Hatshepsut exhibit opens in Manhattan... (nytimes.com; free registration required)

"Can a queen be a king, too? Consider the case of Hatshepsut, an Egyptian ruler of the 15th century B.C. The eldest daughter of Thutmose I and his principal queen, she married her younger half-brother, Thutmose II. His untimely death left her regent for Thutmose III, his son by another wife. At some point, she decided to govern jointly with the boy and took on the title of king. Later, she assumed the supreme title of pharaoh and ruled Egypt in that powerfully masculine role until her death.... Hatshepsut is the subject of a celebratory show at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, one that commemorates the 100th anniversary of the Met's department of Egyptian art. Organized by the Met and the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, it includes many objects from the Met's own extensive holdings, excavated at its digs in the 1920's and 30's.... "

...but the mummy of Hatshepsut is still in Egypt...and recently rediscovered (sis.gov.eg)

"The true mummy of ancient Egyptian queen Hatshepsut was discovered in the third floor of the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, Secretary General of Supreme Council for Antiquities Zahi Hawwas revealed on Thursday. The mummy was missing among thousands of artifacts lying in the museum, he said during his lecture at the New York-based Metropolitan Museum of Arts...."

Was the Iceman's death carved on an ancient stone stele? (discovery.com)

"Ötzi the Iceman's murder might have been recorded on stone, according to a carving on a Copper Age stele. Found in Laces, a town not far from the glacier in the Ötztal Alps where the 5,300-year-old mummy was discovered in 1991, the stone shows an human figure filled with carvings, Lorenzo Dal Ri, director of the archaeological office of the Bolzano province, told Discovery News. 'The stele had long been unnoticed as it was used to build the altar of a church in Laces. One carving is especially interesting: it shows an archer ready to shoot an arrow on an unarmed man's back,' said Dal Ri. This is exactly how Ötzi the Iceman was killed: hit by a flint arrow in the left shoulder while being assaulted by his enemies, some of whose blood was found on the mummy's cloak and weapons...."

What is a stele?

'Mysterious bog people' open in Los Angeles (bloomberg.com)

"The bog mummies have come to Los Angeles, and they are fascinating and creepy. The mummified remains of six people are highlights of an exhibition about early Europeans that opens this weekend at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County. It features flint and bronze tools, clothing, household wares, jewelry, musical instruments and other artifacts that are as old as 12,000 years. After the last Ice Age ended, sea levels rose and thick peat bogs built up in the coastal lowlands of what is now the Netherlands, Germany, Denmark and other parts of northwestern Europe. Things buried in the bogs didn't decompose because there was little oxygen. In recent centuries, the objects were dug up when the bogs were cut for fuel and drained to create farmland...."

At least 1,000 donated bodies needed for science each year  (independent.co.uk) 

"Popular crime dramas and macabre autopsy exhibitions have been blamed for a severe shortage of bodies being donated to Britain's medical schools, hitting training courses for doctors and surgeons. The slump is being blamed on dramas such as Waking the Dead and Silent Witness, and the controversial live autopsy and skinned-corpse exhibitions by German artist Gunther von Hagens. A touring exhibition, Bodies Revealed, has also been criticised. Medical schools rely heavily on the public bequeathing their bodies for anatomy classes, but the number donated each year has fallen so sharply there is now an annual "shortfall" of 400 cadavers compared with a surplus a decade ago. Demand has jumped steeply because nine new medical schools have opened and the number of students has soared. Jeremy Metters, HM Inspector of Anatomy, said this meant that at least 1,000 bodies a year were now needed...."

Malfunctioning chateau freezer puts end to couple's temporary mummification  (guardian.co.uk) 

"Raymond Martinot and his wife were the toast of the world cryonics movement. For years they were France's best preserved corpses, lying in a freezer in a chateau in the Loire valley, in the hope that modern science could one day bring them back to life. But the French couple's journey into the future ended prematurely when, 22 years after his mother's body was put into cold storage, their son discovered the freezer unit had broken down and they had started to thaw. The couple's bodies were removed from their faulty freezer and cremated this week. Under French law a corpse must be buried, cremated or formally donated to science. But the couple's son had vowed to go to the European court of human rights to be allowed to keep his frozen parents in his cellar. If he failed, supporters in Nederland, near Denver, Colorado, had offered to take them in...."

Mobile Exploreum displays the inside story of mummies (al.com)

"It took about 10 minutes before the first Whoa! echoed through the Gulf Coast Exploreum Thursday, the opening day of the downtown Mobile museums Mummy: the inside story exhibit. The gasp arose from a crowd of students at the beginning of a 3-D movie in which the mummy Nesperennubs coffin and wrapping were peeled. After the show, the kids cheered before heading out to the rest of the exhibit. For us, hearing the applause was great, museum spokeswoman Shannon Lipscomb said. It made all the months of work worth it...."

Cazenovia mummy travels to Syracuse for CT-scan (wstm.com) 

"An Egyptian mummy was taken to a Syracuse hospital by ambulance for a C-T scan. The 2-thousand-year-old mummy, called Hen, usually is on display at the Cazenovia Library. Radiologist E-Mark Levinsohn and Crouse Hospital agreed to provide their services to help the library find out when and how the mummy died. Cazenovia resident Robert James Hubbard brought the mummy to Cazenovia in 1894. He purchased it in Egypt for 200 pounds, the equivalent of about 2-thousand dollars today...."

Australia requests return of aboriginal bones and child's mummy from Scotland (courant.com)

"The Australian government has asked officials in Scotland for the return of a collection of skulls and the embalmed body of a small child held in museum storage. Glasgow City Council has received a request for the return of the collection, consisting of the bones of natives of the Torres Strait Islands and the mummified child, also of native extraction. It is expected that the council will look favourably on the request. If the bones are returned, the repatriation will be the third of its kind involving Glasgow - the first being the return of a "Ghost Dance" shirt to the native American tribe of the Lakota Sioux, of South Dakota, in 1999, while last year, three preserved Maori heads were returned to New Zealand.... "

Body mummified by heat discovered in New Orleans attic (katc.com)

"Officials say dogs trained to find human remains found a man's mummified body in the attic of a Lakeview home. Last week, teams with cadaver dogs began a new round of searches for bodies. The teams are working through a list of missing persons reports and their last known addresses. Intense heat mummified the body found Sunday in Lakeview...."

Well-preserved Qing Dynasty mummy with peach-and-cream complexion found in Chongqing Nan'an District (xinhuanet.com)

"According to Chongqing Morning News, an ancient tomb was unearthed on a construction site on the hillside near Wenfeng Tower on South Hill of Huangjueya Town in Chongqing Nan'an District. The female corpse in the tomb is dressed in costumes of the Qing Dynasty (1616-1911 AD) and well-preserved without any signs of rottenness. In addition, the corpse has a peach-and-cream complexion and resilient skin. Based on initial archeological identification by the local cultural relic administration department, this ancient tomb dates back to 100 years ago. When dredging the hillside with an excavator, the worker accidentally discovered an intact coffin with a female corpse of poised appearance inside. The worker touched the corpse's face with a branch and found her skin resilient...."

Man who froze his wife's body as dying wish attempts to recreate a Snow White fairy tale ending (dailyrecord.co.uk) 

"The family of freezer pensioner Veronica Irvine are planning to take her back over the Border for her funeral. Her husband, Desmond, has been in discussion with a church in England as he tries to find a way to lay his beloved wife to rest - possibly in a crypt. And he is determined to take her out of Scotland to grant her dying wish. Former nurse Veronica, 73, died on Valentine's Day. But her husband and her youngest son Philip, 36, dressed her and transported her by taxi 57 miles from their flat in Edinburgh to Berwick-Upon-Tweed. They held a last supper for her there and then placed Veronica in a freezer to preserve her. Veronica had always insisted she did not want to be buried or cremated. Her son Philip revealed in the Record yesterday how she dreamed of being kept in a glass case like Snow White...." 

Preserved giant squid on display in London (practicalfishkeeping.co.uk)

"One of the world's best specimens of the giant squid Architeuthis dux has gone on display at The Natural History Museum in London. The colossal cephalopod is five metres longer than a double decker bus at around 8.62 metres/28 ft in length and was caught by a trawler off the Falkland Islands. Researchers at the museum have managed to successfully preserve the squid and fit it inside an enormous 10m/30' long display case...."

Peru to sue Yale for excavated artifacts, including mummies and human bones (courant.com)

"The government of Peru has rejected a Yale University proposal to divide thousands of artifacts from the Incan city of Machu Picchu among museums in Peru and New Haven, and intends to sue the university, the country's ambassador to the United States said. At issue is the fate of historical treasures taken nearly a century ago from one of the world's most famous archaeological sites. Peru demanded in the fall that Yale return the artifacts, which include mummies, ceramics and human bones excavated by explorer Hiram Bingham. Yale administrators said they countered with a deal that would have transferred ownership of some of the artifacts to Peru for display at a new museum. A parallel exhibit would have remained at Yale....."