

Is Nefertiti in Tut’s Tomb? - jeo1234
http://www.newyorker.com/news/amy-davidson/is-nefertiti-in-tuts-tomb?intcid=mod-latest

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thearn4
I don't know if there are any egyptologists on HN, but I'm curious to hear
what the state of egyptian archaeology is following the revolution and change
of cabinet. In particular, the removal of Zahi Hawass and the issue of safety.

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jscheel
Not an egyptologist, but I did just get back from Egypt recently, so here's
some anecdotal evidence. Even during the hottest summer months, there was
still activity happening at dig sites. This is usually when all the digs shut
down, so I would assume that there would be even more activity during the
winter months. There were still occasional restoration projects (even got to
spend a few minutes helping one), but they were few and far between. Many had
completely halted, probably as a result of Zahi Hawass's ousting and the
evaporation of tourist funds. On the other hand, a lot of the expeditions are
funded by outside universities, and they bring several jobs to local
Egyptians. Because of the perceived security issues, many tourists are staying
away from Egypt, which is crippling many people's ability to make a living,
and the government's ability to focus on cultural work. Several people I spoke
with were once making a good living in the tourism industry, but have since
turned to trying to find work with expeditions when they can. Unfortunately,
there are a lot more people out of work than there are jobs.

The security situation is interesting. My wife and I were alone for two weeks,
and felt perfectly safe. The government knows that tourism and
archeology/egyptology bring jobs and dollars, so they focus their police
presence on protecting those areas. Sure enough, there are police and military
everywhere. However, if you watch them closely, you will see that they are not
operating in top condition. I'm not sure if fatigue or inexperience
contributes to this, but you can see it. Guards waving people through
checkpoints without searching them at all, weapons being left far out of
reach, soldiers sleeping on guard, etc. There was one attack on a checkpoint
near us while we were there, resulting in the death of two police officers.
That didn't seem to have an affect on the rest of the security force. A few
days after we left, there was an attack in Luxor directed at tourists. I'm not
sure, but my guess is this was a wakeup call for them. Thankfully the attack
largely failed, but I'm sure it's caused massive harm to an already hurting
economy.

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jhund
Link to the highres images: [http://www.highres.factum-
arte.org/Tutankhamun/](http://www.highres.factum-arte.org/Tutankhamun/)

Click on the up arrow at the bottom edge to choose which wall to view.

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mseepgood
Sorry, but I do not see the door outlines. Not even in the black/white images.

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helper
Why can't they just use ground penetrating radar to determine the existence of
other chambers?

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knodi123
That's a good question. I was wondering the same thing myself. Best guess
based on preliminary googling is "The principal disadvantage of GPR is that it
is severely limited by less-than-ideal environmental conditions. Fine-grained
sediments (clays and silts) are often problematic because their high
electrical conductivity causes loss of signal strength; rocky or heterogeneous
sediments scatter the GPR signal, weakening the useful signal while increasing
extraneous noise."

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smackfu
Also, as I understand it, it's not particularly easy to interpret the results
beyond "there is something there."

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warmwaffles
Dig from the other that wont destroy the artifacts?

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fhars
That will most likely destroy the paintings is the new room (if it exists).
Digging in from below might work, you want to finance it?

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dstyrb
"Ancient astronaut theorists say yes"

Sometime in season 1 or 6 I think. The one where Akhenaten is an alien. But
not the one where the pyramids are microwave lasers.

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TeMPOraL
Pyramids never were microwave lasers. They're landing sites for Ha'taks, alien
starships, coincidentally also pyramid-shaped. Learn your history!

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fixermark
I believe the landers were _Cheops_ -class warships, not the Ha'taks?

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TeMPOraL
Checked the sources[0] and you seem to be right. I guess I was mislead by
Teal'c.

[0] -
[http://stargate.wikia.com/wiki/Cheops_class_warship#Notes](http://stargate.wikia.com/wiki/Cheops_class_warship#Notes)

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PhantomGremlin
Americans have long had an interest / obsession with King Tut. Here's a silly
little thing Steve Martin did about him circa 1979:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P1Hr9VPnMNc](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P1Hr9VPnMNc)

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ladelfa
And, for good measure, Philip Glass's "Akhnaten" (1983)

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XENvMGyy4J8](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XENvMGyy4J8)

