This year Egypt will play a pivotal role in opening the 'door' to the new millennium. Dr. Zahi Hawass, Under-secretary of the Giza Monuments, has announced that at "12 o'clock midnight of the year 1999 and the beginning of the year 2000 we will put a gold capstone above the Great Pyramid." Hawass also announced that the now world-famous 'Door' at the end of the southern shaft of the Queen's Chamber in the Great Pyramid would be opened on December 31, 1999, as "a gift from Egypt to the millennium and the world." This millennium ceremony will be telecast live to a world audience.

      Robert Bauval, organizer of Project Equinox 2000, is also planning a global ritual and series of conferences that are scheduled to climax in front of the Sphinx at Giza on December 31,1999. Bauval states, "Dr. Zahi Hawass has kindly given preliminary permission for the setting up of a platform from which a 'message to the planet' from Egypt will be delivered. As Orion's belt crosses the meridian at midnight and Leo rises in the east, the New Millennium and World Age will be ushered in by the precessional star-clock, marked by the rising of Aquarius in the west." (See http: www.projectequinox2000.com.)

      Before the clock strikes midnight on this eventful evening, however, the world still has to deal with the reality of the current political situation in the Middle East. The U.S. Department of State has issued a travel warning (in effect from January 5 until March 5, 1999) that states, 'The U.S. Embassy in Cairo has received reliable information that extremist elements may be planning imminent unspecified attacks against U.S. interests in Egypt. The Embassy urges Americans to remain vigilant and take appropriate steps to increase their security awareness in order to reduce their vulnerability. Americans should maintain a low profile, vary routes and times for all required travel, and treat mail from unfamiliar sources with suspicion... Individuals or organizations due to host American citizens should inform the Embassy's Consular Section... The Embassy is planning to conduct security training for Cairo's and Alexandria's American communities. (See hyperlink http://travel.state.gov/egypt_ announce.html for complete details.)

      In response to these world events, Visions Travel and Tours, Inc. postponed "The Pyramids, the Sphinx, the Mystery" Egypt Conference (originally scheduled for late January and early February, 1999). The conference is currently being rescheduled for sometime this spring. Abbas Nadim, President of Visions Travel, states in a letter to conference enthusiasts that "Our thoughts, along with others like Dr. Zahi Hawass, are that this will allow the necessary time and space to reach a peaceful resolution to the current state of affairs between the U.S. and Iraq and thus open up the setting in Cairo to be more conducive to the conference/debate platform."

      The media, however, is bypassing such obstacles. Rupert Murdoch's first-ever live FOX broadcast of an archeological excavation at Giza will be broadcast on Tuesday, March 2, 1999 (8:00-10:00 PM ET/PT). "In an unprecedented alliance with the Government of the Republic of Egypt," a FOX press release announced, "it will present the two-hour special event, Opening the Lost Tombs: Live from Egypt... Marking the first time that exploration of Egypt's Old Kingdom monuments, which date back over 4,600, will be conducted on camera, FOX will take audiences on an exclusive adventure to otherwise inaccessible areas that are strictly off-limits to tourists and visitors.

      Emmy Award-winning broadcast journalist Arthur Kent will host the special. Opened live on television will be the pyramid of Queen Khamerernebty II, the wife of the Pharaoh Menkaure, who built the Third Pyramid at Giza. Explored for the first time is the newly discovered, sealed Tomb of th Unknown, which lies near the burial place of Kai (high priest to Pharaohs Senefru, Khufu, Djedefra and Khafre), which has remained undisturbed for over four millennia... In addition, viewers will witness an expedition to an undisclosed location which may reveal a very significant discovery, according to renowned archeologist and Undersecretary of State for Egypt's Giza Plateau, Dr. Zahi Hawass. The Egyptian Government has permitted FOX to be present when Drs. Gaballa and Hawass and their world-class team of archeologists take this rare and exciting look back into ancient times."

      In another unusual media campaign, Graham Hancock and Robert Bauval are requesting people to sign a petition asking the British Museum in London to return the Rosetta Stone to Egypt. Bauval and Hancock believe that the Rosetta Stone "was taken from Egypt as a spoil of war and not through the proper diplomatic channels, and thus must be returned." They emphasize , "The Rosetta Stone is a political time bomb for Egyptology... and have decided to issue this plea to the British government as a token gesture of the British people towards the people of Egypt and as an act of goodwill for the opening of the new millennium. They propose that the Rosetta Stone be flown in a special British Airways flight to Alexandria on December 31,1999 and there taken to the newly completed Biblioteca Alexandrina-the UNESCO Library of Alexandria-and placed in the main entrance hall ." (For further information e-mail STARVLINGB @aol.com.)

      Perhaps the sychronicity of these events is more than mere coincidence! If we can resolve ancient mysteries from the past and the current political problems of today, then the door opening into the new millennium will lead to even more exciting possibilities.