Amazing Egyptians

The Bowes Museum

Barnard Castle, County Durham, DL 12 8NP, UK

July 12, 2011 through August 31, 2011

“An exhibition aimed at families, exploring the customs and traditions surrounding life and death in Ancient Egypt. Follow the journey to the afterlife from the magical spells and the strange superstitions to the bandaging of bodies and the fascinating burials. With treasures abounding and organs galore, this exhibition promises to give visitors a real taste of how the Ancient Egyptians saw the afterlife.”

Cleopatra:  The Search for

the Last Queen of Egypt

Cincinnati Museum Center at Union Terminal

1301 Western Ave., Cincinnati, OH  45203

February 18, 2011 through September 5, 2011

“The world of Cleopatra VII, which has been lost to the sea and sand for nearly 2,000 years, has surfaced at Cincinnati Museum Center with Cleopatra: The Exhibition…the exhibition features nearly 150 artifacts from Cleopatra’s time and will take you inside the present-day search for the elusive queen, which extends from the sands of Egypt to the depths of the Bay of Aboukir near Alexandria.  See statuary, jewelry, daily items, coins and religious tokens that archaeologists have uncovered from the time surrounding Cleopatra’s rule, all of which are visiting the U.S. for the first time.”

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Expedition to Ancient Egypt &

Junior Archaeologist Program

Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum

1342 Naglee Ave., San Jose, CA  95126

Permanent program

The Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum has an Expedition to Ancient Egypt program for visiting schools that includes a curriculum leading up to the actual visit.  A Journey Though Ancient Egypt consists of an expeditionary field trip to the Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum and suggested classroom studies prior to and following the museum visit. The ten days of classroom studies help you prepare for your Expedition, so that your students and chaperones will be able to derive the maximum benefit from the visit, and they will greatly enhance the museum experience.  Download the curriculum here.

The Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum also has a Junior Archaeologist Program.  The Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum presents its Junior Archaeologist training program for young adventurers ages 5 to 17.  This program includes behind the scenes training, hands-on learning opportunities, and the most fun graduation ceremony this side of the Nile!  The Junior Archaeologist program is free with any Friend of the Museum Family Membership.

Indiana Jones and the

Adventure of Archaeology

Montréal Science Centre

King Edward Pier, Old Port, Montréal

April 28, 2011 through September 18, 2011

Showbiz meets science..  “Indiana Jones and the Adventure of Archaeology, presented by the National Geographic Society, immerses you in the science and history of field archaeology. Walk in the footsteps of beloved film hero Indiana Jones as you embark on this interactive museum adventure.”

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Life on the Nile:  An Exhibition for Children about Ancient Egypt

Archäologisches Museum Colombischlössle

Rotteckring 5, 79098 Freiburg, DE

March 17, 2011 through October 16, 2011

An exhibition that takes children and young people on an exciting excursion into the world of the pharaohs. On a real Egyptian sarcophagus colorfully painted pictures tell the stories of gods and the afterlife.  Workshops on hieroglyphic writing, ancient Egyptian cosmetics and clothing, musical instruments, the exotic scents that drifted through the marketplace.  Much more!

Lost Egypt:  Ancient Secrets,

Modern Science

Mayborn Museum, Baylor University

1300 S. University Parks, Waco, TX  76706

May 28, 2011 through September 5, 2011

“Unearth the secrets of an ancient Egyptian world in an interactive exhibition featuring the hidden stories and artifacts of a lost civilization…See a real human mummy, several animal mummies, plus scans, forensic facial reconstructions, and for the first time ever, a life-size rapid prototype of a human mummy. Witness art and artifacts from the daily life and funerary culture of ancient Egypt. Connect to real scientists working on projects in Egypt through video interviews and photographs from the field. Interpret ancient Egyptian art, decipher hieroglyphics and examine material remains using the tools and technology of archaeologists to unearth the mysteries of Egypt, its history, culture, and people.”

Includes an Egypt-themed summer film series catering to the tastes of younger viewer—from Abbot and Costello to Scooby Doo—and “Experience Egypt Wednesdays”.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Video from the Fort Worth Museum of Science and History run of Lost Egypt

Treasures of the Earth:  Whose Tomb?

The Indianapolis Children’s Museum

3000 N. Meridian St., Indianapolis, IN  46208

June 11, 2011 through permanent

Part of the National Geographic Treasures of the Earth exhibit, the Children’s Museum of Indianapolis has recreated part of the tomb of Seti I for kids to explore.

“Descend into a recreation of the longest, deepest, and most complete of any tomb in the Egyptian Valley of the Kings. Analyze the intricate details of the tomb walls, explore the burial chamber, and work together as a family to solve key challenges. Whose tomb is this? Where might the mysterious tunnel lead? All of the investigations are based on the real site.”

While at the Indianapolis Children’s Museum kids might want to explore modern Egypt by visiting the Take Me There: Egypt interactive exhibit.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Tutankhamun:  The Golden King

and the Great Pharaohs

Science Museum of Minnesota

120 W. Kellogg Blvd., St. Paul, MN  55102

February 18, 2011 through September 5, 2011

Tutankhamun: The Golden King and the Great Pharaohs takes you back 5,000 years in time and explores what it was like to live like a pharaoh through the “Golden Age,” when Egypt was at the height of power and artistry. The exhibition spans 2,000 years and some of the most notable leaders of ancient Egypt. More than 100 artifacts from the tombs and temples of King Tut, his ancestors and contemporaries bring this rich history to life.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

The Tutankhamun:  The Golden King and the Great Pharaohs exhibition will travel to the Museum of Fine Arts Houston (1001 Bissonnet at Main, Houston, TX 77005), opening October 16, 2011 and running through April 15, 2012.

Copyright by Keith Payne, 2011.  All rights reserved.

Tutankhamun:  The Golden King and the Great Pharaohs

Dr. Jeffrey Patchen, CEO of the Children’s Museum of Indianapolis discusses this, current exhibits connected to Egypt, and the forthcoming National Geographic Treasures of the Earth in this exclusive Em Hotep! interview.

Em Hotep:  Dr. Patchen, the story of how the Tutankhamun: The Golden King and the Great Pharaohs exhibit came to Indianapolis and the story of your involvement with the Suzanne Mubarak Children’s Museum are really the same story, aren’t they?

Dr. Patchen:  They are clearly connected, but one came before the other.  The work with Mrs. Mubarak, well, actually prior to the work with Mrs. Mubarak we were doing some work with Dr. [Zahi] Hawass that led to the work with Mrs. Mubarak that led to King Tut. 

Em Hotep:  From what I understand you were working with Dr Hawass on the National Geographic Maps project, right?

Dr. Patchen:  That’s right, it was a travelling exhibit called Maps: Tools for Adventure with National Geographic.

Em Hotep:  So how did that lead to you working with Mrs. Mubarak on the Children’s Museum in Cairo?

Dr. Patchen:  Well, we were invited to come to Cairo to film Dr. Hawass for the video portion of one of the information stations in the Maps exhibit.  Dr. Hawass had provided us with some of his equipment, such as the remote robot that he used inside the Great Pyramid to travel into some of the new chambers and tunnels there, so when he asked us to come to Cairo to record him, of course we were glad to.

When we got there Dr. Hawass said he would really like our presence at the First Lady’s office the following afternoon to provide a critique of the progress being made on the new Suzanne Mubarak Children’s Museum.  And it would be an opportunity to meet the first lady.  Well, of course how do you say no? 

First Lady of Egypt, Her Excellency Mrs. Suzanne Mubarak

So the next day we attended the presentation with the First Lady and Dr. Hawass, where we also got a chance to meet the architect, Michael Mallinson from London, who we had never met before.  Our Vice President, Jennifer Robinson, was also there with me, and part way through the presentation Dr. Hawass turns to us and says “So what do you think?”  I said its very nice, thank you, it looks like it will be a fine museum, and he said “I want to know what you really think.  How can we make this better?” 

We made a few suggestions in terms of how the exhibits might be made family friendly versus just for young children.  Dr. Hawass liked what he heard, and the first lady liked what she heard, and at the end of the meeting Dr. Hawass turned to Mrs. Mubarak and said “If you agree, I think that the Children’s Museum in Indianapolis should design all of the exhibits for your new children’s museum.”  And she said “Dr. Hawass that would be wonderful if the museum would be willing to do that.” 

Of course we hadn’t really discussed doing that!  But Mrs. Mubarak is nothing if not compelling and very, very passionate about her work with children and families, so of course we said yes.  What transpired over the next two years were a series of visits to Cairo and serving as the lead organization to help put the design of the exhibits together. 

Well, one night we were at an open gala dinner for the Maps exhibit, and without having told me what he was going to do, Dr. Hawass stands up and announces that as a way of saying thank you for all the work we did with the Suzanne Mubarak Children’s Museum he would like to bring Tut to Indianapolis!  Of course everyone was thrilled, and two years later King Tut arrived and opened on June 27^th. 

We had a four month run, and just last Monday the final truck left on its way to Toronto.  It was a wonderful, wonderful run here, and we put almost a quarter of a million people through that exhibit in just four months, so it was very, very good.

Em Hotep:  There is really no way to prepare yourself for the exhibit, not justthe artifacts themselves, which were beautifully presented, but the way the exhibit was arranged was a large part of the experience as well.

The entrance to the Antechamber of King Tut’s Tomb (Photo courtesy of the exhibit Facebook page)

Dr. Patchen:   Arts and Exhibitions International really did a nice job.  I may be a little prejudiced because it came here, but we had seen the previous exhibit that had been in San Francisco, and they are both produced by the same exhibit company and both are very fine exhibits, but we really like the context that this exhibit put Tut in as compared to the previous exhibit.  This really gave you a sense of what court life was like, and religion in the time of the pharaohs, and the focus from many gods to one god, and it was just, I thought, very well done.  And kids in particular just love that entrance piece as you go into the tomb, it feels like you are entering the tomb with Howard Carter for the first time, so they really liked that.

Em Hotep:  I also noticed that the labeling was close to the ground, which makes this an especially inclusive exhibit for young people.

Dr. Patchen:  We thought that placing the labels both down low and up high, which was how the exhibit came to us and is going to other cities, really worked well for us because the labels were convenient for children who can read, that was just great.  And adults of course could just look up slightly and see the same labels.  So we really liked that a lot.

Em Hotep:  Were there any parts of Tutankhamun:  The Golden King and the Great Pharaohs that particularly stood out to you?  Do you have any favorite parts of the exhibit?

Colossal statue of King Tutankhamun (Photo courtesy of the exhibit Facebook page)

Dr. Patchen:  Well, the two huge sculptures, one of Amenhotep IV, who is thought to be Tut’s father, and the actual sculpture of Tut at the end of the exhibit were just spectacular.  But there is one piece that I just really loved how it was displayed, and that was the staff with the feathers on it.  I talked to the folks at Arts and Exhibitions International about how that piece was displayed and there is really a great story behind that.

The feathers were done as an imprint on glass, because the original feathers, of course, would have disintegrated thousands of years ago.  But when Howard Carter opened the tomb in 1922 he took pictures of the staff and the pattern in the sand where the feathers had disintegrated.  Arts and Exhibitions took that photo of the feathers and then had it etched in glass and then put it on top of the staff.  I thought that was just brilliant in terms of exhibit display because it really gave you a sense of how the staff with the feathers on it must have really looked.

Em Hotep:  So to return to the subject of your involvement with the Children’s Museum in Cairo, Mrs. Mubarak is known to be a champion of human rights, particularly as they relate to education and children and women’s rights.  She has down a lot to raise the life condition of the Egyptian people, which of course has a ripple effect throughout the entire world.

Dr. Patchen:  It does.

Em Hotep:  So through your involvement with the Children’s Museum in Cairo you are really a direct part of Mrs. Mubarak’s mission, so, when you began work on the National Geographic Maps project,  did you ever imagine that you would become a world ambassador for children?

Children's Museum Jordan (Photo courtesy of CMJ Facebook page)

Dr. Patchen:  Well, not specifically in Egypt.  We have done a number of other projects that are equally interesting and important.  We served as consultants to the Children’s City in Dubai, and to the first national children’s museum in Jordan.  I did some work for Queen Rania of Jordan who, like Mrs. Mubarak and Princess Haya in Dubai, is very committed to children’s libraries, women’s issues, and to her people.  So this is kind of outreach is ongoing for us, but the invitation from Dr. Hawass and Her Excellency Mrs. Mubarak came as a wonderful surprise.  Mrs. Mubarak is just absolutely passionate about libraries and museums and wanting to make sure that children throughout Egypt have access to both.

Em Hotep:  What is the current status of the Suzanne Mubarak Children’s Museum?

Dr. Patchen:  It has been several months since I have personally been back to Cairo, but the architect does send me pictures, so I know that the building is out of the ground.  The museum is in a suburb of Cairo called Heliopolis, on the site of the previous Children’s Museum which was considerably smaller.  I believe all the external work and coverings are done, and basic infrastructure is going on inside.  The exhibit fabrication process is moving forward and right now we have firms in the United States and Europe bidding to do the fabrication.

Em Hotep:  So, to return to Indianapolis, even though the Tutankhamun exhibition has moved on to Toronto, I understand there is still a permanent exhibit at the Children’s Museum for young Egyptologists?

Riding through Take Me There: Egypt (Photo courtesy of the Children's Museum of Indianapolis)

Dr. Patchen:  Well, there is, it’s called Take Me There:  Egypt, and at 13,000 square feet it’s actually the largest exhibit on contemporary Egypt ever mounted in the U.S.  It’s a cultural immersion experience that takes you to Egypt via Egypt Air, although it’s only a two minute flight, I should say!  And you arrive in Cairo and you can change your money, obviously virtually, and you can don traditional Egyptian clothes, and explore the exhibit.

Visitors have a chance to interact with and explore living spaces, one which is modeled on an urban setting, and another that is modeled on a rural setting.  You can participate in the marketplace, you can pass by and through the façade of a mosque, there is a section of the Nile that focuses on the care of the environment because of course Egypt is the gift of the Nile.  And there is a coffee shop, a tent-maker, an herbalist shop, plus lots of hands-on activities related to musical and visual arts.

There is also a whole cultural immersion room where you actually join a contemporary Egyptian family for the presentation of the celebration of the sebou, the celebration of the seventh day after the birth of a child.  And kids learn the sebou song, a sebou dance, you learn to play instruments, and learn about the sebou tradition and help make gifts, and there is a procession through the village. 

Take Me There:  Egypt is an immersive experience that opened the same day that the Tut exhibition opened, and is one of our permanent displays.  The focus will be on Egypt for two and a half years, and then it becomes Take Me There: China for an entirely different cultural experience.

Em Hotep:  So is there a lot of interaction between the Children’s Museum of Indianapolis and the schools in the region?  Do you see a lot of educators using the Take Me There:  Egypt exhibit as a means of exposing young people not only to Egyptian history but to Egyptian culture as well?

Dr. Patchen:  Absolutely.  We have two units of study that are tied to state and national standards, and we did dozens of teacher professional development institutes in the summertime before and after Tut opened so when the school groups started in September they were all prepped and ready to go.  We put about 90,000 school children through Tut and Take Me There:  Egypt during the first four months of the school year.

Em Hotep:  Let’s say that I’m a teacher who wants to bring my class to the Children’s Museum of Indianapolis to experience the Take Me There: Egypt exhibit.  Who would I contact and how would I go about setting that up?

Dr. Patchen:  Well, teachers can make reservations on our website or they can call our Call Center which is (317) 920-2001 and can make a reservation there and talk to folks about specific times.  Teachers can choose from  a facilitated or un-facilitated tour, depending on their preference.   If they would like a facilitated tour that’s tied to units of study they can do so, that’s a wonderful way to go.  Or some teachers prefer the un-facilitated and just come and go through at their leisure.

Em Hotep:  Does the Children’s Museum of Indianapolis have any future plans that involve ancient history in general and ancient Egypt in particular?

The Terracotta Warriors (Photo by Miguel A. Monjas)

Dr. Patchen:  Actually yes, we are working with National Geographic on a new permanent exhibit that we will be announcing in the next month or so.  It’s called National Geographic Treasures of the Earth and it will be an exciting archaeology exhibit that will explore three archaeological sites. 

One of the sites that will be represented is the tomb of Seti I.  We will have a partial replica of the tomb where kids will have an opportunity to learn about hieroglyphics and conservation, in particular the preservation of artifacts and the hieroglyphics there. 

Another site represented will be a replica of the Terracotta Warrior dig in China.  We have a wonderful relationship with the Terracotta Warrior Institute. 

And the third area will be an underwater archeology experience in partnership with Indiana University who has found what is believed to be the shipwreck of Captain Kidd the Pirate in ten feet of water in the Dominican Republic. 

So we are very excited about the National Geographic Treasures of the Earth exhibit.  Kids will have an opportunity to continue to focus on Egypt as well as China and the famous Terracotta Warrior find, and then experience some underwater archaeology as well.  This exhibit will open in late 2011.

Em Hotep:  Do you have any intern programs for students who may want to get involved with the Children’s Museum of Indianapolis?

Dr. Patchen:  Absolutely.  We have a full-time intern coordinator that’s part of our volunteer and intern program.  We don’t have many paid internships, but in the summertime we have had as many as 40 interns from all over the United States, and some from other countries as well, who have an interest in working with children across the sciences and arts and humanities.  There is information about our internships on our website under the Employment, Volunteer, and Internship section.

Em Hotep:  So volunteerism plays a role at the Children’s Museum as well?

Dr. Patchen:  Yes, we have several hundred volunteers.  Debbie Young is our Director of Volunteer and Intern Programs, and we are always looking for volunteers, not only adult individuals, but also families that might like to volunteer together. 

Em Hotep:  So on a more personal level, someone doesn’t just wake up one day and say “You know, I’d like to run the largest and best children’s museum in the world.”  Or do they?  What led you to the Children’s Museum of Indianapolis? 

Dr. Patchen:  Well, I was working in state government here from 1984 to 1990, working at the State Department of Education as the State Arts Consultant, and I was aware then of this great museum here.  I went away to take an endowed chair at the University of Tennessee in arts education and later to work for the J. Paul Getty Trust and Museum.

When I had an opportunity to return to Indianapolis to work with the Children’s Museum it was really an opportunity to do all the things that I am most passionate about, which is learning, family learning in particular, and love of the sciences and the arts and the humanities and ways in which they intersect in their disciplinary and multigenerational ways. 

This museum has an 85 year history, it’s the world’s largest children’s museum and it is committed to creating these truly extraordinary learning experiences, and has the power to transform the lives of children and families.  I couldn’t be in a better place.

Em Hotep:  One last question.  Helping children understand the world and their power to change it seems to be part of what drives you personally and professionally, so if I may ask, how do you see your work in terms of the effort to expand the dialogue between the world’s cultures and how your work really contributes to world peace?

Dr. Patchen:  There are several ways in which we do that, and that’s a wonderful question, and more and more we think this museum has a role in that effort.  We created an exhibit in 2007 called The Power of Children and it features the lives of three children whose life and death transformed the world in unique ways. 

Visitors are introduced to the stories of Anne Frank, Child of the 1940’s and the Holocaust, Ruby Bridges, Child of the 1960’s and victim of prejudice and discrimination in entering schools in the 1960’s, and Ryan White child of the 1980’s and also a victim of prejudice and discrimination related to his contracting pediatric HIV.

And an important part of that exhibit experience is taking you to the Anne Frank house, taking you to the classroom in Williams Frantz Elementary School in 1960, and taking you to Ryan’s house in Cicero, Indiana and meeting those very children.  At the end of the experience you are invited to make your own promise to make the world a better place. 

It’s a very different kind of an exhibit for a children’s museum to be engaged in because the topics of racism and religious intolerance and pediatric HIV.  These are not typical subjects that you would associate necessarily with a children’s museum, but it has been one of the most transforming experiences for us as a staff and for visitors who come.

We also created an awards program called the Power of Children Award which honors Hoosier youth age eleven to seventeen who have made an extraordinary difference in the lives of others.  These are children who have gone out and seen a need in their community, or in the world, and identified the funds or the resources needed to help alleviate that need and have had success in their project. 

We hosted our Sixth Annual Power of Children Awards this past Friday night where we awarded six Hoosier youths with $2,000 each to continue their philanthropy and their good work, and with four-year scholarships to Indiana University.  That’s a way that the Children’s Museum of Indianapolis can help encourage youth to make a difference in the world and make a difference in a big way.

Copyright by Keith Payne, 2009.  All rights reserved. 

Photos from the Tutankhamun:  The Golden King and the Great Pharaohs Facebook page may be accessed here.  Photo from the Children’s Museum Jordan may be accessed here.  Photo “Group of terracotta warriors at Xian.jpg” by Miguel A. Monjas is provided courtesy of Wikimedia Commons  and are licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike 3.0 License. In short: you are free to share and make derivative works of those files under the conditions that you appropriately attribute them, and that you distribute them only under a license identical to this one. Official license 

The Children’s Museum, which just bid farewell to the Tutankhamun:  The Golden King and the Great Pharaohs travelling exhibit last week, has a special relationship with Egypt so it should come as no surprise that they would continue to deliver Egypt to the region, an easy drive from the Louisville and Kentuckiana area.

The tomb of Seti I (KV17) is the largest tomb discovered in the Valley of the Kings to date.  The tomb was discovered in 1817 by Giovanni Battista Belzoni and was originally believed to be about 328 feet long.  More recent excavations have shown the tomb to be at least 446 feet long, and there is reason to believe that more remains to be discovered.  The tomb of Seti I is one of the most exciting digs currently underway in Egypt.

The tomb of Seti I (KV17) is the largest discovered in the Valley of the Kings to date (Photo by Jean-Pierre Dalbera)

Painted hieroglyphs in bas-relief from the wall of KV17 (Photo by Jon Bodsworth)

In addition to being the largest tomb in the Valley of the Kings, KV17 is also one of the most richly decorated.  Every wall of every passageway and room is adorned with intricate raised reliefs and vividly colored hieroglyphs and paintings.  The second pharaoh of the Nineteenth Dynasty, and father of Ramesses the Great, Seti I ruled Egypt during one of its most culturally and artistically productive periods, and his tomb reflects this sophistication.

The work to stabilize and preserve the tomb of Seti I is a continual process (Photo by Jean-Pierre Dalbera)

As part of an exhibit called National Geographic Treasures of the Earth, the Seti I section will be a partial replica that will teach kids about hieroglyphics, archaeology, and site conservation.

Heroic efforts have been made to stabilize and preserve KV17, and young future archaeologists will gain an appreciation for the kind and amount of work that goes into protecting these heritage sites for generations to come.  Due to open in late 2011, Dr. Patchen will be making a more detailed announcement about the exhibit in the next few months.

Anubis guarding the Children’s Museum of Indianapolis skywalk (Photo by Meredith Hayden)

Young people (and the young at heart alike) will have an opportunity to enjoy the next best thing to standing within the tomb of Seti I.  The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis has a reputation for transporting its visitors to distant locations on a grand scale.  In a current exhibit called Take Me There: Egypt, kids can board a two minute simulated Egypt Air flight that lets out in a 13,000 square feet reproduction of Egyptian urban and rural settings where they can interact with “locals” and participate in cultural events.

To learn more about Take Me There: Egypt, and to learn what other archaeological sites wil be featured in the National Geographic Treasures of the Earth exhibit, be sure to read the full interview with Dr. Jeffrey Patchen, which will premiere on Monday, November 9, 2009, on Em Hotep!  We will be talking about how the Tutankhamun travelling exhibit came to Indianapolis, Dr. Patchen’s involvement with the Suzanne Mubarak Children’s Museum in Cairo, and a number of other issues of interest to local and international readers.

Copyright by Keith Payne, 2009.  All rights reserved.

Photo “La tombe de Sethi 1er (KV.17) (Vallée des Rois, Thèbes ouest) – 2.jpg” by Jean-Pierre Dalbera, “Image-La tombe de Sethi 1er (KV.17) (Vallée des Rois, Thèbes ouest) -3.jpg” by Jean-Pierre Dalbera, “Hieroglyphs from the tomb of Seti I.jpg” by Jon Bodsworth, are provided courtesy of Wikimedia Commons  and are licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike 3.0 License. In short: you are free to share and make derivative works of those files under the conditions that you appropriately attribute them, and that you distribute them only under a license identical to this one. Official license 

The last time I had a chance to see so many priceless artifacts I was at the Cairo Museum in Egypt.

This is an exhibition you do not want to miss.  With more than 50 objects from Tutankhamun’s tomb, and another 80 artifacts from other Egyptian pharaohs, this is truly a once in a lifetime opportunity (unless you visit more than once, which I intend to do!)

I blog about our visit to the Tut Exhibition over at Heritage Key under my daytime name, Keith Payne:  Top 10 Things You Don’t Want to Miss at the Indianapolis Tutankhamun Exhibition.  Although photography was not allowed, the fine folks at Heritage Key managed to dig up some shots Sandro Vannini had taken of some of the artifacts (Thanks Rebecca and Ann!!), so you should really hop over and check it out.

This is a travelling exhibition, and will be at the Indianapolis Children’s Museum until October 25, 2009, after which the exhibit will travel to the Art Gallery of Ontario at Toronto from November 24, 2009, through April 18, 2010.  And I have recently learned that before returning to Egypt, the exhibition will revisit the U.S.  The exhibition will be at the Discovery Times Square Exposition in New York City from late April through December, 2010.  After that, the whole lot goes home, so check it out while you can!

Regarding Em Hotep!

On an unrelated note, I’d just like to take a minute to apologize for falling behind schedule on several projects here at Em Hotep!  I have been busy with outside projects, including quite a bit of really cool stuff that has been going on at Heritage Key.  I am currently in the middle of covering the Ancient Abydos: From Egypt’s First Pharaohs to its Last Pyramid symposium taking place at the Penn Museum this weekend, but after that things should cool off a little and I can get caught up on some work here. 

I am still working on the reference article for the Great Sphinx, and after that I am going to be moving away from the Cairo/Giza area and documenting sites around Luxor and the Valley of the Kings.  But the feature projects, particularly Jean Pierre Houdin’s fascinating work with Khufu’s Pyramid, will get top billing.  Even after the series and interview are done you can expect Em Hotep! to follow M. Houdin’s work very closely. 

Also coming down the pike, we will be taking an in-depth look at the M. A. Mansoor Amarna Collection, which will also take the form of a series to be followed by an interview or two.  Look for this in mid- to late October.

Thanks for reading!

Copyright by Keith Payne, 2009.  All rights reserved.

It would not be too much of an exaggeration to say the event had the feel of a rock concert.  We were there to see a star.  What secrets would he reveal tonight?  What announcements would he make?

Shemsu scoops the news for Heritage Key. 

I have already written about the interview with Zahi Hawass, which naturally was the main event for me.  But Heritage Key also sent me to cover the event, Zahi Hawass’ Mysteries of Tutankhamen Revealed.  It was an exciting night all around, and Dr. Hawass made several announcements.

What is the status of the probing of the “secret doors” inside Khufu’s Pyramid, and when can we expect an update?  How far did he get with the Osiris Shaft?  What is going on with the CT scans and genetic testing of Tutankhamen and his family?

Dr. Hawass addresses these questions and more, and I detail them in my blog entry on Heritage Key.  Read about it here:  Lecture Review: Zahi Hawass’ Mysteries of King Tut Revealed.

This is a separate article from the interview, so hop over and check it out.  I can’t reproduce it in full here because it was written while on assignment, but I can say that I ruminate about who might rest in a new tomb to be revealed in October, 2009, and I discuss Hawass’ promise to reveal in one month some very, very interesting information about King Tut…

Copyright 2009, all rights reserved.

Well, add to that a visit from Dr. Zahi Hawass..

Dr. Hawass will be giving a lecture entitled Mysteries of Tutankhamun Revealed at the Clowes Memorial Hall of Butler University on Friday 7th August, 2009.  The lecture will begin at 7:30pm.

Click HERE to visit the official announcement on Dr. Hawass’s blog, including a way to save $5.00 off the cost of a ticket.

Combine this event with a trip to the Tutankhamen exhibition at the ICM and you have an awesome Egyptian roadtrip to Indy!

 Photograph “Zahi_Hawass.jpg” is provided courtesy of Wikimedia Commons  and is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike 3.0 License. In short: you are free to share and make derivative works of the file under the conditions that you appropriately attribute it, and that you distribute it only under a license identical to this one. Official license 

And for my fellow Louisvillians:  Heads up!  There is a wicked King Tut exhibition just two hours away!

First things first.  Andie Byrnes from Egyptology News has brought to our attention a Tutankhamen exhibition going on at the wonderful and world-famous Indianapolis Children’s Museum!   Check out her post, Exhibition: Tutankhamen in Indianapolis, for details.

Indy is just two hours away, and we all know that Indies and Louisvillians are always looking for reasons to visit each other’s beautiful cities–usually involving fast horses and even faster cars.  A road trip to the ICM to see 130+ artifacts from the tomb’s of Tut and other Egyptian kings sounds like a pretty good way to spend a balmy day in August.

Jane Akshar from Luxor News brings us an article by Zahi Hawass about measures being taken to protect some of the more delicate—and highly important—tombs in the Valley of the Kings.  You can read her article here:  Protecting the Valley of the Kings.

Archaeoblog has dug up a good article on the Egyptian Neolithic and Predynastic Periods.  Check it out here:  Buried City in Oasis Lends View of Ancient Egypt.

Tim from The Egyptians has found an article about a 7^th Century BC fort unearthed in the Delta region.  Read it here:  Late Period Fort.

And last but not least, Vincent from Talking Pyramids has good news for those of us who like to web-surf the Giza Plateau from outer space:  Google Upgrades Giza Resolution.

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