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In the mid-seventh century, Egypt was conquered by Muslim armies. The pressure of the invading army, advancing south along the Nile Valley, stopped the Christian kingdom of Makuria. The relics of this civilization have been discovered by Poznań archaeologists in the area of the Letti Basin, about 350 km north of Khartoum. Makuria was a powerful kingdom, which existed from the sixth to the fourteenth century between II and V cataracts of the Nile. For several centuries its power reached even farther north almost to the modern Aswan... Now archaeologists confirmed the presence of previously known sites, but also discovered...

Egypt's famed King Tutankhamun suffered from a cleft palate and club foot, likely forcing him to walk with a cane, and died from complications from a broken leg exacerbated by malaria, according to the most extensive study ever of his mummy. The findings were from two years of DNA testing and CT scans on 16 mummies, including those of Tutankhamun and his family, the team that carried out the study said in an article to be published Wednesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Jerusalem (AFP) - Israel's top court on Sunday struck down a landmark deal regulating exploitation of Mediterranean gas reserves, in a major defeat for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who called the ruling "mystifying". A panel of Supreme Court justices said in their ruling that a clause in the plan that prevented it from being changed for a decade was unacceptable. "We have decided to cancel the gas deal because of the stability clause" that would have barred future governments from altering the deal, they said. The court however suspended the ruling for a year to enable the parliament to amend...

The earthquake that struck the Indian Ocean on December 26, triggering a series of huge waves called tsunami, "was possibly" caused by an Indian nuclear experiment in which "Israeli and American nuclear experts participated," an Egyptian weekly magazine reported Thursday. According to Al-Osboa', India, in its heated nuclear race with Pakistan, has lately received sophisticated nuclear know-how from the United States and Israel, both of which "showed readiness to cooperate with India in experiments to exterminate humankind." Since 1992, the magazine argued, leading geological centers in Britain, Turkey and other countries, warned of the need "not to hold nuclear experiments...

Two Egyptian TV hosts recently clashed live on air over the question who should be held accountable for the Brussels terrorist attacks. Rania Al-Badawi said that the West was responsible for the rise of ISIS and Al-Qaeda, while Amr Adeeb countered that this ideology stemmed from within Islam itself. "I know you are not comfortable with the truth," he said, but "they are from among us!" Emotions ran high on the show, which aired on Al-Yawm TV on March 22, 2016. Video at the link

In the video, the Egyptian Christian teens laugh playfully as a couple of them kneel down, imitating Muslim prayers, then another slides his hand under one boy’s neck, imitating the trademark beheadings of the Islamic State group. The boys were playing around, satirizing the extremist group, and their school supervisor just happened to be videoing them, their defenders say. The result has been catastrophic: they were sentenced to prison under Egypt’s blasphemy laws — they were mocking Muslim prayers, prosecutors said — and have fled into hiding, leaving behind shattered families. […] … Two years ago, the military ousted the...

An Israeli minister on Tuesday suggested Europeans had ignored the danger of “Islamic terror cells” and focused on criticizing Israel instead, in a statement in response to the Brussels attacks. While offering condolences over the deadly bombings, Science, Technology and Space Minister Ofir Akunis also hit out at Europe over its labeling of products from Israeli settlements in the occupied territories. “I will repeat: many in Europe have preferred to occupy themselves with the folly of condemning Israel, labeling products, and boycotts,” Akunis, an ally of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, said on his Facebook page. …

President Obama took the advice of “back-benchers” over experienced security experts to promote the ouster of Hosni Mubarak, creating condition for the usurpation of power by Muslim Brotherhood’s Mohamed Morsi: Former Secretary of Defense Robert Gates told Fox News that President Barack Obama ignored the advice of his “entire national security team” during the Egyptian coup in 2011 that ousted Hosni Mubarak, the country’s former president. …Gates, who headed the Pentagon during the Egyptian coup, lamented that, while he and the rest of the president’s national security experts advised Obama to handle the situation in Egypt cautiously, the president chose...

Hamas has removed all traces of Muslim Brotherhood signage and banners from the streets of Gaza in an attempt to repair relations between the terror group and one-time supporter Egypt, according to Saudi media sources. It is believed that removing all Muslim Brotherhood slogans and visible propaganda, including pictures of the terror group’s founder Hassan Al-Banna and former Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi, indicate a further distancing of Hamas from the core of the Sunni Islamist movement and are connected to an agreement made last week between the group and Egyptian leaders. Logos and images, some that had been there for...

Google in 2012 sought to help insurgents overthrow Syrian President Bashar Assad, according to State Department emails receiving fresh scrutiny this week. Messages between former secretary of state Hillary Clinton's team and one of the company's executives detailed the plan for Google to get involved in the region.

Nov. 8, 2004, 10:57PM Scientists wrap up old mysteryMummies' tar provides a link to ancient trade routes By ERIC BERGER Copyright 2004 Houston Chronicle RESOURCES Historians have long known that Egyptians used tar to seal mummies during the embalming process. What wasn't known until now is where the tar came from. Thanks to work by some Texas geochemists, however, scientists are now answering this millennia-old mystery. The Middle East is, of course, littered with natural oil seeps, in which tar and other black deposits bubble up from oil beneath the surface. Within each oil seep, however, the tar has a...

Jan Nikolai Nelles and Nora Al-Badri, two artists, made headlines last month for announcing that they had sneaked into the Neues Museum in Berlin. They did not make the headlines for just sneaking into the museum. They had with them a hacked Kinect Sensor with which they performed an unauthorized 3D scan of the bust of Queen Nefertiti. If you have never heard about the iconic bust of Queen Nefertiti, you probably should read this. It is the most iconic artifact of the Egyptian Museum in Berlin. It is 3,300 years old and is made of limestone and painted and...

While my esteemed colleague Andy McCarthy analyzes the substance of Hillary Clinton's address in Alexandria, Egypt here, I confess to remaining stuck on the description of the Egyptian crowd chanting, "Monica! Monica!" as Hill's motorcade made its way through the city. Must be the call of my wild old beat covering Impeachment Issues ("Monica! Monica!") for the Washington Times editorial page years ago. It's hard to imagine any barb razor-sharp enough to penetrate the thick skin that allows the thoroughly disgraced Clinton couple to remain in the public X-ray eye, but if one such barb could break through their armor...

Germany has approved the delivery of the fifth of six promised submarines to Israel – amid claims that the sub will be outfitted with nuclear weapons. Is this part of Israel's answer to the US nuclear agreement with Iran? The German Federal Security Council, which monitors Germany's export of military goods, has given the green light for the delivery of another submarine to Israel. The news has renewed claims that Israel will fit the sub with one or more nuclear-tipped cruise missiles. The six submarines ordered by Israel several years ago have been and are being built by the German...

Last week in Egypt, when Muslim Brotherhood supporters terrorized the secular media, several Arabic websites—including Arab News, Al Khabar News, Dostor Watany, and Egypt Now—reported that people were being "crucified." The relevant excerpt follows in translation: A Sky News Arabic correspondent in Cairo confirmed that protestors belonging to the Muslim Brotherhood crucified those opposing Egyptian President Muhammad Morsi naked on trees in front of the presidential palace while abusing others. Likewise, Muslim Brotherhood supporters locked the doors of the media production facilities of 6-October [a major media region in Cairo], where they proceeded to attack several popular journalists. That there...

The Arab Spring takeover of Egypt by the Muslim Brotherhood has run amok, with reports from several different media agencies that the radical Muslims have begun crucifying opponents of newly installed President Mohammed Morsi. Middle East media confirm that during a recent rampage, Muslim Brotherhood operatives, “crucified those opposing Egyptian President Muhammad Morsi naked on trees in front of the presidential palace while abusing others.” Raymond Ibrahim, a fellow with the Middle East Forum and the Investigative Project on Terrorism, says the crucifixions are the product of who the Middle Eastern media call “partisans.” “Arabic media call them ‘supporters,’ ‘followers,’...

Following are excerpts from a report about a demonstration against US Ambassador to Cairo Anne Patterson, which aired on Faraeen TV on March 11, 2012: Reporter: The determination of the Egyptian people erupted yesterday, in order to express their objection to the presence of the US ambassador on Egyptian soil, and to demand that she be expelled, and that the US diplomatic delegation be cut in half. 3,500-4,000 citizens from all walks of life gathered to demonstrate. […] The masses carried journalist Dr. Tawfiq Okasha on their shoulders, and lifted him onto the stage of this million-man demonstration. The masses...

Liberal talk show host Tawfiq Okasha recently appeared on "Egypt Today," airing a video of Muslims slicing off a young man's head off for the crime of apostasy -- in this instance, the crime of converting to Christianity and refusing to renounce it. The video—be warned, it is immensely graphic—can be seen here (the actual execution appears from minute 1:13-4:00). For those who prefer not to view it, a summary follows

Liberal talk show host Tawfiq Okasha recently appeared on "Egypt Today," airing a video of Muslims slicing off a young man's head off for the crime of apostasy -- in this instance, the crime of converting to Christianity and refusing to renounce it. The video—be warned, it is immensely graphic—can be seen here (the actual execution appears from minute 1:13-4:00). For those who prefer not to view it, a summary follows: A young man appears held down by masked men. His head is pulled back, with a knife to his throat. He does not struggle and appears resigned to his...

Following are excerpts from a statement by Egyptian presidential candidate Tawfiq Okasha, the owner of Al-Faraeen, which aired on Al-Faraeen TV on October 31, 2011: Tawfiq Okasha: Let me ask you a question, my brothers. Is the dollar a currency or a commodity? We'd like to know. Somebody may say: "Dude, the US dollar is currency." I say: "No, you're wrong. The US dollar is both currency and a commodity. The Jews, who devised the philosophy of the American economic system, placed a pyramid and an eye on the back of the dollar bill – symbols of global Freemasonry –...