Is Cleopatra's mummy about to be found? Archaeologists to dig at three sites in the temple of Taposiris Magna (ap.com)

"Archaeologists next week will begin excavating three sites in Egypt near the Mediterranean Sea that may contain the tombs of doomed lovers, Cleopatra and Mark Anthony. In a statement Wednesday, Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities said the three sites were identified last month during a radar survey of the temple of Taposiris Magna as part of the search for the lovers' tombs. The temple is located on Lake Mariut which is today called Abusir, near the northern coastal city of Alexandria, and was built during the reign of King Ptolemy II (282-246 B.C.). Teams from Egypt and the Dominican Republic have been excavating the temple for the last three years. The celebrated queen of Egypt and her lover, a Roman general, committed suicide after being defeated in the battle of Actium in 31 BC. Ever since, questions have lingered over where the lovers' bodies are buried. Excavators have also found a number of deep shafts inside the temple, three of which were possibly used for burials. The leaders of the excavation believe it's possible Cleopatra and Mark Anthony could have been buried in a deep shaft similar those already found, according to the statement. Last year, archaeologists at the site also unearthed a bronze statue of the goddess Aphrodite, the alabaster head of a Queen Cleopatra statue, a mask believed to belong to Mark Anthony and a headless statue from the Ptolemaic era at the excavation site. The expedition also found 22 coins bearing Cleopatra's image...."

More about the Dominican archaeologist searching for Cleopatra (dominicantoday.com)

More about the possible discovery (with photo of the temple) (latimes.com)

An interesting essay about Cleopatra (nytimes.com)

Another 400-year old mummified cat--this one in Whitby cottage (whitbygazette.co.uk)

"A 400-year-old mummified cat has been found in the walls of a Whitby cottage. The cat, which still has its claws and teeth, may have been placed in the walls of the cottage in Henrietta Street to ward off evil spirits. Property renovator and listed building restorer Stuart Brown from Sleights found the cat in the property which is owned by Tim Deacon and his wife Kate. The cottage has been owned by Mrs Deacon's family for many years. Mr Brown said: "We were renovating the old ceilings above the fireplace in the lounge when the cat fell out. It's dark grey, mummified and perished; it's just skin, no fur. "According to local myth and legend, apparently 400 years ago people put cats behind walls to ward off witches. We plan to put it back on completion of the building work." The fisherfolk of Whitby were renowned for being superstitious and in the 1816 Census of Whitby seven women gave their occupation as sorceress or fortune-teller. It was a local custom to brick a cat up alive in the chimney when building a new house, to ensure good luck and ward off evil spirits...." 

French judge closes plastination exhibit (guardian.co.uk)

"A Paris exhibition of preserved corpses has been ordered to close after a judge ruled it was an affront to the dignity of the human body. The court demanded the seizure of the human remains and discussions on their proper burial. The exhibition, Our Body: À Corps Ouvert, features 17 Chinese bodies in various positions, some skinless or with muscles flayed. Their bodily fluids have been replaced with plastic to preserve them along the lines of methods invented by the controversial, fedora-wearing German anatomist Gunther von Hagens, whose London show Body Worlds caused outrage and drew large crowds in 2002. Von Hagens is not associated with the Paris exhibition. Two French human rights group brought a complaint against the private organisers of the Paris show, which has been running since February. They called for its closure saying the company should produce evidence to show the bodies came from consenting individuals after concerns over a black market in Chinese prisoners' remains. The Paris judge said legally, the proper place for corpses was "in a cemetery", and displaying corpses for commercial profit showed a lack of respect for the dead. The exhibition, which had already attracted a total of 145,000 visitors in Lyon and Marseille, was expected to run until May and move to another Paris location in August. But it was today given 24 hours to close...."

No new clothes for Lenin's mummy: Economic crisis claims another victim (rian.ru)

"The ongoing economic crisis has already had an effect on everyone in Russia, from oligarchs to humble office workers, and now even Lenin in his Red Square mausoleum has felt the pinch. On the eve of the 139th anniversary of the birth of the leader of the Bolshevik Revolution, financial difficulties mean that Lenin will be forced to continue wearing an old suit for the sixth straight year, the Trud newspaper said on Tuesday. Lenin's embalmed body has been on public display in a glass case in the mausoleum since his death following a series of strokes in 1924. Tuesday saw the reopening of the mausoleum to the public after two months of maintenance work, during which Lenin's corpse was bathed in special preserving fluids. "This is a unique technology," Yury Denisov-Nikolski, the vice-director of the scientific research institute that carried out the work, told the paper. "Thanks to it, Lenin will be able to lie here for another hundred years." However, the expert also bemoaned the lack of government funding for the mausoleum. "The state hasn't allocated a single kopek since 1992. Everything is held together by the Lenin Mausoleum foundation and donors," he said. "On top of this, the crisis has struck hard. How can we change his suit in these economic conditions?" Lenin's suits are traditionally ordered from Switzerland and made of the finest materials. A new one is usually purchased every three years...."

Mummified body found in car stolen 12 years ago (montrealgazette.com)

"Russian police found a mummified body in a car reported stolen 12 years ago, a police source told the Interfax news agency Tuesday. Russian police found a mummified body in a car reported stolen 12 years ago, a police source told the Interfax news agency Tuesday. An investigation has been launched."

400-year-old cat mummy kept witches away in house near Plymouth (thisisplymouth.co.uk)

"A 400-year-old cat is the last thing you would expect to find when renovating your home. But that is exactly what builders came across in the bathroom of an Ugborough cottage. Local legend has it that the mummified moggy was placed in the walls of the house near Plymouth to ward off witches four centuries ago and owner Richard Parson said it has done a good job so far. "I am of the opinion that it works as, since we have lived in the village, we have seen sight nor sound of any witches," he said. The new family pet has caused quite a stir in the village with neighbors telling tales of superstition and witchcraft. "We moved in 18 months ago and were told by neighbors about the cat which was found when there was building work done in the 1980s," said Mr. Parson, company director of funeral business Walter C Parson. "We were also told about a child's bootie, left in the house because it was once used as a cobblers and was supposed to bring luck. The exact location of the cat was a secret until it was unearthed." And despite spending 400 years cooped up in a wall, the cat is in pretty good shape and still has all its claws and teeth...."

Are you 'dying' to become a mummy? A new reality show seeks terminally-ill cast member to become mummified on camera (realitywanted.com)

From a casting call notice: "Have you ever considered donating your body to science? Are you or someone you know suffering from a terminal illness? Have you ever considered leaving behind a long lasting legacy by donating your body to science? We are a London based television company producing a documentary on modern mummification for the purposes of scientific research. The documentary will be filmed in the US and Egypt and will focus on an individual who has chosen to have their body embalmed and mummified, or preserved long term, after death. This is an opportunity to be part of major groundbreaking medical (and ecological) research. And the results of this research will be published in an internationally pre-eminent science magazine, and the story both personal and scientific will be told through the documentary. As a part of the process, if appropriate, we would like to fly our volunteer and members of his or her family to Egypt (all expenses paid) and film the final stages of their life in order to obtain a greater understanding of the Ancient Egyptian funerary practice. Participation Requirements: We are seeking individuals who are over the age of 18 years old. We would also like our volunteer to be someone who has a very strong support system: be it friends or family. If you are selected as the subject of this documentary in addition to travel expenses to Egypt we will cover your future funeral expenses...."

Two mummies undergo CT-scans (abclocal.go.com)

"A couple of 2,000-year-old patients checked into the hospital of the University of Pennsylvania this morning. Two ancient mummies that were on display at the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology were carefully transported to the hospital. There, they underwent CT scans. Researchers are hoping the scans will give them new insight into the mummies' history."

Scythian mummies entombed in permafrost in danger from global warming (russia-ic.com)

"Archeologists of the world beat alarm: most precious historical monuments can vanish under the influence of climate changes. The salvation of Scythian entombments in Altai is now a matter of extraordinary importance for archeologists. Many of the entombments had been conserved in the permafrost for more than 2000 years. Bodies of Scythian chiefs had been mummified with frost, which preserved their clothes, weapons, decorations and everything else intact. The problem is that the climate in Altai is rapidly warming up; the glaciers are melting down, and, for the first time since their being sealed 3000 years ago, as archeologists say, they have started melting down and getting washed out. Thus, Jean Bourgeois, an archeologist at Ghent University warns that the rise of average temperature by 1 or 2 degrees will be enough to destroy everything that had been kept for centuries in the Altaian tumuli. He hopes to find an artificial way of bringing down the temperature around the entombments, for example, by painting the tumuli to prevent them from absorbing sunlight and stabilize the temperature inside of them...." 

Guanajuato mummy museum is a window to the past (latimes.com)

"Juan and Remigio and Ignacia and their closest neighbors can tell you a lot about life in this central Mexican mining town. So what if they're dead? They might be Guanajuato's most visited residents -- a collection of 56 mummified corpses that survived for years in remarkably good shape and now constitute one of the main tourist draws here. The bodies, on display in Museo de las Momias, the city's mummies museum, were taken from above-ground crypts in a graveyard next door. Dating from the mid-1800s to the 1970s, they were removed because they were unclaimed or relatives hadn't paid burial fees. Long a ghoulish curiosity while in storage, the mummies were put on formal display starting about 40 years ago. Don't look for Scooby Doo-style creepers trailing bandages -- most of these mummies are naked. They are dry as paper and coppery-looking, but often surprisingly complete, with tufts of hair on the face and body and, in some cases, clothing that still has some of its color. Museum officials say the tightly sealed crypts kept marauding bugs out and the arid conditions allowed the bodies to dry intact even without the preservation efforts used in ancient Egypt.... The bodies are encased -- some standing, others in repose -- in the museum building near downtown Guanajuato, where you can catch the bus labeled "Mummies." In several cases, names and bits of biography of the dead are known. They're miners, mothers, doctors, Mexicans and foreigners. They seemed to fall young. One man, exhumed in the 1940s, had been stabbed to death, a golf-ball-sized wound visible in the parched husk beneath his rib cage. Another drowned in the 1970s. A woman from the 1920s is thought to have been buried alive after slipping into catalepsy. Her hands are frozen hauntingly above her face, apparently in mid-struggle to escape her grave. Nearby is a neat row of desiccated babies, some adorned with dainty cotton bonnets. In the United States, this sort of exhibition might be relegated to an old-style freak show. But Mexico doesn't shy away from death. After all, families gather in cemeteries to share memories and celebrate departed loved ones at graveside on the annual Day of the Dead...."

Skeleton of Cleopatra's murdered sister Arsinöe provides clues about family identity (timesonline.co.uk)

"Archaeologists and forensic experts believe they have identified the skeleton of Cleopatra’s younger sister, murdered more than 2,000 years ago on the orders of the Egyptian queen. The remains of Princess Arsinöe, put to death in 41BC on the orders of Cleopatra and her Roman lover Mark Antony to eliminate her as a rival, are the first relics of the Ptolemaic dynasty to be identified. The breakthrough, by an Austrian team, has provided pointers to Cleopatra’s true ethnicity. Scholars have long debated whether she was Greek or Macedonian like her ancestor the original Ptolemy, a Macedonian general who was made ruler of Egypt by Alexander the Great, or whether she was north African. Evidence obtained by studying the dimensions of Arsinöe’s skull shows she had some of the characteristics of white Europeans, ancient Egyptians and black Africans, indicating that Cleopatra was probably of mixed race, too. They were daughters of Ptolemy XII by different wives. The results vindicate the theories of Hilke Thür of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, who has long claimed that the skeleton was Arsinöe. She described the discovery of Arsinöe’s ethnicity as “a real sensation which leads to a new insight on Cleopatra’s family”. Fellow experts are now convinced. Günther Hölbl, an authority on the Ptolemies, said the identification of the skeleton was “a great discovery”. The forensic evidence was obtained by a team working under the auspices of the Austrian Archeological Institute, which is set to detail its findings at an anthropological convention in the United States later this month...."

Scientists hope to analyze and recreate perfume in a flacon once belonging to Pharaoh Hatshepsut (ndtv.com)

"German scientists are on track to recreate a 3,500-year-old scent, which they claim was cherished by ancient Egyptians. Using a computer tomograph, a team at Bonn University has detected the desiccated residues of a "fluid" which it now wants to submit to further analysis, and mulls reconstruction of the 3,500-year-old perfume well preserved in its museum. "The desiccated residues of a fluid can be clearly discerned in the x-ray photographs. Our pharmacologists are now going to analyze this sediment," Michael Hveler-Mller, the curator of Bonn University's Egyptian Museum, said. The results could be available in a good year's time and if successful the perfume might be reconstructed, he said. In fact, the filigree flacon now under examination by actually bears an inscription with the name of famous Egyptian Pharaoh Hatshepsut, clearly suggesting it was probably once in her possession, a university release said. Pharaoh Hatshepsut was a power-conscious woman who assumed the reins of government in Egypt around year 1479 BC. Though she's only supposed to represent her stepson Thutmose III, three years old at the time, till he was old enough to take over, the interregnum lasted 20 years...."

Daughter of mummified mom couldn't  afford burial fee (northcountrygazette.org)

"A 61-year-old day care teacher told police that she kept her mother’s mummified body in a bedroom of their Florida residence for over six years because she couldn’t afford funeral expenses. Penelope Jordan was arrested Monday after police officers went to the home after Indian River Animal Control had received a complaint about nuisance cats. When an animal control officer visited the Jordan property, he found the front door open but no one home. Animal control called police to investigate if a burglary had occurred. Jordan told police that her mother, Timmie Jordan, born in 1913, was living in Melbourne but she couldn’t provide an address. When she allowed police into the residence, officers found the decaying remains of her mother in a bedroom. According to an arrest affidavit, Jordan told police that her mother had died in 2003 at the age of 90 from natural causes. Police said that Jordan admitted that since her mother’s death, she has cashed her mother’s Social Security checks which totaled $60,000 since 2003. She has been charged with grand theft and fraud and is being held in the Indian County Jail in lieu of $20,000 bail. According to police, an autopsy performed Tuesday indicated no evidence of foul play and the cause of death will be attributed to natural causes. The body has been sent to the University of Florida to undergo review...."

Daughter keeps mummified mother in home, cashes social security checks for six years (wpbf.com)

"Police have arrested a Sebastian woman after they discovered the mummified remains of her mother inside her home. Penelope Jordan, 61, was charged with fraud and grand theft. Investigators are looking into the circumstances surrounding the death of her mother, Timmie Jordan, whose body was found on a mattress in a bedroom. Police say Penelope Jordan had been cashing her mother's Social Security checks for the past six years. Sebastian police received a search warrant to enter the home on Wimbrow Drive shortly before 5 p.m. Monday after code enforcement officials spotted bones during a routine inspection earlier that morning. Neighbors had also been complaining of a foul smell coming from the home. "There's excessive debris in the residence and it's very difficult to make your way around inside this house," Officer Steve Marcinik said. "While moving around in there, they observed something that was somewhat suspicious and upon that they notified law enforcement." Investigators called the home a house of filth, filled wall to wall with debris. Longtime neighbors agreed. "When I'm out mowing my lawn and the door's open, oh my God," Louise Martin said. "It's just bad, and there's (an) open sewer in the back yard." Neighbors said they haven't seen or heard from Jordan's elderly mother in years...."

'Sensational' Stone Age wooden sandal found in silt of  Lake Constance (dw-world.de)

"German archaeologists have described as "sensational" the discovery of a 5,000-year-old woven sandal in Lake Constance in southern Germany, close to the Swiss border. The well-preserved footwear dating back to the Stone Age, is of great historical significance, the head of Stuttgart's City Council Johannes Schmalzl said on Tuesday, March 10. He described the find as a "small sensation," comparing it to fragments of clothing once worn by Oetzi, an Alpine ice man whose 5,000-year-old mummified body was discovered in a melting glacier in the nearby Alps in 1991. The European size 36 sandal, made of woven wood, was discovered in silt deposits on the site of an early settlement of lake dwellings built on stilts at the water's edge. Schmalzl said European Union funds would be used to research and preserve the areas where lake dwellings existed, on Lake Constance and Lake Zurich in neighboring Switzerland. The settlements were inhabited between the 4th and 1st Century BC. The remains, preserved for thousands of years by layers of silt, are under threat as a result of climate change, harbor construction and passing ships...."

New website permits surfers to scrutinize Iceman in three different modes (telegraph.co.uk)

"Until this week anyone wanting to see the extraordinarily well-preserved body of the tribesman has had to travel to Bolzano, in northern Italy, where it lies in a specially built museum. Even then, visitors glimpse the body through portholes into the refrigerated room in which it is kept. But researchers have created an interactive website after painstakingly photographing Ötzi's mummified remains from a dozen different angles and putting the results online at www.icemanphotoscan.eu. Using a zoom facility it is possible to scrutinize every inch of Europe's oldest mummy, down to the 57 tattoos that adorn his lower back, left knee and right ankle. There has been speculation that the simple dots and lines are linked to a primitive form of acupuncture. It is also possible to compare how the cadaver appears under natural light and ultraviolet light....

Comprehensive mummy exhibit to open in Bolzano (ansa.it)

"Italy's famed Iceman will get company this week as mummies from all over the world arrive for a major show in this northern Italian city. Joining the mummified neolithic hunter in his purpose-built museum here will be more than 60 mummies from Ancient Egypt, Asia, South America and Oceania, organizers said Tuesday. ''It will be the world's most comprehensive show on the history and culture of mummies,'' organizers said. The show, which includes bog-preserved animal mummies from the Age of the Dinosaurs and human mummies up to the present day, will be accompanied by a symposium featuring the world's top paleontologists. The mummies, some of them naturally preserved in deserts, ice or bogs and others by the skills of men, have been gathered from 27 museums and collections across Europe. Mummies, The Dream of Eternal Life, organized by the Reiss-Engelhorn Museums in the German city of Mannheim, will run from March 10 to October 25, 2009.... As well as the mummies, the exhibition features 150 objects connected to mummies as well as 12 multimedia installations showing the latest scientific data on mummies and mummification...."

Mass grave in sealed cave reveals mummified bodies of apparent Nazi collaborators gassed at end of WW2 (nytimes.com)

"A mass grave, believed to hold the bodies of as many as 300 Nazi collaborators from Slovenia or Croatia who were killed after World War II, has been discovered in eastern Slovenia, the authorities said Wednesday. Investigators and historians discovered the remains when they removed concrete walls built after World War II to close off a cave near Lasko, 55 miles east of Ljubljana, the capital...."

More about the mass Slovenian grave (javno.com)

"Remains of over a hundred persons were found in Barbarin Rov (Barbara`s Trench) in Hudina Jama, Slovenia and the investigation was opened last year, the 24ur writes. Chief prosecutor Barbara Brezigar visited the horrible site. Roman Leljak wrote about the mass grave in the mine in 1990. Since then, 19 years have passed and the tomb was still closed for the public, due to the criminal investigation. Leljak claimed that nobody was interested in the truth about the crime. He warned that such crimes against humanity could not reach the statue of limitations. Furthermore, he has submitted a report to the Celje Prosecution, naming the main culprit – partisan Ricek Anton Toni, member of the First Slovene Division of the People`s Defence. According to him, the eliminations took place from May until September 1945.... Head of the army cemeteries sector Marko Strovs told the Delo daily that up to 300 mortal remains were included in the grave.... He claims that the whole trench construction did not fall apart because it was hermetically sealed. He claims it was visible that the victims had no clothes on, except for shoes. Strovs believes these people were killed by gas, because the mummified bodies show no visible signs of violence of bullet holes. He says the victims were mostly Slovenes, but there were Croats as well...."

Two more pits hide thousands of bodies (javno.com)

"High representatives of the Croatian government will pay tribute to victims found in a mass tomb in Slovenia, dating back to World War II. Slovene media speculate that the number of victims might be significantly greater than it has been determined so far, while witnesses of the events live in fear 54 years later. Croatian deputy PM Jadranka Kosor and Interior Minister Tomislav Karamarko will lay down wreaths and light candles at the abandoned mine in Barbarin Rov (Barbara`s Trench) in the village of Huda Jama near Lasko, where Croatian and Slovene victims of war “purges” lie, according to certain documents and statements from witnesses. Historian doctor Mitja Ferenc said that so far, the remains of 200 to 400 victims have been found, but that more bodies can be expected in the same place, because the research and exhumation are not over yet. Killed Slovene and Croatian defenders are in question, probably Ustasha units. At least a thousand more bodies could be discovered in the first dug out gallery of the old Trbovlje-Hrasnik mine, where coal was exploited until 1992, bodies similarly eliminated to prisoners of the Teharje camp near Celje, Ferenc claims...."

Genghis Khan exhibition, complete with cave mummy, opens in Houston (mongolia-web.com)

"An exhibition entitled, “Barbarian or Genius? Discover the Real Genghis Khan” opened February 27 at the Houston Museum of Natural Science, one of the best attended museums in America. The exhibition is being billed as “ the largest-ever presentation of 13th century treasures, many of which might have been used during the Khan’s empire.” Some 200 artifacts will be on display, including Mongolian costumes, head dresses and musical instruments from the National Museum of Mongolian History. Further imperial gold, metal ornaments, beads, a tombstone and more from Russia’s State Hermitage Museum will be seen at the Houston museum. Also, a mummy recently uncovered in a Mongolian cave is part of the display. Along with displays about the conquered lands during the Khan empire, information about other changes brought by Mongolia will also be displayed. These include the world’s first national parks, postal system, international law and the borders of modern nations...."

More information about the exhibit

Mummified woman may have been dead for over a year (hampshirechronicle.co.uk)

"Neighbors have spoken of their horror after the virtually mummified body of a 50-year-old woman was discovered. It is believed that recluse Suzanne Harding may have been dead for more than a year when she was found. Nearby residents in Chandler's Ford have said she went to great lengths to avoid people. Next door neighbour Christina Weaver, of Walnut Close, said Miss Harding seemed to stop working around four years ago and then put up signs in her garden saying 'keep out' and 'no entry.' She said: "We generally saw very little of her. She kept herself to herself.... The inquest heard Miss Harding suffered from a delusional disorder that made her believe people were trying to break into her home. She severed contact with family and friends around 12 years ago. Her body had been reduced to a "mummified" skeleton, by the time British Gas broke into her home to disconnect her supply in October 2008.... "