International Congress of Egyptologists, Cairo 2012, First Announcement

Dear Colleagues,

The Supreme Council of Antiquities of Egypt (SCA) is proud to announce that it has been entrusted by the International Association of Egyptologists (IAE) with the task of organizing the 11^th International Congress of Egyptologists (ICE) 2012. The SCA hopes to build on the enormous success of the 2000 Congress, the last to be held in Cairo, which is remembered as one of the most memorable Egyptological gatherings in recent history. The ICE 2012 will be held from September 7-14, in the Mena House Oberoi at Giza, and scholars are cordially invited to participate by submitting abstracts of research papers.

The ICE 2012 follows the end of a decade that has witnessed a complete restructuring of the SCA’s administrative system and redefining of its mission in the management of Egyptian archaeological heritage. Over the past decade, the SCA has strengthened its relationship with all members of the Egyptological community, a relationship that is based on mutual respect, and partnership to preserve and protect Egypt’s antiquities. The organization of the ICE 2012 represents one part of this cooperation between the SCA and international scholars, focusing on a better understanding of Egypt’s rich heritage.

The International Congress of Egyptologists is traditionally open to all areas of Egyptological research, and it is the goal of the organizing committee of the ICE 2012 to maintain the ethos set by the previous congresses by seeking research papers focusing on all major themes of Egyptology. However, a multidisciplinary approach to aspects of Ancient Egypt and its material culture is highly encouraged. The list of suggested themes includes: history, social history, prehistory and state formation, archaeology, art history, cross-cultural relations, economy, religion and religious literature, language and literature, archaeometry, and museum studies. Also, proposals for closed sessions (3-4 papers) reporting on the progress of excavation on major archaeological sites will be considered by the scientific committee of the ICE, and time slots will be allocated upon the approval of the proposal.

While attendance of the ICE 2012 is open to all Egyptologists, abstracts of papers will only be accepted from MA and PhD holders, who also must be members of the IAE. In keeping with the tradition set previously, the ICE 2012 organizing committee will administer a refereed congress, whereby abstracts will be peer-reviewed. In the same manner, articles submitted for final publication of the ICE 2012 proceedings will also be subject to peer review.

                The languages of communication of the ICE 2012 are English, French, German and Arabic. For scholars who are proposing to present in Arabic, their abstracts should, however, be submitted in English for peer review.

                The deadline for abstract submission, as well as, the guidelines will be included in the second announcement of the ICE 2012 in January 2011. Questions should be sent to Dr. Ramadan B. Hussein, Coordinator of the ICE 2012 at: rbhussein@gmail.com.

Dr. Zahi Hawass

Secretary General, SCA

A New Tomb has been found in Giza (5th Dynasty)

The SCA mission headed by Dr. Zahi Hawass found a tomb which is the first of its kind, dated back to 5^th Dynasty (2513 – 2374 B.C) south to the workers tombs in Giza.

Zahi said that the tomb belongs to high priest called Rwd-ka who holds many titles and served under Khafra’s reign (2576-2551 B.C)

Inside the tomb, there are colourful scenes represent Rwd-Ka with his wife and the offering table between them. Also there are scenes from daily life activities like milking cows and a unique scene of a calf being born. That’s beside fishing and dancing scenes as well.

Dr. Zahi Hawass believes that it can be the beginning to find other tombs that belongs to non-workers and it can be an extension to the west cemetery after it was packed with tombs.