Anything Auto Immune

Archive for December, 2009

The Institute of Egyptian Art Ft Archaeology, founded in 1984, is a component of the Department of Art of The University of Memphis, in Memphis, Tennessee (USA), and is a Tennessee Center of Excellence. It is dedicated to the study of the art and culture of ancient Egypt through teaching, research, exhibition, and community education. As part of its teaching and research, the Institute Conducts an epigraphic survey in the Great Hypostyle Hall of Kamak Temple in Luxor, Egypt. The Institute’s collection of antiquities resides in the Art Museum of The University of Memphis. Over 150 objects range in date from 3500 B.C.E. to 700 CL. There are mummies, religious and funerary items, jewelry and objects from everyday life. One unique item in the collection is nothing less than a 4000 year old loaf of bread, This loaf of bread placed with other objects under the foundation of Mentuhotep II’s mortuary temple at Deir el Bahari in Western Thebes. The objects placed in foundation deposits for ancient Egyptian temples were intended to symbolically stabilize and protect the four corners and the boundary walls of the temple, because the temple itself was believed to be a microcosm of the universe. One reward gained from a stable universe was food in abundance. The loaf of bread symbolizes that value. View the bread, and other artifacts, in a stunningly rendered online exhibit.

This is the home page of Current Archaeology, Britain’s leading archaeological magazine. If you have an interest in anything to do with archaeology, this is the place to find out about digs, discoveries, and the latest news. As the editors inform us, Current Archeology was founded in response to a dream. “We dreamed of a magazine for the ordinary archaeological enthusiast. A magazine that would keep him (or her!) up to date with what is happening in the world of archaeology; that would describe the latest excavations, illustrating them in full colour and with lots of maps and plans, and would explain them all in language that the ordinary person could understand. With Current Archaeology, that dream has come true. Over the years,over 900 sites have been described, more than 1200 books reviewed, the Science Diary has described all the latest scientific advances, and the Diary has given the latest news of people and ideas.” The web site is contrived to give an elegant foretaste of this splendid magazine. Beautifully designed and illustrated, it includes complete rundowns on the contents of recent issues, useful archeological newbytes, lists of current excavations seeking volunteers, a full hypertext directory of over 900 British archeological institutions and clubs, and more.