French archaeologists have unearthed hundreds of colored limestone blocks dating back 3,000 years and thought to have been used to build a sacred lake for the goddess Mut, the antiquities ministry said Monday.

Most of the blocks, which were unearthed in the Nile Delta town of San al-Hagar, could have belonged to King Osorkon II of the 22nd dynasty, while some bear inscriptions from his successors King Osorkon III and IV, the ministry said.

Tamyras Publishing house has launched its new book titled Losing Touch, Beyrouth Des Petits Metiers, a book of encounters with those who, at a street corner, offer their expertise and their smile. In Order not to lose that heritage, three young people went to discover these forgotten artisans… Kaak hawker, silverer, circumciser…

These Men and women may be the last witnesses of the Beirut Of yesteryear. From These 50 Artisans from Beirut, Telling us their profession, their passion, their dreams and wishes, we will remember their unwavering commitment to the city, their fear of losing their livelihood and their desire to pass on their experience.

A night out in the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi is not everyone's idea of fun. There are no cinemas, no clubs, only a handful of open restaurants and alcohol is illegal.

But while the war being fought 240 kilometers (150 miles) away is on everyone's mind, Libyans are still game for a night out.

For the tattered-clothed young men in this remote community, milking a camel's stubby utters at sunrise is not a novelty, but a daily chore to get milk valued by their tribe for generations.

But camel's milk, long-cherished by the Cushite people of central Kenya, is now enjoying a renaissance in the capital Nairobi and could, some say, become an internationally coveted health food product worth 10 billion dollars a year. "Camels are better than cows because they can survive when there is drought, but the cows cannot, so I can make a profit even during dry season," said Halima Hussein, 45, whose 84-strong flock makes her a local camel-mogul.

French Egyptologist Christiane Desroches-Noblecourt, known for her books on art and history and for saving the Nubian temples from flooding caused by the Aswan Dam, has died at the age of 97, her editor Telemaque said Friday.

In a career spanning more than half-a-century, Desroches-Noblecourt also helped preserve the mummy of King Ramses II, which was threatened by fungus, and became the first French woman to lead an archaeological dig in 1938.

A magnum of wine from a French vineyard owned by Denmark's Prince Consort Henrik has been sold in Beijing for one million Yuan (110,000 Euros, 155,000 dollars), the vineyard said Thursday.

Guillaume Bardin, director of the Chateau de Cayx vineyard in southwest France, said the magnum was sold in the Chinese capital on Wednesday "during a charity auction to benefit an association that cares for the disabled".

China has overtaken the United States as the biggest auction market for art and collectable objects, after its sales more than doubled in just one year, according to research made public on Thursday.

A report for the Conseil des Ventes Volontaires (CVV, the French Auction Market Authority) said sales in China, including Hong Kong, grew 137 percent in 2010 to 7.6 billion Euros (10.8 billion dollars).

The Van Gogh Museum says it is shutting its doors for six months for renovations starting next year, the latest major Dutch museum to close for reconstruction.

Director Axel Rueger said Friday the museum's most important paintings will move to the Hermitage Amsterdam so they can still be viewed during the work, scheduled to last from October 2012 through March 2013.

Archaeologists have begun excavating a 4,500-year-old wooden boat found next to the Great Pyramid of Giza, one of Egypt's main tourist attractions, Egypt's top antiquities official said Thursday.

The boat is one of two buried next to the pharaoh Khufu in what appeared to be a religious custom to carry him in the afterlife. Khufu, also known as Cheops, is credited with building the Great Pyramid of Giza.

A monumental cityscape painting by Austrian artist Egon Schiele on Wednesday smashed the world record after it was sold for £25 million at a London auction.

"Haeuser mit bunter Wasche (Vorstadt II)" (Houses with Laundry (Suburb II)) eventually went under the hammer at Sotheby's auction house for £24,681,250 ($40 million, 27.6 million Euros), almost double the previous auction record for the artist.