Pharoahs at War: And Eric Cline is On It

On History International Channel tomorrow night (Sunday, October 9, at 10 pm)

In this hour of our innovative and comprehensive look at the history of Ancient Egypt, we ask how Egypt maintained its relative independence for 3000 years. We answer this through Thutmosis III. He conquers more land than any other pharaoh. Yet ultimately he has no interest in establishing an expanding empire abroad. Like all pharaohs he is guided by the wish to establish peace and stability at home and secure the borders through forward defense. The pursuit of peace remains a key part of Egypt’s success story.

With thanks to Eric for the tip, and for the link to even more info.

The Digital Amarna Project

Here’s something quite useful for folks interested in ancient Egypt or Egyptology: The Amarna Project.

The ancient Egyptian city of Tell el-Amarna (or simply Amarna) was the short-lived capital built by the ‘heretic’ Pharaoh Akhenaten and abandoned shortly after his death (c. 1332 BCE). It was here that he pursued his vision of a society dedicated to the cult of one god, the power of the sun (the Aten). As well as this historic interest Amarna remains the largest readily accessible living-site from ancient Egypt. It is thus simultaneously the key to a chapter in the history of religious experience and to a fuller understanding of what it was like to be an ancient Egyptian. There is no other site like it.

It looks like they’ve taken a page from the Cargill digital modeling book.  (HT Chuck Jones on ANE-2).

Egyptian Democracy #Fail

Angry Egyptians have attacked various news outlets reporting on the storming of the Israeli embassy, including Al-Jazeera’s Cairo Bureau.  Egypt, that’s a big #fail!  They also went after CNN-

An angry crowd lingering near the Israeli embassy in Cairo after an attack on the building a day earlier turned on journalists reporting the incident Saturday, accusing at least one of being an Israeli spy.  As a CNN crew filmed the embassy from across the street, another crew from American public television — led by Egyptian television producer Dina Amer — approached the building.  The crew’s Russian cameraman was preparing to film the embassy when a woman in the crowd began hurling insults at the TV team, Amer said.  “There was this older lady who decided to follow me and rally people against me,” Amer recalled.  “She said ‘you’re a spy working with the Americans.’ Then they swarmed me and I was a target.”

Egyptians need to let the press work freely.  That’s what a democracy does.  And, oh, in democratic societies, Embassy’s aren’t attacked either!

Related articles

• The Egyptians Have Sullied their Freedom (zwingliusredivivus.wordpress.com)
• Egyptian protesters break into Israeli embassy in Cairo (guardian.co.uk)

Video of the Senseless Attack on the Israeli Embassy in Cairo

Al Arabiya has it.

The Egyptians Have Sullied their Freedom

And turned it into a license for idiotic and senseless violence and destruction.  The folk nobly pursuing freedom have become a band of thugs.  What a tragic turn of events.

An Egyptian security official says a group of protesters have broken into an apartment one floor below the Israeli Embassy in a high-rise building in Cairo and are dumping hundreds of Hebrew documents off the balcony.  Hundreds of protesters have been converging on the embassy throughout the afternoon and into the night, tearing down large sections of a security wall outside the 21-story building housing the embassy.

Egyptians should be as ashamed of their countrymen as Canadians were after the senseless riots and Brits were after the vile riots there.

Related articles

• Egyptian protesters tearing down wall around Israeli Embassy (cnn.com)
• Protesters target security wall at Israeli Embassy in Cairo (ctv.ca)
• Egypt Protesters Tear Down Israeli Embassy Wall (israelnationalnews.com)

The UCL Petrie Collection Online

Egyptologists (and those interested in Egypt) rejoice!

This is the searchable dataset for all 80,000 artefacts preserved in the Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology, with one photograph for each item. To start searching right away, click on ‘Search’ above.

The Museum houses one of the largest archaeological collections in the world for Egypt and Sudan. It is named after William Matthew Flinders Petrie (1853-1942), appointed in 1892 as first UCL Edwards Professor of Egyptian Archaeology and Philology.

What’s Israel Doing Crossing into Egypt?

Wanting an all out war with the Arab world?  What dimwit issued the order?

Anxious to head off a diplomatic crisis with Egypt, Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak issued a statement Saturday expressing regret for the deaths of Egyptian security personnel in a border incident following a deadly raid in Israel. It also promised a joint investigation of the incident and commended Egypt’s conduct in the relationship with Israel.

An apology?  Ask Israel if it will accept an apology from Hamas.   What multi-sided madness.

Very Unpleasant News from Egypt

Out of Egypt reposts a news essay, claiming

The number of Christian girls abducted and coerced into converting to Islam since the Egyptian “January 25 Revolution” has skyrocketed, according to Father Filopateer Gamil of St. Mary’s Church in Giza. “More than two to three girls disappear everyday in Giza alone,” he said. “The cases that are brought to public attention are few compared to what the numbers actually are.”  Many Christians blame the military council for not intervening to put an end to this problem, which has escalated after the Revolution because of the “emergence of Muslim Salafists,” says activist Mark Ebeid, “who believe strongly that converting a Christian Infidel is in some ways like earning a ticket to paradise — not to mention the earthly remuneration they get from the Saudis.”

This is perfectly unacceptable.  The US State Department needs to exert whatever pressure necessary to bring an end to this barbarism.

Related articles

• Eight houses burnt as anti-Christian violence rises in Upper Egypt (onecatholicnews.wordpress.com)

Tensions Between Egypt’s Muslims and Christians are Rising

In Ägypten ist es erneut zu Spannungen zwischen Muslimen und Kopten gekommen, wie die Online-Zeitung «Al Masry Al Youm» am 24. Juni schreibt. Am 23. Juni belagerten mehrere hundert Muslime eine Kirche im mittelägyptischen Dorf Bani Ahmed und protestierten gegen den örtlichen Priester. Die Polizei habe die Versammlung aufgelöst. Menschen wurden dem Bericht zufolge nicht verletzt.

Read the whole sad report here.

More Anti-Christianity in Egypt

Tens of thousands of Egyptians led by hard-line Islamists escalated their protests Friday over the appointment of a Coptic Christian governor in southern Egypt, deepening mistrust between religious communities during the bumpy aftermath of Egypt’s revolution.  More than a week of protests seeking to unseat the governor of Qena province are testing the ability of Egypt’s transitional military rulers and the interim government to handle an Islamic movement capable of rallying large numbers behind its hard-line agenda without jeopardizing the future of a democratic Egypt.

Tens of thousands…  That bodes quite poorly for the future of Christianity in Egypt.  Will Christians be driven from that country as they have from Iraq, Iran, Palestine and Israel?  Does ‘democracy’ in the middle east mean the end of the Christian community there?

Related Articles

• Crowds protest Christian governor in south Egypt (sfgate.com)