the pyramids, according to security sources who added that there were no casualties.
One gunman was arrested at the scene while security forces surrounded the other in another part of Cairo, according to sources.
Tourism is a pillar of the Egyptian economy which has been struggling to recover from political turmoil triggered by the 2011 uprising that toppled former president Hosni Mubarak.
Egypt declared it would step up security at major tourist attractions last year after several attacks that caused its already struggling tourism industry to slump further.
In June, two policemen were shot dead close to the pyramids.
President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, who took power after ousting the country's first democratically elected president Mohamed Morsi in 2013, has declared an all-out war on armed groups.
From December until 7 January, visitors to the Egyptian Museum in central Cairo were allowed to take pictures with cameras and mobile phones inside the museum without paying additional fees, to attract more visitors to the museum that houses countless treasures from Ancient Egypt, including Tutankhamun's mummy and death mask.