When asked about the state of antiquities today, Hawass says things have improved over the last year, carefully avoiding direct criticism of anyone in particular. But he points out that there is still theft, mismanagement and corruption — noting two incidents in recent months in which artifacts were found to have been replaced with replicas.
http://news.yahoo.com/fallen-egypt-archaeologist-wants-international-grand-museum-063322956.html
looks like chances for the GEM opening this year are slim to none...
Yes, Egypt has rather more pressing concerns at this time than somewhere to house the stele!
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LAShTAL
Exactly!
They still need to find out where to put their pyramids; those bloody things have been getting in the way of progress for quite some time!
my point of concern here was not only the delay of the GEM but also that, in the interim, things are disappearing from the museum itself and being replaced with replicas.
At the risk of seeming 'wet', use an image of the stele as the wallpaper to your mobile and it really does enclose it in a locked glass. The fact that it is digitised also means its colour will never fade. 'Ok, Ok, just putting it out there!'
You are not the first to think of this- great minds think alike? (welcome to the form BTW):
The internet is likely the war-engine as well, unless it might better be taken as referring to psychedelics or popular music. Or, less cheerfully, the atomic bomb, of course.
Thank-you (everyone) for the warm welcome.
To my knowledge, William R. Barden (student of Motta, IIRC he's now dead) was the first person to actually consciously do the "locked glass" thing. In the mid 90s (when most monitors literally were "locked glass", in the sense of vacuum tubes) he put up a revolving picture of the Stele on his website, on a starry background, and had that quote. I distinctly recall having a mindblown.gif moment when I saw it.
Of course that all fell through as we transitioned to flatscreens 🙂
(But iPhones are curiously appropriate too 🙂 )