I recently reported that Jane Akshar had posted notes from the Mummification Museum lecture on Tomb 28, one of the Tombs of the Nobles on the West Bank near the Valley of the Kings. Andie has found an earlier announcement in Spanish of the expedition: The Egyptian authorities have granted permission to Spain to work in a major unpublished 23rd Dynasty Theban tomb. A new Spanish archaeological project in Luxor (Egypt), in charge of the Institute of Studies of the Old Egypt of Madrid [will conduct the project]. There’s also a Web site for the project in Spanish but the front page reads like this: Tomb No. 28 of Asasif (Friederike Kampp - Die Thebanische Nekropole catalog.) Zum Wandel des Grabgedankens von der 18th. bis zur 20th. Dynastie. (Mainz 1996) is located in the Theban necropolis in the area of Asasif South, front and on the tomb of Dyar (TT366), and adjacent to the tomb of Jeruef (TT192). This tomb belongs to the period of the dynasty XVIII, during the reign of Amenhotep III (towards 1387 - C. 1348), and was excavated for a sombody who was vizier Amenhotep, valled Huy, whose existence is known securely from the monuments for the Jubilee prime of Amenhotep III, held during the 30th year of his reign. Excavation of this tomb, with discoveries that could bring, requires a multi-disciplinary approach and will include the development of topographic, architectural and archaeological documentation. The excavation will identify the components that make up the tomb and their artistic and archaeological value, and will assure the architectural structures. All this must be accompanied by consonant epigraphy, as well as the restoration and consolidation of the monument in all its parts work. (I've had to paraphrasea bit to make sense.) There’s more on other pages. It's also reported Egyptologia by Francisco Martin Valentine and Teresa Bedman. They have put a copyright message on the page to prevent the copying of text so they clearly don’t want people to report even snippets to promote their site so I'll respect that and you’ll need to translate it yourself. The gist though is the that Tomb 28 is of the Amenhotep who was initially the Vizier of Amenhotep during the reign of Amenhotep III, but who later succeeded to the vizierate of Upper Egypt. (Confusingly, Wikipedia reports that his tomb was found in Saqqara.) He disappeared around the 35th year of Amenhotep’s reign and his [Theban] tomb and monuments were later defaced, the authors suppose by adherents of Akhenaten.  Their article is mostly biography of Vizier Amenhotep; there is little about the excavation of the tomb.This article was written for News from the Valley of the Kings © Kate Phizackerley 2008-9. - 2 days ago

This video is a bit tenuous - but it is pretty and interesting! It's a video of different cities at night photographed from space. For anybody with an interest in human geography, it's very interesting to see how different the cities of various cultures look at night. In terms of Egypt, there's pictures of Cairo from about 2:55 which segue into pictures of the Great Bend of the Nile at Luxor. There are stills of the Great Bend on this Nasa site.  I've linked rather than cross-posted because if you hold your mouse over the daytime picture of the Great Bend it changes to night time.  Be patient because the first time the transition is a bit slow - give it 20 seconds or so.  Once you've swapped between the two scenes once, the pictures should be cached in your browser so you can flick between them quickly.  It's interesting to compare the margins of modern habitation with the historic green, fertile strip.  In rural areas habitation is bounded within the agricultural land; around Luxor on both banks development extends clearly into desert areas. The daytime picture also shows the true width of the Nile Valley far better than I have noticed it before by pointing out the shading.  The original plateau is darker than the valley the Nile has cut some 1,000' - 1,500' deep into the plateau - the rock which hasn't been exposed as long (we are talking millions of years) is paler. Paler still is the Valley of the Kings, showing clearly how much it has been dug over by man, particularly modern archaeologists.  There is an image further down the Nasa page showing you what to look for.  Armed with that knowledge, it's then very obvious on Google Maps. View Larger Map It's also a really good way to see the geography of the Western Valley of the Kings in relation to the main wadi. South of the Valley of the Kings, Deir el-Bahri is very visible and again the entire wadi around the Temple of Hatshepsut is noticeably paler than nearby regions backed up against the cliffs, again suggesting that man has reworked surface of Deir el-Bahri more than other areas.   If you ever doubted how water has shaped the Valley of the Kings, zoom out a little and look at the next wadi north (above) the Valley of the Kings.  It's easy to see how water has deposited gravel on the corners of bends and at the junctions of side valleys.  The Valley of the Kings has been as affected by flooding as this wadi - it's just less obvious because the valley floor has been so altered. For anybody not entirely familiar with the geography of the West Bank at Luxor, it's worth swapping to the Wikimapia view which labels the main sites.  There are some labels in Arabic so ignore those ... unless you speak Arabic of course, but the main historical sites are labelled in English.  For instance the burial ground of Dra Abu el-Naga is labelled just east of "Hatshepsut's Parking Lot". I recommend zooming in and out.  As you zoom in more labels will appear but zooming out gives a wider perspective.  Just a warning though that it is a Wiki so, as with all Wikis, not all of the information is accurate - I'd suggest using it as something for enjoyment rather than study.This article was written for News from the Valley of the Kings © Kate Phizackerley 2008-9. - 7 days ago

Jane Akshar has reported on the lecture about tomb TT33 at the Mummification Museum. See http://luxor-news.blogspot.com/2009/12/mummification-museum-lecture-tt33.html (I understand people outside the UK are having trouble watching the TT33 video I posted. I've not found another version but when I'm updating News from the Valley of the Kings properly in the New Year, I'll have a hunt.)This article was written for News from the Valley of the Kings © Kate Phizackerley 2008-9. - 2 weeks ago

drhawass.

Big Pond News For the average visitor to the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, a stroll through the museums halls, crowded with ancient statues, papyrus, mummies, and gilded relics, offers an unparalleled journey into the visual splendour of Ancient Egypt.

Heritage Link (Owen Jarus) One of the most perplexing mysteries that Egyptologists and Aegean experts are tackling is that of the frescoes of Tell el-Dab'a, also known as Avaris.

The site of Abusir, from left to right are visible the pyramids of Neferirkare, Niuserre, and Sahure, kings of the 5th Dynasty. - 4 hours ago

Two large 26th Dynasty tombs have been found in Saqqara by an Egyptian excavation mission from the Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA), Culture Minister Farouk Hosni announced today. - 27 hours ago

A red granite statue of Hatshepsut. - 2 days ago