Egyptians go to France to recover stolen mummy hairs!

I guess they really like their ancient hairs:

CAIRO (Reuters) – Egypt sent an archaeological team to France on Thursday to retrieve 3,200-year-old strands of hair from the mummy of Pharaoh Ramses II, who presided over an era of great military expansion in Egypt, state media said.

The existence of the hair came to light last year when some of the strands were offered for sale on the Internet for between 2,000 and 2,500 euros ($2,668 and $3,336), in addition to tiny pieces of resin and embalmed cloth taken from the mummy.

The seller had said he obtained the relics from his deceased father, who had worked in a French laboratory entrusted with analysing and restoring the body of Ramses in the 1970s. He had offered to provide certificates of authenticity to buyers.

 

French archaeologists had reacted with horror to news that the hairs were on sale and French authorities arrested the suspected seller in November.

Egyptian antiquities chief Zahi Hawass praised the efforts of French authorities to stop the sale of the hair, and said that the “theft of the mummy’s hair was not appropriate behavior”, state news agency MENA said.

Ramses II, also known as Ramses the Great, was born around 1304 BC and ruled Egypt for more than 60 years during the 19th dynasty of pharaohs. He is a popular feature on Egyptian postcards and is traditionally believed to be the pharaoh mentioned in the biblical story of Moses.

Ramses’s mummy was discovered in 1881 and shortly afterwards moved to Cairo’s Egyptian Museum. In the early 1970s authorities noticed his body was deteriorating and sent it to Paris, where it was treated for a fungal infection.

 

Don’t they know about the ancient Egyptian mummy hair curse? If you take a mummy’s hair you will wind up growing very hairy palms, which would make life (and other things) a lot harder.

 

I can already hear what my girlfriend would say. “If he still has hair after thousands of years, I have to know what kind of shampoo and conditioner he used!” =P

 

Mark

 

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Japanese suffer from Paris Syndrome

No, not Paris Hilton – though her reckless demeanor would be enough to make the Japanese balk. It turns out there is a huge culture clash when Japanese (who tend to be very polite and reserved) go to Paris France (which they harbor romanticized visions of) and encounter the… well… the french.

The most polite people vs the most rude. THAT is a culture shock for anyone!

 

‘Paris Syndrome’ strikes Japanese

 

A dozen or so Japanese tourists a year have to be repatriated from the French capital, after falling prey to what’s become known as “Paris syndrome”.

That is what some polite Japanese tourists suffer when they discover that Parisians can be rude or the city does not meet their expectations.

The experience can apparently be too stressful for some and they suffer a psychiatric breakdown.

Around a million Japanese travel to France every year.

Shocking reality

Many of the visitors come with a deeply romantic vision of Paris – the cobbled streets, as seen in the film Amelie, the beauty of French women or the high culture and art at the Louvre.

The reality can come as a shock.

An encounter with a rude taxi driver, or a Parisian waiter who shouts at customers who cannot speak fluent French, might be laughed off by those from other Western cultures.

But for the Japanese – used to a more polite and helpful society in which voices are rarely raised in anger – the experience of their dream city turning into a nightmare can simply be too much.

This year alone, the Japanese embassy in Paris has had to repatriate four people with a doctor or nurse on board the plane to help them get over the shock.

They were suffering from “Paris syndrome”.

It was a Japanese psychiatrist working in France, Professor Hiroaki Ota, who first identified the syndrome some 20 years ago.

On average, up to 12 Japanese tourists a year fall victim to it, mainly women in their 30s with high expectations of what may be their first trip abroad.

The Japanese embassy has a 24-hour hotline for those suffering from severe culture shock, and can help find hospital treatment for anyone in need.

However, the only permanent cure is to go back to Japan – never to return to Paris.

What makes this even better is that the Parisians seem to not only be aware of this culture shock, but they encourage it. Look at this French commercial to see what I mean!

I’m just waiting for one of these Japanese tourists to be a ninja and flip out.

Mark

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