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[1/5] Tourists visit the redesigned pyramid that was formerly a museum built to honour late Communist dictator Enver Hoxha, in Tirana, Albania, August 18, 2023. REUTERS/Florion Goga Acquire Licensing RightsTIRANA, Aug 25 (Reuters) - A museum built in Albania in the 1980s to honour longtime Communist dictator Enver Hoxha is being transformed into a computer training centre for young people, removing a final vestige of the country's isolated and repressive past. The original architects, which included Hoxha's daughter Pranvera, designed the building in the shape of a pyramid glorifying the leader as an Egyptian-style pharaoh. The museum was finished in 1988, three years after Hoxha died and two years before reclusive Communist rule collapsed, giving way to democracy. "It was an architectural monument like no others," said Ilda Qazimllari, director of investments in the office of the Tirana mayor.

Persons: Enver Hoxha, Florion, Hoxha, Winy Maas, Pranvera, Leon Cika, Ilda Qazimllari, Fatos Bytyci, Mark Heinrich Our Organizations: Tourists, REUTERS, Rights, European Union, Thomson Locations: Tirana, Albania, Rights TIRANA, Dutch, Soviet, Europe, Balkan, Kosovo

☆ Pharrell Williams Shares His Inspirations, From Henry Taylor to ‘Jabberjaw’
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-16 | by ( M.H. Miller | More About M.H. Miller | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

At one point, it seemed like he might give up on the conversation altogether. “I mean, do you like listening to yourself on voice mail?”Williams, 50, was raised in Virginia Beach by his father, Pharaoh, a handyman, and his mother, Carolyn, a teacher. A dedicated polymath who shifts between styles, genres and media, Williams is his best, most creative self in the presence of water. He grew up in a housing project called Atlantis, right by the beach; today, he holds an annual music and art festival in Virginia Beach called Something in the Water. And when he’s not in Miami on Biscayne Bay, he spends his time in Paris, where he has a music studio at the LVMH headquarters overlooking the Seine.

Persons: Pharrell Williams, Virgil Abloh, Louis Vuitton’s, Justin Timberlake’s, ”, Karl Lagerfeld, “ Karl ” —, ’ ”, Pont, ” Williams, Pharaoh, Carolyn, Chad Hugo, Funk, Williams, he’s Organizations: Neptunes, Motown Locations: Virginia Beach, Miami, Biscayne Bay, Paris, Seine

☆ Egyptian scientists discovered a diminutive 41-million year old whale and named it after King Tut
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-12 | by ( Sebastian Cahill | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Egyptian paleontologists found a new, extinct whale species, about the size of a bottlenose dolphin. It is the smallest known whale of the extinct basilosaurids family, says the scientists' new study. The species is named "Tutcetus rayanensis," after King Tutankhamun, an ancient Egyptian Pharoah. It's named in part "Tut" for the ancient Egyptian Pharaoh Tutankhamun or "King Tut," who died at 19, since researchers believe the specimen found had also not yet reached full maturity. Antar and the MUVP did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment, sent outside regular business hours.

Persons: King Tutankhamun, It's, Tutankhamun, Tut, rayanensis, Mohammed S, Antar, doesn't, Erik R, CNN there's, Seiffert Organizations: Service, Biology, Smithsonian, Vertebrate Paleontology, CNN, University of Southern Locations: Wall, Silicon, Egypt, University of Southern California

☆ An Eccentric Victorian, His Book and the Giant Pink Pastry of a House He Inspired
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-11 | by ( Molly Young | More About Molly Young | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Just inside the entryway stood a walking stick with a man’s tiny numbered head for a knob. “Do any of you guys know what phrenology is?” asked the tour guide, a young woman named Lila. “By now, of course, we know that connecting the lumps and bumps of a person’s skull to their inner personality traits is a total pseudoscience,” Lila said. The walking stick, she explained, was a reference to, you guessed it, Orson Squire Fowler, the octagon superfan who had inspired the gleaming bauble in which we stood. Not unlike an interior-design version of the game “Telephone”).

Persons: ”, Lila, “, ” Lila, Orson Squire Fowler

☆ Fossil discovery may be one of the oldest, smallest aquatic whales found in Africa, study finds
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-10 | by ( Jenna Schnuer Cnn | Jenna Schnuer | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

The find is also the oldest fully aquatic whale found in Africa, according to a new study. Tutcetus rayanensis is a member of the extinct family of early whales known as basilosauridae — the first widespread group to become fully aquatic. The discovery of the whale fossil led to the establishment of a new genus within the basilosauridae family. The area is one of the world’s “most productive fossil whale sites,” according to the study. Tutcetus rayanensis is the second whale species, following Phiomicetus anubis, to be discovered, described, and named by Egyptian paleontologists,” Antar said via email.

Persons: Pharaoh Tutankhamen, rayanensis, ”, Mohammed S, Antar, ” Antar, paleobiologist Nicholas Pyenson, wasn’t, Abdullah Gohar, Mohamed Sameh, Hesham, Whales, Erik R, Seiffert, Carlos Mauricio Peredo, Hesham Sallam Organizations: CNN, Communications, Vertebrate Paleontology, Smithsonian National Museum of, Egypt's, University of Southern California’s Keck School of Medicine, Miami University in, American University Locations: Egypt, Africa, Washington , DC, Mansoura, Wadi, Miami University in Oxford , Ohio, Cairo

☆ Could the curse of Tutankhamun’s tomb be caused by fungi?
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-09 | by ( Jenny Mcgrath | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Rumors of a curse have persisted since Howard Carter and others found Tutankhamun's tomb in 1922. But because he'd been present at the opening of Tutankhamun's tomb a few months prior, rumors of a curse started to swirl. But dozens of Egyptian laborers contributed physical and skilled labor to excavate Tutankhamun's tomb. As the decades passed, some scientists wondered if there was something deadly lurking in Tutankhamun's tomb: fungi. Egyptian carpenters prepare to reseal Tutankhamun's tomb with Howard Carter circa 1923.

Persons: Howard Carter, Lord Carnarvon, he'd, King, Carter, Carter's, Tutankhamun, George Herbert , 5th Earl of Carnarvon, LiveScience, Lord Carnarvon's, Susie, Carnarvon, Evelyn Herbert, Harry Burton, Sherlock Holmes, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Carnarvon's, Sir Ernest A, Wallis Budge, George Jay Gould, Philip Livingston Poe, Edgar Allen Poe, Richard Bethell, Howard, King Tutankhamun, Apic, Ali Kamel Fahmy Bey, Frank McClanahan Organizations: Service, New York Times, British Museum, Savoy, Harvard University, Hulton, Safety Locations: Wall, Silicon, British, Luxor, Egypt, Cairo, Hampshire, England, London, Aspergillosis

Aspartame is one of the world's most popular sweeteners, used in products from Coca-Cola diet sodas to Mars' Extra chewing gum. In its first declaration on the additive, announced early on Friday, the Lyon-based International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) said aspartame was a "possible carcinogen". Several scientists not associated with the reviews said the evidence linking aspartame to cancer is weak. There was also some limited evidence that aspartame has some chemical properties that are linked to cancer, the IARC said. Scientists with no links to the WHO reviews said the evidence that aspartame caused cancer was weak.

Persons: Francesco Branca, " Branca, JECFA, Branca, Mary Schubauer, Paul Pharaoh, Pharaoh, Kate Loatman, Frances Hunt, Wood, Richa Naidu, Caroline Humer, Catherine Evans Organizations: World Health Organization, WHO, Agency for Research, Cancer, Food, Agriculture Organization, FAO, Reuters, Cedars Sinai Medical Center, International Council of Beverage Associations, International, Thomson Locations: Lyon, Geneva, United States, Europe, Cedars, Los Angeles

☆ These ancient Egyptian paintings were hiding a secret
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-13 | by ( Jacopo Prisco | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

Explore the universe with news on fascinating discoveries, scientific advancements and more.CNN —Researchers using a cutting-edge technique have discovered hidden details in two ancient Egyptian paintings in the Theban Necropolis, near the River Nile, that date back more than 3,000 years. Using portable chemical imaging technology, the researchers identified alterations made by the artists that are rare in Egyptian paintings, commonly thought to be the product of highly formalized workflows. We want to understand how these paintings were made.”X-ray fluorescence in chemical imaging technology helps to reveal alterations made in Egyptian tomb paintings that may not seem obvious to the naked eye. “It demonstrates the potential value of quantitative data, obtained through scientific analysis, for a more comprehensive and less subjective interpretation of ancient Egyptian art,” she said. “And the adaption of portable (X-ray) instruments as mobile devices designed for use in the field is a very exciting advancement in the study of ancient Egyptian wall paintings.”

Persons: ”, Philippe Martinez, Amenhotep III, Mona Lisa of Egypt, ” Martinez, “, Menna, Osiris, Ramesses II, Martinez, I’m, ” Joann Fletcher, Lorelei Corcoran Organizations: CNN —, Sorbonne University, MAFTO, UK’s University of York, of Egyptian Art, University of Memphis Locations: Paris, Egypt, Menna, Luxor, Tennessee

☆ Saudi Arabia Wants Tourists. It Didn’t Expect Christians.
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-24 | by ( Vivian Nereim | Iman Al-Dabbagh | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

The caravan of five Toyota Land Cruisers raced across Saudi Arabia’s rocky desert, weaving onto a highway so new it was not on the map. At the cleft of sea that splits the kingdom from Egypt, they stopped on a barren beach. Fifteen tourists spilled out and gathered around Joel Richardson, a Kansas preacher. He opened a Bible, donned his glasses and began to recite. “Who is like you, majestic in holiness, awesome in glory, working wonders?”

Persons: Joel Richardson, Mr, Richardson, Moses, “, ” Organizations: Toyota Land Cruisers Locations: Saudi, Egypt, Kansas

☆ Put a Bird on It? Ancient Egypt Was Way Ahead of Us.
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-06 | by ( Franz Lidz | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

A century ago, archaeologists excavated a 3,300-year-old Egyptian palace in Amarna, which was fleetingly the capital of Egypt during the reign of the pharaoh Akhenaten. Situated far from the crowded areas of Amarna, the North Palace offered a quiet retreat for the royal family. On the west wall of one extravagantly decorated chamber, today known as the Green Room, the excavators discovered a series of painted plaster panels showcased birds in a lush papyrus marsh. The artwork was so detailed and skillfully rendered that it was possible to pinpoint some of the bird species, including the pied kingfisher (Ceryle rudis) and the rock pigeon (Columba livia). Among the riddles they tried to solve was why two unidentified birds had triangular tail markings when no Egyptian bird known today has them.

Persons: Akhenaten, Columba livia, Chris Stimpson, Barry Kemp, Stimpson, Kemp, Nina de Garis Davies Organizations: Oxford University Museum of, University of Cambridge, Metropolitan Museum of Art Locations: Egypt

☆ 9 things you think you know about ancient Egyptians that are actually wrong
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-05 | by ( Marianne Guenot | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +11 min

With their impressive architecture, scientific knowledge, religious cults, and beautiful artwork, the ancient Egyptians continue to impress historians long after the end of their reign. The pyramids were built by slavesThe Sphinx at Giza in Cairo set against the Pyramid Pyramid of Khafre. That means there may have been sacrifices over a period of about 400 years, while ancient Egyptians ruled for about 3,000 years. His book detailing the life of ancient Egyptians was extremely influential. Many misconceptions that have survived in the lore about ancient Egypt to this day may have found their origins in Herodotus's work.

☆ The Star Choreographer Alexei Ratmansky on Russia’s Cultural War
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-25 | by ( Javier C. Hernández | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Alexei Ratmansky was scrolling through social media recently when he came across a startling post. A video showed rehearsals from a production of “The Pharaoh’s Daughter” at the Mariinsky Theater in St. Petersburg, Russia, that Ratmansky, the renowned ballet choreographer, had worked on before Russia invaded Ukraine last year. Ratmansky had severed ties with the Mariinsky at the start of the war. But the video suggested that the company was still using some of his choreography, though his name had been removed from the production, a version of the 19th-century ballet by Marius Petipa. Ratmansky, who is of mixed Russian and Ukrainian descent and grew up in Kyiv, posted a statement on social media last month calling the episode “the most painful professional experience in my life.” He accused the artistic team that replaced him, including the Italian choreographer Toni Candeloro, of choosing “to become tools of Putin’s propaganda.”The Mariinsky, where “The Pharaoh’s Daughter” is playing through early May, did not respond to a request for comment.

☆ 2,000 mummified ram heads left in honor of Egypt's most powerful pharaoh are found inside an ancient temple
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-26 | by ( Bethany Dawson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

More than 2,000 mummified ram heads have been discovered in Egypt. Archaeologists at the King Ramses II Temple of Abydos found the mummified remains. They also discovered mummified dogs, wild goats, cows, deer and an ostrich. The mummified remains are believed to have been left at the site to honor Ramses II about 1,000 years after his death, the Egyptian Ministry for Tourism and Antiquities said. The discovery could help "reestablish the sense of the ancient landscape of Abydos before the construction of the Ramses II temple," Iskandar said, per Reuters.

REUTERS/Tyrone SiuHONG KONG, March 21(Reuters) - The organisers of Art Basel Hong Kong, one of Asia's leading contemporary art fairs, said on Tuesday they are bullish on art market prospects in the region, with China and Hong Kong now having lifted all COVID lockdown restrictions. The annual fair, which also has iterations in Basel, Paris, and Miami Beach, runs from March 23-25 in Hong Kong. "Despite the challenges of the pandemic, the Asian art market has also remained resilient, with Greater China accounting for 20% of worldwide sales by value and ranking second as the second largest regional art market in the latest edition of the Art Basel," Art Basel CEO Noah Horowitz told reporters. Leading international galleries at Art Basel this year include Gagosian, Hauser & Wirth, Lehmann Maupin, Victoria Miro, Pace, Perrotin, White Cube and David Zwirner. We haven't really changed the process of the show since 2013," said Angelle Siyang-Le, the director Art Basel Hong Kong.

☆ Scientists reveal hidden corridor in Great Pyramid of Giza
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-02 | by ( Aidan Lewis | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

2 story has been corrected to delete height comparison in paragraph 4)A hidden corridor nine metres (30 feet) long has been discovered close to the main entrance of the 4,500-year-old Great Pyramid of Giza, and this could lead to further findings, Egyptian antiquities officials said on Thursday. The Great Pyramid was constructed as a monumental tomb around 2560 BC during the reign of the Pharaoh Khufu, or Cheops, to a height of 146 metres (479 feet). [1/4] A hidden corridor inside the Great Pyramid of Giza that was discovered by researches from the the Scan Pyramids project by the Egyptian Tourism Ministry of Antiquities is seen in Giza, Egypt March 2, 2023. Scientists detected the corridor through cosmic-ray muon radiography, before retrieving images of it by feeding a 6mm-thick endoscope from Japan through a tiny joint in the pyramid's stones. In 2017, Scan Pyramids researchers announced the discovery of a void at least 30 metres long inside the Great Pyramid, the first major inner structure found since the 19th century.

☆ Scientists discover corridor in Great Pyramid of Giza
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-02 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

CAIRO, March 2 (Reuters) - Egyptian antiquities officials announced on Thursday the discovery of a hidden nine metre-long corridor behind the main entrance of the Great Pyramid of Giza that they said could lead to further findings. The find was made under the Scan Pyramids project that since 2015 has been using modern technology including scans and endoscopes to peer inside the pyramid, the last of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World still standing. The unfinished corridor was likely built to relieve the weight of the pyramid on either the main entrance, seven metres below, or on another as yet undiscovered chamber or space, said Mostafa Waziri, head of Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities. The Great Pyramid was built as a monumental tomb around 2560 BC, during the reign of the Pharaoh Khufu, or Cheops. It stands at a height of 146 metres (479 feet), the tallest structure built by humankind until the Eiffel Tower in Paris in 1889.

☆ Archaeologist hails possibly 'oldest' mummy yet found in Egypt
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/7] People work at the site after the announcement of the discovery of 4,300-year-old sealed tombs in Egypt's Saqqara necropolis, in Giza, Egypt, January 26, 2023. REUTERS/Mohamed Abd El GhanyCAIRO, Jan 26 (Reuters) - Egyptologists have uncovered a Pharaonic tomb near the capital Cairo containing what may be the oldest and "most complete" mummy yet to be discovered in the country, the excavation team leader said on Thursday. The mummy, of a man named Hekashepes, was in a limestone sarcophagus that had been sealed in mortar. "This mummy may be the oldest and most complete mummy found in Egypt to date," Hawass, one of Egypt's former ministers of antiquities, said in a statement. Numerous statues were found among the tombs, including one representing a man and his wife and several servants, the statement said.

☆ It's a myth that ancient Egyptians pulled mummy brains out by the nose — they likely scrambled them instead, says an expert who tried it
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-25 | by ( Marianne Guenot | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

There's a good chance you were told ancient Egyptians pulled chunks of brains out through the nose. Experiments suggest there was a much easier way to do this: scrambling the brains, an expert said. It's likely embalmers used hooks to liquefy the brains and pour them out, he said. "'Hooking it out in pieces is not particularly efficient/successful," he told Insider in an email. For instance, Pharaoh Thutmose I, Queen Tiye, the main wife of pharaoh Amenhotep III, and Pharaoh Amenhotep I were all found with brain tissue still in place.

☆ Ex-academic forges a new career denying Trump's 2020 election loss
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +27 min

“The war is just getting started,” Clements told his 100,000 Telegram followers on Nov. 16. His rise in the movement began in January 2021, when a dispute with his employer, New Mexico State University, over the U.S. Capitol riot went public. ‘I will not take the jab’Clements’ swift rise in election-denier circles caused a stir at New Mexico State, where he continued to teach. Flynn co-founded the America Project, a well-capitalized right-wing group that has financed lawsuits and campaigns challenging the 2020 election results and the integrity of U.S. voting systems. One of their roles is to certify election results, which until the Trump era was typically a rubber-stamp formality.

☆ Archaeologists have discovered full-color portraits of Egyptian mummies in ancient Philadelphia
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-10 | by ( Bethany Dawson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Archaeologists have uncovered the first full-color portraits of mummies in over a century. Researchers found the two full portraits of Egyptian mummies and fragments of others at the Gerza excavation site in Fayoum, Egypt, making these artworks the first of their kind to be discovered in over 115 years. English archaeologist Flinders Petrie was the last to find similar artwork when he discovered 146 mummy portraits at a Roman cemetery in 1911, Artnet News reports. The collection of paintings, known as the Fayoum portraits, portrays some of the wealthiest people that existed in these ancient communities. A statement from the Egyptian government explains that pharaoh Ptolemy II Philadelphus (309–246 B.C.)

☆ ‘Tutankhamun: Allies & Enemies’ Review: A Kingly Mystery
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-22 | by ( John Anderson | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +1 min

“Wonderful things,” Carter responded, which seems a rather restrained reaction: What he’d found was the tomb of King Tutankhamun, one of a handful of the most significant and bountiful discoveries in the unearthing of the ancient world. In “Tutankhamun: Allies & Enemies,” a two-part exploration of its own, one prominent Egyptologist interviewed says that Carter’s find was all about “luck”—never mind the single-minded 15-year search he’d undertaken with Carnarvon’s money. But what becomes evident in this Egyptian production is that Egyptians are, perhaps rightfully, possessive of Tut, and that one of the wonderful things about the show is how few of the experts agree about much. Was Tut’s death the result of a fall, a plague, a pileup at a chariot race or plain old political murder? Everyone asked has an opinion, all of them supported by research, even DNA evidence.

GIZA, Egypt — A century after the discovery of Tutankhamun's tomb made headlines around the world, in the sweltering desert heat just outside Cairo, a small team is still making new finds in ancient Egypt. A century after the tomb of King Tutankhamun was discovered, archaeologists continue to unlock ancient Egypt's mysteries. TODAYThe remains of King Tutankhamun's closest generals and advisers were also at the site, which sits about 20 miles south of the North African nation's capital, he said. A 3,000-year-old coffin is opened in a burial chamber at the Saqqara in Giza site near Cairo. King Tutankhamun's death mask, found resting on his mummified shoulders.

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