The Resounding Triumph of Conservation: Restoring the Tomb of Amenhotep III

After more than two decades of meticulous, painstaking restoration, Egypt has declared a victory for its ancient heritage: the official reopening of the tomb of Pharaoh Amenhotep III in the Valley of the Kings. This monumental restoration effort wasn't merely a cleaning; it was a critical act of preservation, ensuring a priceless link to one of history's most prosperous eras remains intact for future generations.

Amenhotep III, a pharaoh who reigned for nearly four decades during the 18th Dynasty's golden age of prosperity and artistic achievement, oversaw a surge in monumental construction—from his vast mortuary temple complex at Kom el-Hetan to the magnificent Temple of Luxor. Preserving his tomb, therefore, means safeguarding a direct, vivid narrative of this high-water mark of civilization.

Discovered in 1799, the tomb—located on the west bank of the Nile near Luxor—had long since been looted. While the sarcophagus and treasures were gone, the site remains vitally important because of its architectural and artistic integrity. The successful restoration work was paramount to stabilizing the fragile structure and protecting the intricate artwork that makes this tomb unique.

Visitors can now descend the dramatic, 118-foot-long corridor and enter the main burial chamber, which is a key reason the restoration was so crucial. The walls are a canvas of vivid inscriptions and scenes from the Book of the Dead, a sacred text meant to guide the pharaoh's soul through the underworld. Without the focused restoration, the ability to study and appreciate this *essential* insight into royal burial practices and ancient Egyptian cosmology would have been severely diminished or lost entirely.

Restoration Highlights

Wall Paintings Revived: The tomb’s artwork, including depictions of Amenhotep III with ancient Egyptian gods and scenes from the Book of the Dead, has been carefully cleaned and stabilized. These paintings are now visible in greater detail than ever before

Sarcophagus Frame Reassembled: Although the original sarcophagus was looted centuries ago, restorers reconstructed its frame and placed the lid where it would have originally rested, offering a more complete visual of the burial setup.

Structural Conservation: The tomb had suffered severe deterioration. Restoration teams reinforced the 118-foot-long, 45-foot-deep descending passageway and stabilized the chambers to ensure safe public access.

Chambers for Queens Tiye and Sitamun: These side chambers, part of the original tomb design, have been cleaned and opened to visitors, adding depth to the narrative of Amenhotep III’s family and reign

New Jersey Dinosaurs

Hadrosaurus

Cretaceous Park Jersey? My home state is not the first one to come to mind when talking about dinosaurs. There is New Jersey’s official state dinosaur - Hadrosaurus foulkii - the first nearly complete dinosaur skeleton ever found in North America. It was discovered in 1858 in a marl pit in Haddonfield, NJ by William Parker Foulke, and it helped revolutionize scientific understanding of dinosaur posture because it suggested that some dinosaurs could walk upright. It lived about 70–100 million years ago during the Late Cretaceous period.

We also have the first recognized Tyrannosaur, known as Dryptosaurus. Its name means “Tearing lizard” or “Slashing reptile.” It is also from the Late Cretaceous, around 67–66 million years ago. It grew up to 25 feet (7.5 meters) long and was carnivorous. It belongs to the Eutyrannosaurian theropod group, which was an early relative of Tyrannosaurus rex.

Dryptosaurus

It was first described by Edward Drinker Cope in 1866 as Laelaps aquilunguis, later renamed Dryptosaurus by rival paleontologist Othniel Charles Marsh due to naming conflicts. It was one of the first theropods ever discovered in North America. The discovery was made in a marl pit near Barnsboro, NJ, making it a local legend in paleontology.

Marl is a type of sedimentary material that's rich in calcium carbonate, clay, and silt. It forms in freshwater or marine environments, often through the accumulation of microscopic organisms like algae or the breakdown of shells and skeletons of marine life, and is common in post-glacial lake beds, coastal plains, and marine deposits.

In Mantua Township (behind a shopping center!), paleontologists have uncovered one of the most remarkable fossil sites in the country. The Edelman Fossil Park & Museum at Rowan University has taken that site and built it into a destination for dinosaur enthusiasts and families alike. 

Dr. Kenneth Lacovara, a South Jersey native and world-renowned paleontologist, has traveled across the globe digging for dinosaurs, but his most astonishing finds came from the quarry near where he grew up. Over the last 18 years, more than 100,000 fossils from over 100 species have been unearthed at the Mantua site. The site officially opened to the public in March as the Jean & Ric Edelman Fossil Park & Museum, inviting visitors to dig for real fossils, tour exhibits, and learn how prehistoric history can shape the future. 

A local news report on the Edelman Fossil Park & Museum of Rowan University before it opened in March 2025.

The Development of Cursive Handwriting

Handwriting is almost as unique as a fingerprint. Who invented the swirls and curls of cursive script? Many American schools in the 21st century, stopped teaching cursive writing as keyboarding on computers and phones has become so ubiquitous. More recently, some schools have returned to teaching it.

Square capitals were used on inscriptions on buildings and monuments (some of which are still standing), but cursive (or script) was used for daily writing.

Egyptians and Romans used early forms of cursive to speed up writing on papyrus and parchment. Roman cursive (1st–3rd century BC) was used for everyday tasks and included early lowercase-like forms.

Carolingian script (8th century) and Anglicana (12th century) were transitional styles that began connecting letters more fluidly, laying the groundwork for cursive.

In the Renaissance, humanist scholars in the 15th century refined cursive into elegant scripts like italic and running hand, emphasizing beauty and efficiency.

By the 17th century, cursive became more standardized in Europe and the American colonies. 

The earliest form of cursive you would probably recognize is called Copperplate. Calligrapher Timothy Matlack penned Thomas Jefferson's words on the original copy of the Declaration of Independence using the Copperplate script. It is beautiful, but impractical for everyday writing.

A teacher named Platt Rogers Spencer developed a new form of penmanship around the mid-1800s with the awkward name of chirythmography (from the Greek words for "timed hand writing") The "Spencerian" method was taught in schools for the latter half of the 19th century.

Styles like Spencerian and Palmer Method emerged in the 18th and 19th centuries, focusing on speed and elegance for education and business use. But the Spencer cursive was still too time-consuming. Next came Austin Palmer and the Palmer method. Palmer's idea was to make cursive writing more practical and lose the fancy flourishes from the Renaissance days. This form of script was very popular in the early 20th century. 

Penmanship started to become big business because it was taught in grade schools, and adults entering the business world often took a course in penmanship. The Zaner-Bloser Company sold handwriting instruction material to schools and their cursive and the later D'Nealian cursive are the simple scripts that were taught in grade school during the second half of the 20th century. 

2,400-year-old 'Odysseus' Greek trading vessel discovered

Image via https://i.dailymail.co.uk

In 2018, a  Greek trading vessel was discovered in the Black Sea that provided previously unknown information to historians. The amazing part is that despite its age, the 2,400-year-old ship was almost entirely intact. How is that possible?

A 75-foot vessel, dated to approximately 400 BCE, was discovered resting laterally at a depth of nearly one mile beneath the surface of the Black Sea. Remarkably, the ship’s mast, rudders, and rowing benches remained intact and exhibited exceptional preservation. This state of conservation is attributed to the anoxic conditions of the Black Sea’s deeper waters—characterized by the absence of oxygen—which inhibit the microbial activity responsible for the decomposition of organic materials such as wood. Beyond a depth of approximately 500 feet from the shoreline, oxygen levels diminish to zero, creating an environment conducive to long-term preservation. To date, over 60 additional shipwrecks have been identified within this archaeologically rich region.

Prior to this discovery, vessels of this type had only been documented through ancient Greek iconography, notably in artifacts such as the Siren Vase, which portrays the ship of the mythological figure Odysseus. According to the archaeological team responsible for the find, the ship represents a significant contribution to the understanding of ancient maritime technology, offering tangible evidence that complements and substantiates previously theoretical models of ship construction and seafaring practices.

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