William John Bankes' Egyptian Drawings now on-line

An on-line catalogue of the Egyptian drawings by William John Bankes' can now be accessed via the Dorset History Centre.  The images were created by Bankes and his party between 1815 and 1822.

Thanks to Early Explorers in Egypt and Nubia for this information and the following suggestion:
  "As the catalogue does not have a page on its own, it must be reached through a query: the keywords suggested are “Egyptian Drawings”.  Photos are not available on-line yet, but on request the Dorset History Centre can provide a digital image of the documents"

Virtual patient under the knife

Many thanks to Susan Llewellyn for this link on Twitter:

Virtual patient under the knife on hi-tech operating table
(Mention of Egyptian mummy research at end of report).

Shabti exhibit at the Penn

The Penn Museum (University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology) will soon be  featuring a new display highlighting the museum's shabti collection.
The museum's latest blog features some nice photographs of some of the shabtis.

Sunshine + beach = PhD procrastination

It is a lovely day here in Swansea and once again I find myself procrastinating on the PhD thesis with a trip to the beach and a stop at the cafe.

Doing this PhD has been once of the hardest things to master in terms of time management and motivation, and it has not difficult for me to find other things to occupy my time.  For all you fellow PhD students who are also struggling with your work, you may find this blog useful.  It is called the The Thesis Whisperer and whilst its discovery has come a little late for me, some of you will I am sure find some words of wisdom and gentle hints to help you beat the thesis block!

Bolton Touring Exhibition Receives Award

A big CONGRATULATIONS to Bolton Museum who have won a prestigious award.  Its touring Egyptology exhibition, "Quest for Immortality: The Bolton Museum Collection", has won the international category of the Museum and Heritage Awards.  Click here for full details.

Vessel from Israel may contain Egyptian Jewellery

Research undertaken by Tel Aviv University on a selection of gold and silver jewellery have indicated that some of the pieces could have originated in Egypt.  The jewellery was found within a vessel at the site of Tel Migiddo in the Jezreel Valley in northern Israel.  The artefact was found in 2010 but has only recently been cleaned and the discovery of its contents revealed.  To read the full article click here on Science Codex.

King Tut Wine

MarketWatch reports on a new wine being made for the upcoming Tutankhamun Seattle exhibition.  Called King Tut Private Reserve it is described as being 'deep and rich, and its vibrant aromatics reveal a generous, lush texture of pretty dark fruit and chocolate, smoky spice and earth notes'!  Sounds absolutely delicious...now who do I know that is going to America soon?!?!?