News from the Valley of the Kings

http://instagr.am/p/e5n9z/


Not great on archaeological detail but actually a really lovely photo and thoroughly recommended.  For those interested, I found it via Chris Naunton's Twitter feed.

PS I will be adding a set of recent photos of the Valley of the Kings on Egyptological over the next two or three days.  I just need to resize them.   I will post here as well then they are available.

Professor Sarah Symons of the Integrated Science Programme & Dept. of Physics and Astronomy at McMaster University, Hanilton, Ontario recently visited the Society's London offices to study some of the unpublished material relating to the discovery and excavation of the Osireion at Abydos. She has sent the following report on her experiences.

These are excellent - you can find them on Egyptological our new site in the Photo Albums section.  The set includes the clearest picture I have ever seen of the famous "helicopter" glyph which shows that it is actually the accidental result of over-carving.

I really should have posted a link sooner.  Sorry.  I also forgot to mention that Andie wrote a short book review of House of Eternity - the Tomb of Nefertari which is in the In Brief section.

The looting in Abydos is reportedly getting worse, with a local source saying today on the Egyptian Dreams forum:

Now I am finding plastered and decorated tomb chambers opened and destroyed, (beautiful geometric designs in monochrome as well as multi colour) smashed grave pots and dismembered mummies intermingle with segments of plaster laying scattered and discarded over the sands. I have made inquiries and the southern section of the plain has suffered just as badly as the Northern section.

The following unconfirmed report of major looting and digging at Abydos has appeared on the Egyptian Dreams forum:

Looting of antiquities continues unopposed here in Abydos. Everyday I walk across the desert plain to my land beyond and every day I see evidence of illegal digging. The remains of mummies now litter the plain. 3/4 days ago 10 armed raiders entered the American mission house in Abydos and looted it. Police were frightened off by gun fire from the raiders. What the looters made off with is unknown and it is also unknown whether they gain access to the newly built restoration/storage rooms.

This is something people might not have heard ot - the fleet of ancient wooden boats discovered in the sands at Abydos.  It's really well covered in this article by Richard Pierce of New York University.  It's not really news other than that David O'Connor, the expedition leader, has recently written a book (published 22/6/09) on Abydos and has been promoting it.

I've been quiet because I have little to report, but if you haven't seen them, then the photos by Dr Carolyn Routledge on the National Museums Liverpool photostream are quite nice, showing objects from the museum's collection. There's also a general Egyptian set and a blog article.

I'll not follow this in detail but it's worth mentioning since Abydos is once again a common day trip from Luxor. The Kelsey Museum of Archaeology have put up a page describing what they will be doing during their 2009 season in Abydos, both in terms of new digging and their conservation effort.