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09/10/2009
By Dr. Zahi Hawass

Cairo, Asharq Al-Awsat- Despite the numerous articles I have written on the Pharaoh who looked after Prophet Moses and the Exodus of the Israelites from Egypt and the details of their lives in Egypt based on archaeological evidence, and despite that the holy books have approached the issue in detail and that the story of the Jews in Egypt and the Exodus led by Moses is one of the stories most mentioned in the Old Testament and the Holy Quran, there are still many questions that require answers.

Unfortunately, antiquities have not yet revealed any evidence that could benefit us in this regard. There are some facts that cannot be overlooked in the story of the Exodus for example that the existence [of the Israelites] in Egypt has been confirmed by archaeological evidence ever since the age of the Modern Kingdom [of Egypt]. The beginning of the arrival [of the Israelites] to Egypt could be linked to the groups of immigrants arriving along with the Hyksos. They settled in the eastern Nile Delta and stayed there even after the expulsion of the Hyksos from Egypt and the beginning of the eighteenth dynasty of Egypt.

As for the name ‘Moses’ it is undoubtedly purely Egyptian meaning ‘newborn’. It might be the name that the Pharaoh’s wife gave to him the moment he was found. Some argue that the name means ‘son of the water’ or ‘water-born baby’ based on the assumption that ‘Mo’ means water and ‘Ses’ might mean ‘newborn’ or ‘son’.

The third fact of the story of the Exodus is that the Holy Quran mentions the king whose palace Prophet Moses was raised in and during whose reign details of the Exodus emerged. However, he is referred to as ‘Pharaoh’. This is in line with archaeological evidence, as those who ruled Egypt during the age of the Modern Kingdom were given the title ‘Pharaoh,’ not ‘king’ and that was also the case before this age.

But there are still questions to which we do not have answers: who is the Pharaoh of the Exodus? Is he the same Pharaoh as the Pharaoh who raised Prophet Moses? Whilst the Old Testament mentions two Pharaohs – one that persecuted and tortured the Israelites and the other under whose reign the Exodus took place, the Holy Quran refers only to one Pharaoh, or at least that is how the following verse is interpreted: “(Pharaoh) said: ‘Did we not cherish thee as a child among us, and didst thou not stay in our midst many years of thy life?’” (Surat al Shuara: 17).

This does not necessarily mean that the Pharaoh who said these words is the same Pharaoh who raised Prophet Moses. Another matter that still puzzles archaeologists is the area where the Israelites stopped during the Exodus and the places they lived in during the period of wilderness, which is known to have continued for about 40 years. Sinai was thought of as the land of wilderness with regards to the Israelites. Moreover, the Old Testament named several places, but unfortunately, the excavations that had been carried out in Sinai, whether by Jewish archaeologists during the Israeli occupation of Sinai or Egyptian archaeologists after the occupation, showed no indications of the existence of the Israelites in Sinai.

What is even stranger is that some people argue that the event did not take place in Sinai in the first place but somewhere else outside of Egypt. Several sites in Yemen have been suggested in this context, but there is no archaeological evidence to support this argument.

Last but not least, debates over the location of Prophet Moses’ grave and the circumstances surrounding his death still arise from time to time. Surprisingly, the Holy Quran does not mention anything about Prophet Moses’ final days, his passing or the location where he is buried. There is wisdom behind this that only Almighty God knows. It was said that the Holy Quran had not referred to the location of Prophet Moses’ grave so that it would not become a place of worship for the Jews where they could worship the prophet after his death, as they had previously disobeyed the commands of God and committed what he had prohibited.

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Hadeel Al-shalchi April 21st, 2009

New ancient Egypt temples discovered in Sinai

CAIRO — Archaeologists exploring an old military road in the Sinai have unearthed four new temples amidst the 3,000-year-old remains of an ancient fortified city that could have been used to impress foreign delegations visiting Egypt, antiquities authorities announced Tuesday.

Among the discoveries was the largest mud brick temple found in the Sinai with an area of 70 by 80 meters (77 by 87 yards) and fortified with mud walls 3 meters (10 feet) thick, said Zahi Hawass, chief of Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities.

The find was made in Qantara, 2½ miles (4 kilometers) east of the Suez Canal. These temples mark the latest discovery by archaeologists digging up the remains of the city on the military road known as “Way of Horus.” Horus is a falcon-headed god, who represented the greatest cosmic powers for ancient Egyptians.

The path once connected Egypt to Palestine and is close to present-day Rafah, which borders the Palestinian territory of Gaza.

Archaeologist Mohammed Abdel-Maqsoud, chief of the excavation team, said the large brick temple could potentially rewrite the historical and military significance of the Sinai for the ancient Egyptians.

The temple contains four hallways, three stone purification bowls and colorful inscriptions commemorating Ramses I and II. The grandeur and sheer size of the temple could have been used to impress armies and visiting foreign delegations as they arrived in Egypt, authorities said.

The dig has been part of a joint project with the Culture Ministry that started in 1986 to find fortresses along the military road. Hawass said early studies suggested the fortified city had been Egypt’s military headquarters from the New Kingdom (1569-1081 B.C.) until the Ptolemaic era, a period lasting about 1500 years.

In a previous find, archaeologists there reported finding the first ever New Kingdom temple to be found in northern Sinai. Studies indicated the temple was built on top of an 18th Dynasty fort (1569-1315 B.C.).

Last year, a collection of reliefs belonging to King Ramses II and King Seti I (1314-1304 B.C.) were also unearthed along with rows of warehouses used by the ancient Egyptian army during the New Kingdom era to store wheat and weapons.

Abdel-Maqsoud said the fortified city corresponded to the inscriptions of the Way of Horus found on the walls of the Karnak Temple in Luxor which illustrated the features of 11 military fortresses that protected Egypt’s eastern borders. Only five of them have been discovered to date.

 

http://blog.taragana.com/n/4-new-pharaonic-temples-found-in-sinai-possibly-designed-to-impress-foreigners-visiting-egypt-32242/

By Patrick Published: July 19, 2009Posted in: General Chatter, Tech

The Codex Sinaiticus, or Sinai Book which is the oldest known surviving Christina Bible, handwritten over 1600 years ago, was recently digitized and now available to the public online.

This unique treasure was original kept at the Monastery of St. Catherine in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula until 1859. At which time it was divided in four parts and taken to Russia, Germany and Great Britain. A portion remained at the monastery. Efforts to unite the 4th century treasure have come to fruition; together for the first time in 150 years it can now be read online at the Codex Sinaiticus web site. Scot McKendrick, from the The British Library and chairman of the multinational group that worked on the project, said “The whole project rests on an agreement between the four institutions. Each one committed themselves to … the greater good of the whole to present this virtual codex,”. The codex offers an insight into what was happening in the fourth century stated McKendrick. “This is the point at which Christianity is becoming authorized, accepted by authority, and this book very much reflects that,” he says. “It also reflects a point where there is still a discussion going on about which texts are in the Bible and which order they should be presented in.” The Codex Sinaiticus Web site is a veritable treasure trove for researchers and others. The site grants access not only to images of the pages, but also to the new transcription of the text, McKendrick says, which allows scholars to search for word patterns, among other uses. The digitized version offers breathtaking detail of the codex, which is written by hand in Greek on animal skin. “The Web site is wonderful in that it allows you to see that physicality, see a thumbprint of a 1,600-year-old scribe, an insect that bit the animal that the page has come from,” he says. “It’s like a window in that … critical era.

 

” “Global Effort Puts Oldest Known Bible Online” NPR, All Things Considered, July 6, 2009 http://curioustype.com/oldest-bible-online.htm

Sunday, September 21, 2008

 
Ancient Codex Sinaiticus accessible to global audience

One of the oldest copies of the Bible is now online. It was handwritten by early Christians living in Egypt around 350 A.D. The manuscript contains the Christian Bible in Greek, including the oldest complete copy of the New Testament. Its heavily corrected text is of outstanding importance for the history of the Bible as the manuscript is the oldest substantial book to survive Antiquity.

The Codex Sinaiticus Project is an international collaboration to reunite the entire manuscript in digital form and make it accessible to a global audience for the first time. Drawing on the expertise of leading scholars, conservators and curators, the Project gives everyone the opportunity to connect directly with this famous manuscript.

The document is believed to be the oldest known Greek copy of the Bible, along with the Codex Vaticanus. High resolution images of the Gospel of Mark, several Old Testament books and notes on the work made over the centuries now appear on www.codex-sinaiticus.net as a first step towards publishing the entire manuscript online by next July. Selected translations will be available in English and German.

The manuscript “is like nothing else online,” said Ulrich Johannes Schneider, director of Leipzig University Library, which holds part of the manuscript. “It’s also an enrichment of the virtual world – and a bit of a change from YouTube.”

The vellum manuscript (a parchment made from calfskin) was discovered in Saint Catherine’s Monastery near Mount Sinai by German biblical scholar Konstantin von Tischendorf in 1844. He was allowed to take some folios to Leipzig. He returned in 1859 and acquired the largest section of the Bible for his new Russian sponsors. It remained in St Petersburg until Stalin sold it to the British Museum in 1933. The Codex is now housed at four locations in Europe and the Middle East.

The internet project was launched in cooperation with the University of Leipzig, the Russian National Library, the British Library and Saint Catherine’s Monastery.

“Thanks to technology we can now make the oldest cultural artifacts–ones that were once so precious you couldn’t show them to anyone–accessible to everyone, in really high quality,” Schneider said.

from TAP (The Anglican Planet) : http://anglicanplanet.net/TAPIntern0809d.html

CAIRO — Archaeologists exploring an old military road in the Sinai have unearthed four new temples amidst the 3,000-year-old remains of an ancient fortified city that could have been used to impress foreign delegations visiting Egypt, antiquities authorities announced Tuesday.

Among the discoveries was the largest mud brick temple found in the Sinai with an area of 70 by 80 meters (77 by 87 yards) and fortified with mud walls 3 meters (10 feet) thick, said Zahi Hawass, chief of Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities.

The find was made in Qantara, 2½ miles (4 kilometers) east of the Suez Canal. These temples mark the latest discovery by archaeologists digging up the remains of the city on the military road known as “Way of Horus.” Horus is a falcon-headed god, who represented the greatest cosmic powers for ancient Egyptians.

The path once connected Egypt to Palestine and is close to present-day Rafah, which borders the Palestinian territory of Gaza.

Archaeologist Mohammed Abdel-Maqsoud, chief of the excavation team, said the large brick temple could potentially rewrite the historical and military significance of the Sinai for the ancient Egyptians.

The temple contains four hallways, three stone purification bowls and colorful inscriptions commemorating Ramses I and II. The grandeur and sheer size of the temple could have been used to impress armies and visiting foreign delegations as they arrived in Egypt, authorities said.

The dig has been part of a joint project with the Culture Ministry that started in 1986 to find fortresses along the military road. Hawass said early studies suggested the fortified city had been Egypt’s military headquarters from the New Kingdom (1569-1081 B.C.) until the Ptolemaic era, a period lasting about 1500 years.

In a previous find, archaeologists there reported finding the first ever New Kingdom temple to be found in northern Sinai. Studies indicated the temple was built on top of an 18th Dynasty fort (1569-1315 B.C.).

Last year, a collection of reliefs belonging to King Ramses II and King Seti I (1314-1304 B.C.) were also unearthed along with rows of warehouses used by the ancient Egyptian army during the New Kingdom era to store wheat and weapons.

Abdel-Maqsoud said the fortified city corresponded to the inscriptions of the Way of Horus found on the walls of the Karnak Temple in Luxor which illustrated the features of 11 military fortresses that protected Egypt’s eastern borders. Only five of them have been discovered to date.

http://blog.taragana.com/n/4-new-pharaonic-temples-found-in-sinai-possibly-designed-to-impress-foreigners-visiting-egypt-32242/

French travel agencies companies will organize direct air flights to new Egyptian tourist destinations. The new trips will include weekly flights from Paris, Lyon and Nantes to Hurghada as well as flights from Paris, Lyon, Nantes and Deauville to Taba.

French companies also decided to increase the number of direct flights to Luxor; operating new trips from Lyon, Nantes, Marseille, Toulouse and Bordeaux and promoted new Nile River cruises, with visits to Sinai and the Red Sea.

The flow of French tourists into Egypt is flourishing. The count of French tourists who visited Egypt during the first half of 2008 increased 27 percent, bringing their number to 305,000 tourist compared to some 244,000 who visited the country during the same period last year. –MENA

http://dailystaregypt.com/article.aspx?ArticleID=16823

Over the past year Egyptian tourism has grown at rates not seen since 2004, according to a Companies and Markets report.

The growth in foreign arrivals in Egypt has been attributed to the weakness of the Egyptian pound against the Euro, the development of tourism products and operations, successful marketing campaigns and success in key markets.

Europeans are still dominating the international visitor market in Egypt, who now comprise 74 per cent of all tourists in the country (up from 69 per cent in the previous year).  Arrivals from India and China were also on the rise, reports PR-inside.com.

An Egypt visa is a permit issued by the Egyptian visa authorities to a person for entry, exit or transit through Egypt. Tourist and Business visas are issued according to the applicant’s status, purpose of visit and passport type.

British and other EU nationals travelling to Sharm El Sheikh, Dahab, Nuweiba and Taba resorts only, for up to 14 days, do not require a visa but can instead receive a free entry stamp upon arrival. 

The Egypt tourist visa (or Egypt visit visa) is issued with a validity of three months, and is intended solely for applicants wishing to visit the country for the purposes of tourism.  However, applicants must leave upon the visa’s expiry and must not engage in any form of employment while on their visit.  Additionally, Egyptian tourist visas can be issued for either single entry or multiple entries. 

---

The Worldwide Visa Bureau is an independent consulting company specialising in Egypt visa and immigration services.Article by Jessica Bird, Worldwide Visa Bureau.

http://www.visabureau.com/worldwide/news/26-09-2008/tourism-report-for-egypt-released.aspx

 

Sunday, September 21, 2008

Ancient Codex Sinaiticus accessible to global audience

One of the oldest copies of the Bible is now online. It was handwritten by early Christians living in Egypt around 350 A.D. The manuscript contains the Christian Bible in Greek, including the oldest complete copy of the New Testament. Its heavily corrected text is of outstanding importance for the history of the Bible as the manuscript is the oldest substantial book to survive Antiquity.

The Codex Sinaiticus Project is an international collaboration to reunite the entire manuscript in digital form and make it accessible to a global audience for the first time. Drawing on the expertise of leading scholars, conservators and curators, the Project gives everyone the opportunity to connect directly with this famous manuscript.

The document is believed to be the oldest known Greek copy of the Bible, along with the Codex Vaticanus. High resolution images of the Gospel of Mark, several Old Testament books and notes on the work made over the centuries now appear on www.codex-sinaiticus.net as a first step towards publishing the entire manuscript online by next July. Selected translations will be available in English and German.

The manuscript “is like nothing else online,” said Ulrich Johannes Schneider, director of Leipzig University Library, which holds part of the manuscript. “It’s also an enrichment of the virtual world – and a bit of a change from YouTube.”

The vellum manuscript (a parchment made from calfskin) was discovered in Saint Catherine’s Monastery near Mount Sinai by German biblical scholar Konstantin von Tischendorf in 1844. He was allowed to take some folios to Leipzig. He returned in 1859 and acquired the largest section of the Bible for his new Russian sponsors. It remained in St Petersburg until Stalin sold it to the British Museum in 1933. The Codex is now housed at four locations in Europe and the Middle East.

The internet project was launched in cooperation with the University of Leipzig, the Russian National Library, the British Library and Saint Catherine’s Monastery.

“Thanks to technology we can now make the oldest cultural artifacts–ones that were once so precious you couldn’t show them to anyone–accessible to everyone, in really high quality,” Schneider said.

from TAP (The Anglican Planet) : http://anglicanplanet.net/TAPIntern0809d.html