The other pyramids of Africa


This desert land was once home to a great empire that built giant temples in honor of strange, animal-headed gods and memorialized their rulers with pyramids. It had one of the most advanced civilizations of its time and was known throughout the ancient world.

Egypt? No, Sudan.

The Kingdom of Kush in what is now Sudan built great cities and traded the products of its large and expert iron industry as far away as India and China. It lasted from about 1000 BC to 350 AD before finally being conquered by the Empire of Axum in Ethiopia. For almost a hundred years from 747-656 BC, the Kushites ruled Egypt as the twenty-fifth dynasty.

A new exhibit at the Louvre in Paris is the first to focus on Meroë, the capital of Kush in its later period and home to more than two hundred pyramids, some of which are shown in this photo. Meroe: Empire on the Nile showcases works of Meroitic art that help us understand the daily life, religion, and social structure of this often-overlooked empire.

Meroe: Empire on the Nile runs until September 6, 2010. Many of the objects are loans from the Museum of Khartoum, so if you can’t make it to Paris before September, you can always go to Sudan and the see the objects, and the pyramids, for yourself. Last year The Wall Street Journal listed the country as one of the top five destinations for the super adventurous.

Image courtesy Sven-steffenarndt via Wikimedia Commons

New Zealander auctions off Paris Hilton’s boarding pass

A man flying from New Zealand to Fiji on August 12th found a little surprise at his business class seat. Slipped between the pages of his in-flight magazine was the boarding pass of celebutant Paris Hilton, who had traveled to Fiji a few days prior.

Rather than toss the pass, the man decided to put it up for sale on a New Zealand auction site. Despite his claim that is “certainly has no other value” aside from being an unusual bit of memorabilia, as it “doesn’t smell of her perfume, have anything to do with panties”, the bids started rolling in. The price increased, and the man decided to donate the proceeds of the sale to a local charity.

The auction closed Monday at NZ$710 (US$485). So how would Paris feel if she knew her boarding pass was being auctioned off? Well, she did know – she posted a link on twitter, calling the story “random”.

[via Jaunted]

Paris Hilton says airplanes give her acne

Like, these 777’s totally make me break out.

So claims our favorite hotel heiress, who was recently seen ducking into a Virgin beauty salon at London‘s Heathrow Airport. Her explanation of her trip to the salon was that she was racking up too many miles in the sky and that the canned air was bad for her skin.

Sorry honey. I’ve logged about a zillion miles this year and my skin is in pretty good shape. Perhaps you’re eating too much fast food?

Maybe things will be better when you start chartering 787s for your jetsetting party lifestyle. Boeing claims that their new atmosphere system is supposed to be superior to today’s aircraft with tighter humidity and temperature control so that your beautiful tanned skin can breathe properly.

Until then you can always take the Greyhound.

Paris Hilton Plans to Travel to Rwanda

Fresh off of getting kicked out of this year’s Oktoberfest, Paris Hilton is planning a trip to Rwanda to “bring more attention to what people can do to help,” she told E! Online.

I’m not arguing the fact that more attention should be directed towards countries like Rwanda, but is the type of attention that’s wanted or needed? I’m not sure. On one hand, hordes of Hilton fans will actually hear the word “Rwanda” mentioned, and maybe half of those will realize it’s a country (and not just a Don Cheadle movie). A few of the remaining might bother to look it up on a map or check Wikipedia to figure out why the hell Paris Hilton is going there in the first place. So I guess not all is lost.

Unfortunately for her, there’s no Hilton hotel in Rwanda.

Mermaids of the Weeki Wachee Springs

How come I never knew about this Florida attraction? Located just an hour north from my home digs in Tampa the mermaids of Weeki Wachee seem like a really fun-filled family destination far off and away from Mickey Mouse as can possibly be. The author of this Miami Herald story does a dazzling job in making me want to experience the siren song of the mermaids for my own. The amusement park falls under the B-list which isn’t hard to imagine being in a state where all things revolve around the mouse, but was made famous in the 50’s and 60’s for the performing mermaids.

The Weeki Wachee Springs are said to be the real thing too. As one of Florida’s natural wonders, the spring where the park’s 14 mermaids perform is 16 to 20 feet under the surface. The park sees some 250,000 visitors each year whom most of which are adults who experienced the show when they were kids. I’m sure everyone reading this is thinking this sounds totally cool and gnarly and you’re all set to go take the day off and check out the mermaids with me, right? Well, the park may be a thing of the past since a 30-year lease and whether or not it should be rewritten is up for debate in courts. Man that stinks. Better go before it’s gone. I am.

Least it’s nice to know Paris Hilton, Nicole Richie and even Elvis Presley all give or gave a hoot about the park at some point or another.