Areas of Unrest

27 August 1999 - The Valley of the Golden Mummies

I had to drive out to Azusa for a meeting today, which takes roughly an hour each way. While coming back, I heard part of an interview with one of the archaeologists who made the recent mummy find in Egypt. For anyone who happened to miss this story, the find is a major one, with hundreds of very well preserved mummies. What intrigued me the most was that the archaeologist has named the site "the valley of the golden mummies." I think that sounds like it should be the title of a novel by H. Rider Haggard.

It also made me far more interested in the whole thing, which is sort of suprising given my general indifference to Egyption archaeology. My mother was into Egyptology and I got dragged to see too many mummies as a child, completely turning me off to the whole subject. But I can still revel in the fantasy of finding some completely hidden valley, cut off from civilization. I stumble over a small object... and end up uncovering the walls of an ancient city, unseen since it was buried umpty ump centuries ago. There has to be a curse and a snake goddess and a lot of rubies, of course. (In the really good fantasy version, I get to be the snake goddess, wear the rubies and entice the handsome young archaeologist.) I understand, however, that the actual plans are more along the lines of a museum. Which may be more educational but leaves fewer options for the marketing.

I also heard a news piece about the upcoming elections in East Timor. There were repeated mentions of the rioting in the capital city of Dili and the prospects that the U.N. might decide to postpone the election. Which immediately prompted me to come up with the headline "More Dili-dallying on Timorese Independence".

That's as bad as my long-standing hope to see a headline reading "Kurds get their way."

Be warned - I have several more meetings in Azusa coming up!