This photo essay presents everyday people doing everyday jobs at some of the most fascinating places on Earth.
The Altes Museum in Berlin has certainly dug its heels in on this issue–Nefertiti’s iconic sculpture is now a “part of German cultural identity.” But what exactly does this fight over an Egyptian artifact obtained under very questionable circumstances communicate about Germany’s cultural identity?
Props go to Timothy Reid of The Egyptians for first blogging about the latest news in this on-going controversy. After you check out his scoop, Nefertiti Please Come Home, hop over to Heritage Key where I blog about this as well under my daytime name, Keith Payne: The Bust of Nefertiti – A Century-Old Archaeological Detective Story Nearing an End?
Zahi Hawass is going full court. We’ll see how far he gets!
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Tags: Altes Museum, Archaeology, Bust of Nefertiti, Eighteenth Dynasty, Heritage Key, Modern Egypt, Nefertiti, Repatriation, Zahi Hawass
Originally commissioned by President Anwar Sadat to memorialize the soldiers who died in the October 1973 War, the President himself would die within sight of the memorial, which would become his final resting place. 
The number one natural resource in Egypt is history. Unlike its oil-rich neighbors, the Egyptian economy relies on the foreign money of tourists who fly into Cairo from all points of the compass to see colossal monuments, puzzle over cyclopean architecture, and experience walking where the ancients once lived out their days. This has resulted in an organic fusion of the very ancient with the ultra modern. 
