Free Republic

A joint Egyptian-U.S. archaeological mission has uncovered the upper part of a huge statue of King Ramses II during excavations south of the Egyptian city of Minya, Egypt's tourism and antiquities ministry said on Monday.The limestone block is about 3.8 metres (12.5 feet) high and depicts a seated Ramses wearing a double crown and a headdress topped with a royal cobra, Bassem Jihad, head of the mission's Egyptian team, said in a statement.The upper part of the statue's back column shows hieroglyphic writings that glorify the king, one of ancient Egypt's most powerful pharaohs, he said.Also known as Ramses the...

In the coming days, construction will commence on a new church in Egypt dedicated to the martyred Coptic Christians beheaded by the Islamic State in Libya in February.The new church, bearing the name “Church of the Libyan Martyrs,” will be built in the Minya Governorate, south of the capital, Cairo. The church will cost $1.3 million, half of which has already been raised.Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi granted permission for the construction of the church last February after Islamic State militants murdered 21 Coptic Christians on a Libyan beach.According to Father Rafic Greiche, spokesman for the Catholic Church in Egypt,...

The art in question is part of a series discovered at the Amarna site on the east bank of the Nile, in modern day Minya. Excavations conducted in 1924 revealed a palace featuring several lavishly decorated rooms that include numerous plaster panels illustrated with natural scenes in stunning detail...Here the team looked at artwork in what's known as the Green Room, a place most likely used for rest and relaxation, if not occasional socializing and music playing.Some birds, including the pigeons and kingfishers, had already been identified, but the researchers were able to expand on the catalogue of known animals...

The execution is ostensibly a “revenge" killing for a death that occurred decades ago. The group killed the Christians and danced over their bodies. Upon returning to their village, they were greeted by songs, celebrations and cries of “Allah Akbar”. The three brothers who were killed had nothing to do with past events.Cairo (AsiaNews) – Three Christian Coptic brothers were brutally killed by a group of six Muslims, who allegedly acted in revenge to “cleanse” the blood of a relative who died about 70 years ago. At the time of the attack, 1 March, the victims – Youssef Youssef Youssef,...

A sarcophagus containing an Egyptian high priest was opened on live TV Sunday during a special two-hour broadcast by the American channel Discovery. 'Expedition Unknown: Egypt Live' aired from the site outside Minya, which is along the Nile River south of Cairo and its Giza pyramids. Archaeologists recently discovered a network of vertical shafts at the site which led to tunnels and tombs containing 40 mummies 'believed to be part of the noble elite.' After exploring other tombs -- finding artifacts like statues, amulets, canopic jars used to store organs, and other mummies including one that had decomposed to a...

CAIRO — Egypt said Sunday that security forces have killed 19 militants in a shootout, including the gunmen suspected of killing seven Christians in an attack on pilgrims traveling to a remote desert monastery.The Interior Ministry, which oversees the police, said the militants were tracked to a hideout in the desert west of the central province of Minya, the site of Friday’s attack, which also left 19 people wounded.It said the alleged militants opened fire when they realized they were being besieged by security forces. It did not say when the shootout took place. The ministry published photographs purporting to...

In a lengthy and disturbing piece on Egypt’s Coptic Christians this week, Rod Nordland of the New York Times described them as a community at the “breaking point,” to borrow the words of Bishop Makarios of Minya. This is not what a casual consumer of Egyptian news would expect, and it is not what the Copts expected, either. Nordland writes of high hopes for protection after the Muslim Brotherhood government of Mohammed Morsi was topped by the current Egyptian president, Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, who is often given solid marks by foreign observers for his stance against Islamist oppression. Egypt’s Christians...

A Muslim mob in southern Egypt stabbed a Coptic Christian to death over a personal feud, officials said Monday, stoking anger among Christians amid a spike in assaults on their community. Bishop Macarious of the southern Minya governorate said the mob attacked the families of two priests with knives and batons in the village of Tahna al-Gabal late Sunday. A family member, Fam Khalaf, 27, was killed and the father of one of the priests was wounded. Police said they arrested four people in connection to the incident. …

Work will begin in the coming days in Minya on a church that was planned to honour the deaths of 20 Egyptian Coptic Christians who died in a brutal sectarian attack by militants in Libya earlier this year. Plans and licences for the ‘Church of the Martyrs’ have been finalised to begin the work, head of the Samalout municipality in Minya said, as reported by MENA state news. Major General Gamal Mubaral Qinawy confirmed that the church will be built in the village of Al-Awar, in the district of Samalout. Qinawy said that work on the construction of the church...

In a 25-minute interview on Arabic satellite TV with Dr. Mona Roman, Coptic Christian Bishop Agathon fully exposed the plight of his Christian flock in Minya, Egypt—a region that has a large Coptic minority that is steadily under attack.

PRETORIA, South Africa – King Tut’s sister is missing and Egypt has issued an international alert for her return. UNESCO and Interpol are working with Egyptian authorities to recover the priceless artifact, a limestone figurine of the young pharaoh’s sister from the 14th century BC. The young girl holds a piece of fruit and her hair flows loosely on one side–a symbol of her youth–but her head is held high, a decidedly regal look on her face. “This constitutes irreversible damage to the history and identity of the Egyptian people,” said Irina Bokova, the Director-General of UNESCO. The statuette, “A...