New 6000-year-old Pharaoh tomb found in Aswan
Egypt, Local, 8/12/2004

Egypt's Minister of Culture Farouq Hosni said that a Belgian mission excavated a tomb sculptured in the rock with a skeleton and funeral furniture inside.

The tomb, which was found in Wadi Hosh, Aswan, south Egypt, dates back to the pre-history age (4,000) BC.

He said that the analysis clarified that the dead is a lady aged between 40 and 50.

Meanwhile,Chairman of the Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA) Zahi Hawas said on Wednesday that an Australian arrested while prowling around the Sphinx at the pyramids area in Giza recently in search of "the key to the universe" was just an ardent cultist who did no harm to the monument. In statements on Wednesday, Hawas said that Mark Prisdan, who was arrested recently near the Sphinx, claimed he was a "prophet" and was searching for the key to the universe with the Pharaohs.

The man was nabbed some 50 metres from the Sphinx, Hawas said, adding that the man was not digging under the monument.

Prisdan tried several times to obtain a license for excavation near the statue but his request was rejected until he was caught with digging tools near the monument, said Hawas.

There are many Westerners who are obsessed with the mysteries of the ancient Egyptians and get carried away by their extreme infatuation with the Pyramids. This deep obsession feeds their fancies and hone their innovative minds to wave superstitious tales that put them in the spotlights, harping on the fame of the Pyramids and the Sphinx, added Hawas.

Meanwhile, Hawas said that a Singaporean university is currently embarking on designing a robot to explore the bowels of the Great pyramid of Cheops, said Chairman of the Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA) Zahi Hawas.

In statements on Wednesday, Hawas said that the manufacturing of the robot will start in October, with the Singaporean university footing of the bill. The exploration of Cheops mysteries will likely start next year, said Hawas, noting that the stone doors inside the Great pyramid could not just be there as an ornament.

They must have a function and hide something behind them, he said, adding that they could not just be there for dead King Cheops to slip through on his journey to heaven, as is widely believed.

Egypt has 118 pyramids scattered in various areas, but they have no such doors, he said. Their omni-presence inside Cheops must have reasons that should be revealed to help researchers answer many questions about ancient Egyptians, he added.

This will be the second robotic experiment after the American National Geographic Society conducted an unsuccessful first attempt inside the Great Pyramid in September 2002, when the robot was stopped in its tracks by a wall.

The mystery of the Great Pyramid further deepened when archaeologists penetrated a 4,5OO-year-old blocked shaft only to find another stone blocking their way.