lastman456

According to some Egyptological websites, the problem is saturation irrigation by farmers whose farms are now pushing into the areas. Pumps have already been installed in the Luxor area and have achieved great success. Drip irrigation systems have been suggested as a cure for the problem in the future, however, at $400/acre they are prohibitively expensive for growers who may only make that much per year off of their entire farms.

Using european illustrations as a guide to middle east practices is dicey. Jesus was likely not blonde or blue-eyed, as in many Vatican paintings. As to the Romans, they used X type crosses to punish thiefs, and if you research a little harder you will find that Jesus was dilberately punished in the style of the thief. His wrist and ankles were likely pegged to the wood with Iron nails, because they were efficient, easily made, and reuseable. All of these things were used by the Romans to prolong the life of the punished and to make sure they suffered, and thieves were particularly ill recieved by Roman authorities. Jesus was brought up on charges of sedition, punished as a political mal-content, and made to suffer the double indignity of being punished with the common thieves. The authorities didn't take kindly to the locals talking about replacing them with a new form of government.

What a beautiful display. In some arts we have not surpassed the ancients at all.

Man I love the information age.

This is just exactly the kind of fascinating story that I was hoping to find when I signed up with these forums. Thanx. Can't wait to hear further developments.

This would be a first. Last time I checked, murder weapons didn't belong to the family of the victim unless it was already theirs, but even so, they didn't usually want it. I'm sure that they could probably just go out to the local store and get their own ice pick. They're probably really common in that area.

It just keeps getting better and better.

You can't change history retroactivly. If the Scandinavians want historical dibs, here, I give it to them. But it's our country, and we'll call it whatever we like. I don't hear them calling their part of the world Rus.

In my time in Egypt I think that it was generally accepted idea that Tut looked like the face on the mask. Now that I have had a chance to see the faces on television and the internet, it seems that the presumptions were correct.

Could you give us an idea of the scale of the pots and the building. What volume are we talking about here?

Preservation of sites that can create revenue are pills that non-historical types always find easy to swallow. A great solution.

Steal a computer from Bill Gates and watch the police take notice.

Anyone seen a picture. Perhaps of the French coin. side of a milk carton?

It is ironic that the best finds at most archeological sites are usually the things thrown out.

I wonder if they will be able to tie in diet, mortality age averages, and tooth wear in this area. This could be an extremely interresting find.

Well, that explains Michael Jackson.

Physical descriptions of Cleopatra indicated a face more like Barbara Streisand's than Elizabeth Taylor's, but the bodies reversed. I forget exactly who, but one contemporary gave her dimensions as something under 5 feet tall and a bit over 200lbs. She was loving enough to have poisoned several of her siblings and then get herself married to the one who was too simple-minded to control her. Caesar was so besotted that he had statues raised to her all over Italy declaring her the living embodyment of Venus. The first thing the citizens did after Caesar's funeral was pull them all down. They thought she was ugly. But no one ever said that she was stupid.

Can you say "Backsheish" cause someone did. The egyptian system is so corrupt that police usually won't make an arrest unless someone pays them too. I saw hundreds of items taken out of Egypt in my two years there, and a lot of it was being taken by employees of the Ministery of Antiquities. The faked items were no doubt sold earlier and the fakes were stolen by mistake. It should be interresting to see how long it is before someone steals these items again.

Does anyone know if there is an english translation of this book? This would be interesting reading

Microscopic examination of the cut marks would easily decide between modern cutting tools and ancient ones. That is old science. Close examination should clear up this mystery.

Is this actually a new story? I'm asking because I seem to remember a similar story in the news not too long ago, although I don't actually remember the source...I was wandering if this revealed a pattern or if we finally discovered the home of the local pervert? : )

The growing evidence lately seems to show that there was a rather advanced notion of civilization before the times that have generally been agreed to up till now. Where did theses more sophisticated wayfarers get their ideas and routines and skills. I love archeology precisely because events like these push the boundries further back and unveil even more mysteries to be solved.

Hurrah. This is the kind of news that we've been waiting for. Maybe it will resume the old patronage schemes that got so much done in archeology before.

Actually, all I think we should do is wait until a really good systematic way of getting to and reading these scrolls exists. The claim that the last 10 years has advanced the science only really indicates that it has moved from most primitive stages to somewhat less so. The dead sea scrolls, which were in about perfect condition by comparison, crumbled to dust when first handled. Much that might have been known has been lost. Yes, we might gain trememdous insights, but why not be a little more patient and see what we learn about getting the scrolls open properly?