The museum started in 1892 to help with the teaching of Egyptian Archaeology and Philology. The collection began with objects given to the museum by the writer Amelia Edwards. William Flinders Petrie led many important archaeological digs. In 1913 he sold his collection to University College. He had found objects at major sites, such as the Roman Period cemeteries at Hawara. These were famous for the beautiful mummy portraits in classical Roman style. He found objects at Amarna, the city of king Akhenaten, the first king to believe in one God. At Meydum, the site of the first true pyramid Petrie found some of the earliest examples of mummification.
The collection and library were in rooms at the university. A book about the collection was printed in 1915. At first the museum was only for people studying and not open to the public. After Petrie retired in 1933, other archaeologists added objects to the collection. These had been found in other parts of Egypt and the Sudan. During the Second World War (1939–1945) the collection was packed up and moved out of London for to keep it safe. In the early 1950s it was moved into an old stable, beside the science library.
The museum has one of the oldest pieces of linen from Egypt, made about 5000 BC. There are two lions from the temple of Min at Koptos. These were part of the first group of monumental sculpture from about 3000 BC. There is a small piece from the first king list or calendar written about 2900 BC. The museum has some iron beads, the earliest example of metal from Egypt. There is the earliest example of glazing. The collection includes the earliest 'cylinder seal' in Egypt made about 3500 BC. It also has a collection of writings on papyrus, which are the oldest wills, the oldest medical writing, the only veterinary writing from ancient Egypt; and the largest architectural drawing, showing a shrine (about 1300 BC).
The collection also includes a number of costumes. It has the 'oldest dress', there is a beadnet dress of a dancer from the Pyramid Age (about 2400 BC) and two long sleeved robes of the same date. There is a suit of armour from the palace of Memphis, as well as socks and sandals from the Roman period. The collection contains works of art from Akhenaten’s city at Amarna. There are: colourful tiles, carvings and frescoes, from Egyptian and Nubian settlements and burial sites. The museum has the world’s largest collection of Roman period mummy portraits. These were made in the first to second centuries AD. The collection also includes objects from the Coptic and Islamic periods.
The museum has three rooms. The main room has many of the museum's small objects, as well as tablets of writing, mummy portraits and cases. The first room has mainly pottery. Some parts of the collection are not lit to protect the objects from light and visitors use torches to see inside the cases.
The collection has been digitised and the catalogue can be viewed online.
Automeris io
Automeris io is the North American Io moth. It has anti-predator defences common in the Lepidoptera. The adults have a two-stage defence system: first they are cryptic with their wings closed. If predators get too near, they flash their vivid eye markings. This startles the predator, and the moth has time to fly off and hide. The adults are nocturnal, they only fly at night, and during the day they sit on tree trunks or branches.
Very widespread, the moth ranges from southern Canada to Mexico and Costa Rica. In between, it is found widely in the USA.
They do not eat, and live only about a week: all they do is reproduce. This is typical of Saturniid moths. They have sexual dimorphism as can be seen from the illustrations, and fly at night. The females come out of the cocoon with ready-made eggs, and the males pick up the female pheromones with their extra-big antennae.
The caterpillars live together (are gregarious), and travel in single file all over the food plant. They start off orange in colour, and eventually turn bright green. As they grow in size they become covered with stinging spines. The spines deliver a very painful venom which is released at the slightest touch.
Charlotte Motor Speedway
Charlotte Motor Speedway is a motorsports complex in Concord, North Carolina, United States. It is from Charlotte, North Carolina. The complex features a quad oval track that hosts NASCAR racing. It is best known for the Coca-Cola 600 on Memorial Day weekend. The All-Star Race, as well as the Bank of America Roval 400 also run here. The speedway was built in 1959 by Bruton Smith. It is considered the home track for NASCAR with many race teams located in the Charlotte area. The track is owned and operated by Speedway Motorsports Inc. (SMI) with Marcus G. Smith (son of Bruton Smith) as track president.
The complex also features a state-of-the-art quarter mile (0.40 km) drag racing strip, ZMAX Dragway. It is the only all-concrete, four-lane drag strip in the United States. It hosts NHRA events. Alongside the drag strip is a modern clay oval that hosts dirt racing including the World of Outlaws finals.
Socks (cat)
Socks Clinton (1989 – February 20, 2009) was the pet cat of U.S. President Bill Clinton and his family while he was in the White House.
Socks was an adopted stray cat and the only pet of the Clintons during the first years of Clinton's presidency. A picture of Socks was always on the children's White House website. After Clinton left office, Socks went to live with Clinton's secretary, Betty Currie and her husband. This was because Socks fought a lot with the Clinton family dog Buddy. Socks never got along with the dog.
Socks became the pet cat of the Clintons in 1991 after he jumped into Chelsea Clinton's arms at her piano teacher's home in Little Rock, Arkansas. Socks was playing with his sibling, Midnight, who was later adopted by another family.
When Bill Clinton became President, Socks moved with the family from the governor's mansion in Arkansas to the White House. Even though he was the official 'first pet', he shared his food and water with a stray tabby cat, named Slippers. Socks was often taken to schools and hospitals to visit. Children visiting the White House website would be shown around by a cartoon version of Socks.
In December 2002, Socks was part of the Little Rock, Arkansas Christmas parade.
Things changed for the worse for Socks in 1997. The Clintons got a pet dog named Buddy, a Labrador Retriever. Socks hated this dog. Hillary Clinton said Socks "despised Buddy from first sight, instantly and forever." Bill Clinton said, "I did better with ... the Palestinians and the Israelis than I've done with Socks and Buddy." When the Clintons left the White House in 2001, they took Buddy to their new home, but left Socks with Betty Currie. Buddy died within a year, being hit by a car in 2002.
In June 2008, Socks was still living with Currie and her husband in Hollywood, Maryland, about 60 miles from Washington. But Socks was losing weight and losing his fur. In December 2008, Socks was again reported to be in failing health from cancer. Socks was euthanized on February 20, 2009, in Hollywood, Maryland. He had cancer in his jaw.
First Lady Hillary Clinton wrote a children's book called "Dear Socks, Dear Buddy: Kids' Letters to the First Pets" in 1998. It included more than 50 letters written to the First Pets by children. It had more than 80 photos of Socks and Buddy.
A Republican Representative in the United States Congress, Dan Burton once argued against the use of White House employees, postage, and stationery being used to answer mail that was written to the cat.
Robin
Robin may mean
Egyptian chronology
Egyptian chronology is the study of events in ancient Egypt, and trying to date to when they took place. There is a general agreement about this chronology among Egyptologists. The Old Kingdom began in the 27th century BC, the Middle Kingdom in the 21st century BC and the New Kingdom in the mid-16th century BC.