Free Republic

The mummified remains of ancient Egypt's most powerful pharaoh have been used to reveal what he would have looked like at the height of his powers. Ramessess II's "handsome" face can be seen for the first time in 3,200 years thanks to the new scientific reconstruction. Using a 3D model of his skull to rebuild his features, scientists from Egypt and England initially worked together to create the pharaoh’s likeness when he died around 90 years old. They then reversed the ageing process...

From axes to swords to chariots, see the weapons that helped make ancient Egyptian warriors formidable.The Egyptian military became one of the ancient world’s greatest fighting forces during the New Kingdom period (1550 B.C. - 1070 B.C.), but it did so using borrowed weapons technology. For much of its early history, Egypt relied on simple stone maces, wooden-tipped spears, axes and bows and arrows to fight off neighboring Nubian and Libyan tribesmen. Then came the Hyksos, an invading army from Syria that conquered Egypt around 1650 B.C. with vastly superior weapons like speedy chariots and powerful composite bows. During the...

The discovery was made in Dashur, an archaeological site 90km south of Cairo, where the tattered remains of Pharaoh Amenemhat III's Black Pyramid can be seen today. The huge mortuary temple that originally stood adjacent to this pyramid is believed to have formed the basis of the complex of buildings with galleries and courtyards called a "labyrinth" by famed ancient Greek historian Herodotus. With no visible remains, the story was thought to simply be a legend passed down by generations until Egyptologist Flinders Petrie uncovered its "foundations" in the 1800s, leading experts to theories the labyrinth was demolished under the...

American Pharoah became the first horse in over three decades Saturday to earn the Triple Crown, placing 1st in the Belmont Stakes after winning the Preakness and the Kentucky Derby earlier in the season. In one of the sporting world's rarest feats, the bay colt with the unusually short tail defeated seven rivals in the grueling 1 1/2-mile race, covering the distance in 2:26.65 to end the longest stretch without a Triple Crown champion in history. American Pharoah is the 12th horse and first since Affirmed in 1978 to win three races on different tracks at varying distances over a...

CAIRO — Egypt's Islamist President Mohamed Morsi assumed sweeping powers on Thursday, drawing criticism that he is seeking to become a "new pharaoh" and raising questions about the gains of last year's uprising which ousted Hosni Mubarak. The move is a blow to the pro-democracy movement that toppled the long-time president, himself derided by many as a pharaoh, and raises concerns that Islamists will be further ensconced in power. Opposition forces denounced the declaration as a "coup" and called for nationwide protests on Friday. "The president can issue any decision or measure to protect the revolution," according to a decree...

"Saturday Night Live" has elected a new Barack Obama: Jay Pharoah will take over the plum role of impersonating the president. "SNL" creator and executive producer Lorne Michaels announced the casting switch in a recent interview. Michaels said it was time "to shake it up."

The Obama RecordThe Obama Record: The chief executive who swore to faithfully execute the nation's laws picks those he'll ignore and makes up others through regulation and executive order. He sees no need for a Congress or Constitution. Maybe it's because Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts stumbled a bit in leading President Obama through the oath of office that the president doesn't feel bound by it. But through the awkwardness these words were heard: "I, Barack Hussein Obama, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, and will to...

WASHINGTON—Ushering in the largest decrease in auto fuel consumption since the 1970s, President Barack Obama and automobile manufacturers Friday announced a deal that will save drivers money at the pump and dramatically cut heat-trapping gases coming from tailpipes. The agreement pledges to double overall fuel economy to 54.5 miles per gallon by 2025, bringing major under-the-hood changes for the nation's automobiles starting in model year 2017. Cars and trucks on the road today average 27 miles per gallon. "This agreement on fuel standards represents the single most important step we have taken as a nation to reduce our dependence on...

Soon the government will be able to send you text messages and amber alerts. Liberals always try to paper over government intrusion into our lives with noise about how it will be good for us (it’ll make us all safer!). We’ll be able to opt out of these invasions, except for messages from the president. Messages from the king cannot be turned off. So we can ignore directions from Michelle about what to have for lunch, but not Obama’s incessant campaigning. Our Founding Fathers didn’t presage cellular technology but they were pretty clear about our rights to be free from...

WASHINGTON (Map, News) - A Republican congressman from Georgia is calling President-elect Obama a Marxist and warning that he might be planning to form a Gestapo-like security force so he can rule as a dictator. Two-term Rep. Paul Broun of Athens cited a July speech that has circulated on the Internet in which Obama called for a civilian force to take some of the national security burden off the military.

Contact: Aeron Haworth aeron.haworth@manchester.ac.uk 44-771-788-1563 University of Manchester Manchester University helps with pharaoh DNA analysisPreliminary results support positive identification of Egyptian queen Preliminary results from DNA tests carried out on a mummy believed to be Queen Hatshepsut is expected to support the claim by Egyptian authorities that the remains are indeed those of Egypt’s most powerful female ruler. Egyptologists in Cairo announced last month that a tooth found in a wooden box associated with Hatshepsut exactly fitted the jaw socket and broken root of the unidentified mummy. Now, Dr Angelique Corthals, a biomedical Egyptologist at The University of Manchester, says...

CAIRO, Egypt (AP) - The results of a CT scan done on King Tut's mummy indicate the boy king was not murdered, but may have suffered a badly broken leg shortly before his death at age 19 - a wound that could have become infected, Egypt's top archaeologist said Tuesday. Zahi Hawass, secretary general if the Supreme Council of Antiquities, announced the results of the CT scan about two months after it was performed on Tut's mummy. Hawass said the remains of Tutankhamun, who ruled about 3,300 years ago, showed no signs that he had been murdered - dispelling a...

Special Dispatch - Egypt August 22, 2003 No. 556 (Translated from Arabic Language Sources) Egyptian Jurists to Sue 'The Jews' for Compensation for 'Trillions' of Tons of Gold Allegedly Stolen During Exodus from Egypt The August 9, 2003 edition of the Egyptian weekly Al-Ahram Al-Arabi featured an interview with Dr. Nabil Hilmi, Dean of the Faculty of Law at the University of Al-Zaqaziq who, together with a group of Egyptian expatriates in Switzerland, is preparing an enormous lawsuit against "all the Jews of the world." The following are excerpts from the interview: (1) Dr. Hilmi: "... Since the Jews...