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"Angelina Jolie set for Cleopatra film"

"Kate Ravilious for National Geographic News January 14, 2010 Cleopatra and her kin knew a thing or two about crafting an alluring smoky eye. Now French researchers suggest that the ancient Egyptians' heavily painted eyelids did more than attract admirers-they also protected against eye infections. (Related: "Scorpion King's Wines-Egypt's Oldest-Spiked With Meds.") Artifacts and documents from ancient Egypt show that everyone, man or woman from servant to queen, wore black and green powders coated thickly around the eyes. "People wore it on a daily basis," said study co-author Christian Amatore, from the Université Pierre et Marie Curie in Paris, France. According to ancient Egyptian manuscripts, the eye makeup was believed to have a magical role, in which the gods Horus and Ra would protect wearers against several illnesses. Bacterial eye infections such as conjunctivitus, for example, would have been a common problem along the Nile's tropical marshes. But previous chemical analyses of powder residue, taken from ancient makeup containers, had isolated four lead-based compounds. That would seem to suggest that the makeup was harmful, since lead can be highly toxic to humans. Makeup's "Magic" Required Hard Work Instead, the new study found that the low doses of lead salts in the makeup may have actually had beneficial properties: When the salts come into contact with skin, they boost the body's production of nitric oxide. This chemical is known to stimulate the immune system and help fight off disease-causing bacteria. Based on the amount of the lead compounds in the ancient makeup, a wearer's nitric oxide levels would have increased by 240 percent, the study found. "Two of these chemicals do not occur naturally, and would have taken 30 days of hard work to make," Amatore said. "In my opinion, [the ancient Egyptians] were aware that these compounds brought good health, and they were making them on purpose." The research is detailed in the Jan

""Eros", en su faceta más explícita, es el protagonista de una exposición en Atenas dedicada a él, dios del amor y la lujuria de la Grecia Clásica. La exposición "Eros: De la Teogonía de Hesíodo a la Antigüedad" se puede visitar hasta el 6 de abril de 2010 en el Museo de Arte Cicládico y reúne 280 objetos que relatan el culto al dios del amor y de la atracción sexual desde el siglo VI a.C al IV d.C. La exposición rastrea cómo cambió la percepción de Eros desde su influencia en la cultura griega a su declive posterior, convertido en mero compañero de Venus, la diosa del amor de la mitología romana. La muestra tiene incluso una sección que representa un prostíbulo de la antigüedad, a la que sólo pueden acceder mayores de 16 años o menores acompañados de adultos. "Es un tributo a todas las formas del amor en la Antigüedad, desde el elemento de génesis a la vida cotidiana", declaró a la prensa el director del museo, Nikos Stambolis. En la Teogonía el poeta griego relata el origen del universo con Eros desgajándose del Caos primordial junto con Gea (la Tierra), y Tártaro (el inframundo). Los objetos provienen de 46 museos griegos, pero también de Chipre, Italia y Francia, en formas de grabados, relieves, cántaros, joyas, estatuillas de mármol y de bronce, así como candelabros. La exposición está dividida en nueve partes, como tributo a la teoría de la música de las esferas de Platón, relacionada con el amor, y que se incluye más tarde en los dibujos del matemático Pitágoras, además de ser una referencia a las nueves musas clásicas. Lo más sorprendente es la representación explícita de relaciones sexuales, así como el uso de representaciones fálicas como adornos en los hogares para traer la buena fortuna. Además, sorprenden las distintas imágenes de prostitutas, así como todo un muestrario de prácticas heterosexuales y homosexuales, además de relaciones zoofílicas con asnos o médicos tratando de curar el priapi

"A 2,200-year-old temple that may have been dedicated to the ancient Egyptian cat god Bastet has been unearthed in Alexandria, the Supreme Council of Antiquities said today. The ruins of the Ptolemaic-era building were discovered by Egyptian archaeologists in the port city founded by Alexander the Great around 331BC. Alexandria was the seat of the Greek-speaking Ptolemaic dynasty, which ruled Egypt for 300 years until the suicide of Queen Cleopatra. The council's statement said the temple was thought to belong to Queen Berenice II, wife of Ptolemy III who ruled between 246BC-222BC. Mohammed Abdel-Maqsood, the Egyptian archaeologist who led the excavation team, said the discovery may be the first trace of the long-sought location of Alexandria's royal quarter. The large number of statues depicting Bastet found in the ruins, he said, suggested that this may be the first Ptolemaic-era temple dedicated to the cat god to be discovered in Alexandria. This would indicate that the worship of the ancient Egyptian cat-god continued during the later, Greek-influenced, Ptolemaic period Statues of other ancient Egyptian deities were also found in the ruins, he added. Zahi Hawass, Egypt's chief archaeologist, said the temple may have been used in later times as a quarry as evidenced by the large number of missing stone blocks. The temple was found in the Kom el-Dekka area near the modern city's main train station and home to a Roman-era amphitheatre and well-preserved mosaics."

"O personagem de Cleópatra poderia ser interpretado pela atriz Angelina Jolie em um novo filme sobre a rainha egípcia, segundo a imprensa americana."

"Alta tecnologia ajuda a achar pequenos objetos de milhares de anos. Tesouros estão no fundo do mar em Alexandria."