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It is with great sadness that we announce the unexpected passing of Willem Beex (age 56), the former surveyor of the Leiden Mission at Saqqara, on Saturday 26 January 2019.

Willem Beex
* Eindhoven, 25 July 1962
† Amsterdam, 26 January 2019

Willem studied art history, archaeology and prehistory at Groningen and Amsterdam University and worked on various excavations in the Netherlands and in Italy. He worked with an archaeological service on sites in the north of the Netherlands from 2001-2003 and he was a self-employed archaeological consultant since 2003.

Willem joined the Saqqara expedition from 2000 till 2009 and introduced modern surveying techniques involving computer-aided design. He was responsible for making the plans, sections, and reconstructions of the tombs and structures found during these fruitful years.

Willem will be missed by his mother, family, friends and colleagues.

It is now possible to visit the tombs of Horemheb and Maya anywhere you want!

Use your computer or tablet to wander through the tombs or use a VR headset to experience a virtual visit in 3D!
Zoom in on high resolution photos of the reliefs and navigate your way through the tombs of Horemheb and Maya. You can even visit the beautifully decorated substructure of the tomb of Maya!

• Virtual Tour in Horemheb’s Tomb
• Virtual Tour in Maya’s Tomb

These Virtual Tours have been created by Salma ElDardiry and Karim Mansour of Describing Egypt with the financial support of our Friends.

The 16th Saqqara Newsletter (2018) is printed and sent to all our Friends! Did you donate to the Friends of Saqqara foundation in 2018? Then you will find the Newsletter in your mailbox within a few days.

Are you not a friend yet?! Become a Friend now!

Send an email to friends [at] saqqara.nl with your name + postal address and pay the membership fee (€ 35 / Student € 17,50). For members abroad an additional € 5 will be charged for postage.

Annual Saqqara Pubquiz 2018

Winner of the Dutch “Enige Echte Egypte Pubquiz 2018” is team *Ramses shabti* (Nico Staring, Huw Twinston-Davies, Paul van Pelt, Jurgen van Oostenrijk and Tessa de Roo).

Congratulations!! It was a close call, between the first four teams there is only one point difference each.

Photographs of the evening will be put online tomorrow!

Wednesday evening 14 November 2018: lustrum edition of the “Enige Echte Egypte Pubquiz”, organized by Friends of Saqqara at the National Museum of Antiquities, as part of their 200th anniversary celebrations.

Who will win the coveted title ‘best Ancient Egypt connoisseur in the Low Countries’? Our pub quiz will test the contestants’ knowledge of Ancient Egypt through questions on art, history, archaeology, religion, literature and language – but also on famous museum objects, Egyptomania and the Saqqara necropolis. New this year: a crowd source round, with questions sent in by our public.
A pub quiz is not a pub quiz without drinks and nibbles. The museum’s Taffeh Hall is our pub for the evening, with consumptions available from the bar.
The scholarly soundness of the questions and answers is ensured by our expert jury. At the end of the evening, they will decide who wins the title and the honour. The three best teams, as well as the team to come in last, will receive prizes.

Quiz questions wanted!
New in our Egypt Pubquiz is the crowd source round. Have you got a clever Egypt pub quiz question that only you know the answer to? Mail your question to friends@saqqara.nl ! When the Quizmaster comes to your question, you will have an immediate advantage over your competitors.

What to submit?

· A multiple choice question related to ancient Egypt (archaeology, monuments, texts etc.), to Egyptology, excavators, explorers, or to modern (popular) culture containing ancient Egyptian elements.

· A relevant illustration, or possibly a sound fragment (if you don’t have an original in your possession, a reference to an online image, video or sound fragment will do).

· The correct answer, and optionally one or more (misleading) incorrect answers.
The organizers of the Egypt Pubquiz reserve the right to rephrase questions and answers submitted and chosen for the quiz. We are very excited to learn which obscure trivia you can come up with!

Event details
Date: Wednesday 14 November 2018
Time: 19.00-22.00 hrs
Location: National Museum of Antiquities, Rapenburg 28, Leiden
Language: Dutch
Entrance fee: €10 p.p., including one drink
Registration: via friends@saqqara.nl