….AND THEY HAVE GUARDIAN ANGELS ALL OVER THE WORLD!
More from Egypt soon
Brigitte
WHO AND WHAT DO YOU THINK THIS POLICEMAN IN CAIRO IS LOOKING AT THAT MAKES HIM SMILE LIKE THAT?
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Brigitte
The Ancient Library of Alexandria is famous and known to most for having burned. Maybe our interest stops there because we know it does no longer exist, and for a long time that was true. But on October 17, 2002 with the help of UNESCO, the modern library of Alexandria was officially opened — very near where the ancient library stood.
![bibilo[1]](https://egypt-mylove.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/bibilo1.jpg)
The ancient library was created by Ptolemy I Soter, a Macedonian general and the successor of Alexander the Great, in the 3rd Century BC. It became famous world-wide because it was the FIRST PUBLIC library in history, and it is believed that it contained over 7000,000 books. There had been many libraries in the time of the pharaohs, but they had been exclusive for priest of the temples and the royal family.
![th[2]](https://egypt-mylove.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/th2.jpg)
When and why the library burned historians have never agreed on. Some say it happened when Julius Caesar landed on the Mediterranean Sea shore in front of Alexandria in the year 48 BC. Others think it stood still in 640 AD. when the Muslims burned it under the order of Amr Ibn Al Aas, who conquered Egypt at the time. – Well we will never know, but as so often in life fame comes with loss.
The modern Library of Alexandria is in al Shatby in front of Al Selsela beach, facing the Mediterranean sea. 
The oval shape is surrounded by a great wall, made of Aswan Granite, and there are inscriptions in 120 languages on it. The goal today is the same as that of the ancient library – to support the people of the Arab world and the Middle East in research and different fields of science – and it is considered the first digital library in the world with space for 8 million books.
Reading Rooms
Different research areas
There are three museums, research centers, two permanent galleries, six exhibition halls, internet archives, an audio and visual library, a conference center, and a special library for blind people.
It was my last afternoon in Alexandria, and the library was my last stop. Standing in the hall of this magnificent complex I knew that I would need several days to see it all. In the few hours I had the best I could do was to take a look around. I looked around, but then I got stopped by a special exhibition about the life of Anwar El-Sadat, once Egypt’s President.![is[5]](https://egypt-mylove.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/is5.jpg)
It showed his life and career in every detail – from the books he read, to personal items such as a hairbrush, his clothes, photos of him with famous people, touching memorabilia about his wife, and then in the last glass case was the uniform he wore when he was assassinated in 1981 at the age 62. The bullet hole still showing traces of blood brought back very vividly the event I had seen on television that fatal day in l981!
Visiting Alexandria you won’t find the Ancient Bibliotheca, but from the new library you can still see the Mediterranean Sea, some things don’t change.
More from Egypt soon
Brigitte
ONCE AGAIN THE WORLD IS FOLLOWING ELECTIONS IN EGYPT……….
AND CAIRO WITH OVER 20 MILLION INHABITANTS HAS THE STRONGEST VOICE – HERE ARE SOME IMAGES OF THIS DIVERSIFIED AND FASCINATING CITY.
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Brigitte
Standing in front of the Mummy wrapped in a beige linen cloth exposing only feet, arms, and the head, it was hard for me to think of this small, shrunken person as one of Egypt’s greatest pharaohs, Queen Hatshepsut. Her last resting place is in the Cairo Museum, where she shares a temperature controlled room with other mummies, like Ramses II.
Hatshepsut was the longest reigning female pharaoh in Egypt and one of the most successful – reining over 22 years she brought economic prosperity and peace to her country.
How did she become Pharaoh? She was born circa 1508 B.C. When she was 12 years old her father Thutmose I died. She married her half-brother Thutmose II. He died after being pharaoh for 15 years, making her a widow before the age of 30. Since she had no sons. the male heir Thutmose III was an infant born to a concubine named Isis. Too young to take the throne Hatshepsut served as his regent. In the beginning she filled this role in a traditional way, but then, while never denying Thutmose III kinship, she took on the role of pharaoh for the next 22 year. When he reached a suitable age he was put in charge of her armies.
Her legacy to us is her mortuary temple
– Djeser-djeseru (meaning holiest of holy places).Today it is the focal point of the Deir el-Bahari complex on the West Bank of Luxor.
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…… and one of the two red granite obelisks she had erected at the Temple of Amon at Karnak which is still standing.
….of the second one only the top still exist. These obelisks were made of a single piece of pink granite, 29 meters high and weighing 343 tons.They were the tallest obelisks ever build in Egypt.
After her death, she died in February 1458 B.C., Thutmose III became pharaoh and created the largest empire Egypt had ever seen. Unfortunately for us he also defaced Hatshepsut’s monuments, erasing many of her inscriptions.
Did he hold a grudge, or was it done for political reasons? We will never know!
If you can’t go to Egypt and meet Queen Hatshepsut, go to the Metropolitan Museum in New York where you can see, not one, but many beautiful statues of her.![h2_29.3.2[1] - Copy](https://egypt-mylove.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/h2_29-3-21-copy.jpg)
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Brigitte
HOW TALL WERE THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS? OR THE IMAGE THEY HAD OF THEMSELVES?
MAYBE ONE EXPLANATION IS THAT THIS FUNERARY TEMPLE WAS BUILT AROUND 1340 B.C. BY RAMSES II, THE FAMOUS AND LONG REIGNING PHARAOH. HE WAS IN POWER OVER 6O YEARS.
THE TEMPLE OF RAMESSEUM IS LOCATED ON THE WEST BANK OF LUXOR, ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITES IN THE WORLD.
More from Egypt soon
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Brigitte
CNN) — By Barry Neild
It’s not quite the Mummy Returns — more like an attempt to stop the Mummy disappearing in the first place.
Archeological experts have built an exact, full-sized replica of King Tutankhamun’s tomb in Egypt, recreating every tiny detail to save the original from being destroyed by visitors.
The replica tomb opened this week near the southern Egyptian city of Luxor, where tourists flock to see the ancient Valley of the Kings complex that houses the young pharaoh’s actual resting place.
Laser scanners and high-definition printers were used to recreate the precise textures and colors of wall murals depicting the afterlife.
King Tutankhamun’s original tomb, built following the 19-year-old ruler’s death in 1327 B.C., was discovered almost intact by archaeologist Howard Carter in 1922.
But decades of tourism have taken their toll.
The replica is an exact copy of Tut’s tomb
Moisture from the breath of visitors has damaged the murals and walls, while temperature fluctuations have caused paint to flake off and cracks to expand.
Luckily, dampness isn’t an issue in the new tomb — some Egyptologists attending an official inauguration reportedly burst into tears when they saw how accurate it was.
The facsimile tomb recreates the paintings — which depict the young pharaoh’s journey into the afterlife — in their existing damaged form from images taken in 2009.
Carved masonry inside the structure, including the sarcophagus in the middle of the burial chamber that once contained King Tut’s mummy, have been recreated using resin.
Both the tombs are currently open to the public, but the plan is eventually to close the original to allow for conservation work.
And, no doubt, offer some peace and quiet to Tutankhamun, whose remains are still there, protected by a glass case.
The new tomb also help safeguard one of the Egypt’s key attractions at a time when social and political turmoil is wreaking heavy damage on its tourism industry.
“This remarkable project is a fine example of how new technology can preserve and indeed promote Egypt’s rich archaeological heritage,” James Moran, the European Union’s ambassador to Egypt, said at the ceremony to open the new tomb.
“It should also help to revive much-needed tourism in the unique area of Luxor, something that is badly needed for the development of Upper Egypt.”
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For anybody going to Egypt, now or later will never have to fear that the TOMB OF KING TUT is closed – it will always be waiting – guaranteeing Tutankhamun’s afterlife for ever.
More from Egypt soon
Brigitte
Nevine El-Aref, Monday 28 Apr 2014
Swiss archaeological mission finds cache of 18th dynasty royal mummies on Luxor’s West Bank
A cache of royal mummies has been unearthed inside a rock-hewn tomb in the Valley of the Kings on Luxor’s West Bank, Egypt’s antiquities ministry announced on Monday. The tomb contains almost 60 ancient Egyptian royal mummies from the 18th dynasty along with the remains of wooden sarcophagi and cartonnage mummy masks depicting the facial features of the deceased, Antiquities Minister Mohamed Ibrahim told Ahram Online.
Ibrahim explained that the excavation work was carried out in collaboration with Basel University in Switzerland.
Early studies reveal that the Heratic texts engraved on some of the clay pots found inside the tomb identify the names and titles of 30 deceased, among them the names of princesses mentioned for the first time – Ta-Im-Wag-Is and Neferonebo.
Anthropological studies and scientific examination of the found clay fragments will be carried out to identify all the mummies and determine the tomb’s owner and his respective mummy, said Ali El-Asfar, head of the ministry’s ancient Egyptian antiquities section.
The head of the Swiss archaeological mission – Swiss Egyptologist Helena Ballin – said that among the finds were well-preserved mummies of infant children as well as a large collection of funerary objects.
She said that remains of wooden sarcophagi were also unearthed, proving that the tomb was reused by priests as a cemetery.
Early examinations of the tomb reveal that it has been subjected to theft several times since antiquity, said Ballin.
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Brigitte
MAYBE THERE IS NO WASHING MACHINE OR DISHWASHER IN THE HOUSE BUT JUDGING BY THE SATELLITE DISHES ON THE ROOFS – THERE IS A TELEVISION
TELEVISION IN EGYPT IS MAINLY RECEIVED THROUGH SATELLITE. AND SINCE EGYPTIANS WATCH MANY HOURS OF TV – AVERAGING UP TO FOUR HOURS A DAY – A TELEVISION IS A MUST HAVE!!!
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Brigitte
QASR IBRIM – EXTENSIVE ILLEGAL EXCAVATION IN THE AREA OF THE FORTRESS, PARTICULARLY INSIDE THE CATHEDRAL WHERE THE BISHOPS’ TOMBS ARE LOCATED
Since the revolution in January 2011 many Egyptians have no work and have no way of supporting their families – desperate situations often lead to desperate measures – one is looting ancient sites, and becoming part of the illicit antiquities trade.
To help prevent and face cultural racketeering in Egypt, the International Coalition to Protect Egyptian Antiquities was launched, and the Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities signed the first-ever US-Egyptian cultural heritage partnership, focused on training, education and social entrepreneurship.
But it is people like Dr Monica Hanna, who with her archaeological knowledge and her passion has brought international attention to protecting Egypt’s heritage. At a recent lecture in New York she shared her first hand experiences of watching how the Mallawi Museum in Minia was looted and burned – more than 1000 objects were stolen or destroyed. Dr. Hanna described her horror of watching helplessly the destruction — and how the following morning with the help of the only policeman in town and his family they were able to save 50 items which had been left.
Another time when visiting Dashur, she and her team were shot at by looters digging in the area. The absence of police leaves the area unprotected, and gives criminals a free hand. She explained that through Google Imaging, done twice a year, it is possible to calculate how many more sites have been looted, and to which extend. The last time they checked the area around Dashur the destruction had increase by 300%. The looted sites show up as dark spots on Google Imaging.
There are two types of looters – the very well-organized, who have automatic weapons, are very knowledgeable, and look for specific objects – it is looting on order – which also provides this mafia with save ways to smuggle the objects out of Egypt.
The second type of looters live in small villages, and are often children asked to do the digging. They bring their finds to an elder in the village who sells them to the highest bidder.
And since unfortunately the world, as well as the Egyptian people themselves, have separated Ancient Egypt from the Egypt of today, the connection between the two has been lost — and as Dr. Hanna points out without reestablishing this link, quote ” Egypt is stealing from he future of its children.”
More from Egypt soon
Brigitte
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